Recognizing the 45th anniversary of the White House Fellows Program.

I thank the gentleman from Utah.

I want to thank the leadership on both sides for allowing and supporting this resolution. I'm happy in the House to be the primary sponsor. I also want to commend Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Boehner for scheduling

this so timely. I was told yesterday it would be on the floor at 2:45, and I walked on the floor at 2:43, and it was on the floor at 2:45. So that shows that the House can work in a bipartisan, efficient fashion when it so desires.

Mr. Speaker, I was a White House Fellow in the class of 1981 and 1982 under President Ronald Reagan. I was one of 14 Fellows that year. I worked for the Secretary of Energy, the Honorable James Edwards of South Carolina, the former Governor of South Carolina. The Deputy Secretary was Ken Anderson, and my direct report was J. Hunter Child III, the director of the Office of Policy, Planning and Analysis.

In my class in 1981-82, we had Mike Ullman, who's now the CEO of J.C. Penney; we had Paul Applegarth, who was a senior official at the World Bank and later became a Presidential appointee under President Bush. We had several military officers, Tom Shul, Ellie Heineman. We had a police captain from Oakland, Chip Stewart. And we had a cheerleader from the New England Patriots who later worked for the director of the FBI. So we had a very diverse class.

The White House Fellows is nonpartisan. In fact, I don't recollect one political question being asked me in the interview process. To show you the caliber of the folks that interviewed me, in the semifinals at the LBJ School in Austin, Texas, I was interviewed by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sarah Weddington, who was the chief attorney in support of Roe v. Wade. At the national finals in Washington, D.C., Ed Fuelner, who was then and now head of the Heritage Foundation, was one of the individuals who interviewed me. So you had very staunch Democrats and also very staunch conservative Republicans.

But they were interested then and now not in your political views so much as they were interested in your vision for America and where you had been and, even more importantly, where you might go in the future.

Most Fellows are in their late twenties to mid thirties. Some are as old as their mid forties. You serve for 1 year for one of the senior officials in the White House or the Office of the Vice President or a Cabinet Secretary. It's a very diverse experience. You have real work to do, as has been pointed out. You are paid at the GS schedule 14, but you also develop a friendship with your Fellows and you have what's called an educational program where you meet with officials of that administration but also leaders in the country.

We met my fellowship year with, of course, the President, the Vice President, all the Cabinet Secretaries, but we also met with Tip O'Neill. We met with Tom Foley. Tip O'Neill was then Speaker and Tom Foley, I believe, was the majority leader or the whip. I think Mr. Foley was the whip. We met with Leon Jaworski who was the prosecutor in Watergate.

Each fellowship class gets to go on some trips, both domestically and internationally. We took three domestic trips or four domestic trips. We went to California where Congressman Leon Panetta hosted us. We went to New York City, had a helicopter ride where we went over the old Yankee stadium. We went to Chicago, and I was able to get the class to come down to Texas, and we visited in Texas.

It is a tremendous program. Since President Johnson initiated it in 1965, over I think 672 young men and women have served as White House Fellows. Members of this body include, in addition to myself, former Congressman Tom Campbell of California, former Congressman and Senator Tim Wirth of Colorado, and in the other body, Senator Dave Karnes of the great State of Nebraska.

It's a program that encourages you once you've been a White House Fellow to be in public service or at least community service, either in the business world or in your civic or, in some cases, elective office. I wouldn't be on the floor of the House of Representatives today, Mr. Speaker, if it had not been for the White House Fellows Program. I believed before I became a Fellow that Washington was this mystic place that most of the time was nonfunctional and very difficult to navigate. The White House Fellowship Program gave me a window on government in Washington, in both the executive and the legislative branches, and it showed me that there were people of good will on both sides of the aisle, in the executive and the legislative branches. It showed me that in spite of what some people think this is a very transparent, open process. If you have an issue and you want to have an impact in our America, that is still possible; and I cannot say anything but the most positive things, Mr. Speaker, about the White House Fellows Program.

So I'm very glad on behalf of the other 671 former and current White House Fellows to be the chief House sponsor, very appreciative of it moving through the Senate, very appreciative of our Speaker and minority leader, Mr. Boehner and Ms. Pelosi, putting it up on the floor; and I would certainly encourage a unanimous vote in support of it.

I want to thank my good friend from Utah for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. Con. Res. 72, to recognize the 45th anniversary of the White House Fellows Program.

The White House Fellows Program, as envisioned by President Johnson, was designed ``to give the Fellows first hand, high-level experience with the workings of the Federal government and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs.'' In the fall of 1965, the first class of Fellows was named. The program is nonpartisan, and has remained so through nine administrations. Each year between 11 and 19 Americans are chosen for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Fellows are placed into various agencies of government and are then able to work hand-in-hand with leaders at the highest levels of government. In return for the Fellowship year, the Fellows are expected to repay the privilege of serving by continuing to work as private citizens on their public agendas.

To date, more than 600 White House Fellows have served the Federal government and established a record of leadership and service. A number of former Fellows have gone on to serve their government and communities in important ways, by receiving appointments as Cabinet officials and senior White House staff, election to the House of Representatives, Senate, and State and local government, appointments to the Federal, State, and local benches, appointments as United States Attorneys, leadership in many of the Nation's largest corporations and law firms, presidents of colleges and universities, deans of distinguished graduate schools, officials in nonprofit organizations, distinguished scholars and historians, and service as senior leaders in every branch of the United States Armed Forces.

In 1981, I was honored to be selected to serve as a White House Fellow in the Reagan Administration and was placed in the Department of Energy. This was an experience where I gained valuable insight and knowledge about leadership and public policy, and it was a privilege to serve in this unique capacity.

I believe the White House Fellows program is worthy of recognition, and I commend those who have worked to make it a success and a national resource for all branches of our government.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 72) recognizing the 45th anniversary of the White House Fellows Program.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Senate Concurrent Resolution 72, a concurrent resolution recognizing the 45th anniversary of the White House Fellows Program.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 72 was introduced by the Senator from Kansas, Sam Brownback, on September 22, 2010. The Senate passed the resolution by unanimous consent on September 29, 2010. Notably, an identical measure, House Concurrent Resolution 320, was introduced by the gentleman from Texas, Representative Joe Barton, on September 28, 2010, and was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Suggested by the then president of the Carnegie Corporation, President Lyndon Johnson established the President's Commission on White House Fellowships on October 3, 1964. President Johnson stated that the program's mission was to give highly promising young citizens ``firsthand, high-level experience with the workings of the Federal Government and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs.''

The nonpartisan program selects between 11 and 19 outstanding applicants per year to take a full-time, paid fellowship position working with senior White House staff, Cabinet Secretaries and other top government officials. This type of participation at the highest levels of our government's leadership develops experience vital to a continued career serving the public.

The hundreds of former White House Fellows have gone on to serve the public in many critical roles. They have been appointed judges, U.S. Attorneys, ambassadors, and Cabinet officers. They have been elected to local, State, and national office, including here in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, let us now recognize the legacy of leadership that the White House Fellows Program has provided to our country for the last 45 years through the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 72, recognizing the program on its 45th anniversary. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton).

(Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend those individuals who were once Fellows and have gone on to serve our Nation with such distinction. I urge all Members to join me in support of this resolution, and I yield back the balance of our time.