[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 24356]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



      CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF SERVICE IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Ewing) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EWING. Mr. Speaker, last evening, rather late into the night, a 
number of my colleagues came here to the floor to do a Special Order 
celebrating or recognizing my retirement, I am not sure which. But it 
was certainly something that I appreciated, and I am not going to try 
and discredit the fine things that were said. All of those were very 
much appreciated.
  But I did want to recognize my colleague from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus), 
who arranged for the group to come to the House Chamber; the gentleman 
from Illinois (Mr. Porter); the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. 
Biggert); and on the other side of the aisle, the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Stenholm); the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello); and the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski). I appreciate very much their 
comments and the recognition of the years that I have spent in this 
body.
  I would like to say that serving in the United States Congress was 
the fulfillment of an ambition that I probably first thought about when 
I was in high school, and serving on the Committee on Agriculture and 
being a chairman there was part of that dream that I had for many 
years. So my almost 10 years in this body has been very fulfilling, 
very rewarding, and certainly a highlight in my life. The ability that 
I have had here to grow and to learn and to develop I think is 
something that one will take with them forever.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish that I could say this to everyone in this 
country: The people in this House are some of the finest people that a 
person could meet anywhere, on both sides of the aisle. I cannot think 
of one person that I have served with in this House that I did not 
like, that I did not find had merit to what they said and believed in 
what they fought for here.
  Unfortunately, the American people I do not think understand how we 
come here and how we fight and how we talk and stand for issues that 
are important to us, issues that we believe in. And even though we may 
disagree to a great extent, I never questioned somebody's motives or 
judgment, and that is, to me, a great honor. Everyone that I have 
served with here is a good person, and they are serving this country 
and our system.
  I often say to many people, do not complain about the harsh rhetoric 
in the House. We never see tanks, we never see troops in the streets of 
this country because we fight our issues out right here on the floor of 
the House, and every society has to have a safety valve and it has to 
be a place for those issues to be vetted. This is that place. It is a 
great institution.
  Mr. Speaker, I will always be proud to have been a part of this 
House, to have served in the Congress of the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, thank you to you, thank you to every Member of this 
House.

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