[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8453]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      WELCOMING THE HONORABLE KATHLEEN C. HOCHUL TO THE HOUSE OF 
                            REPRESENTATIVES

  The SPEAKER. Without objection, the gentleman from New York is 
recognized for 1 minute.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask that the gentleman from New York, 
Peter King, join with me at this time.
  It is a great honor for us at this time to present to you a young 
lady who did it the hard way. She's earned it. She's here with her 
husband, Bill, her mother, Pat, her dad, Jack. Bill and Katie, the 
children, are here. And symbolic of what a great country that we have 
during this time, a person with her credentials can go to the voters, 
and show that in this great country of ours, the people govern.
  In order to give her the bipartisan support that she truly deserves, 
I would like to yield at this time to my friend, Peter King.
  Mr. KING of New York. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Let me just 
join all of you in welcoming Ms. Hochul to the House of 
Representatives.
  Congresswoman, we look forward to working with you on behalf of our 
Nation and our State, and on behalf of all the Republicans in our 
delegation, we wish you the very best of luck.
  Mr. RANGEL. I present to you Congresswoman Kathleen Courtney Hochul.
  The SPEAKER. The gentlewoman from New York is recognized.
  Ms. HOCHUL. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Rangel and Mr. King.
  It is truly an honor and a privilege to be here on the floor of the 
U.S. House of Representatives where I will serve the people of the 26th 
District of the State of New York. I promise to work for them 
tirelessly every single day, and I will continue to fight for them with 
every breath I have.
  And I look forward to working with each of you in the spirit of 
bipartisanship and cooperation as we work toward a brighter future and 
a stronger America.
  This is a proud day for my family and for me as we begin this new 
chapter in our lives, a chapter I hope to fill with accomplishments 
that will serve the people of my district as well as all of your 
districts.
  But before I begin this journey, I must thank the people who helped 
me get where I am today.
  To the people of the 26th Congressional District, I am humbled by 
your support and the faith that you have placed in me. To my family--my 
husband of 27 years, Bill, you are my rock and my inspiration, honey; 
to my son, Billy; my daughter, Katie; my parents, Jack and Pat 
Courtney; my brothers and my sister, Sheila, who worked tirelessly 
throughout this entire campaign.
  A special thanks to the New York congressional delegation, both our 
Senators and the dozens of Congressmen who supported us throughout this 
election.
  Thanks go to my incredible campaign team and thousands and thousands 
of supporters and volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout this 
election, and to one of my great mentors, John LaFalce, whom I was 
honored to serve many years ago.
  Today I enter this Chamber confident that we can tackle the 
challenges that are presented to us. We can and must find commonsense 
solutions to the problems facing each of our districts and our country. 
As we have learned, our constituents expect and deserve no less.
  Thank you very much.

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