[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18564]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING IKE SKELTON

  (Mr. POLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor my departing 
colleague, Representative Ike Skelton. I did not get to work closely 
with Representative Skelton, but I want to say it's the small things 
that make a difference. There was one day my sister, who had been 
working for the Pentagon at the time, was part of the Quadrennial 
Defense Review team, the QDR team. When they had that hearing, the 
chairman invited me right up to the podium with the committee members 
to be there during that presentation, and that was a great honor.
  I would like to say that despite his political views in other areas, 
I never sensed that he treated me any differently because of my sexual 
orientation, and I think he fully respected me as a Member of this 
body.
  It was really those small things and the courtesies that he showed me 
that made him stand out in my mind as an inspirational leader of this 
body who will be sorely missed. It will only be a short period of time, 
no doubt, until his name appears on a battleship or aircraft carrier, 
and I look forward to visiting that one day.

                          ____________________