[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 258]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     WISHING SENATOR MARK KIRK WELL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Engel) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, tonight, when we listen to the President give 
his State of the Union speech, one of our colleagues, unfortunately, 
will not be here, and that is Senator Mark Kirk, who served in this 
body as a Member of Congress for many years and, before that, was a 
staffer on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
  Mark, Senator Kirk, as we all know, is fighting against a terrible 
stroke that he had just yesterday. I want him and his family to know 
that all of our thoughts and prayers are with him as he battles this 
stroke, and hopefully he will make a full recovery.
  I just was devastated when I heard about it because anyone who knows 
Mark knows what a terrific Senator he is, what a great colleague he is, 
someone who has always reached across the aisle in a bipartisan way and 
someone that I have just tremendous respect for. When he was sworn in 
as a Senator, I was very pleased that he invited me to stand with him 
on the Senate floor when he was sworn in.
  So, again, I just want Mark and his family and friends, of which I am 
one, to know that our thoughts and prayers are with him as he battles 
this stroke. We have confidence that he is in good hands with the 
doctors and will make a full recovery.
  Mark, again, is the kind of person who epitomizes what bipartisanship 
is all about, what Americanism is all about. Mark was a cochair, when 
he was in this body, of the Albanian Issues Caucus with me, has been a 
strong supporter of the State of Israel, and we've worked together on a 
number of these issues.
  So, Mark, we're with you. We're going to be watching, and we have 
confidence that you will recover fully and come back to this body. 
America needs you, and we're thinking of you.

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