[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 20531-20532]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         BILL GOODLING, THE MAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, today, I do not want to 
talk about the legislative accomplishments of the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling). I want to talk about the man.
  Mr. Speaker, I had a 26-year business career. I met a lot of business 
leaders. I was fortunate to have 19 years in State government, and I 
know most of Pennsylvania's leaders of today. This is my fourth year 
here in Congress and I have gotten to know many of the fine Members of 
this body. But in my view, Bill Goodling is a class act.
  Bill Goodling exemplifies what all Members of Congress ought to be. 
First, he came here with experiences in a multitude of fields. I think 
we are always served best by people who have succeeded in what I call 
the ``real world'' and then come to government and help us govern, 
because they have the wisdom and the knowledge from the fields they 
left.
  He was in agriculture, Pennsylvania's leading industry. He was an 
educator, a top flight educator. Bill Goodling is the kind of person we 
would like to have as a neighbor, as a business partner, as a personal 
friend. He not only is competent and qualified; he is a fine human 
being. He is an example we can hold up to our young people that this is 
how they ought to live their lives. Be successful in a field and then 
give back as he has given.
  Mr. Speaker, I guess what has amazed me about the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, and it is unfortunate he has to leave before we say these 
things, but he has been here 26 years. Today, in his final weeks, he 
still has the passion of his convictions. He still feels passionately 
about local education and the importance of keeping the decisions 
locally. He has been fighting tenaciously in his last weeks in Congress 
espousing things he has been espousing for a long time, but with no 
less gusto. Not many people do that.
  I want the gentleman to know that I admire him. He is a person that I 
look up to. He is the kind of person that I believe exemplifies what we 
all ought to be, and we are going to miss him.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri).
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Peterson) for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I would say first of all that I know that my colleague 
from Wisconsin and a long-time member of the committee, Steve 
Gunderson, had wished that he could be here today as a Member of this 
body to participate in this occasion.
  Mr. Speaker, it has been an honor and a privilege to learn about 
education at the knee of Bill Goodling, a true expert who spent his 
life in the field. He will be sorely missed.
  It is with immense pleasure and honor that I rise to express a few 
thoughts about my colleague and good friend, Bill Goodling. I would 
like to say at the outset that I know that my former colleague from 
Wisconsin, Steve Gunderson, would very much like to be here today to 
participate in this occasion. He is a great admirer of Chairman 
Goodling.
  The Education and the Workforce Committee, formerly the Education and 
Labor Committee, was blessed the day Bill was first elected to 
Congress. Drawing on his experiences as a coach, a high school 
principal, and a Superintendent of schools, Bill has always approached 
the issue of education with the interests of America's children at 
heart. I can remember many conversations we have had, especially in the 
days when we had adjoining offices in Rayburn, discussing ways to more 
effectively educate the children of his nation.
  Given all the work we still have to do in that regard, I hope and 
trust that those conversations will continue, for Bill's experience, 
insight, and thorough understanding of these issues are a priceless 
resource. Both as a member of the majority and of the minority, Bill 
has maintained his loyalty to our children, often in the face of fervid 
opposition by many who put their own special interests ahead of the 
well being of America's kids. His career in Congress is a monument and 
a tribute to a man of honor, integrity, courage, and vision.
  I know there are several other Members here who would like some time 
to share their comments for Mr. Goodling, so I won't go into the 
details of Bill's accomplishments as a Member of Congress. I'm not sure 
I could do it even if I had all forty minutes to speak! But I would 
like to say that many, many programs--not just the Literacy Involves 
Families Together Act, which we appropriately renamed a few weeks ago 
as the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program--owe a 
debt of gratitude to Chairman Goodling. These are programs near and 
dear to his heart, and they are a reflection of Bill's tireless efforts 
and passion for providing the children of this nation, all of them, 
with the best possible education.
  It has been my pleasure and honor to have known Chairman Goodling for 
22 years, and he will be missed--as much as he misses his horses when 
he's here in Washington--when he retires at the end of this session.
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman 
from California (Mr. McKeon).
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for 
yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, a couple of weeks ago, many of us traveled to southern 
Virginia to attend the funeral of a good friend and colleague, Herb 
Bateman, and many wonderful things were said about him at that time. I 
wish we had been able to have that kind of a meeting for Herb when he 
was with us.
  I am really happy that we are able to stand today and say just a few 
good things about our good friend, Bill Goodling.
  When the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) was talking 
earlier about him starting meetings at 9:30, and the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Kildee) remarked about him getting up early, being a 
farmer; when he

[[Page 20532]]

started meetings at 9:30, he has already probably been up at 5 o'clock, 
fed the horses, done the things that he needed to do at the farm and 
then driven down here from Pennsylvania to start his day's activities 
in Congress. Or if he did not go home the night before and spent the 
night in his office, he had already been to the gym and done a good 
day's work before he started that meeting at 9:30.
  It has been an honor and a privilege to serve with Bill Goodling. It 
is ironic that now education seems to be the top issue in the country. 
He has been speaking about education as a voice in the wilderness for 
26 years.
  He is a man of integrity and passion. His passion includes many 
things: horses, music, and golf. And I have been able to participate in 
some of those things with him. But really his main passion is education 
and literacy. He truly cares about helping people through education. 
His work ethic is second to none. He is a strong Christian and stands 
tall for what he believes in.
  A beloved king once told his people, ``When you are in the service of 
your fellow man, you are only in the service of your God.'' I know of 
no one who has exemplified that better than Bill Goodling. I am 
privileged to call him a friend.
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Boehner).
  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Peterson) for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, let me join with my colleagues in thanking Bill Goodling 
for having the honor to have served with him, in my case, for 10 years, 
but for his service in the House for 26 years.
  Bill's background as an educator for 20 years, as we have heard, 
brought him to this Chamber with a wealth of experience. He had seen a 
lot of programs out of Washington, some that worked, many that did not, 
and brought that knowledge and that background in working with parents 
and teachers at the local level here to Washington. And over the 10 
years that I have been here, I do not think there is any Member of 
Congress, not of the 435 that are here today, or the hundreds that have 
come and gone in just my short tenure, who have cared and delivered 
more on the issue of education than Bill Goodling. It really is his 
passion.
  And we have heard much about that this morning, but knowing Bill 
Goodling for the years that I spent on the committee with him, what a 
lot of people do not realize is that his interest in music is far 
beyond superficial. Not only is he part of a singing group, and has 
been here in town for some 20 years-plus, but he is known for waking up 
his neighbors and keeping the janitorial staff awake at night as he is 
playing his piano that he keeps in his office.
  Mr. Speaker, I think all of us here are going to regret his leaving 
and his decision to retire. I can say as someone who spent an awful lot 
of time with him in an awful lot of battles, I would want him on my 
side every time.

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