[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 70 (Saturday, April 20, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   REFLECTING ON MY TIME IN CONGRESS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MIKE GALLAGHER

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Saturday, April 20, 2024

  Mr. GALLAGHER. Mr. Speaker, last year, my efforts to ensure foreign 
adversaries can't control American social media applications was 
declared dead, and TikTok's lobbyists were celebrating. Today, I'm 
proud to say its on the path to passing the Senate and headed to the 
President's desk. The CCP's last ditch attempts to destroy the bill and 
me personally failed.
  And though I didn't expect to have to prioritize my family and leave 
Congress early, I'll confess this is how I always wanted to go out. On 
top, with the select committee at the height of its influence, having 
just passed the most consequential bill of my career, perhaps the most 
consequential bill of this Congress, and having just completed two 
historic investigations. And with FISA and these national security 
supplemental across the finish line, this Congress has completed its 
most important homework, for which the Speaker deserves enormous 
credit.
  I firmly believe the Speaker has emerged on the other side of this 
stronger and a statesman. Any Motion to Vacate will fail, the 
Republican majority will grow as three special election seats get 
filled in the coming weeks, and what remains of this Congress will 
involve bipartisan oversight and legislation. And though I will be 
stepping away from politics, I think after this week my Republican 
colleagues will have a strong case to make come November, that they 
held the line for freedom at home and abroad.
  It's typical at moments such as these to say ``I have no regrets.'' 
This is true legislatively and professionally. I accomplished my 
mission and got to chair the most significant committee in the 118th 
congress. Yet I have a lingering personal regret. I wish I had devoted 
more time to building personal relationships with my colleagues. Our 
time here is frenetic: filled with overlapping committee hearings and 
constant fundraising events. It's hard to carve out time just to get to 
know your colleagues, to understand their background and motivation, 
and thereby develop trust.
  Where I was able to do that, with Senator Angus King my co-chair on 
the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, and with Raja Krishnamoorthi on the 
China committee, it produced the biggest legislative successes of my 8 
years. Put differently, my effectiveness as Congressman wasn't 
primarily a function of intellect or op-ed writing prowess and 
certainly not fundraising, it was a direct result of forging 
friendships across our caucus and maybe more importantly across the 
aisle.
  So if there's a lesson in that for my successor or any of my 
colleagues it's after a grueling day of a thousand meetings, still make 
the effort to get that beer with a member you don't know that well. 
Drink more, tweet less. Get to know your colleagues in real life before 
trashing them on social media. At the end of the day, Republicans and 
Democrats, we're all Americans, citizens of the greatest country in the 
history of the world. Even on our worst day the world is looking to us 
for leadership. God bless America.

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