[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3106-3107]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              FAREWELL REMARKS OF HONORABLE BOB LIVINGSTON

  (Mr. LIVINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. LIVINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to offer my most sincere and

[[Page 3107]]

hearty congratulations to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Isakson) as 
he embarks on this wonderful opportunity to serve the people of his 
State and the people of this country in the United States Congress.
  I take this opportunity for a slightly different purpose to address 
the House because this marks my last official day before the House of 
Representatives after 21\1/2\ years. In that time I have had many 
successes and a few failures, many good times and a few moments of 
heartache. I have watched with just admiration the many statesmen and I 
have just watched those who are less so.
  I have learned some lessons along the way. Public service is a 
virtue. Term limits in my opinion is a stupid idea that deprives 
government of experience and small States of participation in 
leadership. Tolerance is a necessity. Politician is not a dirty word. 
And compromise is the glue that renders democracy possible.
  To my friends on the left, government left unwatched can lead to 
injustice. To my friends on the right, government is not inherently 
evil. Compassion is desired, but in its extreme it will deprive us of 
our freedom.
  My friends, America in the new millennium is like the great forests 
of the West some 200 years ago. Our ideologues on the left and the 
right are scouting the terrain and lighting the path to the future. Our 
trendsetters in both parties survey, decipher and construct the roads 
and bridges. And the American people follow in waves taking the routes 
most appropriate for their ultimate destination.
  Where are they headed? I cannot say for certain. Ronald Reagan said 
it was for the shining city on the hill and I certainly will not argue 
with that. But with commitment to public service, with tolerance and 
with compromise, I know that the roads to the future of America will be 
straight and true and headed toward justice and freedom not just for 
all Americans but for all the people of the world.
  I thank the people of southeast Louisiana for allowing me to serve 
here in the greatest of all institutions, the United States Congress. I 
thank my colleagues for their great friendship, my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle. I thank my wife Bonnie and my children, Shep and 
his lovely wife Sissy, Rich, Dave and Susie, and my very new beautiful 
grandchild Caroline and my parents and all my family for their love and 
their support through these 21\1/2\ wonderful years.
  Thank you all and God bless America.

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