[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 183 (Tuesday, December 10, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H6542]
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 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor for the last time I 
will address this Chamber after 28 years in Congress.
  My goal as a Member of Congress was to leave this place a little 
better than I found it, and I am proud of what we have done. There are 
things that you are not going to see on FOX or MSNBC News, Mr. Speaker, 
and it is not going to rocket around the internet, but they are simple, 
commonsense efforts to bring people together to solve problems.
  At the beginning of each Congress for the last dozen years, I have 
given each new Member, hand-delivered, my thoughts about what they need 
to know to be able to navigate these strange waters in Congress.
  Together, we have been able to achieve some interesting things, as I 
say, items you don't see in the news necessarily, Mr. Speaker, but that 
have made a huge difference.
  I am proud of the work we have done with international water and 
sanitation that has resulted in millions of people having their lives 
saved and reducing the burdens on 140 million women who struggle to get 
water, often dirty water, for their families every day.
  I am proud of the work I have done in terms of agriculture reform 
because it is past time that we stop subsidizing a diet that makes 
Americans sick.
  I am proud of the work we did in the midst of the pandemic to create 
the Restaurant Rescue Plan: 100,000 grants that have resulted in many 
independent restaurants that were able to stay in business.
  I am proud of the work we have done with transportation and 
infrastructure to rebuild and renew America. Instead of having 
infrastructure week be a joke, we are actually doing it.
  I am proud of the work that I have done, for example, in terms of 
bicycling, symbolized by the bike lanes in the middle of Pennsylvania 
Avenue, making it easier for people to burn calories instead of fossil 
fuel and transform the face of our communities.
  I am proud of the work that we have done dealing in terms of saving 
the lives of Iraqis and Afghans who put their trust in us when they 
were helping our people in those troubled countries. You don't have to 
believe in the wars, Mr. Speaker, I didn't, but I worked to make sure 
that the men and women who were the drivers, the guides, and the 
interpreters were not left to the tender mercies of al-Qaida and the 
Taliban.
  Together we were able, with Senator McCain and Senator Kennedy, to 
pass a Special Immigrant Visa that has resulted in thousands of these 
people who worked with us to be able to live and, in many cases, to be 
able to seek safety in the United States.
  As I say, these are not things that people necessarily see in the 
news or on the internet. They are not going to raise campaign money for 
their goals using them, but they are the things that make the 
difference.
  I guess my last piece of advice that I leave to the people who are 
coming in the next Congress is to focus on things that bring people 
together rather than divide them and to look for ways to solve problems 
rather than to create new ones.
  Over the course of the last 28 years, I have seen this formula work, 
and I hope in the new Congress people will employ it in ways that will 
make a difference.
  Heaven knows we need to do it.

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