Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, building a stronger economy for all Americans is our top priority here in the House. That's why we're working to simplify the Tax Code, expand energy production, and hold the administration accountable for abuses at agencies like the IRS. It's why, while Senate Democrats have done nothing, the House has passed a bipartisan plan to make college more affordable. And it's why we'll vote tomorrow to make sure that families and individuals get the same break from ObamaCare that the President wants for big businesses.

Over the weekend, the Democratic leader in the Senate said the President's health care law ``has been wonderful'' for our country. Are you kidding me? If ObamaCare is so wonderful, why are health care prices exploding? Why are millions of Americans getting kicked out of their plans? Why are so many workers losing their jobs or getting their hours cut?

The law isn't wonderful. It's a train wreck. You know it, I know it, and the American people know it. Even the President knows it. That's why he proposed delaying his mandate on employers.

But it's unfair to protect big businesses without giving the same relief to American families and small businesses. The bills by Congressman Tim Griffin and Todd Young will address this problem by delaying both the employer mandate and the individual mandate. I hope Democrats and Republicans alike will vote to do what's fair and protect all Americans from this disastrous law.

Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Awards recognize four avenues of individual growth--community service, physical fitness, exploration, and personal development--and how the fulfillment of these goals forms balanced and promising young citizens.

In their pursuit of these goals, recipients of the Congressional Awards have gained new skills and greater confidence. For many, these projects will be the cornerstone for future endeavors, further enriching their lives and encouraging others to follow their lead.

The recipients of the 2013 Congressional Awards set the finest example and demonstrate dedication to improving their communities and the Nation as a whole.

On behalf of the U.S. House of Representatives, it is my privilege to recognize the honored recipients of the 2013 Congressional Award Gold Medal--the highest achievement for America's youth:

Gareth Evans, Martha Costello, Max Benning, Emily Burns,

Aimee Miller, Courtney Hayes, Brooke Vittimberga, Matthieu

Kaman, Katherine Liu, Alexander Schnorr, Harry Chung, Woody

Chung, Austin Devine, Jason Flahie, Diana Kwok, Katarina

Mayers, Kyle Kearney, Brandon Hsiu, Jackee Lee, Lauren

Cochran, Max Kaplan, Taehyung ``Kevin'' Kim, Han John Tse,

Quinn Hatoff, Anna Najor, Katherine Najor, Samantha Stafford,

Austin Threadgill, Nicholas Cousino, Alouette Greenidge,

Daniel Greenidge, James Bilko, Brittney Calloway, Brianna

Goley, Hannah Foster, Milan Patel, Alexander Smith, Ryan

Sutherland, Jake Bakkedahl, Mikaela Balzer, Ilana Berghash,

Christine Brookshire, Kathryn Dowling, Steve Glener, Benjamin

Horowitz, Rebecca Meiser, Caitlin Melnyk, Joshua Newell.

Kyle Panton, Brady Pere, Cassidy Poirier, Hiren Prajapati,

Kethan Rao, Lauren Rousseau, Erin Tufano, Jamie Wilkinson,

Nicky Wood, Katherine Panskyy, Sarah Murray, Riley McDonough,

Hannah Howard, Haritha Pavuluri, Megan Chambers, Esther

Frederick, Rachel Hooper, Talia Merrill, Emily Peel, Angela

Renn, Taylor Adler, Madison Dahlquist, Bryce Ervin, Claire

Goss, Micyla Huston, Carmen Perez, Thane Seward, Rebecca

Tweedie, Linda Wells, Kimber Sable, Nicholas Oliva, (Joshua)

Luke Durell, Chesley Rowlett, Vaibhav Vavilala, David

Wintermeyer, Adam Campbell, Seth Campbell, Austin Bachar,

Emilio Fajardo, Ryan Fajardo, Lissa Leibson, Darah Pourakbar,

Priyanka Rao, Lexi Shealy, Andrea Clarkson, Olivia Foster,

Christopher Loucif, Rachel Green, Shabnam Ahmed, Veronica

Whelan, Jared Lichtman.

Olivia Stanhope, Kayla Nicole Peabody, Pranita Balusu,

Gabrielle Herin, Bronson Bruneau, Gabriela Anderson, Gregory

Botts, Zohra Coday, Henry Bair, Molly Burton, Annika

Fredrikson, Brett Hodgins, Theresa Jabouri, Natalie

O'Loughlin, Griffin Reed, Glenn Lane, Canary Brooks, Paulina

Hinton, Bridget Bergin, Carol Ann Schwarzenbach, Caroline

Fay, Elizabeth Van Eerden, Michael Brienza, Terrell

Chestnutt, Randall Schroeder, Wilmoth Kerns III, Lukas

Stewart, Jacob Grabowski, Rebecca Sis, Matthew Ostdiek, Aaron

Clark, Kristin Davis, Chad Kahn, Sean Platt, Erin Price,

Francis Uzzolina, Niral Desai, Nora Laberee, Rishi Sharma,

David Wu, Christina Coleburn, Shivangi Goel, Sera Lim, Eric

O'Hare, Spencer Holmsborg, Melissa Louie, Kathleen O'Donnell-

Pickert, Smitha Pallaki, Neeraj Shekhar, Aparna Sundaram.

Olivia Lascari, Zachary Certner, Robert Harvey, Catherine

Wong, Eva Boal, Reema Chopra, Kunaal Patade, Lindsay

Ramsland, Divya Ramakrishnan, Taylor Miller, Michael Farese,

Courtney Stiles, Christopher Kunkel, Samuel Lam, Sachit

Singal, Dan Wang, Jonathan Gidley, Tushar Goswami, Katherine

Ervin, Alexandra Gritta, Stephen Christianto, Karika Gnep,

Irene Thio, Albertus Nugroho, Elyse McMahon, Geoffrey Pyke,

Nayeli Avalos, Evangeline Cai, Daniel Castellanos-Mendez,

Thalia Medina, Christopher Merken, Jonathan Rosenbaum, J.

Cameron Barge, Natalie Domeisen, Seung Jin Bae, Won Chang,

Ana Cvetkovic, David Ha, Chae-Eon Jang, Samuel Joo, Grace

Kim, Julianne Lowenstein, Quincy Morgan, Channouch Morn,

Christine Palazzolo, Kara Schoch, Zachary Schwarz, Abbie

Starker, Michael Tershakovec, Andrew Van Buren.

Sereipong Yoeurn, Ellizabeth Gahman, Valerie Poutous,

Madison Thomas, Robert Cook, Rachel Park, Andrew Barry, Taiyi

Ouyang, Daniel Hux, Angela Fan, Eric Menees, Joseph

Rosenberger, Timothy Harakal, Nicholas Cruz, Hunter Behrends,

R. Adrian De Leon, Abby McAnany, Sharon Li, Nevin Shah, Niloy

Shah, Nicholas Cen, Karsyn Robb, Abby Mietchen, Caroline

Dunmire, Joshua Tubb, Elizabeth Bird, Jonathan Rintels,

Meagan Bedsaul, Truman Custer, Isaac Grunstra, Megan Ganley,

Jane Willner, Dev Lakhia, Chase Robinett, Erik Edwards,

Elisha Gentry, Katrina Freeland, Samantha Below, Samuel

Brackett, Reed Dickerson, Bailey Dolph, Zachary Griffith,

Daulton Grube, Jaimie Lee, Kayleigh Skolnick, Grant Thompson,

and Sara Vestal.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the House of Representatives to pay tribute to Kerri Hanley, Deputy Sergeant at Arms, on the occasion of her retirement on June 30, 2013. Kerri Hanley has served the people's House with distinction since 1988, and her sound leadership, extensive institutional knowledge, and trusted guidance have been heavily relied upon by two Sergeants at Arms, House Leadership and Officers, and Members of Congress alike.

Kerri Hanley--a native of America's heartland, Mitchell, South Dakota--began her 25 years of service to the House of Representatives in 1988 with the Republican Leader of the House, Robert H. Michel of Illinois. She left the House briefly in 1989, to serve as Confidential Assistant to the Administrator, United States General Services Administration. However, she soon returned to the Office of the Republican Leader in August 1989, to serve as Deputy Press Secretary. In 1994, Leader Michel promoted her to Press Secretary and she remained in that position until he retired from the House of Representatives in January 1995. Hanley then joined the staff of incoming Sergeant at Arms Wilson Livingood as Executive Assistant. In January 2001, she was appointed Deputy Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives. As Deputy Sergeant at Arms, Ms. Hanley serves as chief of staff and together with the Sergeant at Arms she is responsible for the overall planning, organization, and implementation of all of the office's activities.

Kerri's commitment to this institution is second to none, clearly demonstrated by the variety of highly trusted positions she has held while serving the House of Representatives. Her keen insight and a practical, hands-on approach to problem solving, are the hallmarks of a consummate professional. Her natural sense of calm and whenever needed, a dose of good humor in stressful situations, have helped her to provide effective leadership and guidance during some of the most challenging times in this institution's history--in particular, 9/11 and the anthrax incident. Her tireless work over the years has helped shape the Office of the Sergeant at Arms into one of the most respected support organizations in Congress. She has much to be proud of as she reflects on her long and distinguished career, during which she has earned the respect and admiration of her peers.

I know her husband Jon--a long-time Capitol Guide Service employee who recently retired--and their two children, Christopher and Keli, are very proud of all of her accomplishments. While we are certainly sorry to see Kerri go, I am hopeful she will now be able to devote far more time to all of them in the months and years to come.

Please join me in commending the outstanding service of Kerri Hanley to the Congress of the United States and congratulating her on her retirement. On behalf of the U.S. House of Representatives we wish you well in all your future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, our hearts go out today to those in Oklahoma who are suffering as a result of this storm. I've asked that the flags here in the Capitol complex be lowered to half staff in honor of the victims of this terrible tragedy.

Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, this House is going to continue to be focused on the issue of jobs. It's the number one issue of concern to our fellow citizens. We're going to continue to be focused on the things that get in the way of job creation in our country.

Most notably, this week we will work on trying to get the Keystone pipeline approved that will create some 20,000 direct jobs and over 100,000 indirect jobs, and trying to make sure that those who have student loans won't see their interest rates double. That will be the work of the House this week.

But in addition to that, we have a responsibility to the American people to provide oversight of the executive branch. I think Americans understand and my colleagues understand that the American people deserve the truth. Whether it's Benghazi, whether it's the IRS, whether it's the Justice Department investigating journalists, the Congress of the United States and the American people need to know what the truth is--to hold this administration accountable.

Those of us in public office understand that our job is to serve the American people, and not the other way around.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank Colonel Jason Q. Bohm for the diligent and professional support he provided during his tenure as Director, Marine Corps Liaison Office to the United States House of Representatives. My staff and I have been fortunate to work with Jason over the last two years on various projects, but I want to highlight two specific issues.

Soon after Jason started in the liaison office in July 2011, he approached my office with ideas to improve the visibility of the annual Marine Corps Toys for Tots drive on the Hill. For the last two Christmases, we have been fortunate to have the conclusion of the drive end in my office and coincide with the annual U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and reception. This has allowed the House community of Members, staff, and guests to interact with local military families and to be active participants in the spirit of generosity and giving during the Christmas season.

In addition, Jason's team was instrumental in the successful Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony for the Montford Point Marines. The ceremony was a moving and fitting tribute to the honor, perseverance, and patriotism of the Marines who defied prejudice, hardship, and inequality to serve their country, and it was a timely and important reminder for all Americans that our freedom and values depend on those who are still answering the call to serve in dangerous places around the world, far from their families and loved ones.

I was personally able to get to know Jason during my January 2012 economic mission to Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. The objectives of our delegation's visits to these nations were achieved successfully in part because of Jason's excellent work. I wish him and his lovely wife, Sonja, and their children, Ashley, Ethan, and Emily, the very best as Jason prepares to take command out in California. Semper Fi, Jason.

Good morning. Tanner is giving me this look like, Hey, it's just Boehner. Leave him alone.

Let me say on behalf of all of my colleagues, welcome. Thank you for your years of service here in this institution. Let me congratulate Ray LaHood on being this year's Distinguished Service Award winner. I'm not sure I would have given it to him, but you all did. Just teasing.

But, listen, I'm trying to keep this institution focused on a couple of simple things. One is growing the economy. You all know the economy is not growing the way it should be. It's not creating jobs as fast as it should be, and wages aren't going up as quickly.

And so there's a lot of things that I think we need to continue to do to get our economy going again. But having said that, there are always other things that crop up around here.

You're all familiar with Benghazi, and now the Justice Department's investigation of the Associated Press, and then the IRS of all things. So in spite of trying to keep the institution focused on what the American people are most interested in, we end up also having to do our other responsibility, which is providing oversight of the executive branch, and we will do that.

In addition to that, I continue to believe and continue to work to make this a more open and fairer process for all the Members. If you look over the last couple of years, the minority has gotten more than its fair share of amendments. If committee chairs and others can't defend their product, it's not up to me to protect them. So I'm a big believer that people ought to have their shot. I think my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would agree that I've been more than fair in terms of what comes to the floor and how it's to be considered.

So, opening up the process, I believe, is very important because the more open process there is on the floor, the more work that the committees have to do to reach across the aisle and build bipartisan support for whatever proposal they have. Over time, I think this will break down some of the scar tissue that's built up over the years around here and be good for the institution.

So, I'm just here to say good morning and it's nice to see all of you.

Spratt, how are you? You're looking good. Don't have more hair than last time I saw you, though.

But really, it's nice to see all of you, and welcome back. Thank you.

Let me thank my colleague for yielding and congratulate Mr. Ryan and our members of the Budget Committee for a job well done.

We have a budget here that will, in fact, balance over the next 10 years after having a debate with our colleagues across the aisle and across the building and downtown who all have budgets that never come to balance.

I don't know where ``a balanced plan'' can be called ``a balanced plan'' if we never get to balance. The fact is that we've done the hard work of bringing this plan forward.

This budget does more than just balance. It helps improve the lives and concerns of the American people and addresses things that are important to American families such as fixing the Tax Code. Lowering rates means more jobs and higher wages for the American people.

Voting for this budget means supporting the Keystone pipeline, and American-made energy means more jobs and lower energy prices for the American people.

Repealing ObamaCare and supporting patient-centered reforms means more jobs and lower health care costs for the American people; and protecting and strengthening Medicare means a secure retirement for older Americans.

Cutting waste means more fairness and accountability for hardworking taxpayers.

Doing all of this means preserving the American Dream, which is what we were sent here to do.

We've balanced the budget before. In 1997, a Republican Congress working with a Democrat President, Bill Clinton, came together to put forward a plan that would, in fact, balance the budget. And we did. For 4 years we ran a budget surplus.

The President has an opportunity during this critical debate to come forward and to help make this part of his legacy like it has become part of the Clinton legacy, working together on behalf of the American people to solve what we know is a crisis in our country. We can't continue to spend money that we don't have. It's as simple as that.

When you've spent more money than what you've brought in for 50 of the last 60 years, no American family can do this, no business can do this, and no government can do this without bringing on a debt crisis that is sure to imperil the future of our kids and our grandkids.

Vote for the Ryan budget.

Mr. Speaker, I hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle complaining about the President's sequester. It is the President that insisted that this sequester be part of the Budget Control Act a year and a half ago. It is the President who has known for 16 months that the sequester was going to happen.

This is why the House acted twice--twice--over the last 300 days to replace the sequester. There are better and smarter ways to cut spending. But the President is out doing his campaign event nonstop when he could be sitting down with Senate leaders to actually act.

The House has acted twice. It's time for the President to put his plan on the table, and it's time for Senate Democrats to put their plan on the table to avert the sequester that's due to go into effect on Friday.

This is a day of mixed emotions for the House. John Lawrence's retirement means that we're losing a faithful public servant, one of our own. But we can all agree that John deserves some time off after 38 years of working here in the House. And for those of you who may not know John, he is currently the longest-serving staffer in the House.

John and I have known each other for a long time, going back to my days as chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee. I can safely say that it really didn't matter whether we were on the same side of the page or whether we had opposing views--he always handled it in the same way, with class and integrity. He's a real stand-up guy. That didn't just make John an asset to George Miller or Leader Pelosi. It made him a great asset, I think, for the House as a whole and to the American people.

So I know all of my colleagues and I want to say to John, thank you for all of your service to this House. We're sorry to see you go, but we want to wish you and your family the best in the future.

Congratulations.

Mr. Speaker, our colleague from Texas, Sam Johnson, is an American hero. And today I join other colleagues in observing the fortieth anniversary of his release from a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp.

In seven years of captivity Sam endured physical and mental torture. In fact, Sam was set aside for extra abuse because of his obstinate resistance to his Communist captors. At various points Sam spent 42 straight months in solitary confinement and was forced into leg stocks for more than two years.

But while Sam's jailors punished his body, they could not break his spirit; his love of God and country is a deep wellspring they could never penetrate. His scars bear witness to his tenacity and toughness.

Sam Johnson spent a total of 29 years in service to the United States Air Force. He flew combat missions during the Korean War and above Vietnam. He earned two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Bronze Star, and numerous other awards. Since his election to this body in 1991, Sam has walked the halls of Congress with the highest levels of respect and admiration. He has grown to become this institution's living embodiment of cool-under-fire heroism.

In remembering the anniversary of his release and saying ``thanks'' to Sam Johnson, we also remember all those captured and imprisoned defending our liberty. In the Rotunda of Capitol hangs the famous black POW-MIA flag. It hangs there to remind all Americans that freedom is not free and is purchased only at the very highest of costs.

Mr. Speaker, it is impossible to calculate the value of the sacrifices made by war fighters like Sam Johnson. It is equally impossible to adequately repay them. We are simply left with words of gratitude for a job well done. I hope all Members of Congress join me in extending thanks and deep appreciation for our colleague, Sam Johnson.

Mr. Speaker, President Obama missed a great opportunity today to help our economy. This was supposed to be the day that the President submitted his budget to the Congress, but it's not coming. It's going to be late. Some reports say that it could be as long as a month late. I think that's too bad. Our economy could use some Presidential leadership right now.

On Thursday, the President disbanded his jobs council after a grand total of four meetings in two years. Then, as Americans got to work on Friday, they learned that our economy still isn't creating enough jobs. The unemployment rate actually went up.

Now, if government spending does cause growth, as the President believes, we shouldn't be having these problems. And then maybe it wouldn't be so disappointing that his budget is late.

Well, we are having trouble, in large part because spending is the problem. It's what's chasing jobs overseas and causing much anxiety about our future.

One example of something the President's budget could have addressed is his sequester. A sequester is Washington-speak for automatic spending cuts. The President first proposed the sequester in 2011 and insisted that it be part of the debt limit agreement.

Now, twice the House has passed legislation to replace the President's sequester with commonsense reforms that would reduce spending and preserve and strengthen our safety net for future generations. We've spelled it all out. We've done our work because we're committed to getting spending under control, and we've long said there's a better way to cut spending.

Unfortunately, our Democratic colleagues in the Senate haven't taken action. They haven't acted on our plan to replace the President's sequester or haven't offered one of their own.

What we should do is replace the President's sequester with responsible reforms that will help balance the budget in 10 years. Our goal is to grow the economy, expand opportunity and prosperity, and ensure America maintains its leading role in the world with a strong national defense.

To do that we need to budget responsibly. We need a budget that reflects those priorities. But to replace the President's sequester, we need our Democratic colleagues to get serious about spending.

I wish I could give the American people more cause for optimism, but we see the President's budget is late and the Senate hasn't passed a budget in nearly four years.

This week the House will act on a measure introduced by the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price) that requires the President to submit a balanced budget, because we know--and I think the American people agree--spending is the problem. And the sooner we solve our spending problem, the sooner we'll solve our jobs problem too.

Let me thank my colleague for yielding, and ask my colleagues today to vote for the No Budget, No Pay Act.

You know, the promise here is pretty simple. It says that there should be no long-term increase in the debt limit until there's a long- term plan to deal with the fiscal crisis that faces our country.

Every hardworking taxpayer in America knows that they have to do a budget. Every hardworking taxpayer understands that you can't continue to spend money that you don't have.

We are committed to continue to do a budget every year. And if you think about this, it's not just that we've done a budget the last 2 years that addresses our fiscal crisis. Even when the Democrats had control, in the 2 years before that, you all did a budget. And yet, for 4 years, nearly 4 years, the United States Senate has not done a budget.

And so this bill before us is real simple. It says, Congress, if you don't do a budget, you don't get paid. I have no doubt that we're going to do our work. We're committed to doing a budget and a 10-year plan to solve our budget crisis and to balance our budget.

Frankly, I think it's time for the Senate and the White House to produce a budget that will balance over the next 10 years.

You know, most Americans would look up and go, wait a minute, why do they need 10 years to balance the budget?

But we know with baby boomers retiring, and the fact that it wasn't prepared for, it's going to take a little more time. But my goodness, we ought to be able to balance the budget in the next 10 years.

Balancing the budget over the next 10 years means that we save the future for our kids and our grandkids. It also means that we strengthen programs like Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid that can't continue to exist in the current form without some kind of controls.

It's time for Congress to get serious about this, and this is the first step in an effort to bring real fiscal responsibility to Washington. It's real simple. No budget, no pay.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to join my colleagues in paying tribute to Jay Pierson, who is retiring after nearly 35 years of service to this institution.

What sets the people's House apart is its people--the dedicated staff members who give so much of their time and energy, and how they, too, reflect the diversity of this body. For instance, a PhD in English Literature who enjoys classical music may make for an unlikely fixture amid all the commotion on the House floor. But Jay Pierson has been patrolling these aisles like a natural for the better part of three decades, dating back to Bob Michel's days as Republican Leader.

As a floor assistant, Jay's primary responsibility is to make sure he can answer just about any question members may have about a particular bill or vote. When you think about all the business before this body, that is a tall task, and one Jay fulfills with grace, precision, and much-appreciated brevity. Each of us would like to think we have all the answers, but Jay actually does, and so seeking out his counsel has become second nature.

While the floor may sometimes die down, Jay's day never does. He has to keep track of papers, call committee staff to get them to the floor, track amendments, retrieve statements, assist members who are trying to request a vote or get the attention of the chair--Jay does it all. His work is the percussion of the people's House--that steady drumbeat of activity that keeps everyone together and on course.

The House owes a great debt of gratitude to Jay, and to his lovely wife of 43 years, JoAnn. Not only has she shared Jay with us through all the late nights and long sessions, but it was JoAnn who actually introduced this future English professor to Capitol Hill.

While this may not have been Jay's original calling, his record of service to the House is a testament to that most common bond among us: the call to serve Jay is a man of faith, an active member of his church.

When asked about his job, here's what Jay said:

Most of us are called to be in secular jobs where our

performance is part of our witness. Instead of looking for a

career in a specifically Christian field, graduates should

look for careers which suit their individual talents and

desires. Witness of God's work in their lives will come with

a job well done.

Jay has certainly done his job well, and served this House nobly. I thank him for his service., and wish him and his family all the best.

Mr. Speaker, last week, Republicans made a serious offer to avert the fiscal cliff, and most of it was based on testimony given last year by President Clinton's former Chief of Staff, Erskine Bowles. As Mr. Bowles himself said on Sunday: ``We have to cut spending.'' Well, he's right. Washington has a spending problem. Let's be honest: we're broke. The plan that we have offered is consistent with the President's call for a ``balanced approach.''

A lot of people know that the President and I met on Sunday. It was a nice meeting, it was cordial; but we're still waiting for the White House to identify what spending cuts the President is willing to make as part of the ``balanced approach'' that he promised the American people. Where are the President's spending cuts? The longer the White House slow-walks this process, the closer our economy gets to the fiscal cliff.

But here's what we do know: we know that the President wants more stimulus spending and an increase in the debt limit without any cuts or reforms. That's not fixing our problem. Frankly, it's making it worse. On top of that, the President wants to raise tax rates on many small business owners. Now, even if we did exactly what the President wants, we would see red ink for as far as the eye can see. That's not fixing our problem either; it's making it worse and it's hurting our economy.

I think the Members know that I'm an optimist. I'm hopeful that we can reach an agreement. This is a serious issue, and there's a lot at stake. The American people sent us here to work together towards the best possible solution, and that means cutting spending.

Now, if the President doesn't agree with our approach, he's got an obligation to put forward a plan that can pass both Chambers of Congress. Because right now the American people have to be scratching their heads and wondering: When is the President going to get serious?

Let me thank my colleague for yielding.

I have proudly represented the people of the Eighth Congressional District of Ohio now for 22 years. During that time, our State delegation has had a long line of great leaders and great legislators here in the Congress.

Tonight, I want to recognize the careers and the service of five departing members from the Ohio delegation, each of whom in their own way exemplify the type of leadership for which our great State has long been known.

Congressman Kucinich has been a passionate advocate for his community. While we haven't always agreed, I respect his courage, his passion, and his commitment to his constituents.

Congressman Steve Austria has worked tirelessly on military and veterans issues that are so important to the people we both serve. Steve, for your efforts on behalf of Wright-Paterson Air Force Base, the community, and the people of southwest Ohio,

you deserve a great deal of thanks and applause for your work.

Congresswoman Jean Schmidt blazed the trail as the first woman elected to represent her southern Ohio district. She has served in this Chamber with a deep commitment to her principles and her faith, and I wish her the very best of luck.

Congresswoman Betty Sutton sits on the other side of the aisle, but we've always been able to disagree without being disagreeable. Like me, she served in the Ohio House before serving our State here in the Congress. I respect her for her straightforward nature and willingness to fight for her priorities and those of her constituents.

Finally, my friend and close colleague, Steve LaTourette. Now, Steve and I have known each other for a long time. Steve, you've always done things your way; you're truly one of a kind. It really is not going to be the same around here without my good friend, Steve LaTourette, but our friendship will continue; and I'm grateful for the relationship that we've had.

Each of these Representatives focused on different issues and led in their own way, but what they all have in common is a love for Ohio and an unwavering dedication to their constituents. So I'm honored to have worked with each of you, and on behalf of the people of our beloved State, I want to thank you for your service.