[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8350-8351]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            FAREWELL ADDRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Portman) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PORTMAN. Madam Speaker, I want to start by thanking the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Gohmert), who just gave us a wonderful presentation. He 
is a dear friend. And as I am about to say, there are a number of 
people in this Chamber I am going to miss, and the gentleman from Texas 
is certainly one of them.
  Madam Speaker, last month I was asked by President Bush to join his 
Cabinet as the next United States Trade Representative. And tonight I 
am told that it is likely that the Senate will take up that nomination. 
If I am confirmed, I am told this will be my last opportunity to speak 
on the House floor. It is kind of awkward not having the confirmation 
fully completed, but I do not want to miss this opportunity to say a 
couple of things to my colleagues.
  First, I rise tonight with very mixed feelings. If confirmed, I am 
very much looking forward to the opportunity to serve our country on 
the important trade issues that we face. But this was not an easy 
decision. I am going to miss serving the people of the seven counties 
in southern Ohio's Second Congressional District. It has been the 
greatest honor of my life, and I will be forever grateful to the people 
of the second district for giving me the privilege to serve in this 
great House.
  I ran for Congress 12 years ago to try to make a positive difference 
in the lives of people and to take the commonsense values and the 
common sense of the people of southern Ohio to Washington, D.C. To do 
that, I needed the help of my constituents, who stretch from downtown 
Cincinnati about 150 miles east through beautiful rural Ohio, all the 
way to Portsmouth, Ohio. Over the years that has happened.
  So many people welcomed me into their homes, into their schools, 
their businesses, on their farms, into their hospitals, into their 
places of worship. Others have attended my town meetings, visited with 
me at parades, county fairs and festivals and invited me to speak at 
their meetings.
  I will miss these sessions, and I will miss the valuable input that I 
have received. The people of the second district have helped me get a 
better sense through these meetings of the needs and concerns of the 
small business owners, the parents, the teachers, the veterans, our 
seniors, our young people.
  Madam Speaker, one thing I am really going to miss is going into the 
classrooms and reading the children's book called ``House Mouse, Senate 
Mouse,'' which I would recommend to my colleagues if they do not know 
about it.

                              {time}  2300

  It is a great way to try to explain to kids what we do here and the 
important work of our legislative branch.
  These experiences throughout the district have also made me more 
hopeful, Madam Speaker, about our future, as a region, but also as a 
country. I have met so many people and been so

[[Page 8351]]

encouraged by the dedication of those people, who work hard every day 
to make our communities a better place to live and to work, and make 
our communities safer, stronger.
  In particular, I will be forever impressed by those who selflessly 
volunteer their time and their knowledge to help others. And, of 
course, all of us must be forever grateful to those men and women in 
uniform who serve us and who put their lives on the line every day for 
the people.
  Together, my constituents and I were able to achieve some great 
things for our people in the district and across the Nation. We 
successfully worked together on a wide variety of projects back home, 
ranging from providing needed funds for the construction of a world-
class National Underground Railroad Freedom Center on the banks of the 
Ohio River, to saving and creating jobs at the Portsmouth Uranium 
Enrichment Plant in Piketon, an important part of our national energy 
strategy.
  As a member of the Committee on Ways and Means, I am the vice-chair 
of the Committee on the Budget and a member of leadership, I have also 
had the opportunity to play a role in some important accomplishments 
here in Congress; welfare reform, lowering tax rates to improve the 
economy, responding to the attacks of 9/11 and strengthening our 
military.
  I was also able to take some specific legislation that I authored 
across the finish line to be signed into law. Often my legislative 
partner in that was my friend from across the aisle, a good friend and 
a thoughtful legislator, Congress Ben Cardin of Maryland.
  Some of our legislative successes included laws to stop unfunded 
Federal mandates; the first comprehensive reform of the Internal 
Revenue Service in more than 50 years, including adding more than 50 
new taxpayer rights; four new laws that have helped reduce substance 
abuse and its consequences through prevention and education; and, of 
course, three laws that today allow people to save more for their own 
retirement. All these accomplishments help people.
  I could not have done it without incredible staff, and I want to 
thank my dedicated staff, both past and present. I am so proud of them, 
so grateful for their professionalism, their skill, their commitment to 
and compassion for the people of Ohio's Second Congressional District. 
Without their expertise, their hard work, these accomplishments that I 
mentioned would not have been possible.
  And I want to thank those in the office of the House Clerk who are 
here tonight, late, and who are always here for us, those in the 
cloakroom, those in the Doorkeeper's Office, the Capitol police 
officers and so many others who have become my friends here and who 
serve us so well as Members and serve our country well.
  Madam Speaker, I am very proud of my time here in Congress, and I am 
proud to have served with a lot of great men and women who are here for 
the right reasons and who serve honorably. They are good public 
servants and many have become good friends.
  There are too many Members, both Republican and Democrat, for me to 
mention here tonight, but there is one Member I would like to single 
out, and that is Dennis Hastert, the Congressman from Illinois's 
Fourteenth Congressional District. He is known by a lot of different 
names. He is the Speaker to all of us, he is Coach to a lot of us, he 
is a loving father, grandfather and husband. But to me, Denny Hastert 
is a good friend and he has been a mentor. I will be forever grateful 
to him for the opportunities he has given me to serve in leadership and 
for the many things that he has taught me.
  Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  I will wrap up tonight now with a plug for the Central American-
Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, which I do feel strongly 
about, but with a few words about the most important people in my life.
  I would not be here today without the strong and constant support of 
my family. My inspiration for serving and for giving back to the 
community comes from my parents. I was blessed with two great parents, 
they have been tremendous role models, and I cannot put into words the 
gratitude I feel for them.
  I am also very fortunate to have the best partner I can imagine in my 
wife, Jane. She does a lot for our community and she is the best mother 
I can imagine.
  I could not be prouder of my three kids, Jed, Will and Sally for 
their many accomplishments. I himself also thankful for their 
willingness to allow me to serve, to have allowed me to serve here with 
my colleagues, to allow me to serve the people of Southern Ohio, and to 
have given their blessing to this new responsibility I will be 
undertaking, which will require me to travel more than I would like and 
to be away from them more than I would like.
  I mentioned at my announcement that my 10-year-old daughter Sally had 
to admit to me that she had never heard of the U.S. Trade 
Representative, she joins a lot of other people in that, but she said 
it sounded like a really neat job. And it is. And it is a really 
important job. Trade affects every one of us. It affects our economic 
future in very fundamental ways. It also is fundamental to freedom and 
prosperity around the world.
  Fortunately for me, the trade issues are also important to the U.S. 
Congress, and the House and the Senate are actively involved in so many 
issues that will come across the desk of the U.S. Trade Representative. 
As a result, if I am confirmed tonight, I will have the opportunity to 
work very closely with Democrats and Republicans alike on both sides of 
the Capitol.
  This makes it a little easier, Madam Speaker, to leave the Congress. 
I want to thank you for allowing me to take the time tonight to express 
my mixed emotions as I contemplate leaving this, the People's House.
  Good night, and Godspeed.

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