[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 118]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            CONGRESS BIDS FAREWELL TO SIX OUTSTANDING PAGES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I stand here as the ranking Democrat on the 
House Page Board, having been appointed to that position by Speaker Tip 
O'Neill 20-some years ago. I have seen many pages come here. There has 
been no class better than this class. This class has been outstanding 
pages, and I am very, very proud of them.
  There is a very good program in the country called Close Up, and I 
always meet with my Close Up students; but no one, no one has seen this 
Congress as close up as this group of pages has. They have seen us at 
our best and at our worst, but this year they probably have seen us at 
our best. They witnessed history that no other generation will 
hopefully ever witness again, when this country was attacked by 
terrorists and thousands of people were killed.
  I can recall walking with my staff away from the Capitol after the 
plane hit the Pentagon. I saw a group of pages coming towards the 
Capitol building. They were supposed to be here they thought, and I 
said get back to the dorm. Their sense of duty was enormous, although 
this building could very well have been the target.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank all of the pages, but particularly Lindsey Beck 
from Arizona; Matthew Dinusson from Minnesota; Ashley Gallo from 
Michigan, my home State; Jennifer Hsieh from Texas; Gregory Hyde, New 
York City; and Zachary Stanton from Michigan. They can be proud of 
themselves. They will leave here knowing more about government, being 
able to tell others government is an instrument of good; and hopefully 
they will always be involved in government, whether they run for office 
or are a voter. Make government work. They have seen government at 
work. I thank this group of pages very much, and God bless them.

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