[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 971]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  CONGRATULATING THE BALTIMORE RAVENS

  (Ms. PELOSI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PELOSI. I rise, Madam Speaker, to congratulate Congressman 
Ruppersberger and the other members of the Maryland delegation and, 
more importantly, join them in congratulating the Ravens. They beat a 
mighty champion at the Super Bowl.
  As a proud 49ers fan who grew up on Johnny Unitas in Baltimore and 
going to those games as a teenager and raising my own children on Joe 
Montana and Steve Young, you can just imagine how exciting this game 
was for me.
  Mr. Ruppersberger quoted Coach Harbaugh. I will quote him in another 
way. They asked him after the game, Was it hard coaching against your 
very own brother in the Super Bowl? He said that it was very hard. The 
only thing that would have been worse is if one of us were not coaching 
in the Super Bowl.
  So while it was hard to lose to the Ravens, it would have been even 
harder to lose to someone else. If someone had to beat the 49ers, I 
congratulate the Ravens on a game well played.
  I was in the stadium. I wondered who on the Baltimore side decided to 
pull the plug on the electricity. They were wondering who on the 49ers' 
side did. In any event, there was good spirit. I think if you were 
there and you saw that delay in the game and you saw the mood of the 
people, it was a real tribute to the people of New Orleans, who had 
extended such gracious hospitality in every way. People were in a good 
mood and they rode out that time.
  I want to join you in commending the owner, Steve Bisciotti, in his 
leadership of the Ravens, but I also want to acknowledge the wonderful 
leadership of Art Modell. He passed away in the fall after being such a 
great leader in the Baltimore community, bringing the Ravens to 
Baltimore and in being a part of the city in philanthropic and other 
ways. He was a great man. It was wonderful to see the Ravens and 
everyone else, including Governor O'Malley and Mayor Rawlings-Blake, 
with ``Art'' on their lapels throughout the weekend.
  So to Art Modell's family, to the ownership of the Ravens, 
congratulations. To the people of Baltimore, I know how exciting it is 
and what it means to Baltimore. I extend my congratulations. And I 
didn't have a bet, because I said while I'm rooting for the 49ers, I 
would never bet against Baltimore. So congratulations to all concerned.

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