[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 15903-15907]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING RANDY NEUGEBAUER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Smith) for 30 minutes.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous materials on the subject of this Special 
Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin), the chairman of the Space 
Subcommittee of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
  Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, it is a tremendous honor and privilege for me 
to stand up here to honor one of my colleagues, who is going to be 
retiring, Representative Randy Neugebauer, who is just finishing up his 
seventh term. He has been a great mentor. I am finishing up my first 
term in office.

[[Page 15904]]

  I want to say how much the Neugebauers mean to me and my wife, 
Roxanne.
  Randy Neugebauer and his beautiful wife, Dana, have been a tremendous 
addition not only to the Texas delegation up here in the United States 
Congress but also to the Republican spouses and Democrat spouses, who 
have worked so long and hard for many years to support their Member 
spouses.

                              {time}  1915

  I just want to say how much I appreciate him, admire him, and wish 
him Godspeed. He is a great Christian man, and his wife is a great 
Christian woman. We appreciate so very, very much his long years of 
service to our country, to our Nation, to his district, as well as to 
his God.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin) for 
his comments.
  I now yield to another colleague from Texas, Roger Williams.
  Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Speaker, I wish to join my colleagues down here 
tonight to honor a patriot and a good friend, Congressman Randy 
Neugebauer.
  While your retirement is well-deserved, Randy, your departure is, 
certainly, a loss not only to us as your friends, but to Texas and 
America.
  Randy and I serve together on the Financial Services Committee. 
Before we came up to Washington, we were both in small businesses. 
Still are. I knew Randy before he was a Congressman, and he is still 
the same guy. Congressman Neugebauer is a voice of reason. He has 
valuable, firsthand knowledge of how the private sector works--
knowledge which is needed very much in Washington today. He understands 
how Washington's decisions affect Main Street America. That empathy is 
crucial to conducting good policy, and it is rare. We could use more 
lawmakers like Randy Neugebauer. Congressman Neugebauer is a Texas Tech 
fan. I feel sorry for him, but he always thinks they will win every 
single game.
  Congressman Randy Neugebauer, I wish you and your wife, Dana, my best 
as you begin the next chapter of your lives. May your spare time be 
spent with your grandkids, fly fishing, and rooting for the Raiders. 
You have served your State and our Nation with honor and devotion. We 
will all miss you. You will be missed. I must simply say to you, Randy, 
guns up. May God bless you, and may God bless America for allowing you 
to serve this great country.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. I appreciate the gentleman's comments.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, 
another good Texan, Michael Conaway.
  Mr. CONAWAY. I thank my friend for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to brag on Randy Neugebauer. He is a 
friend, and he and I have a unique circumstance that we share in that 
we ran against each other in Texas. Larry Combest served District 19 at 
that point in time, and they had a special election. Randy and I ran 
against each other. It hasn't happened in a long time, but right after 
that election, people asked me: What do you think about Randy 
Neugebauer?
  I said: Well, he is my friend.
  They said: I know, but that is what you politicians always say--the 
``good gentleman,'' the ``friend.'' You never tell the truth in those 
circumstances.
  I said: No, no, no. With Randy and I, the key is our wives are 
friends; so, if wives can survive a campaign against each other and be 
friends, then it is a testament that we ran the way Republicans should 
run against each other. He stuck to why folks should vote for Randy 
Neugebauer, and I stuck with why folks should vote for me.
  Randy prevailed in that election and joined Congress in June of 2003. 
He has served wonderfully and ably since then. Randy has a strong moral 
compass and exhibits that moral compass to the House all of the time. 
He is one of those guys who is true north and never wavers, a rock 
solid Conservative and someone, I am sure, who is proud of his service 
to the folks in District 19.
  Our districts are contiguous. My northern border is his southern 
border; so we overlap in certain areas, and I get comments from his 
constituents about the great work he and his constituent service team 
do back home. We are going to miss him. We are going to miss him 
greatly--his voice. He serves on the Agriculture Committee as vice 
chairman and has served the agricultural communities as well as his 
having experience on the Armed Services Committee.
  I am proud to call Randy my friend and I am proud of his service 
here. He and his wife, Dana, are off to the next chapter--an exciting 
chapter. I need to warn the rainbow trout and brown trout populations 
all over America that, on the days we are in office in 2017 and 2018, 
they need to be on the lookout for an avid fly fisherman who will be on 
the hunt for all of those trout.
  Again, I want to add my congratulations to Randy on a job well done 
in service to his State and our Nation in an admirable way. He leaves 
office in the right way--on his own terms and very proud. I would ask 
for God's blessing on him and Dana and for God's blessing on Texas, and 
may God continue to bless the great United States of America.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. I thank the gentleman for those nice comments.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to another Texas colleague, a member of the 
Energy and Commerce Committee, Pete Olson.
  Mr. OLSON. I thank my friend from San Antonio.
  Mr. Speaker, Randy Neugebauer is many things. He is a damned proud 
Texan and is a Texas Tech Red Raider who always has his guns up. He is 
a husband to a fierce force of Texas nature--his wife, Dana. He is a 
father of two sons and is a grandfather of four grandkids. He is a 
respected Member of Congress--seven terms in this body--and he is my 
dear friend. In Randy's time here, he has made America a better place 
for my family, for his family, and for every American family.
  As we say in our Navy to departing friends who leave the ship, who go 
ashore for the last time: Randy, may you always have fair winds and 
following seas. Texas 19 departing.
  I salute you.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. I thank the gentleman for his comments.
  Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to host today's Special Order in honor of 
my friend and colleague from Texas, Representative Randy Neugebauer.
  Representative Neugebauer is a consistent Conservative. In fact, the 
National Journal named him the ``most conservative Member of Congress'' 
in 2011. He has also been a valuable member of the Science, Space, and 
Technology Committee, which I chair. He has been a member of that 
committee for over a decade. I am grateful for his work on the 
committee to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and efficiently.
  Representative Neugebauer has actively pushed back against burdensome 
EPA regulations that limit affordable, reliable energy. He has also 
championed research and development efforts that benefit all forms of 
energy. This isn't surprising since Representative Neugebauer's 
district has oil and gas development and produces the most wind energy 
of any district in the country.
  In this Congress, Representative Neugebauer's National Windstorm 
Impact Reduction Act authorized coordinated research to minimize the 
effects of windstorms on local communities. It will help save lives and 
property damage. This legislation was inspired by Representative 
Neugebauer's personal experience with a tornado that devastated his 
hometown of Lubbock, Texas, some years ago. His bill was signed into 
law last year, and now Federal agencies and universities can work to 
better predict, prepare, and recover from dangerous storms.
  We thank Representative Neugebauer for his service to the people of 
west Texas and for his many initiatives on the Science, Space, and 
Technology Committee. His retirement is well-deserved, and we know he 
is going to enjoy more time with his family in west Texas.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the best summaries of Mr. Neugebauer's 
contributions as a person, as a family member, and as a great Member of 
Congress is

[[Page 15905]]

the following, and I want to make sure that everybody is aware of these 
contributions and his personal attributes as well.
  Randy Neugebauer proudly represents the 19th Congressional District, 
which stretches across 29 counties in west Texas and the Big Country, 
and he has represented that great district for 14 years.
  Raised in Lubbock, Randy learned the west Texas values of family, 
faith, hard work, and public service. These are the values he has 
carried with him throughout his life as an accounting student at Texas 
Tech University, as a banker, as a homebuilder, and now as a Member of 
Congress.
  He serves on the Financial Services Committee, where he is chairman 
of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee. In this 
role, he has oversight responsibility for U.S. banks and the banking 
industry, credit unions, depository institutions and Federal deposit 
insurance, consumer credit, and financial regulators, including the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve. 
Representative Neugebauer is also the vice chairman of the House 
Agriculture Committee, where he played a leading role in developing the 
2014 farm bill. He also serves on the House Committee on Science, 
Space, and Technology, which, I mentioned a while ago, I chair.
  His legislative initiatives include eliminating wasteful Federal 
spending; improving crop insurance; and fighting Federal overreach on 
energy, the environment, the economy, and personal liberties.
  Randy Neugebauer's bill to lessen government interference and 
encourage more private sector participation in the terrorism risk 
insurance market became the first law of the 114th Congress. The 
President also signed his bill to promote research and minimize the 
devastating effects caused by windstorms. Last year, as I alluded to a 
minute ago, the President signed into law his initiative that gives 
Texas Tech the opportunity to build a VA clinic on the campus to better 
serve west Texas' veterans.
  Congressman Neugebauer and his wife, Dana, who is with us this 
evening in the gallery back to my left, are both graduates of Texas 
Tech University. They have been married for 46 years and are the proud 
parents of two sons, two daughters-in-law, three grandsons, and one 
granddaughter.
  Mr. Speaker, you can see that Representative Neugebauer has led a 
very rich life, a very satisfactory life, and a life dedicated to his 
country and to his family. There can be no question about that.
  Mr. Speaker, at this point, I yield to another Texas colleague, the 
chairman of the Rules Committee, Pete Sessions.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for allowing us--not 
only the Texas delegation, but other Members of Congress who would wish 
to come down--the opportunity to express our sincere appreciation and 
debt of gratitude to the gentleman from Lubbock, Texas, and to his dear 
and beautiful wife, Dana Neugebauer, and family who are in the House 
tonight. On behalf of the Texas delegation and as a Member of Congress 
from Dallas, Texas, I would say from the people of Dallas, Texas--
Texas' 32nd Congressional District--we have long been friends with the 
gentleman from the 19th District of Texas and appreciate his life and 
service to this great Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, you have just heard much of Congressman Neugebauer, much 
of not only what might be resume information, but, really, what might 
be, when it plays itself out, information that is about the service 
that Congressman Neugebauer has given, the leadership that he has 
provided not only to the committees of service, but, really, to the 
people of this country.
  Congressman Neugebauer came to Congress as an exciting young man who 
was not only full of opportunity, but who came from a vibrant part of 
Texas with his ideas about freedom, about free enterprise, about 
opportunity, about collegiality--about the things which he placed high 
value on. Randy comes from a part of Texas--and I would like to say 
everybody from Texas might be this way, but it is not true--where a 
handshake and your word make a difference.
  The entire time he was here, Mr. Neugebauer didn't oversell and 
didn't underdeliver. He did the things that were necessary as the 
proper representation of not only the Texas delegation, but as a man of 
distinction from Lubbock, Texas--the High Plains. He brought with him 
the professional attributes that were very necessary within the Texas 
delegation to be successful. Very early on, he championed those ideas. 
They were ideas of bringing forth representation from a group of people 
in Lubbock, Texas, and north Texas who strongly believed in America, 
who strongly believed that America's greatest days lie in its future. 
Randy always spoke of not only the ideas that he had, but of the people 
he represented in terms of real admiration for those people, admiration 
for hard work, admiration for an honest day's work, admiration for an 
honest day's pay.

                              {time}  1930

  So you can see, Mr. Speaker, those who have known Randy the best 
watched him in his personal dealings not only with Members of our 
delegation, but also in committees and the hard work and the homework 
that he did to make sure that he did his part necessary.
  He rose not only in the ranks of responsibility, but also rose in the 
ranks of people who admired Mr. Neugebauer. I am one of those people. I 
looked at Randy, who had come just a couple of years behind me, as not 
only a champion of words and ideas, but he had the ability to express 
those ideas, the ability to speak to people in terms of content, of 
where our country would head. This was a time after 9/11 when we were 
faced with fear, uncertainty, and perhaps some complexity that might be 
available to some.
  It never existed to Congressman Neugebauer. Randy threw all of that 
out. I would say he threw out the high and the low and lived off of 
confidence, confidence about not only the way of life that he 
understood and he represented, but really about the United States 
military and the men and women who were from his district whom he spoke 
so plainly about, who we understood where they were. They were 
committed.
  Yes, we are Texans, but he really spoke of America, of America as not 
just this shining city on a hill, but Americans who would dedicate 
themselves to a principle, to ideas higher than just citizenship as a 
responsibility, as a necessary part of making sure that this country 
and where home is back in Lubbock, Texas, in the high plains, that that 
is what he believed was honorable.
  People who would go and sacrifice themselves, who would go help 
people in another land, who were called on because of commitment to 
service, these are the kind of people that Randy Neugebauer would 
identify with. These are the kind of people Randy Neugebauer would talk 
about. These are the kind of people who, at our Thursday Texas 
delegation--yes, we are a bunch of darn Texans, but we get together, 
and we celebrate and share not only camaraderie and commonality, but 
ideas about where we wanted to go. That is Randy Neugebauer. That is 
what Randy Neugebauer did every single week, faithfully, dutifully, and 
he knew what he was doing.
  So I want to say to the gentleman, the young chairman of the Science 
Committee, thank you for being here for our dear colleague, current 
colleague Randy Neugebauer.
  One last point, a point of privilege.
  Look, when you come up here, you are proud of where you are from, and 
you want to do a good job. One of those marks is to be thought of as a 
real conservative. Randy Neugebauer, at least 1 year, and probably 2 or 
3, was, by his voting record--this isn't a vote. This is actual 
delivery of product--number one, the most conservative person in this 
body. I had that chance for 1 year; I tried for 2. It is hard to 
outguess the

[[Page 15906]]

scorecard. Randy Neugebauer is a good guesser also because he knows 
where he is from--right, wrong, good, bad, up, down, more, less, 
proper.
  Mr. Speaker, tonight we honor a real hero of mine, the gentleman from 
Lubbock, Texas, Randy Neugebauer. And let no one forget his beautiful, 
young bride who, day after day, gave confidence to so many other people 
about who they are, what they do. I hope these 46 years turn into 146 
years of marriage, Mr. Chairman. I wish Randy Neugebauer and Dana and 
that entire family the very best.
  I thank Chairman Smith for allowing me the chance to come down and 
say to my dear friend and the Neugebauer family: A job well done, 
Godspeed, and I hope I do well enough to get invited back to Lubbock to 
see you again.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. I thank the chairman for his nice remarks this 
evening.
  I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).
  And let me say to my friend Representative Gohmert that, we only have 
a total of 6 minutes left, and I do want to allow Mr. Neugebauer time 
to speak as well.
  Mr. GOHMERT. I thank the gentleman. And because of all of the glowing 
comments about Randy, I knew I should not share more than a couple 
minutes so that there is time at the end.
  We have heard the old saying that in Washington, D.C., if you want a 
friend, get a dog; but when I got here to Washington, D.C., as a Member 
of Congress, Randy Neugebauer was a friend, and he is a friend. He is a 
man of integrity. He is a man of honor. He does his best to live out 
the Beatitudes that Jesus talked about better than I have. He is not a 
man who has been afraid to ever stand up and call things the way he 
sees them. It is one of the many things I admire about him so much.
  Apostle Paul said three things about what he had accomplished. He 
said: I have fought the good fight. Then there was another clause, and 
then he said: I have finished the race. Well, Randy Neugebauer has not 
finished the race. The race has still yet to go. He has not finished 
the course. He is just taking a new course.
  But I know that, as a brother in Christ and as a man of integrity, he 
will continue to listen to the still, small voice that has guided him 
and his wife through the years and has made him someone who inspires 
me, encourages me, and someone that I would hope to emulate. I am 
grateful to Randy Neugebauer for his service and for all he has done 
for America.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. I thank the gentleman from Texas, particularly 
for bringing out an aspect of Randy Neugebauer's character that has not 
yet been mentioned tonight. And I might also add, and you know only too 
well, that he has been an active member of a prayer group here in the 
House of Representatives as well. So that spiritual aspect, that 
spiritual character is rightfully shown tonight.
  I yield to the gentleman from Lubbock, Texas (Mr. Neugebauer), our 
colleague and Texas friend, whom we honor tonight.
  Mr. NEUGEBAUER. Well, I thank the gentleman, and I thank my 
colleagues for those very kind words.
  What an honor and a privilege it has been to be able to serve with 
people of this integrity and this commitment to our country.
  You know, it was just a little over 13\1/2\ years ago that our 
colleague from Texas (Mr. Barton) introduced me on this very House 
floor my very first day. It was June 5, 2003. I came in a special 
election. I think Mr. Conaway mentioned that we had a race together. I 
was sworn in as the 236th Texan and the 9,832nd American citizen. What 
you realize is what an honor and a privilege it is to get to do this, 
and what an honor and a privilege it has been to represent the people 
of the 19th Congressional District.
  Somebody asked me one day: Do I ever think about, when I am on the 
House floor, the men and women who have served here in the past?
  I said: No, I really don't think about the men and women who have 
served in the past because their history has been written. The people 
that I think about are the men and women whom I serve with every day 
because we are writing our history, and the things that we do and the 
things that we say on this floor have a huge impact not only on our 
constituents, but on our country and on the world.
  So I want to thank my wife, Dana, and my family for helping me do 
this job on behalf of the people of the 19th District. Without Dana's 
support, I couldn't have done this. My two sons and their wives have 
been an integral part of this, and even my grandkids were out 
campaigning when we were running for Congress.
  I also want to thank those men and women who have come through our 
congressional office, both here in D.C. and back in the district, who 
have worked so hard on behalf of our constituents, making sure that 
that veteran gets his check or making sure that that Social Security 
check that was lost was found, helping people get their loved ones back 
from a foreign country because of visa problems. All of those kinds of 
things are important.
  So I want to thank the staff who have been so much a part of that, 
and I want to thank the people of the 19th District and my family, but 
I also want to thank my fellow colleagues whom I have served with.
  Everybody here that I have come in contact with loves America. Now, 
what we do have is a difference of opinion from time to time on what it 
takes to make sure that America has the bright future that we all want 
it to have, and that is a healthy process.
  I am excited for our President-elect and these new Members of 
Congress who will be sworn in in just a few weeks because they have a 
big task ahead of them. So as many of my constituents have prayed for 
me and this Congress in the past, Dana and I will be praying for them 
as they take our country forward.
  Thank you again, and God bless you, and God bless the United States 
of America.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank Representative 
Neugebauer for his service to Texas and to our country. We wish him the 
best in his well-deserved retirement.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FLORES. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to honor my fellow Texas 
colleague and friend Randy Neugebauer.
  Randy has been serving the constituents of the 19th Congressional 
District of Texas since 2003. Prior to coming to Congress, he served on 
the Lubbock City Council and as Mayor Pro Tempore. He also worked in 
the private sector as a banker and a homebuilder.
  In Congress, Randy has worked hard to eliminate wasteful federal 
spending, curb federal overreach and create better agriculture 
policies. He has served on the Financial Services Committee, the 
Agriculture Committee, and the Science, Space and Technology Committee. 
He has also served as a Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee 
on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, and as Vice-Chairman of 
the Agriculture Committee.
  Randy and I are similar in many ways. Growing up in Texas, we were 
both instilled with strong values of family, faith, hard work, and 
public service. We both went on to marry our high school sweethearts. 
We each have two sons and have been blessed with multiple 
grandchildren. And we both take pride in representing our respective 
universities where we are alumnus in Congress. Even though Texas Tech 
and Texas A&M have a strong rivalry, we have worked together for the 
good of all Texans.
  Randy will be missed in the halls of Congress. He took pride in 
serving the constituents of all 29 counties in West Texas that make up 
the 19th Congressional District. I commend him for his many years of 
public service to Texas and for our nation. It truly has been an honor 
to serve and work alongside Randy. I wish him the best of luck on his 
retirement and want to thank him for friendship and guidance.
  As I close, I ask everyone to continue praying for our country and 
for our military and first responder who selflessly serve and sacrifice 
to protect us.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would remind Members that it is 
not in order to refer to occupants of the gallery.

[[Page 15907]]



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