[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18562]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING CONGRESSMAN IKE SKELTON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New Hampshire (Ms. Shea-Porter) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. SHEA-PORTER. There is a button from an old Presidential campaign 
that says, ``I Like Ike.'' In this case, I love Ike. We will have to 
have a new button to talk about Ike Skelton. I arrived in the House 4 
years ago on the Armed Services Committee, met Ike Skelton, and 
recognized immediately that he wasn't just a friend of the generals and 
a friend of the powerful; he was a friend to everybody. And I had the 
great pleasure of traveling with him. And I saw the way he treated the 
very, very young soldiers.
  And having been married to a young soldier at one time in my life, I 
recognized how overwhelming it was when anybody above the rank of 
sergeant spoke to young men and women. And here was the chairman of the 
Armed Services Committee of the United States of America bending over 
to get some words of advice from the young men and women of this 
country who serve us. And that has stuck with me, Ike.
  It's true that you are an incredible scholar, a historian. If Ike 
says it's so, it is so. And he often told us what was so. And he gave 
us lists to read and things that we should do and things that we should 
know. And he was always right about that. And when I traveled with him 
abroad, the respect that we all received because we were with Ike 
Skelton was absolutely impressive and overwhelming.
  And so to say good-bye is extremely painful, but I think what we 
really need to do is celebrate the great gift that you gave this 
country, the gift that your family gave this country, the gift of you, 
your time, your knowledge, your experience, your wisdom. And the way 
the rest of the world views you is the way we view you, with tremendous 
respect, and admiration, and love. Thank you very much for your 
service.

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