[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 194 (Wednesday, December 14, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H9732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FAREWELL TO CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Lamb) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LAMB. Mr. Speaker, this is my last speech.
  The first time that I walked in here, I looked all around the Chamber 
the way that new Members do, and it really struck me that there are 
only two paintings in here. They are right behind me now. One is of 
George Washington and the other is of General Lafayette.
  I think what struck me is that neither man ever served in this House, 
but on that first day, I felt that they were looking right at me and 
saying, we have a message for you: Don't take this place for granted. 
Other people had to fight for us to be able to do what we do in here.
  On that first day, I had no idea that within less than 3 years, the 
D.C. police and the Capitol Police would have to fight for us again 
right here, that hundreds of them would be injured, that some of them 
would give their lives just so that we can walk back in that night and 
do our job.
  I saw a recent poll that showed that just 21 percent of Americans 
approve of the job that we do in here; 75 percent of Americans 
disapprove. And most of us know why that is. We have been in our 
Congressional districts during a government shutdown and after we fail 
to pass yet another bill that most Americans support, and also because 
the bad news about this place travels much farther and much faster than 
the good news ever does.
  But I just keep thinking about how those officers fought for this 
place. They fought for us. And I think they would do it all over again 
if you asked them to.
  We can take confidence in that fact. We can take confidence in the 
fact that this institution did its job on January 7, hours after being 
attacked on January 6. We can take confidence in the fact that since 
then our fellow Americans have continued to reject so many candidates 
around the country who are not committed to this democracy.
  If I could only make one observation on my way out the door here, is 
that I think we all have to be confident about this institution and we 
should be more confident in ourselves.
  Our failures are noticed more. We all know that. But our successes 
are real. And we have to value those successes because they are a 
credit to people like Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick or to 
Representative John Lewis or to a young Air Force staff sergeant from 
my district named Dylan Elchin, people who sacrificed and shed blood 
for this democracy and for what it means.
  The things that we have done in here and that you will continue to do 
next term reflect the greatness of these people. I keep thinking about 
these brown cardboard boxes of food that the Department of Agriculture 
put together during the pandemic. They rushed them to food banks, and I 
loaded a lot of these boxes into people's cars when I was back in my 
district.
  These were honest and good people. In their trunks, these were people 
that had work boots and tools; they never thought they were going to 
need something from a food bank. But it was our votes that fed those 
people and gave them help in their hour of need.
  I could go on and on about the things that we have done in this room 
that are so special. My staff knows I talk endlessly about the fact 
that our district was home to the first-ever civilian nuclear power 
plant, and its successor power plant was at risk when we came into 
office. It is now secure because of the bipartisan infrastructure bill 
and the Inflation Control Act; thousands and thousands of jobs, clean 
power that our region needs in investment and science.
  I would talk about the teamsters and the miners and how we saved 
their pension if I had time.
  How we rebuilt a bridge in Pittsburgh in less than 1 year because of 
Federal funds.
  How the microchips and hydrogen that we have set aside money for are 
themselves an expression of so much confidence in our future in this 
country.
  My time is up, so I will just say that I don't want to deny that we 
have our problems in this country, we definitely do, but I have only 
been here for 4 years, and it is obvious to me that we have everything 
we need to be successful. For an Irish guy, that is a very emotional 
thought, but I have seen it.
  When I was a kid, I had this plaque that my grandmother gave me that 
said the words of St. Paul, which were that we have a responsibility to 
stir into flame all the gifts that God has given us.
  God has given this country so many incredible gifts. I just think we 
have to be worthy of that. We have to honor our inheritance; and on our 
best days, for the last 4\1/2\ years, we have done that. It has been 
the honor of my life to do that.
  Mr. Speaker, to all my colleagues, I just say that I am confident in 
you. I know what you all are capable of and what this institution is 
capable of.
  To my constituents, I say thank you. It has been a tremendous 
privilege to be here in your name.

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