[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 185 (Thursday, December 12, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H7126-H7130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FAREWELL TO CONGRESS
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. McCormick). Under the Speaker's
announced policy of January 9, 2023, the gentleman from West Virginia
(Mr. Mooney) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the
majority leader.
Mr. MOONEY. Mr. Speaker, it has been the greatest honor of my life to
serve the people of West Virginia in the United States House of
Representatives over the past 10 years.
I was elected on November 4, 2014. Believe it or not, back then West
Virginia wasn't a safe Republican State. I only won by 3 percentage
points in a tough election. The good people of West Virginia's Second
District have trusted me with the privilege by electing me four more
times, so five times in total, to represent them for these past 10
years.
I did not seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives. I ran
for another office, which I did not win, so my time will come to a
close at noon on January 3. I have actually enjoyed educating a lot of
folks about how this works here, and the Constitution dictates
specifically the time at which you are no longer a Congressman. It is
exactly at noon on January 3. And at that time, my 10 years in office
will come to an end.
During my first 8 years in Congress, I represented 17 beautiful
counties from the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, where I live, all
the way down to Charleston and Kanawha County. That is the part in the
red here through the middle of the State.
After the 2020 Census was done, West Virginia lost one of our three
seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, so for the past 2 years I
have represented 27 counties across the northern half of
[[Page H7127]]
our State, the top part of the State there. I had the uncomfortable,
unfortunate experience of having to run against another incumbent
Member of Congress in that election. I did prevail. It has been a great
privilege to represent half the State just these past 2 years.
While West Virginia is one of the smaller States in terms of
population, its geography is vast. It takes 6 hours to drive from one
end of my district to the other, so I have traveled thousands of miles,
meeting wonderful, hardworking taxpayers in West Virginia. In fact, one
of my favorite things to do is, when I am driving basically 6 hours
from one end of my district to the other, is stop in every little town
at the barber shops, thrift stores, general stores, and just say hi to
folks.
I have found that most folks have actually never met their
Congressman or have ever met any Congressman. I take great pleasure in
just popping in, even unannounced, saying hi to folks, letting them
know we are there and we are here to help. I consider it a great honor
and privilege to be able to do that.
My wife, Dr. Grace Gonzalez Mooney, and I are proud to call West
Virginia home. We are, in fact, West Virginians by choice. We chose to
move there from another State, an intentional choice we made that we
are very proud of, and we are certainly not leaving.
I am grateful my wife has supported me unwaveringly over the past
decade and even before. This is tough on the family, this business, so
I really thank my wife. We have shared many triumphs and challenges
through those years.
On October 13, 2014, our bonus baby, we call her, our daughter
Gabrielle--we call her Gabby--was born at Women and Children's Hospital
in Charleston, West Virginia. She is now 10 years old, and she knows I
will be home more next year. Being in Congress has meant missing a lot
of time with family, but West Virginia has educational freedom, which
is great, so we homeschooled our children, allowing us to spend more
time together.
I have watched my children grow and thrive over the years. I am proud
of my son, Lucas, a junior at Princeton. He is an expert in jujitsu. My
daughter Cami, who is a gifted singer, is a freshman at Vanderbilt. I
am excited to spend more time with them as I step away. I thank my
three children for their love and support.
When I first arrived in Congress, one of my top priorities was
addressing the opioid overdose crisis that was ravaging our State. The
opioid epidemic is a tragedy that knows no bounds. It doesn't matter
the color of your skin, if you live in a city or a rural area, if you
are rich or poor, drug addiction is ravaging this country everywhere. I
was proud that the first law I had changed was based on my bill called
the PROP Act, Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing Act.
{time} 1100
This simple, yet important, piece of legislation simply sought to
reduce unnecessary access to narcotic pain medications, thus lowering
the risk of addiction.
I actually had a meeting with the West Virginia Medical Society my
first term in Congress in Charleston, and they brought this to my
attention. Doctors said that according to the newly passed Affordable
Care Act there are provisions that allow the reimbursements to be
reduced if patients complained that they didn't get the drugs they
wanted. Studies have shown 70 percent of people addicted to drugs start
with legally prescribed drugs.
Doctors are trying to do the right thing and not prescribe drugs to
people who don't absolutely really need it. They don't want to cause
more drug addiction, and for that they had to risk being penalized and
not being reimbursed, have their reimbursements reduced.
They complained about this quite strongly to me, and I took action. I
put in a bill to stop it. It was a bipartisan bill. We had 30
Republican cosponsors and 30 Democratic cosponsors. The Department of
Health was dug in. They wouldn't acknowledge the problem. They wouldn't
change it. They fought back against it. We had a hearing, and there was
no opposition. Later that year the Department of Health just took the
exact language of my bill. They agreed with me, and they took word for
word the legal language of my bill and made it the new law of the
Department of Health ensuring that doctors could never be penalized for
not giving prescription drugs.
That was the first law I had changed, and I am proud of that.
I led support for the coal miners and families with the STREAM Act,
Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining.
The bill blocked anti-coal regulation from the Obama administration,
preserving we estimate 77,000 good high-paying jobs in West Virginia
and also across the Nation. The passage of the STREAM Act was crucial
protecting our way of life in West Virginia.
Throughout my time in Congress, my colleagues know I fought for a
term, what we call regular order in the appropriations process,
actually passing the spending bills on time, reasserting the power of
the purse that, again, the Constitution specifically and only puts in
this Chamber right here, not in the Senate and not to the President.
The Constitution says that only this Chamber can initiate spending or
taxation. That is something we have gotten away from doing. We pass
these things called continuing resolutions where we give all the money
to the President to do whatever he wants, and that is not right.
I firmly believe that the government works best when Congress uses
its constitutional power of the purse to hold Federal agencies
accountable. We don't live in a bureaucracy in a bureaucratic-run
government. We live in a democracy, a republic with democratic
elections. It is crucial that we prioritize our districts and the needs
of the American people rather than allowing bureaucrats to dictate
policy behind closed doors and just give them the money.
Believe it or not, it almost sounds like living history, but when I
was first elected, President Obama was in office, and it felt like our
Nation was, frankly, losing their identity. I am convinced that
President Trump's election in 2016 helped steer our country back on
course. I stood behind President Trump through two politically
motivated impeachment trials and against the partisan witch hunt of the
January 6 Committee.
While I believe in robust political debate, the weaponization of
government against President Trump was unprecedented, and many American
people, as well. I am proud to have fought back. I am heartened by the
support Trump and other conservatives continue to receive across this
Nation.
As a member of the Financial Services Committee, I worked tirelessly
to protect small businesses and to defend industries vital to our
State: coal, oil, natural gas, and many others, financial services,
banks, and even small banks that provide you loans you need to buy a
home or start a small business. These people provide very important
services.
People would stop and say: What are you going to get done? We have
got a new Congress coming in.
We can get things done. It isn't easy. The political process isn't
easy and simple, you have to fight for it, but we can get things done.
In 2017 and 2018, we worked to repeal some of the most harmful
provisions of the Obama-era Dodd-Frank law. It was called the Economic
Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law
by President Trump. It passed the House, and it passed the Senate with
bipartisan support in the Senate. We had a coalition of some Democrats
and most Republicans, but on May 24, 2018, that bill was signed into
law.
Now West Virginia banks and banks across the country are not subject
to many of the costly regulations that hurt economic growth.
This Congress, I fought against government overreach. I introduced an
amendment to block the Federal Reserve from the digital dollar program,
a move that would open the door to government control of our personal
transactions similar to what you see in China. We have to defend our
freedoms from government overreach.
During my entire time in public service, from the time I ran for
State senate through today, I have been passionate about the right to
protect all human life, including unborn babies. It has been a
privilege to lead the Life and Conception Act which seeks to protect
the most vulnerable among us, the unborn.
[[Page H7128]]
Following the Supreme Court's historic decision in Dobbs, States now
have full authority to protect life from the moment of concept. My
bill, the Life and Conception Act, is a biological fact. Joe Biden
agrees with my bill. He said it last year that he believes life begins
at conception. They used to teach this in school in biology classes
across the country. In public schools they would teach that all human
life begins at conception. That is just simply a fact. You can
have different views on things, but it is a fact of life that life
begins at conception. I am proud that most of my Republican colleagues
have supported my legislation, and urge folks to continue to fight for
all human life as we go forward.
I have a few closing comments and folks I want to thank, but I do
want to yield to some of my colleagues who are here in the Chamber to
reflect, and I appreciate them being here.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Griffith).
Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much for
yielding.
I am pleased to be here to today to say a few things about my friend,
and I will say the nice ones. I am teasing. They are all nice.
I do appreciate having that opportunity. I was listening to the
gentleman's comments and was very moved because I think that people
sometimes don't realize what Congressmen go through. We volunteered to
do this job, so I know you are not complaining, and I am not
complaining. The fact that you choked up a little bit when you started
talking about your family, it meant a lot to me. I know it means a lot
to you because we have had numerous conversations in your decade here.
We have done a lot of things together, and you are always talking about
your kids, what is going on and how they are doing.
I have even given you rides home or part of the way home. For those
watching, I would drop him off at the McDonald's in Front Royal and
someone would pick him up from West Virginia, but I would at least get
him that far.
Our districts came close to touching, but we never actually did
touch. It also gave me an opportunity on one occasion to travel with
Alex throughout the district.
He said that he likes to stop in the barber shops and the little
stores. We did that one day. Specifically I remember stopping in that
little pizza shop. I still can't pronounce the name of the town. I
think it is Ghent. I might have it wrong, but it is not spelled that
way.
We did have a little bit a schedule, and he was wanting to talk to
more and more people, and every now and again I would have to say: All
right, Alex, we don't have time to talk to everybody.
That is just the way Alex is. He is a great individual.
You talked about, and I have to concur, having had numerous
philosophical conversations with you, that you have been one of the
strongest conservative voices during your time in the House.
I was talking with another Member, and Alex happened to be present,
and we were talking about things. He made some point on what we needed
to do to push the conservative cause forward to make America great and
better as we move forward.
The other guy said: Yeah, it is what we are going to miss. We will
miss that, Alex.
That is because we would be sitting trying to figure out how
complicated it was and how you would maneuver this and that, and Alex
would say: No. Here is what you do. You just go straightforward and
tell people the facts.
That is what you have always done, and it has been greatly
appreciated.
Last, but not least, through those 10 years we have developed a
friendship, and that is a friendship that will be a lifetime
friendship. We will continue to do things together, as I know that you
have a servant's heart and will continue to want to serve the people of
West Virginia. The people you represent in West Virginia are not that
different from the people that I represent in southwest Virginia. It is
not West Virginia, but southwest Virginia. Of course, as you know, I
believe the two States should never have been cleaved apart because,
particularly, in western portions of Virginia, we are very much
culturally, spiritually, and politically aligned.
I appreciate you, and I look forward to working with you in whatever
capacity you serve in next.
Mr. MOONEY. I appreciate your friendship over the years, Mr.
Griffith. I will certainly miss my colleagues. I will come back and
visit. It is not that far away. I appreciate you taking some time. I
know you are getting home to your family.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my other colleague from Virginia,
Congressman Bob Good, who, like me, is going to head to private life
at least some period of time on January 3 of next year.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good), who
is also from Virginia.
Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Mr. Alex
Mooney; and my other good friend, Morgan Griffith, from Virginia. These
were two of the guys who helped me with some of the logistics and
things that you need to know when you come to Congress. I appreciate
the investment you made in me.
I am from central Virginia, so our districts don't touch, but Alex
Mooney came to my district when very few wanted to when I had defeated
an establishment incumbent, moderate RINO, shall we say, for the
nomination in the summer of 2020. I was being outspent nearly 10 to 1
in the general. Not many people were coming to my district and helping
me out.
While we are border States, it is a good 5 hours or so for you to get
to my district, and you showed up. You helped me with an event. You
helped me more than only one other Member of Congress with fundraising
and financial support. You directed many of your supporters to help me
during a time when I really needed that.
I certainly also consider you a lifelong friend. As someone who was
never in danger of going to an Ivy League school, you are one of the
few Ivy League conservatives whom I know from your time at Dartmouth.
Mr. GRIFFITH. Are there others?
Mr. GOOD of Virginia. I am stretching to think of others, but I think
of one who just got nominated for Defense Secretary. He is an Ivy
Leaguer. I don't know him personally.
However, the job you have done in your family, to have your son come
behind you who is a conservative leader at Princeton, to have your
daughter who is a freshman at an Ivy League-like SEC school in
Vanderbilt shows the example that you have had for your children and
the way your children have wanted to be involved in what you are doing
here. I have met them on several occasions along with your lovely wife.
Thank you for standing on principle. When I came to Congress 4 years
ago with the life issue being one of the most important, if not the
most important issue, to me, to know when I got here that you were the
sponsor of the Life and Conception Act, and I was quick to sign on and
let you know I wanted to be a cosigner of that and to stand alongside
you. The issue that is the ultimate issue, it is literally life and
death, it is the number one killer in this country.
I often refer to what happened 2\1/2\ years ago with the Dobbs
decision politically in this body is the great departure as some in our
Conference and in our party don't want to talk about the issue now that
the responsibility or opportunity is there for us to lead on this
issue. I thank you that you have led on that issue.
You have never been one of the guys who is the loudest voice in the
room and who is doing all the talking. A lot of people in this body and
in this Chamber like the sound of their own voice. When you do take the
mike, you always were strong, compassionate, and effective in making
your case in what you were trying to persuade the rest of us to do. I
have admired that.
I admired your courage where you could have stayed in this seat for
as long as you wanted to. One of the great problems here in this body
is it is full of people whose goal is just to be here so they can stay
here. They can be here for as long as they can be here, hopefully to
die here, I guess, is what so many of their priority is, while you
risked a very safe seat and gave it up to run statewide.
While many of us supported you, as my colleague from Virginia just
spoke about, Mr. Griffith, we fell short of that objective. We can only
hope that
[[Page H7129]]
the person who was elected to that Senate seat in West Virginia will
give them the conservative representation they deserve and that you
would have given them if you had prevailed in that race.
I thank you for the example you set, I thank you for your friendship
to me, and thank you for how you represented West Virginia. You have
been a passionate and unashamed conservative. It has been a privilege
to serve alongside you.
Mr. MOONEY. My good friend from California on the other side of the
coast, a lot of similar issues, and I have gotten to know this
Congressman for a long time since I have been here. There were many
social gatherings and things. I am going to miss the relationships with
my friends, but I thank Congressman Doug LaMalfa for sticking around to
say a few words.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).
Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I am here with mixed feelings here.
Of course, I want to be here to honor Alex, but I am sorry we have
to.
I can echo a lot of the words our colleagues have said here too for
your standing up and being forthright, and the reason you wanted to
take a bold step to be able to represent the people in the entire State
of West Virginia.
You have done, as the map shows, one-half of the State already, which
is pretty amazing. I come from California where I represent one-fifty-
second, for those who are keeping score.
I really value your friendship. You have been one of my best friends
in my legislative years. I appreciate that a lot.
Our good pal, Tony Strickland, from southern California is the one
who put us together here.
I have known Tony ever since I first ran in the State legislature
many years ago. He said: You have to check out Alex, he is great.
He was absolutely right. You have been a strong voice as a patriot
for our basic freedoms. You have always done it with a sense of humor
and a good flair that people want to be around you. They want to be a
part of what you are doing.
Tony is proud of you down there in SoCal. I am proud of you as a
friend. It is like what Tony is doing as a beacon of light and freedom
in that place, here you fought for that in West Virginia, and I do have
to kind of look at some the parallels we have with northern California.
West Virginia decided back around the Civil War that they wanted to
break away because they didn't agree with a whole lot of what was going
on in all of Virginia. We have a whole bunch of us in northern
California who want to break away with the rest of the State because we
don't agree with a whole lot going on in the urban part of California
either. We have a common bond there with that spirit.
I enjoy your State. I enjoy the visits I have been able to make
there. I want to be able to continue to do more with you as we go on,
whether it is business or the fun stuff with some of the professional
cage fighting we have enjoyed together a few times there, too.
Of course, getting to know your son a little bit, it has been fun
along the way. You have a great legacy coming in behind you.
With that, I don't want to go on and on or maybe get this to be too
emotional or something, but I appreciate you, Alex. You are a good man,
and I know there is a lot more for you in the future here, for you to
be able to continue to give, to help strengthen our country, to
strengthen your State and our people.
God bless you. You are a dear friend. I appreciate you. Best wishes
and God's blessings on your travels.
{time} 1115
Mr. MOONEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments.
Mr. Speaker, I didn't plan the hour out. I just came to the floor to
say good-bye and mention a few of my colleagues. If you want to stick
around to say something, please do. I appreciate you three sticking
around. There may be one yet to come.
One thing I am going to miss is my colleagues. There are a lot of
frustrations in this job, but it is still an honor to do it.
I would say to my colleagues that we have friends on both sides of
the aisle. We all do. It is not as partisan a place as people think,
and I would say a bipartisan comment: Most of us come down here wanting
to help our country and make it a better place and to fight for what we
believe in.
People often ask: Why do you do this kind of thing? Why do you run
for Congress? What is your motivation?
They don't really understand that. I think sometimes they think it is
all about power and other things, but it is really to serve your faith.
I know, along with my colleagues here, we run to serve our faith. I
am a practicing Roman Catholic. That is important to me. I also know
that my faith demanded involvement in the public policy process, and
that is why we run.
I am glad that the gentleman who I endorsed early on, Riley Moore,
who is taking my seat, shares the same values. The new Governor of West
Virginia, Patrick Morrisey, is a good friend, and I think he is going
to do great things for our State. The process goes on, and people come
in.
The values you are raised with are important. I am blessed to be the
middle of three boys.
I have an older brother, Vincent, who is a college professor. He has
been a great role model for me growing up in many ways, including faith
and family. He is a lot smarter than me. He got his Ph.D. and teaches
electrical engineering. I didn't have the gift of that, but he has been
a great role model.
I have a younger brother by 1 year named Pat, and we shared a room
growing up as kids. He has always been helping me in every way he can.
I don't know how people do this without family, to be honest with
you.
My baby sister--I say the middle of three boys, but we have the
youngest, who is the fourth, my little sister, Margarita, who is always
praying for me and helping me in every way she can.
I know there is so much love and support from my siblings. That
matters a lot, and I thank them for standing with me as really the only
politician in the family, other than my uncle, who was the mayor of
Miami, and my cousin, who is the mayor of Miami. That is Miami. That is
the Suarez part, my mother's side. In my immediate family, I am the one
who all the family surrounded to help.
My father was taken home a little early in 2001 at the age of 57. He
had strokes and passed away, but my father was a feisty Irishman from
New York, and he really believed in the political process.
He was actually the political one in the family, believe it or not.
He was always talking politics around the kitchen table. He was the
oldest of seven children, and, as far as I know, the only Republican in
the whole family, an Irish Catholic family from New York.
He accepted the calling to go to Vietnam and serve in the Army. He
was a captain. Thankfully, he came home alive because I was born 1 year
later, in 1971. My older brother, Vincent, was born while my father was
in Vietnam.
My dad literally fought the advance of Communism in Vietnam. He was
proud of his service. He thought it was the right thing to do.
My mother's story is different but similar in a way. My mother, who
is 83 years old, still lives with me. When she was 20, her country was
taken over by Communists. She was sitting in Cuba with a pretty nice
life on a farm. She is the fourth of 14 children.
One day, the Castro militia, the Communist militia and their thugs,
came kicking in the doors at my mother's house and put my mother and my
``abuelito,'' ``grandfather,'' in jail, and anyone over the age of 16
went to jail.
My mother spent 7 weeks in a Communist prison in Cuba because she
wasn't supporting the revolution of Castro and the Communist regime.
She had a free place to come to, a place where you can live in freedom,
which is what we all fight for here, at least some of us.
Being raised by a mother who, at age 20, lost her country--and still
to this day, by the way, if you look at Cuba, it is still an oppressed
Communist country. What the Communists take, they don't give back. To
this day, we are waiting for Cuba to become free.
My mother saw what government can do, how evil government can be to
you. My father fought these people in Vietnam.
People say, why are you so into politics? I guess my mom and dad
really
[[Page H7130]]
valued that, really instilled in me that it was an honorable thing to
do, to serve your country. If good people don't do it, guess what? The
bad guys are going to do it. You really don't have a choice.
At least vote--I know some people don't even vote, but at least vote.
That is just the minimum level.
I accepted the calling.
I thank my mother for her support over the years, not in only raising
me but standing with me and always supporting me. She lives just a
couple of miles away from me in West Virginia right now. She is 83
years old.
I think most politicians--really, not most. I will tell you every
politician wishes they had a mother like mine. She goes to every event
she can go to. She is always promoting me.
She even wrote a book called ``Leaving Cuba: One Family's Journey to
Freedom.'' She enjoys giving speeches about that. Still to this day,
she runs around and gives speeches about it. My mom lives for her four
children.
Thank you, Mom, for everything.
Well, last but not least, I would be remiss if I didn't at least
thank one gentleman on my staff who has been with me for 8 years, my
chief of staff, Michael Hough. He did leave earlier this year because I
am leaving, but Mike has been with me through thick and thin, ups and
downs, witch hunts, and successes. He was with me when I was a State
senator.
Thank you, Mike, for everything you have done. Mike is one of my best
friends and will continue to be a best friend.
He is not here to say anything about me yet, and I know he would be
if he could, but my longest colleague, Andy Harris, I am going to
miss him. I am going to miss you all, but Andy has been a good friend
for a long time. He is sticking around.
As I close this chapter in my life, first and foremost, the
constituents who elected me five times, thank you. I have fought hard.
I have kept my word.
One of my mentors here, Jim Jordan, just wrote a book. It was
simply titled ``Do What You Said You Would Do.'' That is the name of
the book. You don't even have to read the book. ``Do what you said you
would do,'' it is right there if you would just do that.
People will say, what are you going to do when you get to Congress?
Look at what I said when I was running for Congress over here, and then
don't be surprised when I vote that way right here. That is what I am
going to do. I am going to do what I said I would do, and I have done
that.
To my constituents, thank you for the 10 years. I have done what I
said I would do to the very best of my ability every time. We don't
always agree. Not everybody agrees with their own family. No one is
going to agree with every vote, but I voted my conscience. I have done
the best I could. I thank you for the opportunity to do that.
To all of my staff, it has been the honor of a lifetime.
While I am leaving the House of Representatives, I am not leaving
public service. I look forward to continuing to serve the people of
West Virginia in whatever capacity in which I am called in the future.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________