[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13249]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            23 IN 1--KERMIT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Gallego) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to continue the journey 
through the 23rd District of Texas and talk about Kermit, Texas, which 
many people know as being one of the communities in the center of all 
of the action with respect to the energy economy in Texas, but I know 
it as the home of the Yellow Jackets, the Yellow Jackets who, for 
years, have been a formidable foe for my own Alpine Bucks.
  Kermit started life, the town started as a local trading and supply 
company, or trading and supply depot, for the ranches that dotted the 
west Texas landscape. Kermit gets its name not from a notable green 
frog known for being the first frog to communicate with humans, but, 
instead, it gets its name from Kermit Roosevelt, the only place in the 
United States that is named for the son of a former U.S. President, 
Teddy Roosevelt.
  Kermit, Texas, became the county seat of Winkler County in 1910 and 
was a city, like many of the other rural communities in Texas, that had 
a challenge staying alive.
  Small towns have always had a particular challenge, and in Kermit's 
case, they were devastated by a drought that struck the area in 1916 
that forced many homesteaders and ranchers to leave. Kermit ran dry by 
1924, and the Ern Baird family was the sole family in town, with three 
houses, a single-student school, and a lone courthouse.
  The whole town nearly evaporated into the air until that sea of oil 
was discovered below the surface and, in 1926, Kermit, Texas, became a 
boomtown. That boomtown continued into the sixties, and through the 
boom, the town has seen tremendous growth.
  During the rapid expansion of the city, flooding actually became a 
problem. As with small towns that are scattered throughout rural Texas, 
they worked through that problem to a solution. They constructed crown 
streets, and the city kept growing and building additional 
infrastructure to support the oil boom and the growing needs of their 
county.
  Kermit, Texas, although small in size, has displayed that same 
attitude reflected in many of the successes of our great Nation. They 
work through tough situations with creativity and resolve, and, as a 
result, we as a nation greatly benefit from their willingness to stick 
through it.
  Kermit, Texas, and those who worked and lived and raised families 
there, they have all contributed to our energy security. They have all 
contributed to the energy security of our entire country. Without them, 
it would have been difficult to meet the energy demands of World War II 
and, after the war, the economic boom that the U.S. would experience.
  Even today, Kermit is a mainstay of the west Texas economy, an active 
chamber, an active community, a wonderful place to live and to raise 
kids, and, of course, the ever-proud Yellow Jackets.
  If you find yourself near Kermit, Texas, I invite you to visit this 
small and historic town that has contributed so much so greatly to our 
Texas values, our Texas history, and our Texas success, Kermit, Texas.

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