[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 188 (Wednesday, December 18, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H7326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FAREWELL TO CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New Hampshire (Ms. Kuster) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today full of gratitude for having 
had the incredible privilege of representing New Hampshire's Second 
Congressional District for the past 12 years.
  New Hampshire doesn't have a national sports team. I have long said 
politics is our pastime, and it has been such a joy to advocate for my 
friends, my family, neighbors, and our State in this arena.
  My time in these Halls has been many things: rewarding, inspiring, 
challenging, and, yes, at times, frustrating. However, more than 
anything, it has been truly the greatest honor of my life.
  When I was first elected, I promised to bring a new approach to 
Washington, to reach across the aisle, and to build bridges whenever 
possible. As I look back at the end of my time in Congress, I am 
immensely proud of that record.
  Over the past 12 years, I have seen Congress at its most and least 
efficient. With the clarity of hindsight, I can say that our government 
really, truly does work best when Republicans and Democrats come 
together to solve our Nation's greatest challenges.
  I grew up in a Republican household. My father, Malcolm McLane, 
served as the mayor of Concord and on our State's Executive Council, 
and my mother, Susan McLane, served for 25 years in the House and 
Senate in the New Hampshire State Legislature, and she even ran for the 
seat that I am now retiring from.
  I know that they would be proud of my and many of our colleagues' 
efforts to restore bipartisanship, to reach across the aisle to pursue 
pragmatic solutions, particularly during times of deep political 
division.
  There will always be new challenges and new opportunities for 
Congress to address. The work here is never truly finished, but thanks 
to the support of my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, we 
have made meaningful progress on a number of issues that don't always 
go viral or generate the most clicks online.
  I founded the Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder 
Task Force with my Republican colleague, Frank Guinta, and continued 
the work with Brian Fitzpatrick and   David Trone, to bring Democrats 
and Republicans together to tackle the addiction and overdose epidemic 
that has impacted every community across our country.
  Thanks in part to the task force's tireless advocacy in providing 
resources for communities and making smart policy changes, we are 
finally beginning to see overdose deaths decline throughout the Nation. 
I am proud that one of my final votes in this Chamber will be for vital 
opioid response legislation to increase access to treatment included in 
this year's government funding package.
  I also started the Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence, 
which has helped shed light on the pervasive culture of sexual violence 
that has flourished for too long in our schools, our universities, our 
military, and even here in Congress.
  It was in this very Chamber that I first shared my own story of 
sexual assault publicly and fought to reform how Congress responds to 
sexual misconduct among Members and toward staff.
  Through respectful conversation and honest dialogue, my Bipartisan 
Ski and Snowboard Caucus helped bridge the divide between our parties 
on the need to respond to the environmental and economic threats posed 
by climate change.
  As chair of the New Democrat Coalition, my colleagues and I have 
repeatedly prioritized country and duty over party and politics, 
providing the votes to prevent a devastating default on our debt and a 
costly government shutdown not once, not twice, but three times.
  Thanks to our focus and commitment to pragmatic solutions to improve 
the lives of hardworking families in our country, our New Democrat 
Coalition will be the largest it has ever been in the 119th Congress 
and will make it more than half of the Democratic Caucus.

                              {time}  1045

  In each of these endeavors, we made progress--incremental at times, 
but progress nonetheless. We didn't always agree on how to tackle the 
challenges, but we listened to each other, debated the ideas on the 
merits, and focused on the mission of delivering for our constituents.
  Sadly, my time in these Halls in recent years has been defined more 
and more by extreme partisanship. As lawmakers, we must reject the 
cynicism and the notion that Congress and our institutions are destined 
for dysfunction and disorder. We must not lose sight of our purpose and 
why we are here--to fight for our communities, to lead by example, and 
to tackle the biggest challenges facing our country, not create them.
  Now, at the end of my tenure, a little older and hopefully a little 
wiser, I urge my colleagues and the incoming Members of the 119th 
Congress to lead with courage in the face of division and recommit to 
building bridges, not tearing them down.
  I thank my husband, Brad, and my sons, Zach and Travis.
  I remind my colleagues: Be bold, be brave, but most importantly, be 
kind.

                          ____________________