[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25433]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  COMMEMORATING THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 19, 2004

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
distinguished Members of Congress from Texas who will not be among our 
number in the 109th Congress . . . and to thank these notable public 
servants for their service to the nation, to the House of 
Representatives, and to the great State of Texas.
  In the next Congress we will be without the considerable talents of 
the following members: Martin Frost from Dallas, Charlie Stenholm from 
Abilene, Ciro Rodriguez from San Antonio, Max Sandlin from Marshall, 
Jim Turner from Crockett, Nick Lampson from Beaumont, and Chris Bell 
from Houston.
  All together, when the House reconvenes in January, the State of 
Texas--and the House of Representatives--will have lost 86 years of 
experience and seniority in tending to the peoples' business here in 
Congress.
  Marty Frost has been the dean of the Texas Delegation Democrats for a 
long time and is an extraordinary leader for us in Texas and as Caucus 
Chairman for the Democratic Caucus. His work on the Rules Committee led 
the House Democrats in fighting for the rights of the minority party in 
the legislative process.
  Charlie Stenholm is the dean of the House conservatives, a leading 
moderate whose fiscal discipline was stamped on budgets throughout the 
1990s--the last time we ended our spending seasons with a surplus. This 
House--which desperately needs moderate voices now more than ever--will 
miss Charlie's influence. His work for the rural communities and 
farmers of the nation, from his seat as the top Democrat on the 
Agriculture Committee, will be sorely missed by all our rural states.
  Ciro Rodriguez, the Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, 
has been a forceful champion of the rights of Americans of Hispanic 
descent during his tenure in the House of Representatives. He has 
represented the interests of border communities in Texas, and his home 
city of San Antonio, with excellence and distinction.
  Max Sandlin, an illustrious former East Texas judge, brought 
tremendous understanding and judgment to the debates in this House that 
come from his front line experiences with how the laws we make in 
Congress are practically applied beyond the beltway. He knew intimately 
how what we did here would affect people's lives.
  Jim Turner, a former state legislator and another much-needed 
moderate voice in Congress, understood how our work in Congress affects 
states, state budgets and practical policies. Jim's tenure as top 
Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee leaves a big hole in the 
influence of Texans in the sphere of the defining interest of our time.
  In Nick Lampson's work on the Science Committee, he was a valuable 
advocate of Texas interests in the space program, which is the leading 
frontier of science for the nation and a reliable source of jobs and 
industry in our state. His work in the House will be sorely missed by 
both the nation and the state.
  Chris Bell's experience as a city councilman provided an excellent 
view of how our work in Congress affected local governments, and his 
service on the Financial Services Committee in the House was valuable 
to the nation and Texas.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask our colleagues to join me in offering our respect 
and our gratitude for the outstanding service to the nation by these 7 
Members of Congress who left an indelible mark on this nation, within 
this chamber and for the State of Texas.

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