[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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