[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6256-6257]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                THANK YOU TO CONGRESSWOMAN ROS-LEHTINEN

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, as the senior woman in the U.S. House, I 
wanted to say thank you to Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the 
senior Republican woman in the House, and to say with poignance I 
received her decision recently to retire from our beloved House.
  Ileana has been the first Cuban American elected to Congress, the 
first Latina elected to Congress, and the first Republican woman from 
Florida to be elected to Congress. She ably chaired the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs during her tenure, and there were

[[Page 6257]]

many sessions when new Speakers were sworn in when she and I tabulated 
the results of that very important election.
  I can remember when her children were born. I can always say she 
handled her service with great distinction, with great honor, with 
great humor, and she made friends on both sides of the aisle. I am glad 
that she is staying through the remainder of this session, but I must 
say that this House will lose a spark of brilliance and of wit when she 
chooses to leave us. I will also say that it has been a particular joy 
to serve with her because no matter what the issue, no matter what the 
time of year, no matter what the hour of day, she always approached her 
position with great professionalism.
  I regret her leaving, but I know her service has made a difference. 
For women across America, since she first arrived in 1989, our numbers 
have quintupled. We now have over 100 women who serve in this House 
with distinction, and she has helped blaze that path.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve my opportunity to say more about her in the 
days ahead.

                          ____________________