[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 112 (Monday, July 8, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H4459-H4460]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING THOMAS HAGER BLATNIK ON HIS RETIREMENT FROM HOUSE SERGEANT 
                                AT ARMS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Beyer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Thomas Hager 
Blatnik on his 37 years of service to the U.S. House of 
Representatives.
  For over 37 years, Tom worked right here in the U.S. Capitol. Shortly 
after graduating from Curry College, he started at the Capitol, working 
for the Doorkeeper of the House. Over the course of his career, he 
worked under five different Sergeants at Arms.
  He was a familiar face to many in the House galleries and check 
stands, where he greeted hundreds of thousands of visitors. He loved 
the jobs he held, and it showed. He considered it a genuine honor to 
work every day in an important place where policy decisions were made 
and debated and laws were being passed.
  He took special pride in working in the same place as his father, 
Congressman John A. Blatnik, who represented Minnesota's Eighth 
District for 28 years. Like his father, Tom enjoyed sharing information 
and giving tours of the Capitol, and he never missed a chance to give 
mementos of the Capitol Building to friends, family, and others he 
thought would enjoy a token of the place that was so special to him.

  Tom had great admiration and affection for colleagues he worked with 
in the Office of the Sergeant at Arms and for the Capitol Police. He 
valued and admired their dedication, hard work, and bravery and stayed 
in close touch with many of them after they retired or moved on.

[[Page H4460]]

  He genuinely and deeply cared for others. He had enormous empathy for 
those with disabilities and those for whom life presented special 
challenges because he was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. When 
Congress passed the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, 
it was deeply meaningful to him, and he considered it a privilege both 
to be in the front row seat of the House gallery for the debate and was 
honored to join legislators and other special guests at the White House 
for the signing of the act into law.
  I offer my hearty congratulations to Tom and thank him for nearly 
four decades of service to the U.S. House.

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