[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16018-16019]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING REID RIBBLE AND RICHARD HANNA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I have been privileged to serve with 
many exceptional people during my tenure in Congress. This year, there 
are a number of my Democratic colleagues who are leaving who will be 
sorely missed. We just heard from one--Gwen Graham. And Lois Capps is 
in a chair in front of me and will be speaking soon.
  Today I would like to take a moment to recognize two exceptional 
friends of mine on the other side of the aisle, Republicans who 
enriched my time in Congress and brought honor to this body. I rise 
today to speak of the service of Richard Hanna and Reid Ribble. These 
two gentlemen represent small town America--rural Upstate New York, in 
the case of Richard; and Green Bay, Wisconsin, and surrounding 
environments in the case of Reid.
  They have a number of similarities. They are both hardworking, 
dedicated Members of this Chamber, who leave

[[Page 16019]]

after only three terms. They are fiercely dedicated to their family, 
and family concerns figured heavily into their decision not to seek 
reelection.
  They have both been very successful businesspeople, building their 
own enterprises; taking pride, in the case of Reid, in the employment 
and terrific service from a roofing company; and Richard, founding and 
growing a construction enterprise.
  Both are accomplished in a broad range of other areas. Richard is a 
pilot who travels across the country piloting his own plane. Reid 
recently completed a motorcycle trip from Alaska, all the way across 
North America to the Florida Keys; most of it with his wife riding 
along with him.
  They are both what normally would have been regarded as conservative 
Republicans. That description really belies their approach and their 
value to the institution. In some respects, they may actually entertain 
some libertarian leanings. But they believe in less interference, 
whether it is liberal overreach or zealotry of the other extreme. 
Richard is equally disdainful of government telling women what they and 
their doctors should do with women's bodies.
  They are both deeply concerned about budgets and the economy--core 
Republican values in the past--with Reid famously, in an exchange with 
some of his Tea Party constituents, indicating that they weren't fair 
to their grandchildren by refusing to even consider raising the gas tax 
to meet our transportation needs, and he made an eloquent case.
  Richard has been a partner with me for the last two Congresses as we 
work with transportation stakeholders to try to inform one another and 
find common ground, working forward on solutions to common problems of 
rebuilding and renewing America.
  I fully respect the decision of both gentlemen to follow their 
instincts and their families to the next phase of their careers, but 
their decision to end congressional service weakens this institution. 
The fact that we could not find enough incentive to keep them here, 
being productive and adding their wisdom and energy, says something 
about the challenges that this Congress faces in the years ahead.
  Serving with them has been a remarkable pleasure. They have helped 
both Republicans and Democrats function a little better in a largely 
dysfunctional climate. They have both given good advice to their 
Republican colleagues, which I hope, as they leave, will find greater 
resonance with those who are left.
  We are going through a great period of a national civics lesson, 
where Americans discover that elections have consequences, that facts 
really should matter, and voters need to be very discerning about the 
decisions they make.
  Richard Hanna and Reid Ribble have helped, through their service, to 
advance that civics lesson. I will be grateful to them for as long as I 
am a citizen, and I look forward to years of friendship in the future 
and maybe ways to advance that national civics lesson that they speak 
to so eloquently by their service.

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