[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 8771-8779]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Patrick J. Conroy, offered the following 
prayer:
  Lord God of history, we thank You for this day when former Members 
return to Congress to continue in a less official manner their service 
to our Nation and to this noble institution.
  May their presence here bring a moment of pause, where current 
Members consider the profiles they now form for future generations of 
Americans.
  May all former Members be rewarded for their contributions to this 
constitutional Republic and continue to work and pray that the goodness 
and justice of this beloved country be proclaimed to the nations.
  Bless all former Members who have died since last year's meeting. May 
their families and their constituents be comforted during a time of 
mourning and forever know our gratitude for the sacrifices made in 
service to the House.
  Finally, bless those gathered here, that they might bring joy and 
hope to the present age and supportive companionship to one another. 
Together, we call upon Your Holy Name now and forever.
  Amen.


                          Pledge of Allegiance

  The Honorable MARTIN FROST led the Pledge of Allegiance as follows:

       I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of 
     America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation 
     under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

  Mr. FROST. The Chair is happy at this point to recognize the 
distinguished Speaker of the House, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Ryan).
  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. First of all, welcome everybody. I see a lot 
of familiar faces, a lot of folks I served with, people I know who came 
here before I served.
  I came here when I was 28, in 1998, and never thought I would be 
doing what I am doing. And it is just funny how this place can work its 
will.
  I would say a couple of things.
  I grew up with mentors. I lost my dad when I was young, so I went 
from mentor to mentor to mentor. When I came here to this job at a 
young age, I had a lot of mentors. Jack Kemp was my original mentor, 
who taught me about public service and politics and policy. A lot of 
you, like Jim, you served with Jack; you knew him well from the 
delegation and the rest.
  But then when I came here, I had mentors. I don't know if McCrery is 
here or not. Jim is a part of the organization, I assume; right? So Jim 
McCrery.
  Bill Thomas was a mentor of mine. Even though that is hard to 
imagine, he really was because he taught me to be scrutinous, how to 
really pay attention to detail.
  I see Tim Petri is here. Tim Petri was a mentor. He taught me 
kindness. He taught me how to relate to people. He taught me how to be 
like a nice person and still be a nice person after years in Congress. 
I try.
  But all I would say is it is great to have you home. So welcome home.
  I look at you, and I see relaxed faces. I see the lines have kind of 
gone away. I see happy people. I see people in a great phase and stage 
of life. So know that when we see you, it gives us happiness and hope 
because we know that, in the mix of the day and all the tumult we go 
through around here, a lot of this is just a tempest in the teapot; a 
lot of this is just noise that doesn't take us off the horizon where we 
are all going to.
  So I would say a couple of things. Thank you for being the mentors 
you have been, on behalf of the people you have been mentored to, 
number one. Number two, thank you for your passion and for keeping your 
dedication to the causes you believed in and the causes you came here 
to fight for.
  I came young, idealistic, you know, thinking I kind of knew 
everything. And then as time got on, in the ninth term, I realized 
discernment, temperament, and just good judgment is what matters the 
most. And I realized that there is so much we have yet to learn from 
people who have walked the same path and have been in the same kind of 
shoes. And because you are here giving the rest of our Members--on our 
side of the aisle, 65 percent of our people are first- or second-
termers. So we have so many new people for whom it is important that 
they learn from those who have been through this. It is important that 
you make new friendships with new people so that they can get a little 
discernment and get a little wisdom from your pearls that you can drop 
them. So thank you for being here and being involved in doing that. 
Please mentor some of our folks.
  And the last point I would say is just thanks for showing that this 
life of public service continues on in a very graceful way, in a very 
relaxing way, in a way where you can really be in control of your own 
destiny in your own time. I mean, probably you look back at this and 
you remember time was my problem, time management, having

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time to do this, having time to do that. That is one of the big 
frustrations of the day to day around here. And just knowing that you 
can get back in control of your own time and your own life after these 
days of public service, that, to me, is very comforting. It is a very 
comforting thought.
  So your presence helps our Members kind of get their keel, get their 
groove, get their sense of peace and calm so that they can focus on 
what is really important and not get distracted by the things that 
knock us off our game. So all I would say is welcome. It is great 
having you, and thanks for doing what you do. I appreciate it.
  Mr. FROST. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, we all wish you well in the months 
ahead.
  The Chair recognizes the distinguished Democratic whip, the gentleman 
from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
  Mr. HOYER. I am glad I got here to hear the Speaker talk a little 
bit. And I am so glad that you guys have brought calm and consideration 
to us junior Members. I happen to be one of the old junior Members, as 
all of you know--I am older than some of you--but I am still here.
  Mr. FROST. We wish you a happy birthday.
  Mr. HOYER. Thank you so much.
  I always loved so many of you with whom I had the opportunity to 
serve.
  I remember a time many years ago when I got into the Members' 
elevator on floor seven, which my office is on floor seven in the 
Longworth. I have got an office here, too, obviously, as you know. But 
anyway, this young kid gets on, tall, dark, nice-looking kid got on, 
and I sort of looked at him and wondered who he was. He thought I was 
looking at him as if he shouldn't be on the elevator, which I, by the 
way, think is a pretty kind of arrogant thing to have. This is a 
Members' elevator.
  In any event, I said, ``Hi.'' He said, ``I am Paul Ryan. I am a 
Member.'' And he has since been calling me ``old man'' for a number of 
years now, which I highly resent, which I don't think is very 
bipartisan and not good camaraderie. But in any event, he does it 
anyway.
  All of you have seen the House for a long period of time. I came in 
1981. Some of you came before, and I have been here since. I remember 
Jim and I serving together on the Appropriations Committee, others of 
you--Jo Bonner. Bev Byron I have known since--there was just censorship 
there. She said, ``All right. That is enough.''
  She is like Nancy. I start telling stories about Nancy, and Nancy 
says, ``Nope. Nope. That is not when it happened. It happened 20 years 
later than you are saying it happened.''
  But in any event, it is lamentable what has happened to the House. 
You know, we can have a lot of happy talk, and we can talk about all 
this. It is lamentable--it is manifest, frankly, in our Presidential 
campaign--and our country deserves better.
  Elijah Cummings, our colleague, whom many of you know, he says, ``We 
are better than that.'' And we are better than that.
  I remember serving with so many of you for such a long period of time 
where, yes, there was an aisle, but there was much greater diversity of 
sentiment in terms of working together than exists today--in part, 
because a lot of Members are new. We have had great turnover.
  Remember, we talked about term limits. You have got to have turnover. 
There has been extraordinary turnover. Has it been helpful? I am not so 
sure. I am not so sure because Members come, and before they get to 
know people as individuals, as opposed to just Republicans or R's on 
this side of the aisle or that side of the aisle, they want to 
confront.
  Now the longer you get to know people--you know, Chris Shays. Sure, 
he was a Republican, I am a Democrat, but we had an opportunity to sit 
down and talk. And Jim and Chris are sitting next to one another now. 
You know, they are friends. We are all friends.
  I mentioned Jo's name. But a lot of Republicans that I have been very 
close to--as many of you know, Roy Blunt is one of my best friends, and 
he was the minority whip and then the minority leader for a while, and 
we worked very closely together.
  You know what I tell my staff? I say, when they leave--all to make 
more money than I am making, for the most part, or that you made when 
you were here. I say, ``I let my staff go off the payroll, but not off 
the staff.''
  You are off the payroll. But I hope none of you--and obviously your 
presence here in this Chamber reflects that you think you are off. And 
that is what Paul was talking about. Paul was talking about those of 
you who have served.
  Connie and I--and Connie and I were on different sides of the aisle 
in our State; but Connie and I have been good friends, with great 
respect for one another. And I know that Bev and Connie are good 
friends. They represented sort of the same part of our State, the 
western part of our State.
  We have lost that. And, frankly, I want to tell my Republican former 
colleagues that your side of the aisle now is having great difficulty 
working together with one another--forget about the other side of the 
aisle--and that is why John Boehner wasn't speaking to you today. John 
Boehner ultimately said, look, if you don't want to work with me, I am 
out of here. Not to us. John and I worked very closely together. We had 
a great relationship.
  And I think a lot of Paul Ryan, but he has got a lot of Members who 
think that they are not part of a team but they are part of a different 
group that is outside, that wants to confront. I don't want to be too 
negative here, but we would be silly and we would be Pollyannaish if we 
didn't look at this and say this is a problem for our country and we 
need to resolve it.
  We need to let our citizens know that, yes, each of us has ideas in 
our own districts, but we come here in a body of 435 people. It wasn't 
that large when our Founding Fathers constructed it, but they 
constructed it so that it would be a crucible to which we could bring 
all the differences and different perspectives and different interests 
that we have in the country and try to bring them together, sort of 
grind them up so they would come out as a positive substance together.
  Barb is shaking her head. Barbara and I came in special elections, 
and we came just sort of back-to-back in special elections. Bev was 
already here. Some of you were already here when I got here. We were 
able to work together.
  I tell people, you know, even in the Gingrich years, when it was 
perceived to be really--you know, Gingrich came in on fire, and he 
worked us about 9,000 hours a week. My Republican friends were coming 
over here and saying, ``He is going to kill us.'' I mean, we were 
working around the clock, some of you who were here. But the fact is 
there was a large number of people who were in the body at that point 
in time who were used to working together.
  Of course those of us who served on the Appropriations Committee, on 
the Appropriations Committee, it was pretty easy to make a deal. You 
know, if you have got $100 and you are in the majority, you get $60, 
the minority gets $40. There is not a philosophical issue here. It is 
easy just to divide it up. On the authorizing committees, it is a 
little tougher. But, frankly, all the committees now, as you have seen, 
have become sort of partisan confrontations--not good for the country, 
not good for the Members.
  By the way, the working conditions of Members has been sorely tested. 
And I will tell you--and I tell my Republican friends, if I were the 
Speaker or the leader, I would work very hard to get earmarks back, 
make sure that Members get COLAs so they don't have to be living in 
their offices, and make sure that we go back to the Federal Employee 
Health Benefits Program. Not only have Members not gotten COLAs for 7 
years, but they are paying $4,000, on average, more for their health 
insurance, because Grassley thought it would be a fun thing to do to 
say, okay, you want the Affordable Care Act, all of you guys are going 
to have to be in, in effect, the D.C. small market.
  So, Members, when you see Members, they are getting $4,000 or $5,000 
less in

[[Page 8773]]

take-home pay because the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program is 
no longer available to them. We are not serving Members well or this 
institution well.
  My view, as a leader, was to try to protect Members from themselves. 
I am serious. You know, if a leader can't take the heat and say, look, 
this is what we are going to do for Members who cannot take the heat 
because they will be demagogued by taking a 1.5 percent COLA--what a 
lot of baloney that is. We don't have the press here, but I say this 
publicly.
  Members are feeling put upon--I don't mean some of the ideologues who 
think it is great to beat their chest and wear a sack cloth and black 
ash all over them. But we need you to speak up on that because you can 
speak up on that, and you can say, if you don't have respect for your 
Members, you are not going to have respect for your institution.
  I forget which Member said--we were talking about pay at one point in 
time. He said, ``Well, pay then was probably, you know, maybe $120,000 
or something.'' And I said, ``Well, you may not think I am worth it, 
but the job is worth it. And elect somebody you think is worth the 
job.''
  I think former Members can do a great deal, given your perspective, 
given your experience, and given the fact that it no longer has 
political consequences for you, that you can speak up to make the 
institution stronger by respecting our Members and making it affordable 
for all but the rich to serve here.
  So I thank you for staying in touch, for staying on the staff--not on 
the payroll, but staying on the staff--and for making sure that the 
public understands what a great institution this is.
  And I tell people the Congress of the United States, right now, in my 
view, is less than the sum of its parts. And I tell people there are 
great Members on both sides of the aisle, but together we are not, as a 
board of directors for the greatest country on the face of the Earth, 
doing what we need to do for our country and for our people.
  Thank you for staying involved. Thank you for raising up the message 
of what a great institution this is and how critically important it is 
to have respect for our institutions if our democracy is going to be 
all that we want it to be.
  God bless you. Thank you very much.
  Mr. FROST. I thank the gentleman from Maryland.
  The Chair now calls upon the Honorable Jim Walsh, vice president of 
the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress, to present the 
Association's annual report to Congress.
  Mr. Walsh.
  Mr. WALSH. I thank the Chair and ask the Clerk to call the roll of 
former Members.
  Mr. Altmire of Pennsylvania.
  Mr. Blanchard of Michigan.
  Mr. Bonner of Alabama.
  Ms. Byron of Maryland.
  Mr. Carr of Michigan.
  Mr. Edwards of Texas.
  Mr. Ferguson of New Jersey.
  Mr. Frost of Texas.
  Mr. Gordon of Tennessee.
  Mr. Gingrey of Georgia.
  Mr. Hertel of Michigan.
  Mr. Horsford of Nevada.
  Mr. Hughes of New Jersey.
  Ms. Kennelly of Connecticut.
  Mr. Konnyu of California.
  Mr. Kramer of Colorado.
  Mr. Lancaster of North Carolina.
  Mr. Lungren of California.
  Mr. McIntyre of North Carolina.
  Mr. Mezvinsky of Iowa.
  Mr. Moran of Virginia.
  Ms. Morella of Maryland.
  Mr. Petri of Wisconsin.
  Mr. Rahall of West Virginia.
  Mr. Sarasin of Connecticut.
  Mr. Shays of Connecticut.
  Mr. Slattery of Kansas.
  Mr. Stearns of Florida.
  Mr. Tanner of Tennessee.
  Mr. Walsh of New York.
  Mr. FROST. The Chair announces that 30 former Members of Congress 
have responded to their names.
  Mr. Walsh.
  Mr. WALSH. Thank you all for coming here and being with us this 
morning. It is always a great privilege to be back in this Chamber and 
to reconnect with so many friends and colleagues, and there are many 
here.
  I am honored to represent the Association today in my capacity as 
vice president of the organization. I am a nonascending vice president. 
I ask that I not be considered as president, and I am delighted that 
Cliff Stearns will be the new president. So I suspect this will be my 
last opportunity to speak from the well, other than perhaps with a tour 
of family and friends and so forth.
  My dad served here before I did, so it is a great, great pleasure to 
make this presentation with you this morning, to have the associations 
that I have had with you all over the years. It is a huge and distinct 
honor to serve in this place. You all have experienced that. Very few 
people do. You all know the purpose of this place and the importance of 
this place, and we, every day, even as retired Members, represent those 
values.
  So I have had the great pleasure of serving with Barbara Kennelly of 
Connecticut. I am very proud of the many impactful things that we have 
been able to accomplish through the Association this year.
  We have many, many programs. And over the next 20 minutes or so, 
Barbara and I will report on our work. Unlike other years, we are a bit 
pressed for time, so Barbara and I will submit for the Record a more 
in-depth report covering our activities since the 2015 annual meeting. 
I encourage you to go online in a day or two and take a look at the 
additional information in the Congressional Record because we really 
are delighted with how much our Association accomplishes, both 
domestically and abroad.
  Our Association is bipartisan. It was founded in 1970 and chartered 
by the Congress in 1983. The purpose of the U.S. Association of Former 
Members of Congress is to promote public service and strengthen 
democracy, abroad and in the United States. About 600 former Senators 
and Representatives belong to the Association. Republicans, Democrats, 
and Independents are united in this organization's desire to teach 
about Congress and the importance of representative democracy.
  We are proud to have been chartered by Congress, and we are proud to 
receive no funding from Congress. All the activities which we are about 
to describe are financed via membership dues--thank you--program-
specific grants and sponsors, or via our major fundraising dinner, 
which many of you have helped with, and we would welcome even more.
  Our finances are sound, our projects are fully funded, our most 
recent audit by an outside accountant confirmed that we are running our 
Association in a fiscally sound, responsible, and transparent manner.
  It has been another successful, active, and rewarding year. We have 
continued our work serving as a liaison between the current Congress 
and legislatures overseas. We have created partnerships with highly 
respected institutions in the area of democracy building and election 
monitoring. We have developed new projects and are expanding others. 
And we again sent dozens of bipartisan teams of former Members of 
Congress to teach about public service and representative democracy at 
universities and high schools, both in the United States and abroad.
  Our most important domestic undertaking is teaching America's next 
generation about their government and their responsibility of 
citizenship. We do so via our Congress to Campus program. And I would 
like to thank Larry LaRocco of Idaho and Jack Buechner of Missouri, who 
co-chair the Congress to Campus program, for the terrific job that they 
are doing with this program.
  The Congress to Campus program sends bipartisan teams of former 
Members to colleges and universities across the country and around the 
world. The program engages our Members from all over the country, to 
educate the next generation of leaders about the institution of 
Congress, the duties and responsibilities of being a Member of 
Congress, and, most importantly, the value of public service. And since 
our visits always involve a bipartisan team, they demonstrate that 
civil discourse can

[[Page 8774]]

be--and should be--respectful and dynamic, all while remaining 
courteous.
  The former Members volunteer their time leading classes, meeting with 
student leaders and campus organizations, speaking to campus media, 
sharing meals with students and faculty, joining in student government 
meetings and holding community forums and interacting with local 
citizens.
  The schools are encouraged to offer the program to the entire campus 
community, and even to reach out into the community at large, to show 
how decisions in Congress affect their areas of study, and their 
everyday lives. The former Members also ask the students to look at the 
importance of public service and to consider whether they would like to 
engage in public service.
  We are delighted to report that this year we have added some new 
schools to our roster as well as having returned to visit some of our 
favorites. During the 2015-2016 academic year, the Congress to Campus 
program visited over 22 schools, including Palm Beach State, Missouri 
Western University, Boise State University, Waubonsee Community 
College, both the U.S. Naval Academy and West Point, and, I am proud to 
say, my alma mater, St. Bonaventure University, where I was joined by 
Richard Stallings of Idaho. It was fun. That is just to name a few of 
the colleges. More than 40 former Members participated during the 
academic year, including a few who had never participated in the 
Congress to Campus program before, but have vowed to participate more 
in the future. Most of the former Members wonder who gets more out of 
the visits, they or the students.
  I hope the Members in attendance this morning will consider 
volunteering and inviting a friend from across the aisle to join them 
on a visit. If your time is limited, you can still help the program, 
for example, by connecting us with your alma mater or a school located 
in your old congressional district.
  We are thrilled that we continue our outstanding partnership with the 
Stennis Center for Public Service in the administration of the program, 
and we are grateful particularly to its associate director, Brother 
Rogers. The Stennis Center has been a great partner in bringing the 
program to schools all around the country.
  Internationally, the Congress to Campus program was again able to 
send two delegates to the U.K. for a week-long visit where the former 
Members met with hundreds of British students and also participated in 
town hall meetings open to the public. It has been reported that this 
is one of the highlights of their semester, and we want to thank Philip 
Davies with the British Library in London for all he does to make the 
U.K. program so successful.
  Also thanks to David Skaggs, our colleague from Colorado, who was 
able to arrange for a Congress to Campus visit to Oman, Jordan. I 
understand it was a fascinating experience. We hope to arrange for more 
international Congress to Campus visits. We find that students around 
the world are deeply interested in the U.S. Government and the 
political system. Who better to explain how Congress truly works than 
former Members. The students of the host countries are extremely 
inquisitive and immensely appreciative of the visit. We hope to have 
more international Congress to Campus visits on the roster in the 
future.
  Sadly, after years of partnering with the People to People program, 
the organization is no longer in existence. However, Former Members of 
Congress has expanded its partnership with Envision, which brings 
hundreds of middle school students from around the country to our 
Nation's capital to learn about leadership and the American government. 
We have 12 days this summer for a bipartisan pair of former Members to 
speak to hundreds of middle school students. In fact, Jason Altmire 
from Pennsylvania and Ann Marie Buerkle from my old district of upstate 
New York addressed a group of students this morning here in the House 
Chamber. Thank you to all of the Members who have been available to the 
students, and if there are any former Members here now willing to talk 
with these young people this summer, please tell our staff.
  We also partnered with the Ford's Theatre and their oratory programs, 
by being an example of how public speaking is critical to influencing 
people and getting across a point of view. We have recently begun to 
work with the D.C. Public Schools system to bring former Members into 
the D.C. high school U.S. Government classes.
  An informed and engaged citizenry helps our democracy prosper. As 
former Members, I hope that you will consider becoming involved in this 
program and all of the programs that FMC has to offer to inspire and 
educate America's young people and future leaders.
  Since our last annual meeting and our last report to Congress, we 
have added a number of projects to expand our outreach in civic 
education. One is a series of webinars which brought a condensed 
version of Congress to Campus to community colleges across the country. 
Bipartisan teams of former Members were assembled here in Washington 
and spent 2 hours via Internet connecting with a number of community 
colleges.
  The schools brought the former Members team either into a specific 
class or had a large group of students meet as an extracurricular 
activity. After making some opening remarks focused on a specific 
topic, for example our environmental policy, the students were given 
the opportunity to question our former Members via email.
  While this certainly cannot replace the value of a person-to-person 
visit, it is a cost-effective and abbreviated way of bringing Congress 
to Campus to audiences we would not normally reach.
  At our last annual meeting, we began an effort to engage former 
Members across the Nation in an effort to restore civics to our 
Nation's public school curriculum. Working with the University of 
Central Florida, where the Lou Frey Institute is housed, as well as 
with the Civic Mission of Schools, we positioned the Association to 
become an umbrella group connecting former Members across the country 
with like-minded NGOs in their States. Through us, former Members in 
any State can team up with a statewide effort to incorporate basic 
civics back into the State's public school system. Who better than 
former Members, who have public service and civic responsibility in 
their DNA, to become an advocate at the State level for increased civic 
understanding.
  Our Common Ground work also continued to bring bipartisan groups of 
former Members together with the public for a constructive and 
productive dialogue on the issues that affect all of us. We achieve 
this mostly via a wonderful partnership with the National Archives. And 
we thank the Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, for his 
many years of supporting our public outreach in this manner. Those are 
great programs.
  Since our last report to Congress, we assembled former Member panels 
on the topics of The Partisan Divide, based on the book of same title 
written by our chair, Martin Frost, and also Tom Davis. There was a 
program on D.C. Statehood and Representative Democracy, a panel on 
which I participated. I was chair of the Legislative Branch 
Subcommittee when we set up the Financial Control Board, and all of the 
emotions came back. It was pretty cool. I was joined by former D.C. 
Mayor Tony Williams and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. There were 
panels Caring for Our Veterans, a panel that included Purple Heart 
recipient Charles Eggleston; also Money and Politics, in partnership 
with a great organization called Issue One; and a conversation about 
Congress with former Members Lee Hamilton and Ray LaHood. It was a 
wonderful evening.
  Again, this is one of our most impactful ways to connect with the 
public, and all of our programs are carried live--if not by C-SPAN then 
on the YouTube channel of the National Archives.
  Next I will cover our charitable golf tournament. Another great 
example of how powerful and productive bipartisanship can be is our 
Annual Congressional Golf Tournament. It is chaired by our past 
president, Dennis Hertel of Michigan, and by fellow board member Ken 
Kramer of Colorado. We benefit two great charities, Disabled Sports 
USA's Warfighter Sports and Tee It Up for the Troops.

[[Page 8775]]

  The mission of Warfighter Sports is simple: to provide adaptive 
sports to severely wounded warriors free of cost. The organization was 
founded by Vietnam War veterans in 1967 and now offers 30 sports as 
part of its rehabilitative programs. In 2015 alone, over 1,500 wounded 
warriors received support. Their experience includes a family member, 
so that in addition to improving the warrior's self-confidence and 
independence, the program also helps unite families through shared 
healthy
activities. I encourage you to find out more about this outstanding 
organization at www.disabledsportsusa.org.
  Please also get to know Tee It Up for the Troops. Tee It Up believes 
in engaging and inspiring communities across the United States to do 
great things on behalf of the military men and women who have served 
and sacrificed so much for our freedoms. Tee It Up for the Troops 
targets its efforts across the most pressing areas of need, with 
priority emphasis in supporting PTS research and treatment, suicide 
prevention, employment, rehabilitation, and athletics equipment and 
services. You can find them at www.teeitupforthetroops.org.
  The Members Charity Golf Classic was held in April this year, which 
turned out to be a great decision. We had fabulous weather, the course 
at Army and Navy Club was outstanding, and we had one of the best 
turnout of sponsors and players in many years. There were 25 current 
and former Member players and over 30 wounded veterans returning from 
Afghanistan and Iraq.
  This tournament gets better and better every year. Nine years ago we 
converted the event from a highly competitive tournament with just 
former and current Members of Congress to a fun and meaningful and 
inspiring charity event. It is still a great day of golf on a great 
course, and the tournament continues to have a friendly competition 
with the Speaker's Cup. This year, I am proud to say, this side of the 
aisle won that trophy. Actually, I believe Jimmy Duncan from Tennessee, 
one of the honorary co-chairs of the tournament, was here a few weeks 
ago making note of the Republican win. Congressman Gene Green, our good 
friend from Texas, the Democrat honorary co-chair, assures us that he 
will be back and the Democrats will bring home the trophy next year.
  Over the past 9 years, we have raised nearly three-quarters of a 
million dollars for our beneficiaries. One of our beneficiaries has 
been with us since the very beginning, Warfighters Sports, a program of 
Disabled Sports USA, and this was our third year with a second 
beneficiary, Tee It Up for the Troops. Both of these organizations use 
golf to help severely wounded veterans. At the tournament this year, 
several wounded warriors spoke to the group and explained how 
warfighters are competitive at their core, and using sports profoundly 
helps them with their readjustment to civilian life.
  I want to thank our tournament co-chairs Ken Kramer and Dennis Hertel 
and everyone at the Association for all they have done to make this 
tournament such a great success. I would also like to thank all of our 
sponsors for their generous contributions. We look forward to 
continuing to raise money and awareness, and having a little bipartisan 
fun with the tournament again next year. We hope all current and former 
Members will consider joining us.
  And we should also thank our great corporate partners who make the 
event such a success and help us support this highly deserving 
constituency. They include Lockheed Martin, AIG, PING, Trijicon, 
Oshkosh Defense, Anthem, Robert Trent Jones Charitable Golf Foundation, 
Ernst and Young, Willis Group Holding, Ariel Corporation, The Club 
Foundation, AVI Systems, International Council of Shopping Centers, 
Geoffrey Feldesman, Master Electric, B-3 Solutions, Trinity Logistics, 
Northrup Grumman, BMW of Fairfax, Hanger and the Congressional Federal 
Credit Union. Our sincere thanks to all of them for making such an 
impactful contribution to a very worthy cause.
  Let me add one more veterans-oriented group which our Association 
supports and which you should take a closer look at: Veterans Campaign. 
Veterans Campaign's goal is to demystify the process of running for 
public office, and make it accessible to veterans who are interested in 
continuing their service as elected officials. The organization 
encourages, mentors, and prepares veterans for a second service in 
civic leadership. Veterans Campaign works with potential candidates 
from both parties, as well as independents. In addition to love for 
country, leadership, and commitment to service, veterans are united by 
a common bond that has historically encouraged bipartisanship, 
cooperation, and better government. We strive to connect former Members 
from both sides of the aisle with veterans interested in running for 
office, regardless of party affiliation. Our former Members serve as 
mentors and sounding boards to these outstanding men and women. We are 
pleased that there exists an organization aimed at recruiting highly 
qualified candidates for elected office, and we hope you will consider 
getting involved in this effort. Please check out their website at 
www.veteranscampaign.org.
  In addition to the National Archives panels which we already reported 
on earlier, our Association continues to identify opportunities to 
highlight in a bipartisan way the many important contributions our 
Members have made to our representative democracy and the lessons 
learned from present day politics. An example of this type of outreach 
is a full-day conference we organized focused on the accomplishments of 
the 94th Congress, the group of legislators elected following 
Watergate.
  In September, former Members partnered with the College of Behavioral 
and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland to present a 
symposium at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. The event commemorated 
the 40th anniversary of the 94th Congress by highlighting and exploring 
its record and the political change it helped to initiate. Reforms 
adopted by both the 94th Congress and the 104th Congress under GOP 
control were contrasted with the current management and operation of 
today's 114th Congress. With the 2016 elections looming and the 
challenges to govern facing the Republican-controlled Congress, the 
symposium was of great currency and of great relevance.
  While a number of former Members from that class were involved in 
putting this effort together, we should acknowledge again that David 
Skaggs and Bob Carr, two of our active Members, along with our CEO Pete 
Weichlein were the driving force behind this effort, which gives me an 
opportunity to thank Peter and all of our staff for the marvelous, 
marvelous work they do to prepare us for these events.
  Opening remarks were given by FMC President, Barbara Kennelly (D-CT) 
followed by FMC Board Members and event organizers David Skaggs (D-CO) 
and Bob Carr (D-MI). FMC Board Member Ron Sarasin (R-CT) served as the 
moderator to the Congressional Reform and the Republican Resurgence 
panel. Former Members Dave Obey (D-WI) and Mickey Edwards (R-OK) were 
integral panelists during the afternoon discussions on Congressional 
Reform in the 1970s and Congressional Reform and Republican Resurgence. 
FMC was delighted to be working with UMD and the members of the 
Steering Committee to help make this event a huge success.
  This wonderful conference was made possible by grants from three 
outstanding foundations, which we wish to recognize and acknowledge: 
The Williams and Flora Hewlett Foundation; the Rockefeller Brothers 
Fund; and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Links to the videos of 
the presentations and photographs can be found through the FMC website 
at www.usafmc.org.
  Having thus far reported on our domestic programs, I would like to 
yield at this time to our Association's distinguished president, 
Barbara Kennelly of Connecticut, to report on our international work. 
She has been a tireless president. I have greatly enjoyed working with 
her and learning from her and laughing with her and sometimes whining 
with her about all of the work that this organization performs. It has 
been a great experience. I would like to add that I enjoyed the 
experience every minute. She was an outstanding president for our 
organization who has really put her personal stamp on the terrific work 
that we do.
  Barbara, thank you for your leadership, and I yield the floor.

[[Page 8776]]


  Mr. FROST. Ms. Kennelly is recognized.
  Ms. KENNELLY. Thank you, Jim, for those kind words. I really enjoyed 
working with you also. These past 2 years have been incredibly busy. 
You heard Jim's report. Now get ready, I am going to take more than 1 
minute, to be sure. We have done so much.
  Each year when Connie was president and following, it is magnificent 
work how much work this staff is able to accomplish, and include the 
Members who want to be active. Tell your friends how much they can get 
out of this Association and how we have grown. We are really becoming 
part of the scene here.
  Listening to Steny, aren't we lucky. We are totally nonpartisan. We 
all get along. If that can happen, it can happen to them, too.
  As Jim has already demonstrated when reporting on our domestic 
undertakings, we are just as busy and impactful in the larger world. 
This is certainly true in our international work.
  In addition to the domestic programs Jim has just described, our 
Association has a very active and far-reaching international focus.
  We conduct programs focused on Europe and Asia. We bring current 
Members of Congress together with their peers in legislatures overseas. 
Just last week, a group came back from China. Some of you are sitting 
right here. I understand it was a marvelous trip and you were 
exhausted, but that is the way it should be.
  We partner with former parliamentarians from other countries for 
democracy strengthening missions. Two of our most valued partners over 
the years have been the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians 
and the Association of Former Members of the European Parliament.
  Right now, we have a former head of the European group, Enrique Baron 
Crespo, and he has come all of the way from Brussels. I met him in 
Brussels about a month ago and told him that he had to be with us 
because I enjoyed the visit in Brussels with him so much. It was 
shortly after the bombing, and it was an absolute wonderful thing to 
see the parliament functioning and seeing everything being absolutely 
calm. I thank you for being such a wonderful host.
  In Brussels, I participated in the annual general meeting of the 
former members of the European Parliament. And just a few weeks ago, my 
colleague Martin Frost joined the Canadian former Members for their 
annual meeting in Ottawa. We are expecting representation from the 
group, but their plane was held up and I guess they haven't gotten here 
yet. We will welcome them later.
  Via the Association of Former Members, I have met with numerous 
groups of legislators from emerging democracies who have come to 
Washington for a better understanding of our representative government 
and our form of democracy. These conversations and meetings are always 
two-way streets, and I have learned as much, if not more, from our 
visitors as they do from me. Just last month our Association hosted at 
our offices a large group of young professionals from ASEAN countries 
including Vietnam and Indonesia. We had a great dialogue about running 
for office and serving our constituency. I would also like to thank Bev 
Byron because when we have some of these wonderful folk coming in from 
other countries, she has been very generous in entertaining them in her 
home and it has been a delight.
  Our Association has also had a long-standing partnership with a great 
NGO called Legacy International--bringing young professionals from the 
Middle East and North Africa to the United States. Our most recent 
group just completed their 6-week D.C. stay last month and was composed 
of young professionals from Morocco and Tunisia. An earlier group also 
included young professionals from Egypt.
  Our program promotes a positive relationship between the United 
States and North Africa, which, in light of the Arab Spring is now more 
vital than ever. Our Association connects the Fellows with former 
Members, whom they meet with several times over the course of their 
stay. The former Members act as a kind of mentor to these young men and 
women through one-on-one meetings, roundtable discussions, and by 
attending Program discussions and events.
  The goal of this program is to seek a better understanding between 
cultures and establish an avenue of dialogue between nations. It is a 
unique opportunity to create a constructive political and cultural 
discourse between the United States and North Africa. I am very proud 
that our association can be part of this very interesting and vital 
dialogue.
  In addition to hosting visiting delegations, our Association 
organizes former Member delegations to travel overseas and engage 
overseas audiences--students, government officials, NGOs, and corporate 
representatives--in a dialogue about the many challenges that are 
global in nature and require across-border communication.
  You have already heard about our Congress to Campus program, and it 
has a very active international component in that we have brought the 
program to numerous universities and countries such as Turkey and the 
U.K.
  Also, earlier this year we brought a bipartisan team of former 
Members to Germany for a number of town hall meetings in Munich and 
Berlin to talk about the United States election. It was no surprise 
that many discussions this year veered toward the upcoming Presidential 
election and the two presumptive candidates. Even in Europe, it is a 
lead topic of conversation, as you can well imagine.
  Two foundations in Germany invited a bipartisan pair of former 
Members to provide some insight into what they thought about the 
elections, the candidates and how it may or may not impact the US-
Germany relationship and the US-Europe relationship. Speaking to 
audiences in both Berlin and in Munich this spring Mary Bono of 
California and Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois participated in two 
journalist moderated town-hall style discussions, fielding questions 
from business leaders, student and political junkies. The former 
Members were asked to address a number of central issues that appeared 
controversial during the presidential debates. The discussions included 
the TTIP agreement, the role of Putin, education reforms, growing 
populism on both sides of the Atlantic and the status of western 
democracies in general. The audience was also able to take part during 
the course of the debate, by vote on central issues by iPods, with the 
resulted revealed at the end of the discussion.
  We thank the BMW Foundation and the Alfred Herrhausen Foundation for 
their partnership and sponsorship of this excellent program.
  Other overseas delegations, we called them ExDELs, have traveled to 
countries where dialogue is often difficult, but nonetheless incredibly 
important. A country on which we have focused quite extensively is 
China. In the past 5 years, we have sent nine delegations of former 
Members to China. The most recent one just returned last week, and 
included your colleagues Cliff Stearns, Tim Petri, Mike Ross, Jim 
McCrery, and Tim Roemer, as well as our Association's CEO Pete 
Weichlein. They traveled to Beijing, Chongqing, and Shanghai, and had 
meetings with the National People's Congress, the Foreign Ministry, as 
well as corporate and academic representatives, and engaged in dialogue 
focused on issues ranging from environmental policy to the South China 
Sea. I can see why they were somewhat tired when they got home.
  The ExDELs are an excellent example of how former Members can play a 
pivotal role in establishing a dialogue where current Members might be 
a bit more curtailed in their outreach.
  Since starting our China outreach, we have been able to send 9 
delegations totaling almost 40 former Members of Congress. These ExDELs 
depend on strong partners in China, and we are extremely fortunate to 
work with two of the most respected and influential NGOs in China: The 
China Association for International Friendly Contact, and the China 
United States Exchange Foundation. In addition, we have partnered with 
the Committee of 100 to bring a more productive and impactful focus on 
China to Capitol Hill. Thanks to these three outstanding partners, our 
China program now involves current and former Members of Congress as 
well as senior staff in both the House and the Senate.
  In addition to these former Member international programs, our 
Association supports Congress' international

[[Page 8777]]

dialogue in a meaningful, productive and bipartisan way via our 
Congressional study groups. These are groups that I am really most 
proud of because sometimes--years ago--when we became members of the 
Association of Former Members, we really didn't know what we were 
getting into or what it was. Now we have these study groups, and they 
are incredibly successful. They are incredibly successful. We have 
luncheons and we have get-togethers, and that means that present 
Members of Congress are familiar with our organization and are ready to 
join us. As you can see as we read these many programs that we have, we 
need more active Members. We are so appreciative of you coming this 
morning at 7:30, but we do need more active members, and I think this 
is going to do it by having present Members be active in the 
Association before they leave Congress.
  ``The Congressional Study Groups on Germany, Japan, Turkey and Europe 
are the flagship international programs of FMC. The Study Groups are 
independent, bipartisan legislative exchanges for current Members of 
Congress and their senior staff that strive to create better 
understanding and cooperation between the United States and our most 
important strategic and economic partners abroad.
  The Congressional study groups are not the only programs dedicated to 
this mission, but they are unique in their year-round outreach to 
Capitol Hill. Unlike our other formats, we provide long-lasting staff 
support and maintain a well-respected reputation as independent and 
nonadvocacy. As a result, our network attracts a large, diverse group 
of legislators and policymakers who are committed to international 
dialogue. What is most important for us is that they join the 
discussion.
  Our model celebrates active discussion among all participants, 
avoiding lengthy speeches or formal presentations in order to create an 
atmosphere that promotes personal connections. We believe that the 
network of peers created via our programs have acted to renew and 
expand areas of mutual cooperation.
  Each Study Group has a membership roster of between 75 and 125 
Members of Congress and is led by a bipartisan, bicameral pair of co-
chairs. Our co-chairs are true leaders, who not only serve in their 
role at official Study Group events, but are also called on by various 
embassies and outside organizations to speak on panels, attend 
roundtables, and meet with countless visiting delegations.
  I would like to acknowledge the service of all of our co-chairs for 
their hard work and dedication to these critical programs:
  The Congressional Study Group on Germany is led by Senator Jeff 
Sessions, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Representative Charlie Dent, and 
Representative Ted Deutch.
  The Congressional Study Group on Japan is led by Senator Mazie K. 
Hirono, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Representative Diana DeGette, and 
Representative Billy Long.
  The work of The Congressional Study Groups is complemented by our 
Diplomatic Advisory Council. Initially focused on European nations, the 
Diplomatic Advisory Council is now comprised of four dozen ambassadors 
from six continents who advise and participate in our programming. 
Their interest and commitment to multilateral dialogue is a valued 
addition to The Congressional Study Groups and provides a valuable 
outreach beyond our four core Study Groups.
  In the past year, we have also formed the Congressional Staff 
Advisory Council. As former Members of Congress, we know the value of 
good staff. The Staff Advisory Council formally recognizes the mutually 
beneficial relationships we have in offices across Capitol Hill. We are 
as grateful for the staff who participate in and support our 
programming as we are for the Members of Congress.
  Finally, I would like to thank the institutions, foundations, and 
companies which support our mission. We would like to give particular 
thanks to Admiral Dennis Blair and Ms. Junko Chano of Sasakawa Peace 
Foundation USA and Dr. Karen Donfried and Ms. Reta Jo Lewis of the 
German Marshall Fund for their support as our institutional funders of 
The Congressional Study Groups in 2016.
  The Congressional Study Groups are also grateful for the support of 
the international business community here in Washington, D.C., 
represented by each Study Group's Business Advisory Council. Companies 
of the 2016 Business Advisory Council are: Allianz, All Nippon Airways, 
Airbus Group, American Honda Motor Co., BASF, Bank of Tokyo--Mitsubishi 
UFJ, B. Braun Medical, Central Japan Railway Company, Cheniere Energy, 
Daimler, Deutsche Telekom, DHL, Fresenius, Hitachi, Honda, Lockheed 
Martin, Lufthansa German Airlines, Marubeni America Corporation, 
Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, 
Mitsui, Representative of German Industry and Trade, Sojitz, Toyota 
Motor North America, United Parcel Service, and Volkswagen Group of 
America.
  Because of this support, our activities not only help to build vital 
bilateral relationships between legislatures, but also build bipartisan 
relationships within our own Congress. Mutual understanding and shared 
experiences among legislators are crucial to solving pressing problems, 
whether at home or abroad.
  As former Members of Congress, we are proud to bring the important 
services provided by The Congressional Study Groups to our colleagues 
still in office and are proud to play an active role in our continued 
international outreach.
  In addition to these substantive and issue-specific international 
projects, our Association also offers its members the opportunity to 
participate in group travel where our staff puts together the logistics 
and participating Members assume all the costs. These trips are unique 
because they combine a tourist experience with more formal meetings 
that involve current and former government officials in the country we 
are visiting.
  For the 2015 FMC Study Tour, over 25 former Members traveled to Cuba, 
on two separate trips. Both trips proved to be incredibly insightful at 
this interesting time in the history of U.S.-Cuban relations. After 
fifty years of limited travel to the country, the recent changes in our 
diplomatic relations make it one of the most intriguing destinations 
for Americans at this time.
  The proud people of this culturally rich country were welcoming to 
the delegations. The former Members met with experts on the U.S.-Cuban 
relationship, Cuban government officials helping to define the new 
bilateral relationship, and government officials dealing with trade and 
the promotion of new businesses. We met with Cuban professors focused 
on Cuba's economy, Members of the Cuban National Assembly, 
internationally acclaimed Cuban artists, students and average citizens 
of Cuba. The group also had the privilege of meeting with Ambassador 
Jeffrey DeLaurentis (Charge d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba). 
The contingent heard frank opinions regarding the burden the embargo 
has had on the citizens of Cuba and many of their international 
relationships.
  Many Cuban citizens welcome a more extensive relationship with 
America. However, concerns about the endurance of Cuban cultural 
identity have grown in light of increasing American presence. There is 
clearly apprehension and suspicion directed toward the motives of the 
United States.
  Though Fidel Castro is still much respected and admired, there was a 
clear feeling that Raul Castro--or rather the current political state--
as softened the hard edges of communist living and blurred the bold 
line defining the U.S.-Cuba bilateral relationship. The Cubans remain 
very proud of their government's ability to provide free healthcare, 
free education, and support for the arts. That being said, the study 
groups noted a substantial positive effect that private businesses, 
such as the paladores (privately owned restaurants), had on the Cuban 
community.
  We visited artists' studios, art museums and went to iconic music and 
dance shows, enhancing the rich cultural experience. Though many of the 
buildings in Havana were shadows of their past beauty, one could see in 
the restored Old Havana how it was once one of the most cosmopolitan 
cities of the Caribbean, and very well could be again.
  We all came home from the visit with a new appreciation and 
understanding of the country. Changes are happening which will take a 
lot of work and may take a long time. In fact, later today we will be 
hosting a panel discussion on Cuba that will include some of those who 
traveled there.
  By traveling at this time and meeting the U.S. Ambassador, members of 
the Cuban government, esteemed professors and citizens of Cuba, the 
former Members were able to still see how Cuba has existed for the past 
fifty years while getting a glimpse of the dynamic and promising future 
of this island nation.
  All the programs you have heard about clearly require funding, and we 
have been very successful in growing our fundraising capabilities along 
with our programming. The most impactful single fundraising mechanism 
we have created is the Annual Statesmanship Awards Dinner.
  We held our 19th Annual Statesmanship Awards Dinner on April 14 of 
this year at the

[[Page 8778]]

historic Mellon Auditorium on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. 
This year's theme was Recognizing Those Who Support Our Nation's 
Heroes. The dinner paid tribute to individuals and programs that have 
made it their mission to support the nation's active duty troops, 
veterans, and military families.
  The Statesmanship Awards Dinner has become a ``must attend'' event in 
Washington, and this year was no exception. There were over 400 VIP 
guests, including former and current Members of Congress, Ambassadors, 
wounded warriors, military service members from the U.S., France and 
Japan, and heads of industry.
  FMC was honored to give the Statesmanship Award to Senator Max 
Cleland of Georgia, who has been a distinguished public servant for 
nearly 50 years. Senator Cleland served his country in uniform and 
returned from Vietnam a highly decorated and severely wounded veteran. 
His commitment to our troops continued during his time in elected 
offices in the state of Georgia and in the United States Senate, and 
while heading the Veterans Administration. Currently, he preserves the 
memory of American troops who have fallen overseas by leading the 
efforts of the American Battle Monuments Commission. Fellow Georgian, 
Representative John Lewis, presented the award to Senator Cleland.
  In recognition of its company-wide commitment to facilitate the 
transition of active duty personnel and veterans into the labor force, 
FMC was proud to present Audi of America, Inc. with the Corporate 
Statesmanship Award. Audi's highly successful ``Veterans to 
Technicians'' program trains former military personnel to become 
service technicians, service consultants, shop foremen and parts 
specialists in dealerships across the country. Scott Keogh, president 
of Audi of America, accepted the award on behalf of Audi.
  The Navy SEAL Foundation, whose mission is to provide immediate and 
ongoing support and assistance to the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) 
community, their families, and the families of the fallen, as well as 
wounded and transitioning NSW veterans, was the recipient of the Civic 
Statesmanship Award. Robin King, Chief Executive Officer and wife of a 
Navy SEAL, accepted the award for the Foundation. This is as impressive 
and outstanding an NGO as we have ever worked with, and I urge you to 
find out more about their crucial work by visiting 
www.navysealfoundation.org.
  The tradition of holding a panel discussion with the awardees was 
continued this year, and our new emcee, Jennifer Griffin of Fox News, 
deftly moderated the discussion with Senator Cleland, Scott Keogh and 
Robin King, which touched upon the different ways we can support our 
troops, veterans, and military families. The award recipients talked 
about the progress and challenges this community has faced, as well as 
what needs to be done to take care of our heroes in the future. FMC was 
proud to recognize these individuals and organizations that have 
demonstrated a true commitment to our nation's armed forces, veterans, 
and military families.
  All the programs we have described of course require both leadership 
and staff to implement. Our Association is blessed to have top people 
in both categories. I want to take this opportunity to thank our board 
of directors--30 former Members divided equally between parties--for 
their advice and counsel, I really appreciate it.
  I also want to thank the many partners and supporters we have to make 
our programs possible. We are truly lucky to have assembled a group of 
corporations and foundations that believe in our work and make our 
success possible, and we very much value our partnership with them. 
Also, I would be remiss if I did not thank the other members of our 
Association's Executive Committee: our Vice President, Jim Walsh; our 
Treasurer, Martin Frost; our Secretary, Mary Bono; and our Past 
President, Connie Morella. You all have made this Association a 
stronger and better organization than it has ever been, and I thank you 
for your time and energy.
  To administer all these programs takes a staff of dedicated and 
enthusiastic professionals.
  Alexis Terai is part of our international team and runs our 
Congressional Study Group on Japan. She was born here in the United 
States, but spent many years in Japan. She's fluent in Japanese and has 
already been an invaluable addition to our Japan program, as well as a 
host of other projects.
  Lorraine Harbison is our other international programs officer, 
focusing mostly on our Germany and Europe programming. She has studied 
both in the United States and in Europe, is fluent in Spanish, and has 
been instrumental in making our Diplomatic Advisory Council such a huge 
success.
  Rachel Haas is our CEO's right hand person, but she is so much more. 
First of all, she's the most pleasant professional you could ever spend 
time with, and I would know because Rachel and I traveled to Brussels 
together earlier this year for our sister organization's annual 
meeting. In addition to that, Rachel runs the office, controls the 
books, and plays a leading role in putting together our outstanding 
gala fundraising dinner.
  Andrew Shoenig, who is our Associate Director of International 
Programs, has been with the Association for five years now. He is 
instrumental in putting together all the international programs you 
heard about earlier today, and as we're speaking he's leading a 
delegation of District Office Directors on a Study Tour to Germany.
  Sharon Witiw is our Domestic Programs Director and without her our 
Congress to Campus Program would not be half as active and as 
successful as it currently is. In addition, she oversees all of our 
civic education projects, makes sure the golf tournament is a success 
and put together the two Cuba trips you heard about earlier.
  Sabine Schleidt is our Managing Director who designs and implements 
all the current Member international programs called the Congressional 
Study Groups. In addition, she's the driving force behind our 
fundraising efforts, has 10 brilliant ideas every day, and never seems 
to take a break!
  Pete Weichlein is our Chief Executive Officer, who has been with the 
Association since 1999 and became CEO in 2003.
  In addition to our wonderful staff, we benefit greatly from 
volunteers who lend us their talents and expertise pro bono. None 
deserve more appreciation than Dava Guerin, who has taken on the role 
of our Communications Director. She tells our story and connects us 
with the media. She also is an author and her most recent publication 
is a terrific book called ``Unbreakable Bonds'' about the mothers who 
become full-time caregivers again when their grown children return 
severely injured from the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  I should also mention that we are benefitting tremendously from the 
support of our Association's Auxiliary, led so ably by Betty Ann 
Tanner, wife of former Member John Tanner. The Auxiliary is playing a 
more and more prominent role in working with us on our programming, and 
the memorial service in Statuary Hall, which we will host for the first 
time later this afternoon, is a great example of the tremendously 
valuable contribution our Auxiliary is making. Thank you Betty Ann, and 
we're looking forward to getting the same outstanding leadership from 
her successor, Chris English, spouse of Phil English.
  It is now my sad duty to inform the Congress of those former and 
current Members who have passed away since our last report. I ask all 
of you, including the visitors in the gallery, to now rise as I read 
the names and at the end of the list we will pay our respect to their 
memory with a moment of silence. We also want to use this time to 
include in our thoughts and prayers the victims of the horrible 
massacre in Orlando, and remember them as well as all victims of 
terrorism across the globe. Thank you.
  We honor the following Members of Congress for their service.
  They are: Bruce Alger of Texas, Thomas Cass Ballenger of North 
Carolina, Robert Bennett of Utah, Mario Biaggi of New York, Edward 
Brooke of Massachusetts, Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, Don H. Clausen of 
California, Howard Coble of North Carolina, Wes Cooley of Oregon, Frank 
Denholm of South Dakota, Don Edwards of California, Allen Ertel of 
Pennsylvania, Joe Gaydos of Pennsylvania, Robert Griffin of Michigan, 
John Paul Hammerschmidt of Arkansas, Robert W. Kastenmeier of 
Wisconsin, Delbert Latta of Ohio, Arch A. Moore, Jr. of West Virginia, 
John H. Murphy of New York, Morgan Murphy of Illinois, John T. Myers of 
Indiana, Allen Nunnelee of Mississippi, Mike Oxley of Ohio, Martin Sabo 
of Minnesota, James Santini of Nevada, Gus Savage of Illinois, Richard 
Schweiker of Pennsylvania, Louis Stokes of Ohio, Fred Thompson of 
Tennessee, Tim Valentine of North Carolina, George Voinovich of Ohio, 
Jim Wright of Texas.
  Mr. FROST. Will the gentlewoman suspend for just a moment.
  We have been advised that we have to vacate the floor in 5 minutes by 
9:25. I would ask that the gentlewoman submit the remainder of her 
remarks for the Record. However, she must proceed directly to the 
election of the board and the officers for the coming year.
  Ms. KENNELLY. Yes.
  I really want to thank Betty Ann Tanner, wife of former Member John 
Tanner.
  Another thing I am going to say quickly is we are working very 
closely

[[Page 8779]]

with the Auxiliary. This afternoon, I am going to read the names of 
former Members who have died this year, and this afternoon at 6 p.m. we 
are going to have a memorial. It was my visit to the European community 
where they had the most wonderful, wonderful memorial to their members 
who had died that year. And another one in Canada that some of our 
Members went to, and I want to have something like that this afternoon 
so I hope you can come. Staff has put a great deal of thought into it.
  Now we are going to have the election of our board of directors.
  Every year at our annual meeting we ask the membership to elect new 
officers and board members. The candidates are running unopposed. 
Everybody who wants to say ``yea,'' say ``yea.'' I doubt there will be 
any ``nays.''
  For the Association's board of directors, the candidates are:
  Ann Marie Buerkle of New York
  Bob Clement of Tennessee
  Mike Ferguson of New Jersey
  Phil Gingrey of Georgia
  Dan Maffei of New York
  L.F. Payne of Virginia
  Tom Petri of Wisconsin
  Nick Rahall of West Virginia.
  All in favor of electing these eight former Members to our board of 
directors, please say ``yea.'' Any opposed? Hearing no ``nays,'' the 
slate has been elected by the membership, and I congratulate them on 
their election and the work they are going to do.
  Next, we will elect our executive committee. The candidates for our 
executive committee are:
  Cliff Stearns of Florida for president
  Martin Frost of Texas for vice president
  Tim Petri of Wisconsin for treasurer
  Karen Thurman of Florida for secretary.
  All in favor of electing these four former Members to our executive 
committee please say ``yea.'' Any opposed? Hearing no opposition, the 
slate has been elected by the membership. Congratulations to all four 
of them, and I especially look forward to working with Cliff Stearns.
  Mr. FROST. We need to go directly, if we may, to Cliff Stearns.
  Ms. KENNELLY. All right. But before I do that, I do want to tell you 
that the 6 p.m. event, the memorial that many of us have worked hard 
on, will take place at 6 in Statuary Hall, and we have invited the 
families of the Members who have passed this year, and we have had a 
good reception from them. If you have to leave, I do hope you will come 
back for the memorial. We will have the memorial, and then we will have 
a reception after the memorial.
  Now our new president will say a few words to us.
  Mr. STEARNS. Barbara, thank you very much. And thank you, Members, 
for your confidence.
  I think in light of the hour here, we will go right directly to 
honoring our past president and our vice president.
  Pete, if you will give me the plaques, I would like to read them. 
They have done an extraordinary job, and I think at this point we are 
going to recognize what they have done.
  So, Jim, would you mind coming up here.
  I want to thank Congressman Jim Walsh of New York for his stewardship 
and counsel as vice president of the association. His dedication to 
bipartisanship and his respect for the Congress, as an institution, 
were evident in every program he led, and he played a pivotal role in 
making our association even more impactful and successful.
  Jim, congratulations.
  Mr. WALSH. Thank you.
  Mr. STEARNS. Barbara, if you will come up.
  Barbara, your plaque is inscribed:
  ``We thank Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly of Connecticut for her 
leadership and guidance for the past 2 years as president of the U.S. 
Association of Former Members of Congress. Her wisdom and sage counsel 
have been invaluable. The dedication and support she has given to the 
board, her fellow Members, and the Former Members of Congress staff has 
guided and grown the Association, and we are a better organization 
thanks to her.''
  Thank you, Barbara.
  Ms. KENNELLY. As I accept this award--and we are not going to read 
the names of the memorial that we are going to have this afternoon--I 
think we all ought to just stand for a moment and just say a small 
prayer for what happened in Orlando.
  Thank you.
  Mr. STEARNS. Thank you, Barbara. And let me just conclude before we 
leave here to say we have a lunch today--and I hope all of you will 
come--to bestow the 2016 Distinguished Service Award on the current 
Senators and Representatives who are retiring after the 114th Congress. 
Our Association has decided that every 2 years, we will take our 
Distinguished Service Award and dedicate it to the retiring Members as 
an opportunity to thank them for their public service and to let them 
know that, through our Association, their service can continue.
  And since we cannot hand a plaque to all of these people, we have 
decided to award a $1,000 scholarship in their name to a graduating 
high school senior from a D.C. school. We invited students to compete 
for this scholarship by writing an essay about civic responsibility and 
what it means to be a citizen. Out of the many really outstanding 
submissions we received, we selected a very impressive individual who 
is graduating and is heading to Harvard. His name is Nicholas Stauffer-
Mason, and he and his mother will join us for lunch later today. I hope 
all of you will attend.
  Thank you, everybody, for this opportunity.
  Mr. FROST. The Chair again wishes to thank the former Members of the 
House for their presence here today and also the leadership of the 
House of Representatives for hosting us once again in this revered 
Chamber.
  Before terminating these proceedings, the Chair would like to invite 
those former Members who did not respond when the roll was called to 
give their names to the Reading Clerk for inclusion in the roll.
  The meeting stands adjourned.

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