[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 18426-18427]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     A TIME OF PERSONAL REFLECTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Carnahan) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CARNAHAN. On this last day of the year and on one of the last 
days of this 112th Congress, we are awaiting a fiscal deal that will 
strengthen the fiscal health of this country. I want to take a few 
moments to reflect on my service here in the House of Representatives 
and to personally thank many who helped me get here and to do the work 
of the people whom I represent and love in the State of Missouri.
  First, Mr. Speaker, Debra Carnahan, my wife but also an accomplished 
attorney, a former State and Federal prosecutor. She's really been the 
rock of our family and has been with me through the great highs and 
tough lows of this job. So I want to thank her.
  Also, our two great sons--Austin and Andrew--who have shared me with 
thousands of constituents for several years. They have grown into 
amazing young men, young men who I think will, in their own rights, 
make a difference as they work their way through their lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to also thank some of my amazing staff who are 
too numerous to name--dozens over many years--but there are four in 
particular who worked with me through the entire 8 years that I served 
in this Congress: Jeremy Haldeman, who has staffed the Foreign Affairs 
Committee for me and the Oversight Subcommittee, and who has also been 
my chief of staff in the Washington office; Jim McHugh, who has been my 
district director and longtime friend and colleague in St. Louis; 
Suzanne Archer, who has been my deputy director; and Kathy Waltz from 
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, a former mayor there but an invaluable part 
of our constituent outreach team. There are many other staff members, 
but I thank those in particular for their long and loyal service and 
for the difference they make in so many people's lives.
  To the Missourians whom I've had the great honor to represent, I am 
gratified and humbled beyond belief to have been able to represent them 
in this U.S. House of Representatives for 8 years and to also have 
represented many in the State house of representatives for 4 years 
prior to that. In working with them and for them we've been able to get 
some great things done on big national issues but also on important 
local issues back home.

[[Page 18427]]

  From ribbon cuttings and orange cones and construction signs all 
across the St. Louis region to investments in our infrastructure, which 
have created real jobs at home and have helped rebuild our region's 
roads, bridges, ports, lochs, dams, levees, flood walls, airports, 
high-speed rail, light rail, and our bus systems, those have made a 
real difference in people's lives. It was the reason I got on the 
Transportation Committee in the first place. We had two of the most 
deadly roads in America in Jefferson County, Missouri, and we got 
special funding to help rebuild those roads--to not only help their 
economy but to save lives. Recently, our firefighters were able to 
obtain a Federal grant for special patrol boats-rescue boats on the 
Mississippi River, which will serve the region for years to come.
  These kinds of investments are important, and I want to urge this new 
Congress that will be taking over in just a few days to pass a major 
transportation bill. It's one of the best investments we can make in 
this country in order to continue to grow this economy.
  We've seen after growing out of this Great Recession over the last 
few years the Recovery Act passed, the auto industry saved, major Wall 
Street reforms passed, health care reform passed, and stem cell 
research measures adopted in unprecedented bipartisan ways. I'll never 
forget the mothers with their young children who were sitting in my 
office the day that the health care bill was approved. There was not a 
dry eye in the room because all of their kids had preexisting 
conditions. Because of the new health care law, that cannot be the case 
anymore. I was also proud to serve on our House Foreign Affairs 
Committee and to chair the international organization's committee, so I 
just want to urge this Congress to take on the needed reforms to make 
this Congress work better for the American people.
  In closing, we recently greeted World War II veterans here at the 
monument built in their honor. They said that this Congress needed to 
take on the spirit they had in World War II--to put the country first 
and to put our differences aside--and that we could achieve great 
things.

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