[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11889]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



WELCOMING THE HONORABLE J. RANDY FORBES TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  (Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to welcome the newest Member 
of the House, Randy Forbes, of Chesapeake, Virginia.
  Randy won a hard-fought battle to represent the Fourth District of 
Virginia, which was represented by our former colleague and very, very 
good friend, Norman Sisisky, for the last 18 years.
  Randy comes to Congress with a strong legislative background. He has 
served in the Virginia General Assembly since 1990, first as a member 
of the House of Delegates, then as a State senator since 1997. He held 
leadership positions in both bodies.
  Randy also has served as the chairman of the Republican Party of 
Virginia. He had tremendous success recruiting candidates and is 
credited with helping Republicans take control of the Virginia House of 
Delegates for the first time in modern history.
  While in the General Assembly, Randy was a leader in the 
Commonwealth's drive to abolish parole and enact truth-in-sentencing 
laws. He was the chief patron of a bill that allows teachers to enforce 
discipline in their classrooms without fear of being sued. And he led 
the effort to create a school construction grants program to assist 
localities with the skyrocketing costs of building new schools to help 
reduce classroom overcrowding.
  I have known Randy for a long time. He is good, he is honest, he is 
ethical, he is decent, he is moral. He is a very capable legislator. I 
know he will be an outstanding addition to the United States Congress. 
He has a longstanding relationship with a number of other Members, 
particularly with those of us from the Virginia delegation and will 
have no trouble at all adapting to how things are done here in 
Congress.
  Randy earned his law degree from the University of Virginia and was 
the valedictorian of his 1974 graduating class at Randolph-Macon 
College. He and his wife of 22 years, Shirley, live in Chesapeake, 
Virginia. They have four children.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to welcome Randy to the United States 
Congress. Joining us today are Senator John W. Warner and Senator 
George Allen. I, along with my other colleagues from Virginia and 
across the country, look forward to working with you.

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