[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12275-12276]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  HEARTFELT THANKS TO ANNE HOLCOMBE, CINDY SEBO, AND VICKY STALLSWORTH

  (Mr. EHLERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I hope you will be kind on the time 
allotted, because I want to take a few moments to recognize a very 
special person who has worked in this Chamber for some time, who has 
graced this Chamber and has helped us a great deal, and she will soon 
be leaving, and that is Ms. Anne Holcombe, who is seated at the front 
desk.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. EHLERS. I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Ehlers), my friend, for yielding to me.
  I join today in recognizing Anne Holcombe. This is her last day as 
the senior legislative clerk, so I, along with my colleagues, thought 
it appropriate that we take a 1 minute, since

[[Page 12276]]

you enjoy them so much, Anne, a special order.
  I know that you enjoy sitting here through special orders. If you had 
a chance of a 1 minute or a special order, I suspect that you might 
prefer a 1 minute.
  Anne is moving to Charlotte, North Carolina to be closer to her 
family and to start a new chapter in her life.
  I want to wish her well. Our colleague, the former Mayor of 
Charlotte, North Carolina, a distinguished member of the Committee on 
Rules, Sue Myrick, will become your representative here in the House.
  Anne's professionalism on the dais has been a steady source of 
confidence that the records of the House will always be in order, that 
is why we are all very sad to see her leave.
  I cannot imagine why Anne would want to leave the House. I know that 
you greatly enjoy sitting here waiting until 3 o'clock in the morning 
until the committee that I am privileged to Chair reports a rule down 
here.
  As I said, I know how much you enjoy special orders that often extend 
up to, under our great reform process, midnight we know, but you do, 
obviously, grace the dais extraordinarily well.
  You have worked here for many years. Anne started in September of 
1996, Mr. Speaker, as a legislative information specialist and was 
responsible for researching, editing, and maintaining the legislative 
database that we, in the House, as well as the general public, depend 
on for information about what is happening here in the Congress.
  In October of 1997, Anne was promoted to assistant chief floor clerk, 
where she made sure that the words we spoke on the House floor were 
transposed into marvelous eloquence, of course, while still complying 
with the rules of the House.
  Then in January of 2000, Anne was promoted again to senior 
legislative floor clerk. She has done a terrific job in serving this 
institution and her country very well.
  Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I would also 
like to note that we also have two official reporters, one of whom is 
right here, who is actually finishing her last day, Cindy Sebo, who has 
worked long and hard, and also Vicky Stallsworth, who is also 
completing her last day here.
  I guess the place is going to be empty when we come back. No one will 
be here to do any work. I hope very much that these positions are 
filled.
  Let me say to all three that we wish them well in their future 
endeavors, and I thank my friend for yielding.
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I want to add my 
congratulations to all three of them and especially my heartfelt 
thanks. I have always made a point of trying to get to know the 
individuals who work in the front of this Chamber, who keep very long 
hours and transcribe everything we do and keep good order out of it.

                              {time}  1815

  I am delighted that both of the reporters who are leaving us are here 
present so we can thank both Cindy and Vicky as well. I hope you spell 
your names properly as you transcribe this.
  They work tirelessly. They are going on to other things and other 
lands. I cannot imagine why Vicky, who is moving to Fort Collins, 
Colorado; and Anne, who is moving to North Carolina, if you are going 
to leave Washington to find a better place, I can understand that; but 
I would certainly recommend Grand Rapids, Michigan, especially this 
time of year. So come up there and stop in and see us.
  Cindy will be leaving for the private sector. She will remain in this 
area, and we hope we see her around here occasionally.
  So from the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you. 
Congratulations. God bless you in your future endeavors and employment.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield.
  Mr. EHLERS. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding.
  I did not rise to defend the Washington metropolitan area as a place 
to live, notwithstanding his observations. But I did rise to say thank 
you on behalf of all of us, not on a partisan sense, although I am on 
this side of the aisle, and there are others on the other side of the 
aisle, but to, again, remind ourselves how critically important to the 
operations of the people's House are those who never rise and speak. 
They also serve who stand and record, the poet might have said.
  To Anne and Cindy and Vicky, we appreciate very much what you have 
done. You have at times been asked to spend long, long, long hours. You 
have fought fatigue; and I am sure, although you do not have to admit 
this, fought boredom as well in the operations that you have been 
responsible for.
  You make it possible for the American public, even if they cannot see 
us on C-SPAN, even if they cannot be in the gallery, even if years 
later they are trying to find out what happened on the floor of the 
House, their House, doing their business, you make it possible for them 
to find out. You do so with incredible accuracy and efficiency. We 
thank you for that, and we acknowledge how critically important you are 
to the operations of this House.
  I am not surprised that one of you is going into the private sector. 
Maybe both of you are going into the private sector, I am not sure, our 
two reporters, or Anne returning to North Carolina to be closer to her 
family, because there are, in my opinion, no more talented, no more 
highly motivated, no more productive people that could be hired by the 
private sector than those who work on this Hill and certainly, all 
those who work at the desk and who record our debates.
  It is a hallmark of American democracy that we want to be open to the 
public. We want to have a historic and accurate record of proceedings. 
You have enabled us to continue to do that.
  We thank you. We wish you Godspeed. We hope that you take with you 
very positive feelings about this House, that you know firsthand that, 
although there are fights and disagreements, and sometimes we are much 
smaller than we ought to be, that, at bottom, almost everybody, indeed 
everybody in this House, cares about their country and cares about 
their constituents. You have had the opportunity to see that firsthand. 
As I tell the pages, I hope you will tell that story wide and far.
  We thank you, and we wish you the best of everything in the days 
ahead. Thank you for yielding.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. EHLERS. I am happy to yield to the gentleman from Missouri.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to add my best wishes to 
Anne Holcombe as she leaves and also say farewell to Cindy and Vicky 
for the work that they have done.
  Regarding Anne, I was sitting here thinking of the old Irish tune 
that has the melody of ``When Johnny Comes Marching Home.'' A phrase in 
there is ``Johnny, we hardly got to know you.'' It just seems like you 
came last week, and time flies so fast, and we hardly got to know you.
  You have done so well. You have been very friendly. You have been 
very particularly kind to me in making sure the podium is at the right 
height. Your professionalism, your competency is beyond match. So we 
thank you for your efforts, your hard work. We wish you the very best 
in your next chapter of life, and do not forget us. God bless.
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I want to thank all 
three of the speakers, the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier), the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), and the gentleman from Missouri 
(Mr. Skelton) for their eloquent comments.
  Frankly, they stole my speech, and there is not much I can add to it 
other than to say, on behalf of all of those who use this Chamber and 
rely on you as well as the broader American public who sees your work 
constantly on the screen of their computer or in the journal, the 
Congressional Record, I want to thank all of you for your hard service 
here. I wish you well. God bless you wherever you go.




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