[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 95 (Tuesday, June 4, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H3637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING KELLY DIXON
(Mr. SCALISE asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute.)
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I know from time to time we pause here in
this Chamber to pay respect to some of the people that actually make
this great institution work. The House staff, many times behind the
scenes, do incredible work, some for an entire career, year after year,
helping all of us do the things that we came here to do.
Today, unfortunately, is one of the days where we are marking the end
of the 26-year career of Kelly Dixon.
Mr. Speaker, Kelly started her career in 1998 here in the Capitol
working for Ken Calvert and, over the years, worked for a number of
Members, worked for leadership, and now is the staff director for the
Rules Committee. We all know how easy it is to work for the Rules
Committee, the incredibly, incredibly difficult work they do, late at
night oftentimes, getting the rules prepared so that this House can
conduct its business.
Kelly has been in that role since 2019. We are going to have Mr. Cole
talk about that in a moment, but I first yield to the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), my friend.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. We won't
have a colloquy, however.
Mr. SCALISE. We miss those days, though.
Mr. HOYER. Which we had so many, many times.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to talk about a person who has made a great
difference in this institution for the Republican Party and for the
Democratic Party, a person who brought great judgment, great skill, a
love for this institution and its Members, and a love for her country.
Unfortunately, the public does not get to see the extraordinary
contributions that our staff make, whether they are on the floor, as
Kelly has been for many years, or in committees, or in our offices.
{time} 1630
Kelly Dixon is one of the best of a very, very distinguished group of
people.
Kelly Dixon ran the floor with Shuwanza Goff of my staff, who now, as
you probably know, is the Director of Legislative Affairs for the
President and with Alexis Covey-Brandt, who was my floor director and
then my chief of staff, who is now senior counselor to our Governor.
Kelly will now go on to greener pastures. I use that word advisedly.
They are very fortunate to have her services. She is smart. She is
engaging. She is personable. She is experienced. She always tries to do
the right thing.
As all of us know, this floor gets pretty hot at times. The two
parties differ greatly. Sometimes the parties disagree with each other
greatly. Sometimes we disagree with the Chair. Sometimes we even
disagree with the Parliamentarian.
Kelly was a calming voice, a voice of reason, a voice for a democracy
that worked civilly. We will miss Kelly Dixon.
She is not leaving town, so hopefully we are going to see you, Kelly,
from time to time, day to day, month to month, and we will have the
opportunity to continue to learn from your experience, to have the
pleasure of your company.
Jim McGovern in his statement said: ``I love Kelly.'' I join Mr.
McGovern in that sentiment. I love you, Kelly. You have made our work
in this place better, and you have made our lives in this place better.
We thank you.
Godspeed.
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for
those wonderful comments.
For the last few years, Kelly served as the staff director for the
Rules Committee and most of that time working with our now-
Appropriations chair, but then Rules chair.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I thank very much, Leader Scalise, for
yielding. I also thank my friend from Maryland for those incredibly
kind and gracious remarks.
Mr. Speaker, in the history of my State, there is a great political
figure, former Governor, former Congressman, his son was later a
Governor, he was once asked what makes a great public servant, and he
said to look for three qualities: First, look for somebody too honest
to be bought. If you think you could buy Kelly Dixon whether it was
with money or flattery or kindness, because she is not susceptible to
kindness, or any other way, you can't. You were always going to get an
honest answer, a straight opinion, and a straight call on any issue.
The second thing he said is to look for somebody too wise to be fooled.
If you think you can fool Kelly Dixon, you are the fool because she
sees clearly and sharply. She judges people wisely and well. She judges
the institution and the motives well. I don't think I have ever seen
her fooled or flustered in her life. Finally, he said to look for
somebody too courageous to be intimidated.
Now, who the hell here thinks they can intimidate Kelly Dixon? She
intimidates you, but she does it for a wise and a good purpose. I did
have the great fortune to have followed her most of her career and then
obviously got to work with her very closely at Rules, and I can tell
you several things about her.
Number one, there is nobody in this institution that has a better
friend than Kelly Dixon. It doesn't matter which side of the aisle you
are on. It is the way she treats you, the way she responds to you. She
is your friend. There is nobody in this Chamber that has a better
staffer than Kelly Dixon.
She started with my friend, Ken Calvert. She has held some of the
most senior and responsible positions in our Conference and she has had
the respect of her peers and colleagues and the Members on the other
side of the aisle. That is a hard thing to do to command that kind of
respect in this Chamber.
The other thing I will tell you about her is, she is also the
ultimate institutionalist. Everybody has in a long career a finest
hour, a moment of supreme effectiveness in a worthy cause. I think
Kelly Dixon's finest hour was in the 3 weeks of turmoil that we had
when we lost a Speaker. She was a preeminent staffer for the Speaker
pro tempore. She helped us through a difficult period and kept us
together and kept us focused, and we ended up where we needed to be in
an orderly way.
I think it was absolutely an heroic moment, not one that most people
had an opportunity to witness, but I bet you if Patrick McHenry was
speaking, he would get up and tell you exactly the same thing.
I would say that, too, for the way in which she has performed to help
our Speaker, Speaker Johnson, get set up, get established, and move
forward.
This is a complex institution with great traditions, and nobody knows
those traditions and knows this institution better than Kelly Dixon.
Kelly, we are all going to miss you, but nobody is going to miss you
more than me and, frankly, nobody is going to ever replace you. Thank
you for what you have done for this institution.
Mr. SCALISE. Kelly, after 26 years, you have earned everything that
is ahead of you. We will miss you here, but even better things are
ahead. Thank you for all you did for this institution, this United
States House of Representatives. God bless you in the future.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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