[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7373-7401]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                RECEPTION OF FORMER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

  The Speaker of the House presided.
  The SPEAKER. To all of you I want to say good morning. On behalf of 
the House of Representatives, I am happy to welcome to the Chamber very 
good friends of this institution, former Members of Congress.
  You are not only friends of this institution; you are also friends of 
ours, and we look forward to this opportunity every year when we have 
this chance to visit with you and catch up on each other's lives.
  Every one of you has spent precious years of your life, some of the 
best years of your life, working to represent the needs and concerns of 
the American people right here in this Chamber.
  Your commitment to your Nation did not end when you left the halls of 
Congress. Many of you have committed to serve the Nation in many other 
honorable ways.
  Senator Sam Nunn is one of those people, and he currently is an ideal 
and worthy choice to receive the Distinguished Service Award.
  While deprived of the opportunity to serve in the House, Senator Nunn 
served the other body with great distinction. Known as an expert on 
defense issues, Senator Nunn was respected by both sides of the aisle 
for his sense of fair play, his patriotism, and his commitment to the 
security of this Nation.
  Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all former 
Members for their continued efforts both home and abroad. Your outreach 
in college campuses throughout this country has helped to strengthen 
the work of our government and to encourage public service. Your 
support on parliaments around the world is invaluable, and I want to 
thank you for those efforts as well.
  At this time, I would request that the gentleman from Missouri, Mr. 
Jack Buechner, vice president of the Former Members Association, take 
the chair.
  Mr. BUECHNER (presiding). Will the Clerk call the roll of the former 
Members of Congress.
  The Clerk called the roll of the former Members of the Congress, and 
the following former Members answered to their names:


  Rollcall of Former Members of Congress Attending 34th Annual spring 
                        Meeting, April 22, 2004

       Hon. Beryl Anthony (Arkansas)
       Hon. William V. ``Bill'' Alexander (Arizona)
       Hon. Robert E. Badham (California)
       Hon. James J. Blanchard (Michigan)
       Hon. John Brademas (Indiana)
       Hon. William Broomfield (Michigan)
       Hon. James T. Broyhill (North Carolina)
       Hon. John H. Buchanan, Jr. (Alabama)
       Hon. Jack Buechner (Missouri)
       Hon. Richard R. Chrysler (Michigan)
       Hon. James Coyne (Pennsylvania)
       Hon. Norman D'Amours (New Hamsphire)
       Hon. Joseph J. Dioguardi (New York)
       Hon. Robert B. Duncan (Oregon)
       Hon. Louis Frey, Jr. (Florida)
       Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman (New York)
       Hon. Ralph R. Harding (Idaho)
       Hon. Margaret Heckler (Massachusetts)
       Hon. Dennis M. Hertel (Michigan)
       Hon. Peter Hoagland (Massachusetts)
       Hon. William J. Hughes (New Jersey)
       Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (Wisconsin)
       Hon. David S. King (Utah)
       Hon. Robert ``Bob'' Krueger (Texas)
       Hon. Lawrence P. ``Larry'' LaRocco (Idaho)
       Hon. Jim R. Lightfoot (Iowa)
       Hon. Marilyn Lloyd (Tennessee)
       Hon. Matthew F. McHugh (New York)
       Hon. Thomas McMillen (Maryland)
       Hon. Lloyd Meeds (Washington)
       Hon. Robert H. Michel (Illinois)
       Hon. Dan Miller (Florida)
       Hon. Richard Dale ``Dick'' Nichols (Kansas)
       Hon. Sam Nunn (Georgia)
       Hon. Stanford E. Parris (Virginia)
       Hon. Howard W. Pollock (Arkansas)
       Hon. John J. Rhodes, III (Arizona)
       Hon. Ron Sarasin (Colorado)
       Hon. Richard T. Schulze (Pennsylvania)
       Hon. David E. Skaggs (Colorado)
       Hon. Don Sundquist (Tennessee)
       Hon. James W. Symington (Missouri)
       Hon. Charles W. Whalen, Jr. (Ohio)
       Hon. Harris Wofford (Pennsylvania)

                              {time}  0915

  Mr. BUECHNER (presiding). At this time Chair will recognize the 
President

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of the Former Members of Congress, the gentleman from Idaho, Larry 
LaRocco.
  Mr. LaROCCO. My thanks to the Speaker pro tem and to all of you for 
being with us. We are especially grateful to Speaker Hastert for taking 
time from his busy schedule to greet us and give us his warm welcome. 
It is very gratifying to see such a great turnout this morning.
  It is always a privilege to return to this wonderful institution 
which we revere and where we shared so many memorable experiences. 
Service in Congress is both a joy and a heavy responsibility, and, 
whatever our party affiliation, we have great admiration for those who 
continue to serve this country in this unique institution. We thank 
them all for once again giving us this opportunity to report on the 
activities of the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress.
  This is our 34th Annual Report to Congress, and I ask unanimous 
consent that all Members be permitted to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, so ordered.
  Mr. LaROCCO. Mr. Speaker, our Association is nonpartisan, bipartisan, 
if you will. It has been chartered, but not funded by the Congress. We 
have a wide variety of domestic and international programs, which 
several other Members and I will discuss briefly. Our membership 
numbers approximately 560, and our purpose is to continue, in some 
small measure, the service to country that we began during our term in 
the Senate and the House of Representatives.
  Our finances are sound. We support all our activities via three 
income sources: membership dues, program grants and our annual fund-
raising dinner. In addition, we have had the good fortune of a bequest 
by Frieda G. James, whose husband, Benjamin Franklin James, served five 
terms in the House representing Pennsylvania as a Republican. Her kind 
gift to the Association has been a blessing, especially given the 
economic downturn over the past few years, which really took its toll 
on the nonprofit sector.
  At our last Board meeting, the Board of Directors voted to commence 
an endowment fund campaign. The goal of this fund is to ensure the 
financial viability of the Former Members Association for many years to 
come. We envision a time when investment earnings of the endowment fund 
can be used to supplement the Association's budget during lean years, 
sort of a safety net to guarantee that tough economic times will not 
shut us down. In addition, the endowment fund can serve to expand the 
programs and reach of our Association and to support new ventures and 
services created by our staff members and Board. We will send you 
information about the endowment fund later this year, and I encourage 
you to become involved.
  Mr. Speaker, I would now like to turn to the many programs and 
services the Former Members of Congress Association offers to its 
Members, to sitting Members of the House and Senate, and to the public 
at large.
  Our most significant domestic activity, mentioned by the Speaker of 
the House this morning, is our Congress to Campus Program. This is a 
bipartisan effort to share with college students throughout the country 
our unique insight on the work of the Congress and the political 
process more generally.
  A bipartisan team of Former Members spends up to 2.5 days on college 
campuses throughout the United States, meeting with students both in 
the classroom and outside, as well as with members of the faculty and 
the local community. This is a great experience for our Members, and it 
generates a deeper appreciation for our democratic form of government, 
as well as encouraging young people to participate actively in public 
service.
  Since the program's inception in 1976, Former Members of Congress 
have reached more than 150,000 students through their visits to 
campuses in 49 States and the District of Columbia. In the 2003 and 
2004 academic year thus far, we have visited 26 schools and in 18 
States. The Association partners with the Center for Democracy and 
Citizenship and the Stennis Center for Public Service at Mississippi 
State University to administer this program.
  At this point, I would like to yield to David Skaggs, the gentleman 
from Colorado, who currently serves at executive director of the Center 
For Democracy and Citizenship, to discuss the new administration and 
endeavors of the Congress to Campus Program.
  David, just let me say on behalf of the Board and all of the members 
of the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress how much we 
appreciate your dedication and your incredible administrative skills 
that you have lent to this program, to take us from doing about 10 
programs a year to 26 so far, and we think we may even hit 40. But you 
will report to us right now. Thank you so much.
  Mr. SKAGGS. I thank the gentleman for yielding. He has done a good 
job already in describing the fundamental purposes of the Congress to 
Campus Program, but let me report more fully to the Members here and to 
the Congress about our activities during this past academic year.
  As Larry mentioned, we have two principal purposes for this program. 
One is to educate college students and faculty about how this wonderful 
institution operates, maybe with a little bit more insight than the 
textbooks typically give. Our other principal purpose is to really 
inspire young people to consider public service careers.
  Finally, by having a bipartisan pair of former colleagues involved in 
this activity, we hope that we can model behavior that may have 
otherwise escaped their notice, that Republicans and Democrats actually 
can discuss issues civilly and work out their differences more often 
than not.
  This is the second year of a major effort to expand the program, as 
the gentleman from Idaho mentioned. I want to thank all of the schools, 
all of my colleagues and the membership of the Association who have 
pitched in to make this possible, as well as the Association Board of 
Directors, and, in particular, our friends at the Stennis Center for 
Public Service down in Mississippi. We have had a wonderful working 
relationship with them.
  All told, we have been able to expand this program now in the last 2 
academic years from about on the average of 7 or 8 visits per year to 
this year's total of 26 domestic college and university visits and our 
first international Congress to Campus visit. That represents more than 
a 200 percent increase over the average in the past.
  We try to make sure that this is being handled as professionally as 
possible, and so actually try to evaluate the program with some rigor 
with reports back in from schools, from the Members that make these 
visits, and, probably most importantly, from the students that we 
interact with on these college and university campuses. We ask them to 
complete a little survey with a control group of students from the same 
schools that did not participate.
  I am pleased to report that after a rigorous statistical analysis, I 
can tell the Members that this actually works, that the students that 
are exposed to this program have a significantly higher, one, 
propensity to think about public service careers than the students not 
exposed to it, and, even more miraculously, think better of public 
officials than do the students who have not had the treat of being 
involved with one of our Congress to Campus visits. So we should be 
encouraged that this really does matter.
  Just to give the Members here who may not have participated a more 
fulsome idea of what a pleasure it is and how rewarding it is to 
participate, I would like to yield at this time, if I may, to my friend 
and colleague from the State of Iowa Mr. Lightfoot to share briefly his 
reflections on his Congress to Campus visit.
  Mr. LIGHTFOOT. Thank you, David. I would say to all of our former 
colleagues, how come you are all looking so much older?
  Actually, if David gives you a phone call, say yes. This was one of 
the greatest opportunities I think I have participated in in a long, 
long time. It was earlier this month, I went to Colby College up in 
Maine. I now live in Florida.

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The second call was to Sandy Maisel, who heads the political science 
department at Colby College. I asked him about the weather. I said, 
well, how about the ice report? He said they still have ice on the 
lakes, and we actually got almost a half of foot of snow the day we got 
there.
  Martin Lancaster from North Carolina was my colleague on this trip. 
Most of you know Martin, a fine guy, a great guy to travel with. He now 
is continuing his life in public service with some 800,000 students in 
North Carolina in the community college system. Professor Maisel had a 
lot of fun with that while we were there, reminding the folks in his 
neighboring State of Vermont that they only had 500,000 people, and 
Martin had more people in his college system than they had in the 
entire State.
  It was 2 days of fun. We went to a number of classes. This school was 
a little bit smaller, so they decided to split us up so they could get 
more out of having two former Members of Congress there. But due to the 
size of the school, we discovered a lot of cross-pollination. I would 
be at a class and say something, and somebody would say, Mr. Lancaster 
said that or disagreed with that this morning.
  But it was a tremendous opportunity to try to sell public service to 
young people. That is really what our whole goal was. Whether it is to 
run for elective office, or to take their law or science degree or 
whatever and work in government, hopefully we have shone a little light 
on the value of public service, that it is more than a paycheck, there 
are a lot of great rewards for doing it.
  David, I would just like to thank you for the opportunity to have 
participated. I am on your list to go again whenever. I would really 
seriously from the bottom of my heart encourage any of you, if David 
gives you a call, it is only a couple days, say yes. What I came away 
with was probably more than the students. Most of you know, if you work 
around young people, I am not so worried about tomorrow as I was before 
I went up there. There was a great bunch of young people. They will 
inspire you as well.
  David, I thank you.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back.
  Mr. SKAGGS. One of our real troopers this year was the gentleman from 
Washington, Mr. Meeds. I want to call on him for some reflections on 
his experience, if I may, as well.
  Mr. MEEDS. Thank you, David, and especially thank you for the 
telephone call asking me to get involved in this program. It has really 
been a fine experience, at least for me, and I hope for the students 
that were out there.
  I visited with two other Members from the other side, two colleges, 
one in North Carolina and one in New York State, and had a wonderful 
experience with the young people. I think the single strongest 
impression I had was that it brought to them a new impression of the 
Congress itself, a closer analysis of the Congress than they get in the 
daily newspaper or in their texts.
  The bipartisanship which was displayed with the group, both groups 
with which I spent time, was outstanding. The Members on the other side 
and I disagreed on issues, we disagreed and were not disagreeable in 
front of these students, and took on some pretty tough ones. It was a 
good experience for us, and, I hope, a good experience for the 
students.
  Mr. SKAGGS. Thank you.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit a full report for the Record.

 Congress to Campus Program--Report to the Annual Meeting of the U.S. 
       Association of Former Members of Congress, April 22, 2004


                              Introduction

       The Congress to Campus Program addresses a significant 
     shortfall in civic learning and engagement among the 
     country's college-age young people, combining traditional 
     educational content with a strong message about public 
     service. The Program sends bipartisan pairs of former Members 
     of Congress--one Democrat and one Republican--to visit 
     college, university and community college campuses around the 
     country. Over the course of each visit, the Members conduct 
     classes, hold community forums, meet informally with students 
     and faculty, visit high schools and civic organizations, and 
     do interviews and talk show appearances with local press and 
     media.
       In the summer of 2002, the Board of Directors of the U.S. 
     Association of Former Members of Congress (Association) 
     engaged the Center for Democracy & Citizenship (CDC) at the 
     Council for Excellence in Government to help manage the 
     Congress to Campus Program (Program) in partnership with the 
     Stennis Center for Public Service (Stennis). CDC and Stennis, 
     with the blessing of the Association, have worked together 
     since to increase the number of campuses hosting Program 
     visits each year, expand the pool of former Members of 
     Congress available for campus visits, develop new sources of 
     funding, raise the profile of the Program and its message in 
     the public and academic community, and devise methods of 
     measuring the impact of the program at host institutions.


            Increased Quantity and Quality of Program Visits

       This is the second year of the program expansion. In the 
     2003-2004 academic year, the Program sponsored visits to 
     twenty-seven schools around the country--almost triple the 
     number for the 2001-2002 academic year. [See Attachment 1--
     Roster of '03-'04 Academic Year Visits & Participants.] These 
     visits took former Members to universities, service 
     academies, colleges and community colleges in nineteen 
     different states. While the total fell short of the goal of 
     forty for the year, it should be noted that twelve additional 
     scheduled visits had to be cancelled or rescheduled due to 
     factors beyond the control of the program staff.
       The ultimate goal is to have fifty Congress to Campus 
     school visits per academic year. This is probably about the 
     limit the Program can sustain with available Member 
     participation, staff support and funding. This remains an 
     ambitious goal, but at this early date twenty-five schools 
     have already approached program staff to discuss hosting a 
     2004-2005 Congress to Campus visit. Given that a Presidential 
     election year is likely to generate additional interest, we 
     anticipate a significant increase in demand for Program 
     visits.
       In addition to an increase in number of visits, we continue 
     to fine-tune the content and substance of Program visits 
     based on feedback from Members and host professors. The 
     Program asks visiting Members and host professors to complete 
     an evaluation of each visit.
       Those evaluations have prompted us to make several 
     adjustments. We have trimmed the length of a campus visit to 
     two full working days; limiting Members' time away from home 
     and work to two working days plus travel time makes 
     recruiting Members an easier matter. We also have reduced and 
     restructured the use of ``open forum'' events during campus 
     visits to insure greater student attendance and participation 
     and eliminated campus tours in favor of activities that 
     involve interaction between visiting Members and students. 
     Finally, we have added to the list of suggested visit 
     activities ``in service'' style meetings with high school 
     civics and social studies teachers that allow Members to 
     provide insights and encouragement to local teachers in their 
     efforts to educate students about the U.S. government and 
     civic responsibility.
       The Program asks host schools to insure contact with at 
     least 250 students over the course of a visit, and that 
     number is often exceeded. For the past academic year, 
     approximately 8000 students heard Members' unique story about 
     representative democracy and their special call to public 
     service.
       A draft schedule of events is prepared in advance of each 
     campus visit and reviewed by staff to assure variety as well 
     as the substance. There is a conference call before each trip 
     with Members and the responsible campus contact person to 
     review the revised schedule and iron out any remaining 
     problems. Members also receive CRS briefing materials on 
     current issues and background information on government 
     service opportunities prior to each visit.


             Recruiting Member Volunteers for Campus Visits

       The success of the Program obviously depends on Members' 
     participation. With travel back and forth, Members end up 
     devoting about three days to each campus visit. That is a 
     priceless contribution of an extremely valuable resource.
       Members of the Association were sent a survey again last 
     summer to solicit information regarding their availability 
     for and interest in a Program campus visit. Using responses 
     to these surveys and direct contact with a number of former 
     Members, CDC developed a pool of just over one hundred 
     available former Members, and some forty-seven participated 
     in visits this year. A ``bench'' of one hundred was deep 
     enough to fill the openings during the current academic year, 
     but more will be needed to meet the demands of the expanding 
     schedule for next and future academic years. Association 
     Members are encouraged to complete and return the survey they 
     will receive in June and then to be ready to accept 
     assignments to one of the fine institutions of higher 
     education the program will serve next year.


                            Funding Sources

       In addition to the generous contribution of money and staff 
     time made each year by the Stennis Center for Public Service 
     and the

[[Page 7376]]

     Association, several organizations provided funding to help 
     with the expansion of the Congress to Campus Program for the 
     academic years 2002-2003 and 2003-2004, including the Pew 
     Charitable Trusts, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and 
     the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA). 
     While Stennis' commitment to the Program is ongoing, funding 
     from the other organizations ended in January 2004. In the 
     spring semester, the American Association of Retired Persons 
     provided a major gift and has pledged additional support. CDC 
     and Stennis are continuing to work with the Association 
     leadership and other organizations to find new sources of 
     funding for Congress to Campus.
       Host schools are expected to cover the cost of Members' on-
     site accommodations and local travel and to make a 
     contribution to cover a portion of the cost of administering 
     the Program. A suggested amount of contribution is determined 
     according to a sliding-scale based on an institution's 
     expenditures per pupil [see Attachment 2--Application Form]; 
     a waiver is available to schools that are not able to pay the 
     scale amount. Several schools received a full or partial 
     waiver in 2003-2004. Still, school contributions produced 
     several thousand dollars in support of the program.
       The expansion of the Program--clearly justified by the 
     interest expressed by schools seeking to host a first or a 
     repeat visit and by the assessment of its positive effects 
     (see below)--will require a significant increase in funding.


                        International Initiative

       Congress to Campus made its first international visit in 
     October 2003 to the United Kingdom. An earlier Association 
     study tour had laid the groundwork for the visit and 
     established a relationship with Philip John Davies, Director, 
     Eccles Centre for American Studies at The British Library and 
     Dennis Spencer Wolf, Cultural Attache at the U.S. Embassy. 
     Dr. Davies was instrumental in arrangements for the visit in 
     London and at De Montfort University, Leicester, where he is 
     Professor of American Studies. The Embassy assisted with 
     travel and logistics. We undertook this first Program visit 
     abroad as a trial run to determine whether other 
     international visits might be worthwhile and practicable. The 
     experience of our Members and of their British academic 
     audiences suggests an international dimension for the 
     Congress to Campus Program is a good idea. Preliminary 
     discussions are now underway with potential sponsoring 
     institutions in Europe, Asia and Latin America.


                     Program Outreach and Publicity

       The increased number of institutions hosting and applying 
     to host a Congress to Campus visit is the result of an 
     aggressive outreach effort. Association leadership and 
     numerous former Members, as well as staff at CDC and Stennis, 
     have made many personal contacts on behalf of the Program. In 
     addition, we are continuing the sustained promotional effort 
     begun last year.
       Articles about the Program have appeared in the newsletters 
     of the Political Organizations & Parties Section of the 
     American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Federal 
     Relations section of the American Association of 
     Universities. CDC Executive Director and former Member David 
     Skaggs made a presentation in behalf of Congress to Campus to 
     the APSA at its August 2003 convention in Philadelphia. 
     Informational material has been emailed directly to the 
     Chairs of all relevant APSA Sections, all members of the APSA 
     Legislative Studies Section, as well as to many other college 
     and university organizational contacts.
       In the past, local and campus press and media have often 
     covered Congress to Campus school visits. In addition to 
     continuing that coverage, the Program encourages each host 
     institution to make commercial print and broadcast media 
     interviews a part of each Congress to Campus visit's 
     schedule.


                     Measuring the Program's Impact

       Over the years, anecdotal information has tended to 
     validate the basic premise of the Congress to Campus 
     Program--that these visits by former Members of Congress 
     positively affect students' views of public service and 
     government officials. In an effort to confirm this anecdotal 
     information, the Program asks host schools to have students 
     complete one-page surveys. The surveys elicit students' views 
     on public service careers and feelings about different 
     categories of public officials; they are to be completed by a 
     group of students who attended sessions with the former 
     Members and by a control group of similar students who did 
     not have contact with the former Members.
       While all schools hosting a visit do not return the 
     surveys, the data that was generated for the 2002-2003 
     academic year shows that the underlying goals of the Congress 
     to Campus program are sound. Those students who have contact 
     with former Members during their Congress to Campus visits 
     have a measurably more favorable view of public servants and 
     of public service as a career option than similar students 
     who do not have the opportunity to interact with the visiting 
     former Members.
       Last year we reported preliminary findings for 2002-2003. 
     That data has now been analyzed by the Center for Information 
     and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at the 
     University of Maryland. Their report [see Attachment 3] 
     confirms our preliminary finding and found that the Congress 
     to Campus Program had a statistically significant positive 
     impact on student's attitudes towards public service and 
     public servants. We are still receiving data from the 2003-
     2004 academic year and will provide Members with a report as 
     soon as that information is analyzed.
       As previously discussed, the Program requests the principal 
     contact at each host school to submit an evaluation of the 
     visit. We receive valuable feedback on various aspects of 
     each visit and try to incorporate lessons learned and helpful 
     suggestions in the on-going effort to improve the Program. 
     The best indication of satisfaction with the Program is the 
     fact that every school visited this year has said it wants to 
     do a Congress to Campus Program visit again.


                               Conclusion

       The Program has made significant progress toward achieving 
     its new goals. The number of campus visits has been increased 
     nearly 200% this year over 2001-2002 levels. However, Program 
     funding remains a matter requiring attention. Efforts to 
     raise the public profile of the Program have met with some 
     success, but more needs to be done. Finally, objective data 
     supports the basic premise of the Congress to Campus Program: 
     that campus visits by Members are effective in raising 
     interest in public service careers and in improving attitudes 
     about public officials among the students who participate in 
     Program events.

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  Mr. SKAGGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back to the gentleman from Idaho.
  Mr. LaROCCO. Thank you, David and Jim and Lloyd, for your report, and 
for giving us a feel for exactly how those visits are put together and 
how you related to the students. I encourage everybody in the 
membership to contact David to see if you could also make a Congress to 
Campus visit.
  One outgrowth of the Congress to Campus Program was an interest in 
producing a book that would take an inside look at Congress from 
different viewpoints. There are many fine books written by individual 
Members of Congress, as we all know, but, to our knowledge, there was 
no compendium that goes beyond the scenes in a very personal way. 
Therefore, one of our past presidents, Lou Fry of Florida, together 
with the head of the political science department at Colgate 
University, Lou's alma mater, coedited the book Inside the House: 
Former Members Reveal How Congress Really Works.

                              {time}  0930

  This book has been very well received and currently is in its third 
printing. The book is being used by the political science departments 
of several universities, and it is a case study of the Congress from 
many different points of view. My opinion may be biased, but I think it 
is an extremely instructive look behind the scenes of Congress. It can 
be purchased via the Web site of the association as well as through the 
Capitol Historical Society.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to now report on a new and very exciting 
domestic program the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress is 
undertaking. Through a generous grant of the AARP, the association is 
partnering with the Library of Congress in support of its Veterans 
History Project. This program honors our Nation's war veterans and 
those who served in support of them. It creates a lasting legacy of 
recorded interviews and other documents chronicling veterans' and other 
citizens' wartime experiences and how those experiences affected their 
lives and America itself. There is a great urgency in collecting 
wartime memories which become more precious as the number of veterans 
dwindles by 1,500 every day.
  The Veterans History Project encompasses veterans of World War I, 
World War II, the Korean and Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars. I would 
like to take this opportunity to call on all sitting and former Members 
of Congress to become involved in this important creation of a lasting 
record of America's war veterans. The association is working on several 
ideas to ensure that all former Members of Congress who are veterans 
will have the opportunity to fully participate in this important 
program.
  You can receive more information about the Veterans History Project 
by contacting the association's office and association members over the 
next several months. And all of you will be receiving numerous updates 
and materials to assist in creating your own veterans history. So we 
have got this button here on the Veterans History Project that I will 
put on now to express my support for this great program. We need the 
oral histories of all of us that have served in the military.
  Mr. Speaker, beyond the programs we administer dealing with domestic 
issues, the association is very active in overseeing international 
programs. We have become an important liaison involving the leaders of 
other nations and the United States. We have arranged almost 470 
special events at the U.S. Capitol for international delegations from 
over 80 countries and the European Parliament. These are programmed 
short-term visits for individual members of Parliament and long-term 
visits for parliamentary staff. And we have hosted 51 foreign policy 
seminars in 11 countries involving more than 1,500 former and current 
parliamentarians and conducted 21 study tours abroad for former Members 
of Congress. Since our last report to Congress alone, we have hosted 27 
events, meetings, and conferences involving foreign government 
officials and members and staff of the U.S. Congress including two 
sitting-members CODELs to Germany, a former-members CODEL to Mexico, a 
senior staff trip to Mexico, and, most recently, a senior staff visit 
to Germany.
  We are very proud of our efforts to establish a dialogue between the 
United States and countries around the globe. The association 
supervises the work of the Congressional Study Group on Germany, the 
largest and most active exchange program involving the U.S. Congress 
and the parliament of another country. It is a bipartisan group 
involving more than 170 Representatives and Senators. They are afforded 
the opportunity to meet with their counterparts in the German Bundestag 
to enhance understanding and greater cooperation. Ongoing study group 
activities include conducting a distinguished visitors program at the 
U.S. Capitol for government officials from Germany; sponsoring annual 
conferences involving Members of Congress and their German colleagues; 
and conducting an exchange program involving senior congressional 
staff.
  I understand, Mr. Speaker, that you would like to update the Congress 
on the activities of the Congressional Study Group on Germany. So with 
that, I would like to turn the floor over to our vice president, Jack 
Buechner.
  Mr. BUECHNER (presiding). I thank the President for yielding to the 
Chair.
  Mr. President, in its many years of existence, the Congressional 
Study Group on Germany has established itself as one of the premier 
tools for the United States Congress to develop an impact upon foreign 
policy. I believe, though, its greatest success has come from giving 
Members from both the House and the Senate the opportunity to establish 
a personal network with elected officials from Germany's legislative as 
well as executive branches. Past study group guests on Capitol Hill 
have included subcommittee chairs, opposition leaders, heads of 
parties, cabinet members, and business leaders. For example, Germany's 
Foreign Minister Fischer has been a guest of the congressional study 
group five times in the past 4 years. This type of interaction enables 
former and sitting Members to engage in a foreign policy discussion 
that otherwise would not be available to them.
  In addition to bringing high-level German government representatives 
to Capitol Hill, the study group organizes and hosts an annual 
conference for sitting Members and Bundestag members. This year's 
conference will take place in the district of the study group's 
Republican House chairman Gil Gutknecht of Minnesota. Also, this year 
for the first time, the study group has replicated our members 
conference on the congressional staff level. Just a few weeks ago, our 
international programs manager led a delegation of 10 chiefs of staff 
to Berlin and Heidelberg for meetings with the German Bundestag, the 
Chancellor's office, the foreign ministry, U.S. and German military 
headquarters, and corporate representatives.
  Mr. President, the Congressional Study Group on Germany is a unique 
program of vital importance to the Congress's international relations 
activities. The program would not be possible were it not for the 
bipartisan record and credence lent to it by the Former Members 
Association. In addition, without our group of financial supporters, we 
could not offer this important dialog to Members of Congress.
  Let me single out Craig Kennedy of the German Marshall Fund for its 
continuous support. For over 20 years we have been able to rely upon 
the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Also, the staff of the 
association has assembled an extraordinary group of corporate 
supporters, and I wish to take a minute to thank them publicly: Peter 
Lefkin of Allianz/Fireman's Fund; former Member of Congress Tom 
Coleman, who now works for BASF; Rob Liberatore of DaimlerChrysler; 
Wolfgang Pordzik of Deutsche Post; Wolfgang Jakubek of Deutsche 
Telekom; Bill Sweeney of EDS; Bill Inglee of Lockheed Martin; Bob 
Bergmann of RGIT; Tom Medaglia of RWE; Uli Werner of SAP; Gregg Ward of 
Siemens; and David Geanacopoulos of Volkswagen.
  In addition, we should thank our House leadership, the gentleman from

[[Page 7395]]

Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson), 
as well as our Senate leaders Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Tim Johnson 
of South Dakota.
  The Congressional Study Group on Germany is an excellent example of 
how the Former Members Association does provide a service to current 
Members that is unequaled in Washington and is of the utmost importance 
to the foreign relations of this country. I thank the former Members, 
and I would remind them that they can be very proud of the work they do 
to make this group possible. I look forward to being an active 
participant in the activities of this study group on Germany for many 
years to come.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  Mr. LaROCCO. Thank you, Jack. Thank you for that report.
  I would like to now turn to other international programs, 
particularly Mexico. While our German group is our most active, we are 
also very proud of our work with Mexico, Japan, and China. The Mexican 
program in particular has seen an unprecedented surge of activity. 
Members of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies as well as President Fox's 
administration have been guests of the study group on Capitol Hill. We 
have sent a delegation of senior congressional staff to Mexico in 2003, 
and we are planning on doing so again in the fall of this year.
  In addition, a delegation of former Members of Congress traveled to 
Mexico City and met with vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, the 
legislative adviser to President Fox, the head of Mexico's OMB, and the 
Foreign Ministry's USA desk. Currently, we are cosponsoring a program 
with the Woodrow Wilson International Scholar Center to telecast live 
to Mexican universities presentations by former Members of Congress on 
the U.S.-Mexico relationship. These broadcasts also will include live Q 
and A sessions involving the former Members and the Mexican university 
students. I am very pleased that former Member Jim Jones, who also 
served as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, has become actively involved in 
our program with Mexico and will be one of the featured speakers during 
the Woodrow Wilson Center telecast. The other speaker is our vice 
president, Jack Buechner.
  In addition, the association is working with the Council on Foreign 
Relations to create a town hall meeting specifically aimed at Chicago's 
Hispanic community. During this event former Members of Congress will 
conduct a mock debate on the issues which will be discussed during the 
2004 Presidential election. Funding for this program in the past has 
come from numerous sources, including the Tinker Foundation and 
corporate sponsors such as Cemex. I wish to thank the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) and Senator Chris Dodd for being our outstanding 
House and Senate chairmen.
  Turning to Japan and China, in 1993 the association founded the 
Congressional Study Group on Japan with the East-West Center in Hawaii. 
It is a bipartisan group of about 120 Members of the House and Senate 
providing substantive opportunities for Members of Congress to meet 
with their counterparts in the Japanese Diet as well as an opportunity 
to educate themselves on U.S.-Japanese relations. The study group 
brings experts in academics to Capitol Hill in addition to Japanese 
government officials to discuss security issues as well as trade and 
investment.
  Last month we had the great honor to host one of our own, former 
Speaker Tom Foley, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, as part of 
our congressional study group on Japan. Ambassador Foley provided many 
of his former colleagues with the opportunity to ask very pointed and 
important questions about our relationship with Japan and about the 
domestic issues that currently affect one of our most important trading 
partners. The afternoon we spent with him was truly enlightening, and I 
am pleased to report that Ambassador Foley has agreed to play a very 
active role in shaping the Congressional Study Group on Japan even 
further.
  Our program activities would not be possible without the invaluable 
support of Dr. Eric Gangloff, who heads up the Japan-U.S. Friendship 
Commission. This partnership has lasted for almost 10 years, and we are 
very appreciative of the commission's continued support.
  We have exceptional congressional leadership for this group both in 
the House and the Senate. Our House chairmen are the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. McDermott) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Houghton), and our Senate chairs are Gordon Smith and Maria Cantwell. 
We thank them for their tireless efforts on our behalf.
  In August of 1999 the U.S.-China Inter-Parliamentarian exchange group 
was created by Speaker Hastert. He asked our association because of its 
excellent track record of acting as a liaison between the U.S. Congress 
and foreign legislative branches to lend a hand in getting this program 
off the ground. Thus, the Congressional Study Group on China was born. 
Since its inception, the study group has hosted several delegations of 
members of the National People's Congress of China to Washington and 
has even sent a sizable delegation of sitting and former Members to 
China. It should be noted that the CODEL the association assembled was 
the first visit to China by a congressional delegation since 9/11 and 
that the resulting discussions with representatives of the Chinese 
Government were truly historic and extraordinary.
  In addition, the association has brought numerous experts on China to 
Capitol Hill in an effort to educate Members about U.S.-China relations 
and address specific questions Members may have about China. The 
association is very proud of having facilitated this important 
discussion and wishes to thank the U.S. Department of State for funding 
this undertaking. I also thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Manzullo) for being the group's House chairman.
  Our experience with these congressional study groups has been 
incredibly positive. As the Former Members Association, we are in the 
unique position that we can establish a link between the U.S. Congress 
and parliaments in other countries that is credible, responsible, 
bipartisan, and non-advocacy. Numerous countries, organizations, and 
embassies have approached the association about creating additional 
study groups, and we are examining several possibilities at the moment 
keeping in mind, of course, our own limitations due to staff and 
budget, as well as the needs for the dialogue that we wish to establish 
to be of current interest and importance to the foreign policy goals of 
the United States Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, the association also has worked in other parts of the 
world to promote the operations of a democratic system of government. 
In the past, we have organized legislative strengthening programs in 
the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, and Macedonia. 
The association also assisted with U.S.-Cuban relations via three 
former Members delegations to Cuba from 1996 through 2000.
  We are currently applying for a grant from the U.S. Agency For 
International Development to conduct election-related projects in the 
Ukraine along with a legislative strengthening program following that 
country's election. Also through USAID we are exploring the possibility 
of conducting legislative strengthening seminars for visiting Iraqi 
representatives here in Washington. In addition, we are working with 
the U.S. Department of State to involve former Members of Congress in 
their international information programs. The U.S. Association of 
Former Members of Congress is uniquely qualified to provide the 
resources for the education of the legislators in emerging democracies. 
Former Members of Congress have experiences in State legislatures as 
well as on the Federal level. We cannot expect other countries to adopt 
our ways, but we can help them identify the basic elements of a free 
representative government sensitive to the traditions of their country.

[[Page 7396]]



                              {time}  0945

  In addition, Mr. Speaker, as I move on to other programs, I would 
like to mention that the Association, after each congressional 
election, conducts its ``Life After Congress'' seminar. The purpose of 
this conference is to ease the transition away from Capitol Hill for 
those sitting Members who will not return for the next Congress. We 
will conduct this seminar again in December of this year.
  During the 2002 seminar, former Members Jack Buechner, Marc Lincoln 
Marks, Bob Carr, Jim Coyne, Martin Lancaster, Ed Pease and David Skaggs 
shared their experiences about the adjustments they had to make when 
they left Congress and how they managed to seek and pursue careers in a 
variety of fields.
  Congressional spouse June Hansen also described how members of 
families cope with leaving Congress and beginning a new life. In 
addition, congressional support staff outlined the services available 
to former Members of Congress. As in the past, the 2002 seminar was 
followed by a reception hosted by our outstanding Association's 
Auxiliary.
  The Association organizes study tours for its members and their 
spouses, who, at their own expense, have participated in educational 
and cultural visits to places such as Australia, Canada, China, New 
Zealand, the former Soviet Union, Vietnam, Western and Eastern Europe, 
Turkey, the Middle East, Mexico and South America. Last year a 
delegation of Former Members travelled to Mexico for a week of 
meetings, presentations, discussions, and sightseeing.
  For the fall of this year, we are planning a trip to France. The 
Association recognizes a need for dialogue involving France and the 
United States following the divisive debate over Iraq and the U.N. 
Security Council. We therefore believe that a Former Members of 
Congress study group to France could not come at a better time. Through 
the French Embassy here in Washington, we will create a program for our 
delegation that will include high-level meetings and discussions. In 
addition, to honor those who served their country in uniform during 
World War II, our study tour to France will include a visit to 
Normandy. 2004 marks the 60th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion, and 
the Association looks forward to commemorating our fallen heroes at the 
D-Day memorial sites. I hope many of the Association members will be 
able to participate in this trip.
  The Association also organizes events that serve more of a social 
function. We know how important that is. In other words, we try to 
create ways in which our members can each keep in touch with old 
friends and colleagues just as we are doing today. One such undertaking 
is our annual golf tournament here in Washington. Another is a brand 
new event which we are hoping to make an annual tradition: an informal 
family picnic for former Members, which last October was hosted at the 
home of June and Orval Hansen. The picnic was a joint undertaking 
involving the Association and its auxiliary, and we are already looking 
forward to replicating the get-together later this year.
  I would like to turn now to our annual fund-raising event, the 
Statesmanship Award Dinner. Mr. Speaker, as you can see, the 
Association conducts a wide variety of programs and is continuing to 
expand them. All of this requires financial support. As I mentioned 
earlier, at present our funding comes from three primary sources, 
membership dues, program grants and an annual fund-raising dinner and 
auction. On March 2 of this year, we held our seventh annual 
Statesmanship Award dinner at which five of our friends and colleagues 
were honored for their service to country in uniform during World War 
II before serving their country on Capitol Hill. The five honorees were 
Bob Dole, Sam Gibbons, John Glenn, George McGovern and Bob Michel.
  They represent a group of truly great Americans, and I would like to 
place in the Record the names of those former members of Congress who 
are veterans of World War II and who unequivocally deserve our 
recognition and gratitude.
  Mr. BUECHNER (presiding). Without objection, so ordered.
  There was no objection.

   34th Annual Spring Meeting, U.S. Association of Former Members of 
Congress, Living Former Members Who Served in Uniform During the Second 
                       World War, April 22, 2004

       Jim Abdnor, Army, (Repub.-SD, House 1973-81; Senate 1981-
     87)
       Brock Adams, Navy, (Dem.-WA, House 1965-77; Senate 1987-93)
       John B. Anderson, Army, (Repub.-IL, House 1961-81)
       William R. Anderson, Navy, (Dem.-TN, House 1965-73)
       Mark Andrews, Army, (Repub.-ND, House 1963-81; Senate 1981-
     87)
       Thomas Ludlow Ashley, Army, (Dem.-OH, House 1955-81)
       Eugene V. Atkinson, Navy, (Dem.-PA, House 1979-83)
       Howard H. Baker, Jr., Navy, (Repub.-TN, House 1967-85)
       Perkins Bass, Army Air Corps., (Repub.-NH, House 1955-63)
       J. Glenn Beall, Jr., Navy, (Repub.-MD, House 1969-71; 
     Senate 1971-77)
       Berkely Bedell, Army, (Dem.-IA, House 1974-87)
       Alphonzo E. Bell, Jr., Army, (Repub.-CA, House 1961-77)
       Henry L. Bellmon, Marines, (Repub.-OK, Senate 1969-81)
       Charles E. Bennett, Army, (Dem.-FL, House 1949-93)
       Lloyd Bentsen, Army, (Dem.-TX, House 1949-54; Senate 1971-
     94)
       Tom Bevill, Army, (Dem.-AL, House 1967-97)
       Benjamin B. Blackburn, Navy, (Repub.-GA, House 1967-75)
       John Brademas, Navy, (Dem.-IN, House 1959-81)
       Daniel B. Brewster, Marines, (Dem.-MD, House 1959-63; 
     Senate 1963-69)
       Edward W. Brooke, Army, (Repub.-MA, Senate 1967-79)
       Jack Brooks, Marines, (Dem.-TX, House 1953-95)
       William Broomfield, Army Air Corps, (Repub.-MI, House 1957-
     93)
       Donald Brotzman, Army, (Repub.-CO, House 1963-65)
       Joel T. Broyhill, Army, (Repub.-VA, House 1953-75)
       James Lane Buckley, Navy, (Cons.-Repub.-NY, Senate 1971-77)
       Dale Bumpers, Marines, (Dem.-AR, Senate 1975-99)
       Clair W. Burgener, Army Air Corps, (Repub.-CA, House 1973-
     83)
       Laurence J. Burton, Navy, (Repub.-UT, House 1963-71)
       George Bush, Navy, (Repub.-TX, House 1967-71)
       M. Caldwell Butler, Navy, (Repub.-VA, House 1972-83)
       Harry F. Byrd, Jr., Navy, (Dem.-VA, Senate 1965-83)
       Catherine Callahan, Navy, (Dem.-Nebraska, House 1965-67)
       Howard H. Callaway, Army, (Repub.-GA, House 1963-67)
       Ronald Brooks Cameron, Marines, (Dem.-CA, House 1963-67)
       Elford A. Cederberg, Army, (Repub.-MI, House 1953-79)
       Frank M. Clark, Army Air Corps, (Dem.-PA, House 1955-75)
       Donald H. Clausen, Navy, (Repub.-CA, House 1963-83)
       Raymond F. Clevenger, Army Med. Corps, (Dem.-MI, House 
     1965-67)
       Frank Coffin, Navy, (Dem.-ME, House 1957-61)
       Marlow W. Cook, Navy, (Repub.-KY, Senate 1968-74)
       Emilio Quincy Daddario, Navy, (Dem.-CT, House 1951-70)
       E. ``Kika'' de la Garza, Navy, (Dem.-TX, House 1965-97)
       Steven B. Derounian, Army, (Repub.-NY, House 1953-65)
       Edward J. Derwinski, Army, (Repub.-IL, House 1959-83)
       William L. Dickinson, Navy, (Repub.-AL, House 1965-93)
       William Jennings Bryan Dorn, Army, (Dem.-SC, House 1947-49, 
     1951-75)
       Don Edwards, Navy, (Dem.-CA, House 1963-95)
       Robert F. Ellsworth, Navy, (Repub.-KS, House 1961-67)
       John N. Erlenborn, Navy, (Repub.-IL, House 1965-85)
       Frank E. Evans, Navy, (Dem.-CO, House 1965-78)
       J. James Exon, Navy, (Dem.-NE, Senate 1979-97)
       Paul Findley, Navy, (Repub.-IL, House 1961-83)
       John J. Flynt, Jr., Army, (Dem.-GA, House 1954-79)
       Hiram L. Fong, Army Air Corps, (Repub.-HI, Senate 1959-77)
       Gerald R. Ford, Navy, (Repub.-MI, House 1949-73)
       Donald M. Fraser, Navy, (Dem.-MN, House 1963-79)
       Peter H.B. Frelinghuysen, Navy, (Repub.-NJ, House 1953-75)
       Richard H. Fulton, Navy, (Dem.-TN, House 1963-75)

[[Page 7397]]

       Robert N. Giaimo, Army, (Dem.-CT, House 1959-81)
       John J. Gilligan, Navy, (Dem.-OH, House 1965-67)
       Kenneth Gray, Army Air Corps, (Dem.-IL, House 1955-75 1985-
     89)
       Robert P. Griffin, Army, (Repub.-MI, House 1957-64; Senate 
     1965-78)
       Wayne R. Grisham, Army, (Repub.-CA, House 1979-83)
       James R. Grover, Army, (Repub.-NY, House 1963-75)
       Frank Guarini, Navy, (Dem.-NJ, House 1979-93)
       Gilbert Gude, Army Med. Corps, (Repub.-MD, House 1967-77)
       John Paul Hammerschmidt, Army, (Repub.-AR, House 1967-93)
       Orval Hansen, Navy, (Repub.-ID, House 1969-75)
       William H. Harsha, Marines, (Repub.-OH, House 1961-81)
       James Harvey, Army, (Repub.-MI, House 1961-75)
       Harry G. Haskell, Jr., Coast Guard, (Repub.-DE, House 1957-
     59)
       James F. Hastings, Navy, (Repub.-NY, House 1969-75)
       William D. Hathaway, Army Air Corps, (Dem.-ME, House 1965-
     73; Senate 1973-78)
       Ken Hechler, Army, (Dem.-WV, House 1959-77)
       Howell Heflin, Marines, (Dem.-AL, Senate 1979-97)
       Cecil ``Cec'' Heftel, Army, (Dem.-HI, House 1977-86)
       Jack Hightower, Navy, (Dem.-TX, House 1975-85)
       Elwood Hillis, Army, (Repub.-IN, House 1971-87)
       Earl Hogan, Army Air Corps, (Dem.-IN, House 1959-61)
       Frank Horton, Army, (Repub.-NY, House 1963-93)
       William L. Hungate, Army, (Dem.-MO, House 1964-77)
       Earl Hutto, Navy, (Dem.-FL, House 1979-95)
       Robert W. Kastenmeier, Army, (Dem.-WI, House 1959-91)
       William J. Keating, Navy, (Repub.-OH, House 1971-75)
       Hastings Keith, Army, (Repub.-MA, House 1959-73)
       Thomas S. Kleppe, Army, (Repub.-ND, House 1967-71)
       Horace R. Kornegay, Army, (Dem.-NC, House 1961-69)
       Peter Kyros, Navy, (Dem.-ME, House 1967-75)
       Robert J. Lagomarsino, Navy, (Repub.-CA, House 1974-93)
       Melvin R. Laird, Navy, (Repub.-WI, House 1953-69)
       Cathy Long, Navy, (Dem.-LA, House March 1985-1987)
       Thomas A. Luken, Marines, (Dem.-OH, House 1974-75, 1977-91)
       John C. Mackie, Army Air Corps, (Dem.-MI, House 1965-67)
       James R. Mann, Army, (Dem.-SC, House 1969-79)
       John O. Marsh, Jr., Army, (Dem.-VA, House 1963-71)
       Charles McC. Mathias, Navy, (Repub.-MD, House 1961-69; 
     Senate 1969-87)
       Wiley Mayne, Navy, (Repub.-IA, House 1967-75)
       John Y. McCollister, Navy, (Repub.-NE, House 1971-77)
       Mike McCormack, Army, (Dem.-WA, House 1971-81)
       Donald F. ``Don'' McGinley, Army, (Dem.-NE, House 1959-61)
       Robert J. McIntosh, Army Air corps, (Repub.-MI, House 1957-
     59)
       Abner J. Mikva, Army Air Corps, (Dem.-IL, House 1969-73, 
     1975-79)
       Joe Minish, Army, (Dem.-NY, House 1963-85)
       G.V. ``Sonny'' Montgomery, Army, (Dem.-MS, House 1967-97)
       Arch A. Moore, Jr., Army, (Repub.-WV, House 1957-69)
       Thomas G. Morris, Navy, (Dem.-NM, House 1959-69)
       Austin J. Murphy, Marines, (Dem.-PA, House 1977-95)
       John T. Myers, Army, (Repub.-IN, House 1967-97)
       Lucien N. Nedzi, Army Air Corps, (Dem.-MI, House 1961-81)
       Gaylord A. Nelson, Army, (Dem.-WI, Senate 1963-81)
       Richard Dale ``Dick'' Nichols, Navy, (Repub.-KS, House 
     1991-93)
       Willilam N. ``Bill'' Patman, Marines, (Dem.-TX, House 1981-
     85)
       James B. Pearson, Navy, (Repub.-KS, Senate 1961-79)
       Claiborne Pell, Coast Guard, (Dem.-RI, Senate 1961-96)
       Charles H. Percy, Navy, (Repub.-IL, Senate 1967-84)
       Peter A. Peyser, Army, (Both.-NY, House R 1971-77; D 1979-
     83)
       J.J. ``Jake'' Pickle, Navy, (Dem.-TX, House 1963-95)
       Otis G. Pike, Marines, (Dem-NY, House 1961-79)
       Bertram L. Podell, Navy, (Dem.-NY, House 1968-75)
       Richard H. Poff, Army Air Corps, (Repub.-VA, House 1953-73)
       Howard W. Pollock, Navy, (Repub.-AK, House 1967-71)
       Graham Purcell, Army, (Dem.-TX, House 1962-73)
       Albert H. Quie, Navy, (Repub.-MN, House 1958-79)
       James M. Quigley, Navy, (Dem.-PA, House 1955-57, 1959-61)
       Ed Reinecke, Navy, (Repub.-CA, House 1965-69)
       Peter W. Rodino, Jr., Army, (Dem.-NJ, House 1949-89)
       Robert A. Roe, Army, (Dem.-NJ, House 1969-93)
       Angelo D. Roncallo, Army, (Repub.-NY, House 1973-75)
       Fred B. Rooney, Army, (Dem.-PA, House 1963-79)
       J. Edward Roush, Army, (Dem.-IN, House 1959-68 1971-77)
       J. Roy Rowland, Army, (Dem.-GA, House 1983-95)
       Bill Royer, Army Air Corps, (Repub.-CA, House 1979-81)
       J.T. Rutherford, Marines, (Dem.-TX, House 1955-63)
       Pierre Salinger, Navy, (Dem.-CA, Senate Aug.-Dec. 1964)
       Gus Savage, Army, (Dem-IL, House 1981-93)
       William B. Saxbe, Army, (Repub.-OH, Senate 1969-Jan. 1974)
       Richard S. Schweiker, Navy, (Repub.-PA, House 1961-69; 
     Senate 1969-81)
       William W. Scranton, Army Air Corps, (Repub.-PA, House 
     1961-63)
       John F. Seiberling, Army, (Dem.-OH, House 1971-87)
       Hugo S. Sims, Jr., Army, (Dem.-SC, House 1949-51)
       George A. Smathers, Marines, (Dem.-FL, House 1947-51; 
     Senate 1951-69)
       Robert T. Stafford, Navy, (Repub.-VT, House 1961-71; Senate 
     1971-89)
       Louis Stokes, Army, (Dem.-OH, House 1969-99)
       Robert E. Sweeney, Army, (Dem.-OH, House 1965-67)
       James W. Symington, Marines, (Dem.-MO, House 1969-77)
       Burt L. Talcott, Army Air Corps, (Repub.-CA, House 1963-77)
       Lionel Van Deerlin, Army, (Dem.-CA, House 1963-81)
       Charles A. Vanik, Navy, (Dem.-OH, House 1955-81)
       Weston E. Vivian, Navy, (Dem.-MI, House 1965-67)
       Charles W. Whalen, Jr., Army, (Repub.-OH, House 1967-79)
       G. William Whitehurst, Navy, (Repub.-VA, House 1969-87)
       John S. Wold, Navy, (Repub.-WY, House 1969-71)
       James C. Wright, Army Air Corps, (Dem.-TX, House 1955-89)
       Wendell Wyatt, Marines, (Repub.-OR, House 1964-75)
       Leo C. Zeferetti, Navy, (Dem.-NY, House 1975-83)
       Roger H. Zion, Navy, (Repub.-IN, House 1967-75)

  Mr. LaROCCO. Mr. Speaker, we presented the five honorees with our 
Statesmanship Award at a dinner that was truly magnificent and lived up 
to the great occasion it was. I would like to thank the gentleman from 
Florida, Lou Frey, who yet again provided the leadership and was the 
spark plug that helped make the previous six dinners so successful. 
This year's event was no exception.
  I yield to the gentleman from Florida for his remarks.
  Mr. FREY. Mr. Speaker, it was truly a great event, and, Bob, you 
graced us all with being there, and your remarks were incredibly 
touching.
  And for those of you who missed it, you really missed a wonderful, 
wonderful evening. This was the seventh dinner. We have honored in the 
past Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, Lee Hamilton, Lynn Martin, 
Norm Mineta, Dick Cheney, and Don Rumsfeld, and this is the seventh in 
a row. We have been successful. We have grossed probably well over a 
million dollars now. I think it has become an annual event in 
Washington. It is a fun dinner. Jimmy Hayes spends a year collecting 
memorabilia which we can get, which is a lot of fun, and some valuable 
things are there.
  We had over 450 people at this dinner. It was sold out. You could not 
get a ticket. So get your tickets early for next March when we will 
have the next dinner.
  It takes a lot of work. We have a number of people that really do so 
much. It is a team effort. It takes about 9 months to put together. We 
have not decided the honorees next year, but I am sure it will be not 
as maybe a great event, I do not think we will be ever able to 
duplicate that and the event itself, but we hope it will come close.
  Our president is a great auctioneer. He did a great job of auctioning 
off at the live auction, and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Gutknecht) auctioned off two flags that will be flown

[[Page 7398]]

over the Capitol on the 60th anniversary of D-Day, and a certificate 
will go with that signed by the five honorees.
  The Executive Committee is the driving force for it. It is Larry 
LaRocco, Jack Buechner, Jim Slattery, and Jay Rhodes, Matt McHugh, 
Jimmy Hayes, Jim Symington and Bob Carr. Barbara Boggs Associates has 
worked for 7 years with us to run the dinner. Verizon has been a chief 
sponsor of the dinner for 6 years. This year, thanks to Larry, the AARP 
for the first time participated in the dinner, and we used that 
occasion to announce it.
  Let me say, Larry really worked hard on that day after day. It was 
sort of a cliff-hanger, but as usual Larry came through.
  This is really the only outreach we have to the community. We need 
everybody's help on this. It really allows us to do all these programs. 
We hope next year you will join us in making the eighth annual dinner a 
success.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate the chance to address the 
group.
  Mr. LaROCCO. Thank you, Lou. Again, on behalf of the Executive 
Committee, the officers, the Board and all of the membership, we just 
want to thank you for your leadership in the past and what you do to 
get us all together to make this dinner such a huge success.
  Mr. Speaker, in addition to financial support, the Association 
benefits enormously from the efforts and leadership of many people. I 
want to thank the officers of the Association, Jack Buechner, Jim 
Slattery, Jay Rhodes and John Erlenborn; the members of our Board of 
Directors and our Counselors for providing the excellent guidance and 
support necessary to oversee these activities. In addition, we are 
assisted by the Auxiliary of the Association, this year led so 
wonderfully by Dana Martin, a truly wonderful person. We are 
particularly grateful to them in their Life After Congress seminars, 
our annual dinners, and the new undertaking, our annual picnic.
  Needless to say, our programs could not be so effectively run without 
the exceptional support provided by our staff. Last year our Executive 
Director Linda Reed retired, and we wish her all the best with this new 
stage of her life. She was an incredibly able and energetic executive. 
We thank her for her many years of hard and dedicated service to our 
Association.
  She is succeeded as Executive Director by our former Program Director 
for Germany, Pete Weichlein. Our international programs are managed by 
Miss Sudha David-Wilp. Our member relations team includes Tom 
McGettrick and Rebecca Zylberman. Our staff sees as its main 
responsibility to communicate to our members and to the general public 
all the good work of the Association, and we have become much better in 
using new technology for this communication. And many of you have 
commented on what a great benefit it is to receive continuous program 
updates and other news via e-mail. In addition, we are making much more 
use of our Website, www.USAFMC.org, and will continue to do so. In the 
very near future we hope to be able to offer video and audio reports on 
our activities via the Website.
  These are truly very exciting times for the Association, and the 
Executive Committee is always asking Peter, do you have the technology 
you need to communicate? How can we be more productive in getting the 
word out to our membership? The video conference that we will be doing 
with Mexico is one example of how we will utilize the technology to 
expand the reach of our Association.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Would the gentleman yield for a special 
guest?
  Mr. LaROCCO. Mr. Speaker, I would be delighted to yield to a special 
guest.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the Democratic leader, 
the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).
  Ms. PELOSI. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. That has a nice ring to 
it. Thank you very much, Larry, for yielding your time.
  I am pleased to join our very distinguished Speaker in welcoming you 
to the floor of the House of Representatives. You are an inspiration to 
us. You built a strong foundation.
  Mr. Michel, it is always an honor to be in the same room with you. As 
minority leader I understand part of your role. I have a certain level 
of impatience with it myself. But I am pleased to see that 
bipartisanship is alive and well, at least among the former Members in 
the Congress of the United States.
  Good for you for honoring Sam Nunn. Sam Nunn is a great American 
recognized throughout our country even though he has not been in office 
for a few years now. He has always been an inspiration to us in and out 
of public office. He is always in public service, and his initiative 
and leadership on Nunn-Lugar is as valid and as important an initiative 
now as it was then, perhaps even more needed today. You were a leader. 
You saw early what the need would be, and it is an answer for us. So 
thank you, Sam Nunn, for your great leadership, and thank you to all of 
you for honoring Sam Nunn.
  I had to go to a discussion about continuation of government, so 
forgive me for being in and out. As I look around, I see so many 
friends on both sides of the aisle, and it should not be a partisan 
issue, but I am afraid it has come down to that again today. But any 
thoughts that you have about, one thought was that the Members of 
Congress could suggest their successor in time if an act of terrorism 
hits Congress. I said that would be good, you would not have to change 
the boards. We would just have the same names up there. We could be 
well represented by our very able family members, our constituents 
would. But you come at a time when you have a great deal, should we 
say, of lively debate on the issues.
  Seeing you reminds us of another time when we were able to work out 
these issues more easily and more amicably. Hopefully that day will 
return soon. And when it does, it will be because of the influence you 
all have on all of us.
  Congratulations on your good work on Congress to Campus. I am not 
surprised that it is such a success with David Skaggs and Mr. 
Lightfoot, I do not know where he is now, and all the others working on 
it, going from 6 to 40 campuses in a short period of time. Thank you 
for making public service more appealing to young people. Hopefully 
those of us still in office will be able to follow your lead on that as 
well.
  Welcome. Good luck in your deliberations. You are a source of 
strength and inspiration to us. And I want to extend the greetings of 
all of the Members of the House and Democratic Caucus to every single 
one of you.
  Again, Mr. Michel, a special welcome to you always.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair wants to thank the gentlewoman and 
remind her that in 1990, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco 
Giants, and she still owes me two quarts of chowder. It was based 
against Anheuser-Busch's product. I thank the gentlewoman.
  The Chair recognizes the time yielded back to the gentleman from 
Idaho (Mr. LaRocco).
  Mr. LaROCCO. Mr. Speaker, I was mentioning when I yielded to the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) that we were expanding our 
technology capability, and we are certainly doing that.
  I want to mention some special guests that we have with us today. We 
are very pleased to have with us today Douglas Rowland and Douglas 
Frith of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians. They are 
here in the Chamber with us, and we are delighted to have them with us. 
It has been a tradition to have the Former Parliamentarians from Canada 
join us for our meeting and that we go to Canada for theirs. We have 
exchanged very valuable information about our programs and how we can 
help each other and expand our reach within our own constituencies and 
across the border.
  Doug and Doug, we are very, very honored that you have come to 
Washington to participate in our annual meeting, and we would like to 
thank you.

[[Page 7399]]



                              {time}  1000

  Many association members over the past several years have had the 
good fortune, as I have had, to meet their Canadian colleague, Barry 
Turner, who has joined us for quite a few of our annual spring 
meetings. Unfortunately, he could not join us this year, but he sends 
his regards; and I know I speak for all of us when I send our best 
wishes to Barry. I spoke to him this week on the phone, and he 
certainly extends his greetings to all of you from north of the border.
  Mr. Speaker, it is now my sad duty to inform the House and all of our 
colleagues of those persons who served in Congress and have passed away 
since our report last year. The deceased Members of Congress are: Lamar 
Baker, Tennessee; Harold Budge, Idaho; Barber Conable, New York; Glenn 
Cunningham, Nebraska; Joshua Eilberg, Pennsylvania; Thomas S. Gettys, 
South Carolina; David Henderson, North Carolina; Louise Day Hicks, 
Massachusetts; Jeffrey P. Hillelson, Missouri; Richard Lankford, 
Maryland; Thomas Lewis, Florida; John Lyle, Texas; Nicholas Mavroules, 
Massachusetts; Francis Xavier McCloskey, Indiana; Don Mitchell, New 
York; Patsy T. Mink, Hawaii; Frank E. ``Ted'' Moss, Utah; James Henry 
Quillen, Tennessee; John J. Rhodes, Arizona; J. Edward Roush, Indiana; 
William J. Scherle, Iowa; Carlton Sickles, Maryland; Paul Simon, 
Illinois; Joseph R. Skeen, New Mexico; Bob Stump, Arizona; Strom 
Thurmond, South Carolina; David G. Towell, Nevada; James D. Weaver, 
Pennsylvania;
  I respectfully ask all of you to rise for a moment of silence in 
their memory. Thank you. I can tell as I looked around that there were 
certain memories invoked as I read the names of the people that have 
served in this House and our colleagues, and we miss them and are 
grateful for their service.
  Mr. Speaker, as you know, each year the association presents a 
Distinguished Service Award to an outstanding public servant. The award 
normally rotates between parties, as do our officers. Last year, we 
presented the award to an extraordinary Republican, Bill Archer. This 
year, we are pleased to be honoring a remarkable Democrat, Senator Sam 
Nunn.
  Sam Nunn served in the United States Senate from 1972 to 1996. For 24 
years, he represented the fine State of Georgia, attended Georgia Tech, 
Emory University and Emory Law School, and served in the United States 
Coast Guard. Like many of us, his political career began on the State 
level, when he entered the Georgia House of Representatives in 1968.
  During his tenure in the United States Senate, Senator Nunn served as 
chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Permanent 
Subcommittee on Investigations. He also served on the Intelligence and 
Small Business Committees.
  His legislative achievements include the landmark Department of 
Defense Reorganization Act, drafted with the late Senator, Barry 
Goldwater, and the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, 
which provides assistance to Russia and the former Soviet republics for 
securing and destroying their excess nuclear, biological, and chemical 
weapons.
  Sam Nunn is co-chairman and chief executive officer of the Nuclear 
Threat Initiative, a charitable organization working to reduce the 
global threats from nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. It is no 
understatement that Sam Nunn, both during his years in the Senate and 
after leaving the U.S. Congress, has made the world a safer place. We 
are deeply indebted to him for his energy, determination, and 
commitment in the area of nuclear threat containment. On behalf of the 
association, I am delighted to present our Distinguished Service Award 
to the honorable Sam Nunn.
  The plaque that I am going to present to the Senator on behalf of the 
whole association, and I will call the Senator up here to receive it, 
says: ``Presented by the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress 
to the Honorable Sam Nunn for his over 40 years of exemplary public 
service to his beloved State of Georgia and the Nation. Sam Nunn served 
24 years as a United States Senator, chairing for Congress the 
Committee on Armed Services. His legislative accomplishments are too 
many to list. He truly has made the world a safer place, both as a 
Senator through the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, 
and as former Member by co-chairing and guiding the work of the Nuclear 
Threat Initiative.''
  Senator, I am so pleased to present you with a scrapbook of letters 
from colleagues offering their congratulations for this well-deserved 
symbol of our respect, appreciation and admiration; and I would like to 
present this to you, Senator, and we would be honored to receive some 
comments.
  Mr. NUNN. Thank you very much, particularly for this wonderful day 
and this wonderful honor.
  Mr. Speaker, Minority Leader Pelosi, Members of the House and Senate, 
my former colleagues, my Canadian colleagues, my friends and fellow 
pensioners, as Bill Archer said so well last year when he received this 
award, being honored by your colleagues and your peers, those who work 
with you and who know the opportunities, as well as the perils, of 
public service, is an honor that transcends all others. I am indeed 
grateful to the Association of Former Members for this award and for 
your continued dedication to serving our Nation and to continuing to 
help in every way possible those who remain on the frontline, as well 
as your extraordinary work on college campuses. In my view, basically 
inspiring our young people probably is our most important 
responsibility both as Members of Congress and former Members.
  My first job out of law school in 1962 was working here in the House 
of Representatives as a staffer for the House Armed Services Committee. 
Over the years, some of my friends have posed the question, Sam, how 
did you get that great job right out of law school? Did you have a 
great law school record, academic record? Did the committee recognize 
your great potential for leadership? Perhaps, but the more honest and 
straightforward answer is that my great uncle, Carl Vinson, was 
chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, having served from 1915 
through 1965, as a Member of this House; and in 1962 when I came to 
Washington and spent such a meaningful year, he was the chairman of the 
committee.
  Here, as a House staffer and later in the United States Senate, I 
developed my passion for public policy and the political process. It 
all started here. This is where really I became enamored of the 
political process and where I knew that one of these days I was going 
to make a run. Here, I learned from Uncle Carl and others that Congress 
has no higher responsibility under the Constitution of our Nation than 
to provide for the common defense.
  Here, in the fall of 1962, I was exposed to a close-up view of the 
Cuban missile crisis, which left me with an indelible awareness of our 
duty to avoid nuclear use and to avoid nuclear conflict, a lesson that 
basically occupied a tremendous amount of my time when I became a 
United States Senator and that even today continues to dominate my 
post-Senate focus.
  Here, during my one brief, but impactful, year as a member of the 
House staff, I met Colleen O'Brien, my bride of now nearly 39 years; 
and I made a solemn commitment to myself to run for the House and 
Senate if I ever even had half a chance, which I did fortunately in 
1972.
  Here today, like every day as a staffer in 1962 and 1963, and as a 
Senator for 24 years, I get tingles of excitement and awe when I walk 
into this Capitol and I think of the tremendous power, the tremendous 
responsibility, and the tremendous influence of those who serve in the 
Congress of the United States. In the long run, and I think I have 
realized this more since I left the Congress than I did when I was in 
the Congress, but in the long run, the most important influence we 
have, I believe, is our influence over young people by word, but mostly 
by example. This may be the single most important responsibility of 
public service. Every day, we must demonstrate that we can be in

[[Page 7400]]

the political arena and yet retain intellectual honesty and ethical 
behavior and civility. That is of enormous importance to the continuing 
of our form of government.
  Here, today, I again acknowledge my profound admiration to the men 
and women, and I must add staffers and congressional employees, like 
those who are sitting behind us today, including my old friend Charlie 
Johnson, Parliamentarian of the House, who remain in this arena and in 
the service of America. Here, today, I express my gratitude to the 
Members of the House and Senate, past and present, of both political 
parties who have been my friends, who have been my mentors, who have 
been my teachers, and who have been my legislative partners in many 
different initiatives.
  Let me leave you with one brief observation that may have some 
relevance today, particularly to newer Members of the House and Senate, 
in this era of significant challenges abroad but increasingly bitter 
political warfare here at home. Every major improvement in national 
security and defense during my time in the United States Senate was a 
result of a few Senate and House Members of both parties putting our 
Nation's security ahead of partisan politics. I have never succeeded in 
any major national security initiative without a Republican partner. No 
matter who wins the elections this fall, the most serious problems 
facing America today cannot be met successfully by one party alone.
  I thank all the Members who are here today. I thank the Speaker and 
the minority leader. You have been most generous in sharing your time 
this morning with our former Members. The time has come for me to 
invoke cloture before the Rules Committee sends out the hook. So let me 
thank you again for this high honor, and let me thank each of you for 
your splendid service and continued service to our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield the floor.
  Mr. BUECHNER (presiding). The Chair thanks the gentleman from 
Georgia.
  At this time, the Chair would like to recognize two other special 
guests that we have had join us. We have got the gentleman from 
Maryland, part of the Democratic House leadership, Steny Hoyer. Would 
the gentleman like to make a few remarks?
  Mr. HOYER. Certainly. I will, as John Brademas did, I will use the 
traditionally opposite podium. I understand Nancy had spoken to you a 
little earlier and welcomed you here. I have spoken at many of these, 
perhaps not all, in the last few years.
  I might say that I heard how long Senator Nunn served in the Senate. 
There are some of us who believe he did not serve long enough in the 
Senate; and, Sam, congratulations to you for this honor and appropriate 
recognition of the extraordinary work that you have done for our 
country and, happily for our country, continue to do. We appreciate 
that.
  For those of us from the University of Maryland, we recognize Bill 
Archer's claim to fame is that he is the father-in-law of Fred Funk, 
the former coach. For those of you who are golf fans, Fred Funk is one 
of the great golfers in America on the pro circuit and always does a 
great job; and I always tell Bill Archer that is why he is famous, not 
for being in the House.
  I am pleased to be here with all of you and add my word of welcome to 
you. I have said it in the past. Sam just mentioned it. At a time of 
great challenge for our country abroad, we find ourselves unfortunately 
divided at home, not only in the Congress but our country divided, as 
all of us know, and that is reflected in the very close divisions that 
we find when the public goes to the poll; and when they are polled, we 
find out how closely divided they are.
  It is important, I think, for those of you who had the opportunity to 
serve, and John Brademas, this morning, my predecessor, I hung the 
pictures of all the former whips in the hallway leading to my office 
now, an extraordinary group of people.

                              {time}  1015

  And, John, thank you for all that you have done for our country as 
well.
  But I would urge all of us, not you and me, but all of us, together, 
to try to increase the dialogue and understanding, lower the 
confrontation and increase the cooperation that we so desperately need 
when challenged so heavily, I think, abroad.
  I noticed the Speaker, my Speaker, has his arm around a wonderful 
staffer as well, Billy Pitts, who left the Congress, went out and made 
vast sums of money in the private sector, I hope, and is now back with 
us trying to straighten out David Dreier. A very difficult job, but 
Billy is so talented, he may be able to do that.
  So welcome to all of you. We are glad you are here, but much more 
importantly, we are glad that you continue to be active, involved, and 
leaders in our country. Thank you very much. Good to see you.
  Oh, I might just say, and I was going to start with this, that, 
tragically, sadly, and, Larry, I came in as you were reading the list 
of Members who have passed away, but two of the Members who were my 
predecessors in the Fifth Congressional District of Maryland passed 
away this past year.
  Dick Lankford, I know some of you knew Dick, he was here for 10 
years, served on the Committee on Armed Services. I was a sophomore at 
the University of Maryland. I think he was the first Member of Congress 
that I really met. Dante Fascell was the first one I knew about when I 
was going to high school in Florida.
  And then Carlton Sickles. You mentioned Carlton Sickles, who called 
up Danny Brewster, for whom I was working in 1962 and 1963 and 1964, 
when I was graduating from law school, and they asked me to run for the 
State senate. I turned them down twice. Tom, you may remember this. I 
turned them down twice because I did not think I could win the State 
senate seat. And Carlton Sickles, who was then the Congressman-at-large 
over here and was running for Governor, called up Brewster and said, 
no, urge him to run, he can win. I will help him. We will give him a 
lot of money, et cetera, et cetera.
  You have all been there and done that. I did run. He did give me a 
lot of support; no money, but a lot of support, and I was successful. 
But he passed away, and I had the honor of speaking at his memorial 
service just a few weeks ago.
  So we have been diminished by their losses, but we are advantaged by 
your continuing participation. God bless you. Thank you very much.
  Mr. BUECHNER (presiding). In order to provide some sort of balance 
with the comments by sitting Members, the Chair would like to invite 
the chairman of the Committee on Rules, the Congressman from 
California, David Dreier, to say a few remarks.
  Mr. DREIER. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Let me just join in the 
bipartisan welcome and to say that Steny Hoyer has just recognized 
Billy Pitts, and I think it is important to note that Billy Pitts' 
father worked for 41 years for the longest-serving whip in the history 
of this institution, Les Arends. Billy, as you all know, worked for Bob 
Michel and ran this place when we actually were in the majority, even 
though many on the other side of the aisle did not realize that, during 
the 1980s, leading up to 1994. Billy made sure that we were in the 
majority, and I feel very fortunate that he has come back to work with 
me on the House Committee on Rules. He is sitting next to the guy who 
appointed me to the Committee on Rules.
  And it is interesting as I sit here and listen to the great remarks, 
and I listened upstairs, I had the television on and listened to 
Larry's comments about the international involvement that so many of 
you all are having. I have just come back from a 12-nation and 12-day 
trip. Billy and I went all over Southern Europe, Central and South 
Asia. And because I come from California, I have talked to a number of 
people from Mexico who have referred to the fact that the work of the 
study group has had a great impact on this very important relationship. 
So I want to encourage you there.
  I also want to join in recognizing my friend Sam Nunn, and you all 
are absolutely right on target, and Steny is

[[Page 7401]]

right in saying that we wish he were still here because of the stellar 
leadership he has provided us. But he is doing it in so many other 
areas, and I have been thrilled to work with him at CSIS and in a 
number of other fora.
  In just a few minutes, we are going to be beginning a very 
interesting debate that all of you will be fascinated with, and that is 
the question of the continuity of Congress. After September 11, we 
looked at the prospect of this fact. I was the last person to leave the 
Capitol on September 11. I left about 11 a.m. that morning, and I did 
so when one of the guards down here said there was a plane they had 
lost contact with that was headed right for this building. We all know 
it was the plane that ended up going into the ground in Pennsylvania 
because of those courageous people who were on board that flight.
  After that time we looked at the thought that really had not been 
contemplated by many, except it was discussed in the 1950s, of a huge 
loss of life. So we are going to today be considering legislation which 
would call for expediting the special elections that would be held 
following that loss of life. And just to give you my view on it, I am 
struggling because there are some who want to have Governors appoint 
Members of the House of Representatives or have us actually appoint our 
successors, which to me is completely counter to the Madisonian view of 
this being the people's House.
  I see two former Members of the Senate here, and you can serve in the 
Senate by appointment. We know from the former minority leader of this 
place, Jerry Ford, that you can become President of the United States 
by appointment, yet we all know this is the only federally elected 
office where you have to be elected to serve. So we are going to begin 
in just a few minutes that debate, and I hope that all of you will 
follow it because it is going to be a fascinating one as we look at 
this challenge to the institution.
  Anyway, I hope it is a long time before I join your ranks, but I just 
wanted to let you know it is nice to be here with you all. Thanks.
  Mr. LaROCCO. Mr. Speaker, I have noticed some former Members have 
joined us during the course of our report, and I would like to invite 
them to come up to the desk and make sure their attendance here is 
noted for the Record.
  This, essentially, concludes our 34th Annual Report to the Congress. 
I just want to say personally that my term is ending shortly as 
president of the Association. I want to thank the Board and the 
Executive Committee for their great support, and all of you for your 
support of the Association and just for giving me the honor and the 
privilege to serve as your president for the last 2 years. It has truly 
been a wonderful 2 years to work on the programs here.
  And I want to thank Sam Nunn, too, for honoring us here to receive 
the award and for his great remarks. Thank you so much, Sam. And to our 
bipartisan leaders of the current Members who have come to greet us.
  We have a wonderful program today, starting in just a few minutes, 
with a press panel over in the Cannon House Office Building, but with 
that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back my time and conclude my report.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has concluded his report, but 
before terminating these proceedings, the Chair would like to recognize 
the gentleman from Florida, Lou Frey, for a special presentation.
  Mr. FREY. Mr. Speaker, this will just take a couple of minutes, but I 
think this is really important. It is a great privilege for me to 
recognize the outgoing president, Larry LaRocco, for his many years of 
outstanding service to the organization. As he just said, his term as 
president comes to an end this year, and all of us, members of the 
Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, Association members and 
our staff, wish to thank Larry for his exceptional leadership. He has 
amazing drive and energy, and he has brought a vision to the presidency 
like few others before him.
  Ever since he joined our Association, he has been such a great asset, 
and we are glad he will remain on our Board and on the Executive 
Committee even now that his term as president is ending. In my opinion, 
and I know many of my colleagues share in this assessment, this 
Association has taken quantum leaps since Larry became president.
  He has talked about the Congress to Campus program that has almost 
quadrupled in size, the international component that we have, and the 
tours to Taiwan, France and Germany. In addition, Larry has brought us 
into the 22nd century, I think, with his space-age technology, and he 
continues to drag us in that direction.
  I personally believe that because of Larry LaRocco's leadership, the 
U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress is perceived as a 
vibrant and engaged NGO that allows its unique membership to continue 
their service to the country. He took existing programs and made them 
better. He brought ideas to the table that upon implementation have 
resulted in new and exciting ventures for our Association.
  Larry, you just did an incredible job. We thank you so much. And on 
behalf of the Association, I would like to present this plaque to you, 
which is just a small token of the thanks for so many years of effort 
and such a great job, and we truly are blessed with your service. Thank 
you so much, Larry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman yields back his time.
  The Chair again wishes to thank the former Members of the House for 
their presence here today. And to reiterate the remarks of the 
gentleman from Idaho, for all those Members present who did not record 
their presence, please come to the reading clerk and be so designated.
  Good luck to you all.
  The Chair announces that the House will reconvene at 10:45 a.m.
  Accordingly (at 10 o'clock and 25 minutes a.m.), the House continued 
in recess.

                          ____________________