[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15529-15530]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         OUR FRIEND, RALPH HALL

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today is a good day. We get to 
honor a great and magnificent American--my friend, our friend, Ralph 
Hall.
  In the moments and minutes and hour to come, there will be many who 
will rise to recognize the extraordinary public service, but I want to 
add, in addition to the extraordinary public service, a man who has 
seen numbers of Presidents. As an American who has worked, spoken and 
achieved under all of them, Ralph Hall today reigns as both the oldest 
Member of Congress and the oldest House Member known to cast a vote on 
the House floor.
  But that is not his only definition, for he is one who has a heart 
and who recognizes the value of service to the American people.
  Oh, he loves his great State of Texas. He is truly a tall Texan. He 
is a faithful public servant who has dedicated 32 years of service to 
representing the constituents of the Fourth Congressional District; but 
he started his life by the service to the United States in the United 
States military--in the United States Navy. Yes, 1942.
  So he has seen this Nation in her ups and her downs, but Ralph Hall 
has never been down. What a great leader of the Science, Space, and 
Technology Committee. What an opportunity to serve with him. What a 
servant as he worked with Presidents like Lyndon Baines Johnson, making 
difficult and tough decisions--not a partisan but a lover of America.
  Yes, I can stand here today and say not only is this great hero and 
American and Member of the United States Congress--young in age but old 
in numbers--wise, dedicated, but I can also say that he is a lover of 
his family: his late wife, his grandchildren, his children. I was able 
to join him at a time

[[Page 15530]]

when he had to visit a grandchild. I was glad to be able to have Ralph 
in our city, not for the cause that he was, but to be able to say, 
Ralph, you're a friend, and we stand with you during this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an American hero and also 
to a friend and a great leader on this floor, someone from whom I wish 
years and years and years of service. As a fellow Texan, I join my 
Texans and others to say, Thank you, Ralph Hall, for the friendship, 
the leadership, the courage--and, yes, you are an American hero.


                Announcement By the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will remind all persons in the 
gallery that they are here as guests of the House and that any 
manifestation of approval or disapproval of proceedings, including 
applause, is in violation of the rules of the House.

                          ____________________