[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 8, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H6913-H6914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           DON'T TREAT BIPARTISANSHIP LIKE A FOUR-LETTER WORD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Hurd) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HURD of Texas. Mr. Speaker, our Nation is full of opportunity.
  How else could a young Black kid from San Antonio, Texas, grow up to 
come to Congress to represent a majority Latino district and get 17 
pieces of legislation signed into law?
  My mom always taught me: You are either part of the problem or you 
are part of the solution. So, I ran for Congress, and over the past 6 
years, I have done everything I can to work with my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle to get things done.
  During my tenure, I have had some legislative lows, like being two 
signatures short of a successful discharge petition which would have 
led to a DACA fix being put on the President's desk.
  We should never stop fighting for these folks who are part of our 
American family. People like John Lewis taught us that this kind of 
work may be long, and it may be hard, but it is righteous.
  At the same time, I have had some legislative highs:
  Being the lead Republican, with my friend Jose Serrano, to get the 
National Museum of the American Latino Act unanimously passed out of 
this House of Representatives--after 26 years, we finally did it.
  Modernizing IT procurement laws so that the government provides 
better digital-facing services and establishing a national strategy to 
ensure the U.S. stays a leader in artificial intelligence are going to 
pay off for years.
  I came to Congress to make our Nation safer. When I was first 
elected, ISIS was our biggest national security threat. As we look at 
the years ahead, the nature of the threat is distinctly different.
  The next generation-defining battle, which has already begun, is 
against the Chinese Communist Party. China is trying to supplant the 
United States as the sole superpower in this world by 2049.
  Every American should care about this struggle because we face a 
potential future where Mandarin and the yuan, not English and the 
dollar, dominate the global economy. The winner of this generation-
defining struggle will not just affect our economy but will shape the 
rest of the century for the entire world.
  Within this context of great power competition, I urge my colleagues 
to confront this national security threat with a simple principle that 
I learned from my time in the CIA: Be nice with nice guys and tough 
with tough guys.
  Back home, I have learned another simple principle: Show up. I was 
willing to show up to places others weren't, listen to what folks had 
to say, and work across the aisle to solve problems. We were able to 
find solutions to some of the most difficult problems plaguing our 
constituents by empowering people, not the government.
  I could not have done any of this without my staff. From day one, my 
team and I held the belief that no problem was too small and that no 
goal was too big. This mentality is how we ended up helping a high-
schooler who had an idea of preventing her friends from distracted 
driving, and it is how we spent a year working on a national strategy 
for artificial intelligence.
  Despite these legislative successes, the thing I will remember most 
is helping constituents whose names folks don't know battle the Federal 
bureaucracy. Making a difference in the lives of those folks is 
something I will cherish forever.
  To all of my staff over the years, especially Nancy Pack, thank you 
for

[[Page H6914]]

your late hours, thank you for your hard work, thank you for putting up 
with me, and thank you for your dedication, not just to the folks of 
the 23rd Congressional District of Texas, but to the entire American 
family.
  It has been a distinct privilege to stand on this floor for the past 
6 years to debate issues and represent the people of the 23rd 
Congressional District. Thank you for putting your faith and trust in 
me.
  Serving as a Member of Congress has not only taught me about this 
incredible institution and how to legislate; it has proven a long-held 
belief that way more unites us as a country than divides us.
  My final message for my colleagues, as I depart this body: Don't 
treat bipartisanship like a four-letter word. The only way big things 
have ever been done in this country is by doing them together.

                          ____________________