[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 8, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H7026-H7028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FAREWELL TO CONGRESSWOMAN ROBY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, we will, in short time, remember our friend 
Paul Sarbanes, but another friend of mine, whom I have not known as 
long but I have known well, is the gentlewoman from Montgomery, 
Alabama, with whom I went on the pilgrimage sponsored by Faith and 
Politics and led by our beloved John Lewis. She welcomed us so 
graciously to Montgomery.
  She is a graduate of NYU, a graduate of Stanford Law School, and is 
extraordinarily proud of her father, the chief judge of the court of 
appeals of their circuit. Her husband, Riley, and their two children I 
have known, and they have joined us.
  Regrettably, she will be leaving the Congress at the end of this 
year. I say regrettably because she was a Member of Congress who worked 
across the aisle and who worked positively and constructively on behalf 
of her district, on behalf of her State, and on behalf of her country. 
We will miss her.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Alabama.

                              {time}  1915

  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Hoyer), my friend, for yielding.
  Thank you so much, Leader Hoyer, I just appreciate your friendship 
all these years. I really do appreciate the time you have given me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise before you and my colleagues here today to speak 
for my final time on the House floor.
  Mr. Speaker, 17 years ago, my husband, Riley, and I prayerfully 
decided I would put my name on the ballot for the first time. Never 
could we have imagined that that original decision to run for the 
Montgomery City Council would lead us to serve five terms in the U.S. 
House of Representatives.
  We are so grateful that God allowed us to serve our country in this 
way, and we give all honor and glory to Him. I count it a great 
privilege to have served the people of Alabama's Second Congressional 
District over the past decade, and I cannot adequately express how 
deeply thankful I am for the confidence my constituents have placed in 
me over the years.
  Each of you sitting here before me knows the responsibility that 
comes along with being a Member of Congress. Yes, we are required to 
vote and to be the conscience of those we represent, but serving our 
constituents back home truly changes lives in our communities for the 
better.
  As I look back on the wonderful things Team Roby was able to 
accomplish, along with the help of my colleagues in the Alabama 
delegation, I realized that our most significant duty is to help those 
who need us. Whether it is requesting assistance with the VA or another 
Federal agency, assisting with cleanup following a large-scale weather 
event, voicing an opinion, or booking tours of the U.S. Capitol, my 
doors have always remained open to each person I represent.
  I am thankful for the unique opportunities given to me by those who 
came before me, especially the chance to serve on several impactful 
committees, including Committee on Appropriations, Committee on the 
Judiciary, Committee on Agriculture, Committee on Armed Services, 
Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the Select Committee on 
Benghazi. Much

[[Page H7027]]

work has been done in each of these revered committees to impact the 
lives of my constituents, and for that, I am forever grateful.
  I have been asked many times over the past few months what will I 
miss the most upon my departure, and my answer has remained the same--
the relationships.
  The genuine friendships formed with my colleagues, my constituents, 
and so many others over the years, and interacting with these 
individuals on a daily basis is what I will truly miss the most. For 
many, this past year was and continues to be very challenging. We have 
all experienced plenty of unfamiliar hardships. Not only has the global 
health pandemic taken center stage, but America is marked by intense 
division and polarization. Every time you turn on the television, you 
see a depiction of disunity amongst the American people. I imagine many 
Americans struggle to believe that friendship can actually exist within 
the Halls of Congress.
  It is incumbent upon us, Members of Congress, to join forces and work 
together to get things done for the good of the American people. When 
we reach across the aisle and work with the other side to arrive at a 
compromise for the benefit of those we serve, we are truly at our best. 
I believe the American people are starving to see bipartisanship in 
action, especially during this time of much suffering and uncertainty. 
People want to know their leaders are working together for the common 
good and not just shouting each other down.
  My greatest hope and prayer moving forward is that all Members of 
Congress--new and old--regardless of party identification, beliefs, or 
opinions, will come together and work toward a common goal to deliver 
real results for the American people. I have faith in this institution, 
and I have faith in each of you.
  Now, I want to especially thank the people of the Second District. It 
is your faith and trust in me as your representative that helped me 
every step of the way. I am honored to have been given this incredibly 
unique opportunity, and I thank you for letting me be your voice in 
Congress.
  Together, we have been able to deliver some incredible results for 
our military, veterans, agricultural community, and the unborn. While 
we made much progress together, the fight is not finished.
  I want to thank my Congressional colleagues for your kindness and 
friendship throughout the years. Not too far into my time in Congress, 
I woke up realizing that the people I served with had become some of my 
very best friends. I am confident these relationships will continue, 
and I will certainly miss our time spent together having conversations 
about our families and encouraging one another.
  I want to thank my incredible staff, all former and present Members 
of Team Roby, for your hard work on behalf of the people of Alabama and 
our country. I know all Members say this, but I truly believe I have 
the greatest staff in the world. I would never be able to execute this 
job without the dedication and support of my staff. They have worked 
tirelessly to serve the people of the Second District. We have a 
special saying on our team: ``Once Team Roby, always Team Roby.''
  And lastly, I thank my husband, Riley, and our two children, Margaret 
and George, my parents, the Robys, and our entire village for 
supporting our decision to serve our country. Your steadfast love and 
constant support have carried us through the easy and the hard times, 
and I love each of you dearly.
  On behalf of Riley, Margaret, George, and myself, we sincerely thank 
all of you who made our service to our country in the great State of 
Alabama possible and those who offered their services along the way.
  Thank you, and for the very last time, I yield back.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I know that I speak for every Member of the 
House, particularly those of us who have had the privilege of knowing 
Martha Roby well and spending time with her, she is a decent and 
good representative. She is a wonderful representative of her State, 
and she has made this House a little better, and this country a little 
better, and we thank her for her service.


               Honoring the Life of Senator Paul Sarbanes

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, we were saddened to learn the other night 
when John called me and told me that his father had passed away. John 
Sarbanes, of course, is our colleague. He told me of the passing of a 
wonderful human being, with a great intellect, a wonderful wit, a sense 
of decency, great integrity and a sense of country, Paul Sarbanes.
  He was a gifted legislator, a wise adviser to all who sought his 
council. He brought great courage to his efforts for the people and 
great compassion for all who struggled to survive and succeed in their 
pursuit of happiness. I know that all of us serving in this House 
expresses our heartfelt condolences to his entire family, including his 
son, our colleague, John Sarbanes, a son of whom his father was 
extraordinarily proud.
  I went with John to see his dad not so long ago, and I was so glad I 
took the opportunity when I was in Baltimore to see him. A number of us 
had a wonderful opportunity to serve with Senator Sarbanes in the 
Congress. I had the privilege of serving with him for 4 years in the 
Maryland General Assembly and for 30 years in the Congress of the 
United States.
  Mr. Speaker, my friendship with Paul went back to the time when we 
were elected to the Maryland General Assembly in the same freshman 
class of 1966, before you were born, or close.
  Paul was elected to the House, and I was elected to the State Senate. 
Over the years, we came to look differently at which body was more 
important. He originally served in the House in Maryland, and I served 
in the Senate. We changed our perspective on which was the most 
important body.
  Serving together in the Maryland Congressional Delegation, we 
continued our partnership working for the people of our State and 
standing up for the principles we shared. And Paul was, at his core, a 
man of principle. Raised with the ethics of his immigrant parents, the 
foundation of his Greek Orthodox faith, and the values of his Baltimore 
neighborhood.
  Paul believed his first responsibility as a legislator was to ensure 
that government was always accountable to the people it served. He 
never wavered in that mission. When he saw evidence of the destruction 
of justice by President Nixon, he was the first to file Articles of 
Impeachment.
  In the Senate, he was an architect of what is now known as the 
Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which sought to protect investors from fraud in our 
financial markets, and to protect consumers as well. Transparency, 
accountability, and ethics were the watchwords of Paul Sarbanes.
  He was also a champion for a cleaner and healthier Chesapeake Bay. He 
understood that the bay is one of Maryland's and America's greatest 
treasures and most extraordinary asset.
  Mr. Speaker, I was proud to partner with him on efforts to protect 
the bay, as well as on so many other issues important to our State, 
including robust investment in education, protecting and enhancing 
civil rights, and making quality healthcare more affordable and 
accessible.
  Paul Sarbanes will be remembered as a man of substance and principle, 
of decency and warmth, of insight and vision. He left an indelible mark 
on this institution in which he served, and on the millions of people 
in Maryland and across our country, whose lives he enriched.
  As dean of the Maryland Delegation, it is my honor to open this hour 
of tribute and to yield to my friend and colleague, his son, of whom, 
as I said, he was so very proud, and we share his father's pride in his 
service in this institution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the majority leader for yielding. 
I thank you for your friendship with my father, Paul Sarbanes, for so 
many years. You go back with him a long way, and he cherished that 
friendship, as he did the relationship with all the members of the 
Maryland Delegation during the time that he served.
  I thank my colleagues here tonight who have come to help remember him 
and pay tribute.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my brother, Michael, and my sister, Janet, 
I thank

[[Page H7028]]

all the people who, over the last 48 hours, have been sending in these 
remembrances and tributes to my father from his time in the Senate, and 
before that, here in the House where he was for 6 years, and for time 
periods before that, even.
  I want to thank right up front, and in particular, his staff, who 
over the course of his 40 years in public service he understood were 
the ones that made him or broke him. He was a tough taskmaster, but he 
chose people that had that same set of principles and values and 
commitment to hard work. A lot of the tributes that have been coming in 
have talked about him being a workhorse, not a show horse. The idea 
that you put your head down, you get the job done, you try to build 
consensus where you can, but you always remember that you are here for 
a reason, that is to make good, strong policy that can help people.
  He lived a full life, he made a difference in the lives of others, 
which is all he ever wanted to do. He knew he wanted to be in politics 
from a very early age, but his motivation was in looking at the 
opportunities that he had, the son of Greek immigrants who came to this 
country with very little, and he had the opportunity for education and 
advancement. His motivation was to make those available to others.
  He loved being with people. He had a dry sense of humor. He enjoyed 
bantering with all who crossed his path, was intensely interested in 
the journey that others had taken to whatever station they held in 
life. And he was always asking: ``Where are you from?'' ``What do you 
do?'' ``What is next for you?''
  He had an inherent integrity that was strengthened by always striving 
to meet the expectations of those who put their confidence in him.
  In politics, he was motivated, as I said, by the burning conviction 
that every individual has dignity and the potential to succeed if given 
a fair shot, and he was determined others would have those same 
opportunities that he had enjoyed.

                              {time}  1930

  He understood that if you share the credit, if you don't seek credit, 
you get a lot more done. That was how he operated.
  A few years ago, I prevailed upon him to sit for about 20 hours of 
videotaped oral history because I wanted to make sure we captured the 
essence of his life and his career. So, we have this treasure, which we 
will make available to people as we move forward. I wanted, in his own 
words, to grab a few excerpts from that, that I think convey who he is 
and what he cared about.
  I remember I came home one time, and he was sitting in the living 
room on the couch, and he was revved up about something. I don't know 
what the issue was that day that had gotten him sort of motivated. But 
he banged on the side of the couch, and he said: ``I am for the little 
guy. I am for the little guy.'' He might as well, in that moment, have 
been stating his purpose in public life. That is what motivated him 
from the moment he got up in the morning until the moment he went to 
bed at night.
  I am going to read a couple of these things from his oral history. He 
talked about getting public housing, senior citizen affordable housing, 
in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. He was very proud of the fact that 
you had this senior citizen housing there.
  He said: ``Next door to it is an expensive hotel, and behind the 
hotel is a big condominium building with very expensive condominiums in 
it. Every time I go by that building, I get a sense of satisfaction out 
of it, particularly in the nice weather. I look up, and all of these 
seniors are sitting out on their terraces, looking out over the water.
  ``I know the developers would give their eyeteeth to get ahold of 
that piece of property, but they don't have it. It is part of this 
affordable housing initiative, so a lot of seniors who worked hard all 
their lives and are now retired but don't have a lot of money have the 
benefit of this housing.''
  He said: ``I always get a measure of satisfaction out of that.''
  We are in the midst, as we know, in our country of some really 
challenging moments addressing issues of justice. Here is a story about 
how my father, in a small way, made a statement around justice.
  He said: ``We had a situation in one of the rural towns on the 
Eastern Shore, and when they delivered the mail, the postman, he would 
come down the street here, and there would be these big houses, and he 
would go up to the house and put the mail in the mailbox. And then as 
he moved on down the street, the composition of the neighborhood would 
change, and the houses would get smaller, much smaller.
  ``The complexion of the people living in the houses changed, too, as 
you went down the street, so they went from White to Black. And down 
the street, instead of the postman going through the gate or whatever 
and up to the house, they were going to require those people to put a 
postbox at the street. So, some people came to us about that, a couple 
of pastors or ministers, and they pointed out this situation.
  ``So, I got the postal people in for a meeting in my office,'' my 
father said. ``'Now, what is happening here? As I understand it, up 
here with the big houses and the White residents, you are going to 
continue to go up to the house and put the mail through the door slot. 
But when you get down this way to the little houses and the African-
American residents, you are going to require them to put a mail 
receptacle out at the pavement or at the curb, and you are not going to 
go up to the house anymore. What is the rationale for this policy?'
  ``Well, of course, if you lay it out like that, there isn't a 
rationale, at least not an acceptable one that can withstand the light 
of day. So, they dropped the project and went on delivering the mail.''
  Here is what my father said: ``That is the way it ought to work. And 
I felt it is not a big issue, but we got some justice done for those 
people.''
  Small things that stand for big principles, that is what he was 
about.
  I am going to close with just a couple of final thoughts here. First 
of all, I want to thank the Greek-American community, which was 
fiercely proud of my father's achievements. He was deeply proud of 
where he came from. It was an inspiration to him in public service. I 
want to thank so many who helped him along the way from that community.
  My mother, Christine, who died 10 years ago, she came into his life 
like a bolt of lightning. He didn't know what hit him. He met her at 
Oxford, this brilliant, beautiful woman who could match him step for 
step in her intellect, and she knocked his socks off.
  I think the great regret of his life was that he had hoped in his 
retirement--you know, public life is hard. We know that. I think all 
along the way, he was looking forward to that time when the two of them 
could spend more time together. Unfortunately, she passed away within a 
couple of years of his retirement, and they didn't get that opportunity 
together. I don't think he ever fully recovered from that.
  I think about his legacy, and I understand, certainly, that there is 
no way his children--myself; my brother, Michael; and my sister, 
Janet--are ever going to match that legacy because it is a pretty 
unmatchable one when you look at the record. But I think we are all 
doing what we can to continue it, to nurture it, to sustain it going 
forward.
  Again, I thank you for the time to speak here, and I thank my 
colleagues for all of your support and kind words over the last couple 
of days.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the son of a great man, who that 
great man would say is a great son. He loved John, but he respected 
John. He believed that John was enhancing the Sarbanes legacy, and he 
was right.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, with the 
expectation that Mr. Trone from our State will continue to recognize 
other Members from our delegation who want to speak.

                          ____________________