[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 22634-22640]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2115
                   REPUBLICAN STUDY COMMITTEE TRIBUTE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. McHenry). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, before he leaves the floor I would echo the 
sentiment of my gratitude for the friendship, the public service and 
the example of integrity of the gentleman from New York, and his 
leadership and his kindness will be greatly missed here as well as his 
passion for public service. Mr. Boehlert, I congratulate you and thank 
you.
  We gather today in a caucus known as the Republican Study Committee 
in this leadership hour to do what my colleagues from New York have 
just completed doing, Mr. Speaker, and that is really taking a moment 
to both speak of and hear from some of our cherished colleagues who 
will be moving on to other careers, some voluntarily, some 
involuntarily, but all of them ending time, short and long, here on 
Capitol Hill that have been marked by a commitment to principle and a 
commitment to integrity.
  I sometimes will say, Mr. Speaker, that my ambition in Congress is to 
get out of this place with my family and my reputation for commitment 
to principle intact, and all of those that we will hear from tonight 
have accomplished that.
  I served as the chair of the Republican Study Committee in this 
Congress and will be joined this evening with an assist from the newly-
elected chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Jeb Hensarling from 
Texas, who will be helping me introduce and also extol the careers of 
those individuals who will be leaving the employ of the people of the 
United States of America at the end of the 109th Congress this week.
  I want to begin by introducing for a few remarks the gentleman from 
Minnesota's 1st Congressional District. Gil Gutknecht represents the 
peak of the baby boom generation in his career in public service. After 
serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives for 12 years, Gil 
Gutknecht was elected to Congress in 1994, part of a storied class that 
brought a new majority to Capitol Hill. He has served as the chairman 
of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Operations, Oversight, 
Nutrition and Forestry, but more than that he has earned a reputation 
nationally as a deficit hawk for his service while on the House Budget 
Committee.
  He has also throughout his career earned many awards as a friend of 
the farmer, a friend of the taxpayer, and if I may say so, as I yield 
time to the gentleman from Minnesota, one of simply the most plain 
spoken, eloquent Members of the House of Representatives.
  Gil Gutknecht has often said that he believes, ``Words have meaning, 
ideas matter and actions have consequences,'' and he set an example of 
that throughout his 12 years here on Capitol Hill. It is with great 
pleasure that I recognize a colleague and a friend and inspiration for 
the Republican Study Committee, Minnesota's 1st Congressional, Gil 
Gutknecht.
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from 
Indiana for having this Special Order.
  Woody Allen once observed that he was not afraid of death. He just 
did not want to be there when it happened, and it was a little like 
that on Tuesday night about 10 o'clock for some of us. We were there 
when it happened.
  But I did want to reflect, I have been so blessed to serve in this 
great body for the last 12 years. I wanted to reflect a little bit 
about what it was like when I first ran for Congress, what it was like 
during those heady days, some of the highs and lows, some of the 
accomplishments.
  The Congress itself is a living, breathing organism, and every 2 
years we have an election, and in some respects every 2 years we have 
an entirely different Congress. A lot of the faces stay the same, but 
the dynamic is different. There will be different leaders. There will 
be different issues, and I was so fortunate and I really do mean 
blessed that, first of all, I had a chance to serve in the Minnesota 
State Legislature.
  In that capacity, I served as what we would probably call here the 
whip. I was the floor leader, and every day it was my job to help 
organize the debate. I made sure that, and the years that I was in the 
position we were in the minority, but every year, every day I

[[Page 22635]]

made sure that the other side was held accountable for what they said 
and what they did and what they proposed and how they voted. I really 
enjoyed that job. We had real debates in the legislature, unlike the 
Congress.
  But it was really time for me to move on, and so I decided to run for 
the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 and I was very fortunate. I 
picked a good year. The issues favored us. The wind was at our back.
  I will never forget. It was kind of a cloudy day, and Members 
probably remember that as well, but it was a cloudy day when we all 
gathered here in Washington that fall to sign the Contract with 
America, and just as we went on the western steps of the U.S. Capitol 
Building here, just as we walked out there, the clouds parted and the 
sun came out. It was almost like it was a divine message that the sun 
was going to shine on the Republican Party that year and it did.
  Most of us that day believed we were going to win, and most of us 
did. I came here with one of the largest freshman classes in the 
history of Republican Party, and I will never forget, when we came here 
we were the toast of the town. The Republican freshmen that year, we 
spent our days at orientation and looking for apartments and doing all 
the other things that freshmen have to do when they come here, but the 
evenings we were wined and dined by almost everyone.
  I will also never forget one particular story. We were waiting 
outside the hotel, some of us, and a sweet little lady came by. I guess 
it is not politically correct to say a sweet little old lady, but she 
had kind of blue hair, and anyway, she looked at us and sort of gave a 
double take. Perhaps she recognized Sonny Bono, and she said, You are 
the Republican freshmen, aren't you? And we said, yes, and we started 
to introduce ourselves. Then almost with a tear in her eye, she said, 
you know, I have been waiting 40 years for you because it had been 40 
years since the Republicans had been in the majority in this House of 
Representatives.
  In fact, going back just a little bit before that, one of the first 
trips I made to Washington as a candidate for Congress, I was invited 
to a leadership meeting. I was star struck. Pretty soon Henry Hyde came 
into the meeting room. I sat in the corner, and there was a big pile of 
the best cookies I had ever since, and they had flasks of coffee, and 
so I sat in the corner and thought I am just going to watch this like a 
fly on the wall and drink coffee and eat these cookies. Pretty soon 
Henry Hyde comes bouncing in and those who remember Henry in his 
earlier days had quite a bounce to his step. I was in awe of Henry 
Hyde. I had watched him on C-SPAN. I had heard his speeches. I was a 
big fan of all that he had done to protect the unborn.
  I am sitting in the back of the room and Dick Armey comes in, and 
pretty soon Newt Gingrich comes in, and I am just sitting there, my 
eyes are big, and I am watching all this. And then Bill Paxon walked 
into the room and he spotted me. He said, oh, hey, we have got Gil 
Gutknecht over here, he is going to win that seat back in the 1st 
Congressional District back in Minnesota; stand up and say a few words, 
Gil.
  I was like a deer in the headlight for longer than I want to admit. 
Finally, when I gained my senses I said, you know, I was born in 1951, 
and when I was a child, a very small child, a baby, Republicans were in 
the majority in this House. I said I believe like Haley's Comet our 
time is coming again, and you know, I have been to auction college. One 
of the things they teach you in auction college is to read people's 
eyes. As I looked around the room at the leaders of the Republican 
Caucus that day, I could read their eyes. Some of them were saying, 
yeah, right, kid, but one of them, and I will never forget, Newt 
Gingrich, his eyes said, yes, we are going to be in the majority. 
Ultimately, Newt was right.
  So we came to Washington. I think about that little lady who had been 
waiting 40 years for us, and I thought about her often. I hope we have 
not let her down too much. I think maybe in the last couple of years, 
maybe we did, but those were heady days, and we made enormous progress.
  I remember coming down to the floor of the House with one of my 
colleagues, Congressman Mark Neumann from Wisconsin's 1st Congressional 
District, and Mark came to town with charts. He was the first person 
that I know that actually used charts on the Special Orders. Part of 
the reason he used charts is there had been a study done at the 
University of Wisconsin that said you are 40 percent more believable if 
you use charts, and so we all started using charts. But it started I 
think with Mark Neumann.
  He had this simple chart about what it was going to take to balance 
the Federal budget and it was not complicated. You have to slow the 
rate of the growth of spending, so that the Federal budget does not 
grow at a faster rate than the average family budget. Now, that is not 
rocket science, but you know what, we did it and it worked.
  I remember in, and Ernie will remember this, too, when we locked 
horns with former President Clinton, and in December of 1995 we shut 
the government down. I remember also when it was all over, when we 
finally, and if I can say this, when Bob Dole capitulated and ended the 
government shutdown, I remember what Newt said to me. He said, you 
know, it was a dumb fight dumbly fought, and I think a lot of people 
thought that, but it was an important turning point because we sent a 
message not only to the President and the administration but to the 
American people that we were deadly serious about controlling Federal 
spending, the growth in Federal spending and, more importantly, 
allowing Americans to keep more of what they earned.
  We did a lot of important things. It was not just about the Contract 
with America. We marched through those in the first 100 days, and I 
remember something that Henry Hyde said when it was all over. He said, 
you know, it was not a 100 days that was so tough, it was the hundred 
nights.
  We literally were in session almost from Monday morning early, 
working most evenings till 8, 9, 10, 11 o'clock at night, but it was a 
wonderful time. We reformed the welfare system. We cut the welfare 
rolls in half, and we reinforced those time-tested values that I think 
have made America the special place that it is.
  So I was so privileged to have been here as part of that, and we did 
make some enormous progress on so many fronts, and we literally went 
from a $250 billion deficit, and deficits for as far as the eye could 
see, to something people had even forgotten and that is by September 
11, 2001, when we had a Budget Committee meeting that morning on 
September 11, 2001, the issue we were talking about was what are we 
going to do with this big surplus. We were looking at surpluses of 
trillions of dollars.
  So it has been a very special time to be here. I really do think we 
lost our way a bit once we got into the surplus situation, but as I 
think about all of the areas where we were able to have an influence on 
the course of events, yes, we made a lot of mistakes. I made a lot of 
mistakes, but this has been a very special time in American history.
  I never thought when I ran for Congress that I would vote in effect 
to declare war. I never thought that I would be called to vote on 
articles of impeachment. I did believe that we would have a chance to 
vote for a balanced budget agreement.
  The high point perhaps, during my entire tenure here in Congress, was 
when the President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton, 
joined us and he issued those immortal words that the era of big 
government is over. It may have been a bit premature because the empire 
has struck back in the last number of years, and as I say, we have made 
a lot of mistakes on the way.
  I hope we have not let people down, but it has been a wonderful 
privilege for me to serve in this very special place. This is the 
people's House, and you know, sometimes when the slings and arrows of 
outrageous fortune, of electoral ups and downs do not necessarily break 
our way, it is easy for us

[[Page 22636]]

to blame the voters, but in the end I believe that the voters have a 
right to be wrong, even if they are wrong, but I also believe for the 
most part the voters are right. I think we lost our way in the last 
several years, and so they began to wonder were we still the party of 
reform, were we still the party that battled big government or that 
defended big government?

                              {time}  2130

  Were we the party that was trying to change Washington or had 
Washington changed us? And my only wish for all of you and particularly 
the Members of the Republican Study Committee is that you return to 
those time-tested principles and values, because in the end that is 
what this is all about. Government will either reinforce time-tested 
principles and values or it will undermine them. When government grows, 
freedom declines.
  And I am sorry, I should remember who said it, and now I have even 
forgotten the quote. But I think our founders really understood that 
those who would trade liberty for security will lose both and deserve 
neither. Those words were true 220 years ago and they are true today.
  And I know that we had an interesting debate this afternoon about the 
rights of the unborn. If you look at what our founders said and what 
they wrote, even Thomas Jefferson, who was not necessarily considered a 
religious man in the sense that a lot of our folks who were our 
founders, but he was a deeply religious man. And he said that the same 
God who gave us life gave us freedom.
  Those rights and those inalienable rights that were talked about so 
much in the early days of our Republic need to be talked about again. 
And I think it really falls upon the Republican Study Committee and the 
people who are here, regardless of what the numbers are, regardless of 
what the polls may say today, those time-tested values and principles 
will win out.
  And I don't believe the American voters voted against our values, I 
don't think the voters voted against our principles. There were other 
cross-currents. And even if they did, we simply need to do a much 
better job of telling our story.
  I was privileged to come to Washington with J.D. Hayworth and that 
freshman class, and so as I leave I will have both some sad memories 
about how things ended, or at least they ended for me, but I will have 
mostly incredibly fond memories of golden days and golden nights and 
ways that we made a difference.
  I will close by saying this. When I go to high schools and visit with 
students, I tell them a couple things. First of all, I always tell them 
I am one of the luckiest people that they will meet that day, and I say 
that because every day I felt like I made a little difference in 
somebody's life. And it didn't necessarily make the papers. A lot of 
times people talk about, well, what is said in the Washington Post and 
did it make the CBS News and did Fox News do something about it. A lot 
of the things that we do every day don't make the news.
  It may be a woman who calls and her daughter is stuck at a New Jersey 
airport and she has lost her passport, and she is frantic and she says, 
``Congressman, my daughter is stuck at this airport. Can you help get 
her passport?'' And that is a true story. And we were able to get that 
young lady a passport through the State Department in a matter of about 
3 hours and get her on the next plane. Now, to this day that mother 
thinks I am the greatest guy who ever lived. And there are a lot of 
other things, whether it is a veteran's benefit, to helping people plug 
into the right administrative issue. There all kinds of things that 
people in Congress do every day that don't make the news but we are 
making a difference in people's lives.
  And I do believe in that expression that you used earlier: If you 
want to change the world, you have got to first change your 
neighborhood. And if you can't change your neighborhood, at least be a 
good example. And I think the responsibility of the Republican Study 
Committee is to be that beacon of light, but most importantly, to be a 
good example. Because both America and I think many Members of Congress 
want to follow it, and they are looking for leadership.
  So thank you very much for having this little event tonight and thank 
you for giving me one last chance to visit with the folks here in the 
House Chamber. As I say, it has been a wonderful experience. I want to 
thank all the folks who I worked with through the years, including, and 
especially, Mark Newman from Wisconsin's First Congressional District 
for getting us started using charts. Thank you very much.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume, as we 
see other outgoing Members arriving, to the newly elected chairman of 
the Republican Study Committee for the 110th Congress, Jim Hensarling 
from Texas.
  Mr. HENSARLING. I certainly thank my friend for yielding time, and I 
did not want to let my dear friend and colleague from Minnesota depart 
without at least adding my thoughts as well.
  I did a little homework this evening to discover that, even though my 
own heritage is German, I know little about it, that Gutknecht means 
good hired hand in that language. And we have a good hired hand amongst 
us, Mr. Speaker.
  I had the honor and privilege of first meeting this man back in 1996 
when we were both involved in the Phil Graham for President Campaign. 
Senator Phil Graham is my dear friend and mentor; and although that 
battle perhaps did not end well, for me it cemented an admiration for 
the gentleman from Minnesota. And although, as you can see and the 
American people can see, he certainly has a folksy Midwestern way about 
him that really belies the fact that I believe him to be one of the 
deepest thinkers that we have in this United States Congress, and I 
know that his principle compass always points in one direction. And I 
have seen this man take many, many tough votes, and I have seen this 
man go against his own party when he thought he was right. He is a man 
who puts country above career, and I have seen him do it time and time 
again.
  I believe, Mr. Speaker, that his departure from this body is not only 
a loss to him, but as I have the great honor and privilege in the 
future to follow my dear friend from Indiana and chair the conservative 
caucus of the House, the Republican Study Committee, that certainly his 
wisdom, his insight, his leadership will be sorely missed. He is a 
great leader. He has done great for the people of Minnesota, he has 
done great for the people of America, and I am proud to always call him 
my friend.
  Mr. PENCE. Ernest Istook began his career in Congress in November of 
1992, serving as a distinguished Member of the House Appropriations 
Committee where he served as the chairman of the Transportation and 
Treasury Appropriations Subcommittee.
  Before arriving in Congress, he served as a city councilman in 
Oklahoma City, and during that time also sat on the board of many local 
interests. He also served in the State legislature there in the Sooner 
State, beginning in 1986. Ernest Istook leaves us after 14 years of 
service in the United States House of Representatives, and he takes 
with him not only an optimistic, cheerful conservatism that was the 
source of mentoring to me and other conservatives in the Republican 
Study Committee for many years, but he really takes his greatest asset, 
which is his wife Judy, who, while she did not become the first lady of 
Oklahoma this year, she was I think the first lady of the Republican 
Study Committee for many years and will always be so in our hearts.
  I recognize the gentleman from the Fifth Congressional District, 
Ernest Istook, for such time as he may consume, with the deepest 
gratitude and admiration of his junior colleagues in the Republican 
Study Committee, an organization, I might add, Mr. Speaker, that 
Congressman Ernest Istook founded during his 14-year tenure in the 
United States House of Representatives, the largest caucus in the 
Congress of the United States today. I yield such time as he may 
consume.

[[Page 22637]]


  Mr. ISTOOK. I thank my friend from Indiana, and I thank everybody for 
having a little bit of time this evening to talk about the importance 
of the Republican Study Committee, the importance of conservative 
principles. And I really enjoyed hearing my friend Gil Gutknecht 
recount some of the things during his years here. Myself, I don't 
choose to try to talk about the things that have happened during the 14 
years, because really I don't think service in the Congress is about 
me, and it is not about us as individuals; it is about what do we do to 
carry on the principles upon which this country was founded, the self-
government, the ideal, the understanding that God made us as people 
able and capable to govern ourselves; and not only that, to live our 
lives without having to be controlled by government.
  So I would like to spend my time this evening talking a little bit 
about what I believe, as a principled conservative, as somebody who 
believes, yes, in economic conservatism and social conservatism. But it 
is really based upon the premise that God made each of us as capable 
individuals, and that we have the free agency to make decisions for 
ourselves. And conservative principles enable us, enable us, to fulfill 
that destiny rather than having our lives dictated to us by government.
  I fear, of course, that the pendulum has gone too far in the United 
States. Government is too big, it spends too much. And, of course, any 
government that is big enough to give you everything that you want is 
powerful enough to take everything that you have got. And I know the 
year that I was born, which was 1950, the typical American family, in 
Federal income taxes, paid something like 2 or 2\1/2\ percent of their 
annual income in Federal income taxes. Today, on average, it is closer 
to 10 times that amount. Now, that tells you something about what is 
going on.
  And when you look at what has happened here in Washington, DC, and 
the voters sent a message if people here will just listen to it. And 
what is the common factor, whether you are talking about the level of 
spending, the amount of earmarks, the bridge to nowhere, whether you 
are talking about campaign finance issues, ethics issues, lobbying 
issues, it all happens because big government creates big problems, big 
government creates big lobbying, big government creates a big need to 
defend yourself against it. So everything that we have that I think has 
caught the attention in a negative way of the voters this year traces 
back to the fact that we haven't controlled the size of government.
  Now, I was really happy when we had some years during my time in 
Congress when we actually balanced the budget. Boy, that was important. 
But you know, when 9/11 happened it became an excuse not just to spend 
more money on defense and homeland security to meet the security needs, 
but it was, what is the old adage, ``in for a dime, in for a dollar.'' 
And we saw that. I remember back during the Vietnam era the catch 
phrase was ``guns and butter.'' If you are going to pay for guns, you 
don't have enough money to pay for butter. You can't be expanding 
social programs at the time that you are trying to take care of the 
defense and the security needs of the country.
  Well, we saw that some people said even though 9/11 created some 
spending requirements to take care of the security of Americans, we 
still spent too much in other ways, and we are paying the price, the 
consequences.
  I was asked when I was first elected to Congress, if there is one 
thing, one thing that you could accomplish, what would it be? And I 
said the adoption of a balanced budget amendment, because I think that 
is what constricts and controls the size of government. You know, we 
haven't even had a vote on a balanced budget amendment here in this 
House in 11\1/2\ years. I have become the principal author of the 
balanced budget amendment, but unfortunately the people in charge of 
bringing things through committee and to the floor haven't brought it 
here in 11\1/2\ years.

                              {time}  2145

  I think that is one of the reasons that we have the difficulties that 
we do: We don't require government to live within its means as all of 
us have to do when we sit around the kitchen table and try to balance 
the family budget. Maybe we need to install a kitchen table here in the 
Congress so we can sit around it and actually have to balance things.
  I certainly hope that if the people that are here in the 110th 
Congress don't do anything else, bring back the balanced budget 
amendment. It was the number one item in the Contract With America in 
1994, and it is a sad travesty that it hasn't even been voted on in 
this body in some 11 and a half years.
  We have been entrusted with the power to govern, and where much is 
given, much is expected. We have to be more in tune with the American 
people, and we have to talk to the American people about correct 
principles.
  Too often we hear there is a problem; therefore, government needs to 
step in and be the solver of problems rather than the creator of 
problems. What was the Ronald Reagan line, too many people that if 
something moves, tax it; if it keeps moving, regulate it; if it stops 
moving, subsidize it. We have seen that too much.
  We need to stress personal responsibility more than government 
programs. That is what we have gotten away from.
  The most important thing that each of us will do happens with our 
families. I am so grateful for my wife, Judy, and for my five children, 
Amy, Butch, Chad, Diana, and Emily, and what they mean to me. But no 
wife could have been more supportive than my wife Judy has been. I am 
eternally grateful to her, and want her to know how very much I love 
her.
  You see, I believe the most important work I ever do, or any of us 
will ever do does not happen within the halls of Congress but within 
the walls of our own home. We need that principle. We need to remind 
Americans that they are given God-given blessings.
  As was stated in the Declaration of Independence, we hold these 
truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are 
endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. Among these 
rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure 
these rights, governments are instituted among men.
  What did they say: Government exists to protect the rights that were 
given to us as a gift from God. We need to remember that truth. We need 
to follow that principle. We need to abide by that as the Founding 
Fathers taught us to do.
  So I am grateful for the people in this body who hold true to those 
beliefs, who believe in the capabilities, the dynamic abilities of the 
American people. I believe America rests upon four pillars that we must 
keep strong and solid: Freedom, free enterprise, faith, and family. It 
is my prayer that we will each strengthen each and every one of those 
pillars. Thank you for letting me speak this evening.
  Mr. PENCE. I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma's Fifth Congressional 
District for his service, his founding service to the Republican Study 
Committee, and would recognize our nearly elected chairman for a few 
brief remarks.
  Mr. HENSARLING. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I wish to add 
my own meager voice to those who celebrate the career of Ernest Istook, 
truly one of the great leaders in the conservative movement in the last 
decade.
  Certainly his vision, his forethought, his courage to help found the 
modern Republican Study Committee has been critical to any progress 
that the conservative movement has achieved in this House. And, Mr. 
Speaker, it has been much. It has been much.
  So as a Texan, I will certainly miss my colleague from north of the 
Red River. Again, as the incoming chairman of the Republican Study 
Committee, I will certainly miss the wisdom and leadership that he has 
to provide. But I know that he hopefully will not go far and be 
available to us at all times.
  I want to say again how proud I am to know this man and celebrate his 
work to try to balance the Federal

[[Page 22638]]

budget as families have to balance their budget every single day.
  And even more importantly, Mr. Speaker, for the work that he has done 
to ensure that in this Nation that it is truly one Nation under God 
because we know that our unalienable rights are granted to us by our 
creator, and that unless we champion the cause of public affirmation of 
faith, we cannot preserve liberty unless we know and allow people to 
affirm their faith in public that these rights are given by God 
himself, and that is the work of Ernest Istook, and I am proud to know 
him.
  Mr. PENCE. I thank the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. Speaker, this was a time of transition in particular for my home 
State, the Hoosier State. Indiana this year will bid farewell to the 
extraordinary service of Congressman John Hostettler of southwestern 
Indiana and to a two-term congressman from the land of Notre Dame in 
South Bend, Indiana, Congressman Chris Chocola.
  Throughout both of their careers, they have been men of integrity, 
commitment to their families, and in the case of Congressman Hostettler 
and Congressman Chocola, they are both men who throughout their career 
in Congress were active members of the Republican Study Committee and 
they brought the principles of their conservative values day in and day 
out to committees and to this floor.
  Another example of that is Congressman Mike Sodrel who joins us on 
the floor today. Mike and his wife, Keta, who most members of the 
Republican Study Committee have come to know well since he was sworn in 
as the congressman for the Ninth District of Indiana in January of 
2005, have made an extraordinary impression on the heart of our caucus 
and the heart of this Congress in a relatively short period of time.
  Mike Sodrel served in the Army National Guard from 1966 to 1973. In 
1976, Congressman Mike Sodrel and his wife Keta scraped together a few 
dollars and bought a truck and turned it into one of the most prolific 
and successful transportation companies in the Midwest.
  A veteran Indiana political reporter called Mike Sodrel, upon his 
election Congress, ``the closest thing to Mr. Smith goes to Washington 
as I think you will find in Congress.''
  Mike Sodrel and I come dialectically from a very different part of 
our State. Pronunciation of words is a little different farther south 
of Highway 40. I hope however long the Lord permits to serve the people 
of Indiana in this place, that I will serve with the integrity every 
day to principles and family and to conservative values that the 
gentleman from Indiana served.
  I yield to the congressman from the Ninth Congressional District of 
Indiana.
  Mr. SODREL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for those kind words, 
and for his commitment to the Republican Study Committee. I will be 
short. In fact, a reporter accused me when I first arrived here of 
being laconic. I have to admit I had to go look that up. It means being 
relatively stingy with your words. He asked me two questions, and I 
said ``yes'' and ``yes,'' not realizing it was the job of a Member of 
Congress to elaborate on all of these things.
  As I listened to the previous speakers, if you want to know what 
happened in this election, you can walk over to the Science Committee. 
In the hearing room one of the first things I noticed in the wood 
paneling behind Members in gold-leaf lettering was Proverbs 29:18: 
Where there is no vision, the people perish. We failed to give the 
people vision; not the fault of the Republican Study Committee, but it 
was our fault generally, failure to give the people vision.
  I know the RSC has a vision, and I encourage you to not only keep the 
vision, communicate the vision, and insist that others listen to the 
vision.
  It has been my distinct honor to serve in this body, serve my 
district and my State and my country for the last 2 years. I had the 
privilege of visiting my former unit, the 151st Infantry when they were 
deployed in Afghanistan. They are fine people and represented our State 
and country well, and acquitted themselves well in the field.
  And in typical Hoosier fashion, and I would like to recognize them 
here tonight, their mission, according to the military was security and 
training. They couldn't go home in the evenings, so they took on a 
third mission which was humanitarian. In partnership with Graceland 
Baptist Church in New Albany, they provided money and classrooms and 
blankets and virtually anything that the people of Afghanistan needed 
that they could supply.
  They also had a skill set that you don't find in a typical infantry 
battalion. The commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Grube, was a 6th 
grade schoolteacher. Sergeant First Class Scott Hamm was manager of the 
Silver Creek Water Company. So it didn't matter what the locals needed, 
if you needed water, you called the 151st. If you needed a classroom 
built, you called the 151st. They had carpenters, electricians, they 
had all of these civilian skill sets. And being just one step out of 
civilian life and being of a higher average age than a normal infantry 
unit, and a lot of them being married with children, they related well 
to the local folks. So I had the privilege to visit them in Afghanistan 
and see what kind of job they did and how they represented the State of 
Indiana in that theater.
  I really have nothing else to add other than it has been my honor and 
privilege not only to serve in this institution, but to serve with 
people like my colleague from Indiana, Mr. Pence, and I appreciate your 
service as chairman of the Republican Study Committee and I appreciate 
your integrity and hard work and I hope that you will certainly carry 
on.
  Mr. PENCE. I thank the gentleman for his gracious words. I know that 
I speak on behalf of all of the people of Indiana when I express my 
gratitude for your career of service that we know will be ongoing. Just 
the hours will be better, but we are grateful for your participation in 
allowing us to embarrass you tonight.
  I want to yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I want to add my voice to say that 
Congressman Sodrel will be missed. His cheerful countenance will be 
missed. In getting to know him, I got to know a man of courage who 
would always vote on principle, who knew what needed to be done and 
would do the right thing regardless of the consequences, a man who has 
served his Nation well, and like the other gentleman from Indiana has 
said, will serve his Nation well again in the future.
  Mr. PENCE. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, before we bring a Member of Congress who is the 
appropriate clean-up batter tonight in this Special Order celebrating 
the life and career of members of the Republican Study Committee, I 
cannot help but feel that we have loaded the bases and the Babe is 
about to come to bat. At the risk of having to interrupt him, which I 
have not done in my 6 years in Congress and would not have the courage 
to do tonight, allow me to do a little housekeeping before that and 
mention the names of Bob Beauprez of Colorado's Seventh Congressional 
District, a dairy farmer, community banker, a United States Congressman 
and a member of the Study Committee.
  Mark Green of Wisconsin served his fourth term in the United States 
House of Representatives with impressive, populist leadership.
  We have heard from Gil Gutknecht tonight.
  Melissa Hart, a cherished member of the Republican Study Committee 
from Pennsylvania's 4th Congressional District, was elected in the year 
2000. Her district included southwestern Pennsylvania, and she rose 
swiftly in this institution to some of its most important committees 
and most powerful positions in the national party. She is a voice that 
we will hear and see again soon.
  We heard of John Hostettler tonight from Indiana's Eighth 
Congressional District, and from Ernest Istook of Oklahoma's Fifth.
  Anne Northup, a feisty, strong, principled conservative who served 
the

[[Page 22639]]

Third Congressional District in Kentucky since 1996 is retiring, and 
she and her tenacity will be missed.
  From California's 11th District, finishing his seventh term in the 
United States House of Representatives, a man who brought principled 
conservative reform to American environmental policy, Richard Pombo, 
will be receiving the Congress and our caucus this year.
  And a man I might lastly add, Jim Ryun of the Second Congressional 
District of Kansas, a five-term Member of Congress, a budget hawk, but 
a man who along with his wife, Anne, have simply been in the business 
of ministering to families in this institution every day they have been 
here. Jim Ryun came to global fame as the world record holder in the 
high school mile, a record that he held for 36 years until one day when 
we walked from the Capitol together and he received word of a young 
Virginia teenager who had bested him.

                              {time}  2200

  And Jim Ryun in his typical style jumped in the car, drove to meet 
with that high schooler, and congratulated him. Jim's faith, his 
integrity, his character, his voice will be missed in this place as 
will the charm and ebullience of his wife, Anne.
  Lastly I would just mention the staff of the Republican Study 
Committee. During my term as chairman of the Republican Study 
Committee, we have had not one but two extraordinary executive 
directors. Sheila Cole served as the executive director during the 
first year of my tenure, a tumultuous time where the winds of change 
and circumstances buffeted House conservatives, and our staff led by 
Sheila Cole, a courageous woman who has gone on to be an at-home mom, 
we simply would not have been able to achieve what we achieved in 
impacting the policy of this Nation for fiscal discipline and 
conservative pro-life values had Sheila Cole not been at the helm.
  And if I might also add Dr. Paul Teller, who stepped into her stead 
and served and led the staff of the Republican Study Committee with 
equal distinction. Whether it be his passion and guidance on fiscal 
issues, whether it be his capacity to build coalitions within the 
Congress or his professionalism in informing Members in a timely way of 
the issues that we confronted as a caucus, Dr. Paul Teller has provided 
exceptional leadership to this organization. And I know that his future 
is so bright that he has got to wear shades, and we thank Dr. Paul 
Teller.
  To Russ Vought, to Joelle, to Derek, to the balance, Mr. Speaker, I 
would just add to the Record tonight my humble and heartfelt gratitude. 
Anything that we have accomplished as a caucus, we have accomplished 
because of an extraordinary staff.
  With that said, allow me to yield to our last speaker of the evening, 
Mr. Speaker. He is the gentleman from the Fifth Congressional District 
of Arizona. J.D. Hayworth represented Arizona's Fifth District, which 
includes Scottsdale, Tempe, and its environs. First elected in 1994. He 
was the first Arizonian ever to serve on the House Ways and Means 
Committee, which is one of the most powerful legislative panels in 
Congress. J.D. also added another key subcommittee assignment to his 
duties for the 109th session of Congress. He served on the Ways and 
Means Subcommittee on Health during a particularly crucial time, the 
debate over the Medicare prescription drug entitlement. He was a key 
voice in ensuring that there were free market reforms included in that 
legislation as it moved through the Congress. He also, being a 
westerner, served on the Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction 
over public lands, water, Indian affairs. He has been a powerful voice 
for reform and private property and humanity in the development of 
those policies.
  Since coming to Washington, DC, Mr. Speaker, as anyone looking in 
tonight might also know, he has become simply the most prominent 
Republican on the airwaves of the Nation. Whether it was radio talk 
shows, whether it was television programs on every single network, 
there has been no more compelling voice for conservative values, no 
more compelling voice for a strong stand on immigration in America. 
There has been a no more passionate voice for conservative fiscal and 
social policies than the gentleman from Arizona.
  I yield to Mr. J.D. Hayworth.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Indiana for an 
overly generous introduction and one that I will cherish and agree with 
wholeheartedly.
  I would also be remiss, as I was listening to his statements earlier 
and as he very generously offered a sports analogy and spoke of the 
``Sultan of Swat,'' the great bambino, George Herman Ruth, for purposes 
of full disclosure, at least I have lost the Ruthian dimensions here in 
my midsection, although I have maintained the skinny legs but, alas, 
not the ability to hit the long ball besides in a metaphorical fashion 
here on the floor. Mr. Speaker, despite that generous introduction, for 
purposes of full disclosure, we should point out that to put it 
delicately, I was involuntarily retired from this body. One who served 
here before, a great gentleman, Stan Parris of Virginia, when I first 
met him, he said, ``J.D., I retired from the Congress because of ill 
health.
  I said, ``Oh, really?''
  He said, ``Yeah. The voters of my district got sick of me.''
  So perhaps, again, to be perfectly candid, there was some of that at 
work as well.
  And my friend from Minnesota who preceded me here in the well, along 
with my friends from Indiana and from Oklahoma, offered varying 
perspectives, but they are variations on the same theme: What a great 
honor it is to serve in the people's House. And many take their leave 
in different fashion.
  History notes that the great Davy Crockett of Tennessee, when 
informed of his election loss by members of the press, invited those 
gentlemen from the fourth estate to visit a ``nether region'' as he 
instead would head for Texas, as the gentleman from Texas remembers.
  And again to be perfectly candid, Mr. Speaker, we would be less than 
human, we would be less than honest if at times during this difficult 
period of transition we were not tempted to offer the recommendations 
of Mr. Crockett to those, although I hasten to add to my friends from 
the Lone Star State I shan't be following them to Texas. And hopefully 
should I return to the media, Mr. Speaker, I won't be sent to those 
other nether regions, come to think of it.
  There is a saying, Mr. Speaker, that we laugh to keep from crying, 
and it is not my intent to launch into an overly maudlin remembrance 
tonight in this valedictory. And while I appreciated my friend from 
Oklahoma talk about the principles of self-government, I fear that some 
will hear these remarks and say, well, you have got the first part 
right because it turns out being about self. Not entirely, but, again, 
it should be noted that those of us who come here and serve, 
Republican, Democrat or independent, from across this country do share 
one basic characteristic: None of us suffer from a shortage of self-
esteem.
  And during my time here, Mr. Speaker, I have seen incredible things. 
Yes, I will talk policy. I will get to that, but given my reputation 
according to Washingtonian Magazine as only the second biggest windbag 
in Congress, I am bucking tonight to go a little further afield. Now, 
in all sincerity, Mr. Speaker, I have seen on this floor and in this 
institution acts of incredible kindness. I have also seen acts of 
unspeakable pettiness. I have seen policies embraced with foresight and 
vision, and I have seen actions taken that have wreaked of the 
expedience of the nanosecond. I have seen the great and good. I have 
seen the bad and ugly. In short, Mr. Speaker, I have seen here in the 
people's House the full range of the human experience. Mr. Speaker, my 
colleagues, that again reaffirms the genius of our Founders in naming 
this institution the House of Representatives, because just as so many 
have come from so many different walks of life, we have seen 
representative behavior that has been of incredibly high standards, and 
to be candid, we have

[[Page 22640]]

seen other less desirable traits. But stop and think about what our 
Founders have wrought. Understanding, as my colleague from Oklahoma 
talked about, what separated this new experiment in this new world from 
the monarchies of Europe, from other governments instituted among men, 
the notion that our Creator endowed us with rights and we the people 
voluntarily conferred power, political power, on the government; that 
first God, through the freedoms granted us, gave us that ability to 
voluntarily confer power on this government.
  And in this constitutional republic, Article I, Section 1, ``All 
legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the 
United States.'' And in the initial inception of this particular 
institution, in the inception of our founders, one constitutional 
office directly accountable to the people, decided by popular vote, and 
given the fact that events could change a mechanism through a fairly 
short term of 2 years so that the body politic could make those changes 
representative of their change in priorities and their change in 
outlook. And despite all the flaws and the foibles and the pitfalls and 
pratfalls of the human experience, it has worked remarkably well. 
Whether the disappointment voiced by one Davy Crockett and others in 
other ways finishing second in elections, again, a euphemism for losing 
elections, we have put aside personal disappointment to give thanks 
that here we settle questions with balance, not bullets.
  And as we reflect on all the talk that we have heard during the 
course of the campaign that there should be a new bipartisanship, a new 
nonpartisanship, for purposes of full disclosure, let us understand 
that many items and many actions pass through this institution through 
unanimous consent, but on major questions, it is inevitable that free 
people will have different perspectives. And it is well and it is good 
and it is proper for a free people to freely debate and discuss and 
advocate different positions, and here with this marvelous mechanism of 
representation, the people decide.
  My friend from Oklahoma spoke of bringing the kitchen table in. Mr. 
Speaker, I would offer another room in the house. Mr. Speaker, in 
essence, this hallowed Chamber is America's living room. And here we 
gather to discuss the challenges we face as a people. And we have our 
arguments and we have our times of agreement, and despite many 
challenges and many disappointments, somehow we get it done.
  Mr. Speaker, one word in closing. I would be remiss if I did not 
thank my family. My wife, Mary; my kids, Nicole, Hannah, and John 
Micah; my parents; so many who have given me much such support. My 
colleagues who join me here in this Congress with the new majority. But 
most of all, the people of Arizona, who for 12 years gave me the 
opportunity to represent them in the Congress of the United States.
  I do not know what is next, but I do appreciate the words of the 
Prophet Jeremiah: ``For I have plans for you,'' sayeth the Lord, 
``plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a 
future.''
  Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, public service is not always defined by 
public office. And for all the American people, let us join in a prayer 
that the future of our republic will forever remain bright.

                              {time}  2215

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Dent). The gentleman from Indiana has 30 
seconds remaining.
  Mr. PENCE. I would like to yield the balance of that to the new 
chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Mr. Hensarling of Texas.
  Mr. HENSARLING. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  All I can say, Mr. Speaker, is that God only made one J.D. Hayworth. 
And right now he is saying, ``Well done, good and faithful servant.'' 
What a powerful orator.
  Mr. Speaker, tonight we celebrated the congressional careers of proud 
sons and daughters of the Republican Study Committee, proud sons and 
daughters of the Republican Party, proud Members of this body who have 
served their Nation well.
  We thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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