[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 26917-26918]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 WELCOMING THE HONORABLE JOHN GARAMENDI TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  The SPEAKER. Without objection, the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Stark) is recognized for 1 minute.

[[Page 26918]]

  There was no objection.
  Mr. STARK. Madam Speaker, as Dean of the California delegation, it is 
my pleasure to introduce the newest addition to our delegation, John 
Garamendi. He and his wife, Patti, began their years of public service 
as Peace Corps volunteers in Ethiopia. Since then, John has spent over 
27 years serving the people of California in the State Assembly, as 
Insurance Commissioner, and as Lieutenant Governor, and he helped 
preserve our Nation's parks and wildlife as President Clinton's Deputy 
Secretary of the Interior.
  As we prepare to enact health care reform, John will lend an 
effective voice to that effort. As California's Insurance Commissioner, 
he learned the problems families face when trying to buy health 
coverage. He is an expert on insurance regulation, and his perspective 
will be of great value.
  Please join me in welcoming John Garamendi, his wife Patti, their six 
children, and nine grandchildren to our congressional family.
  I would like at this time to yield to the distinguished ranking 
Republican, Congressman Dreier.
  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend, Mr. Stark, for 
yielding, and I want to join from our side of the aisle in extending 
congratulations to Governor Garamendi. It is interesting that he is now 
part of a long-standing tradition of the relationship between 
California's congressional delegation and the Office of Lieutenant 
Governor of California.
  As I look across the aisle at my friend Mr. Stark and many others, we 
have had the privilege of serving with two former Lieutenant Governors 
who came to the House of Representatives, Glenn Anderson and Mervyn 
Dymally, and of course, the very distinguished opponent Mr. Garamendi 
had, David Harmer's father, John Harmer, served as Ronald Reagan's 
Lieutenant Governor. And so I know that this is another in that long 
list of challenges that Mr. Garamendi will face, and I hope very much, 
Madam Speaker, that we will be able to work together in a bipartisan 
way to address the needs of our State and our Nation as well.
  We extend congratulations.

                              {time}  1215

  The SPEAKER. Without objection, the gentleman from California, 
Representative John Garamendi, is recognized.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, it is a great privilege, indeed, I 
suspect the greatest privilege, a person could have to stand in the 
well of the House of Representatives of the United States of America 
and address this august body. It is a privilege that I shall always 
remember, and I will always remember this particular moment.
  Allow me a moment, if I might, of personal privilege to introduce my 
wife of almost 44 years, Patti. She is delighted to return, at least in 
part, to her old stomping grounds here in Washington as the associate 
director of the Peace Corps and then as the deputy director of the 
Foreign Agricultural Service in the Department of Agriculture.
  We have with us our six children. They're there in the gallery, and I 
think all of you may have seen six of our nine grandchildren. There are 
a couple who are testing the H1N1 vaccine back home in California.
  Madam Speaker, if I might just tell you what a great privilege it is 
for me to be here. I look forward to working with all of you on the 
floor who are here and who are not here today. We have many, many 
issues that I will look forward to addressing.
  I want to congratulate my opponent in the primary, David Harmer, who 
ran a very solid and, fortunately for me, unsuccessful race but, 
nonetheless, a very solid race; and he is a very good person.
  I want to thank the voters in my district and all of the constituents 
for their support, giving me this opportunity to extend what has been 
the most important thing that, I think, any of us could ever do, and 
that is to spend our life in public policy, addressing the issues that 
confront our fellow citizens and the world beyond.
  Thank you so very much for the privilege and honor.
  Madam Speaker, thank you.

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