John A. Yarmuth

Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of the TSA workers at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, and please understand, this is not a token acknowledgement.

I am about to wrap up a 16 year Congressional career in which I've flown from my home in Louisville to the Capitol and back around 40 weeks or so in a non-pandemic year. That's about 1,120 flights, give or take.

I see these folks more than I see most of my colleagues. And it's great. They're friendly, they're funny, they're kind. If they obstruct, it's with good reason.

Seriously, they've made these encounters a truly enjoyable part of my job. Yes, I'm talking about going through airport security. No easy task.

Of course, being nice for me to talk to is hardly the most important part of their jobs. They're keeping us safe, our families, our community. Every single person who passes through Muhammad Ali International Airport is their responsibility, both to protect and to ensure is not a threat.

One week a year, 30,000 people pass through in just a few days for the Kentucky Derby, and each one requires attention from our TSA workers.

And people think airport security is stressful for them.

But if they get stressed, you'd never know it. You'll get a friendly smile, a kind word, and maybe even a joke.

When I ran for Congress, I'll be honest, I never thought about how much time I'd spend with the men and women of Louisville's TSA. But now, it's time I'll never forget.

They are true public servants who've kept us safe and secure, and I thank them. I don't know where I'll be going in retirement, but I look forward to seeing them on the way there.

Mr. Speaker, several years ago, I ran into a former Member of the House and asked him whether he missed it. He answered: ``I don't miss the circus. I miss the clowns.''

Now that I am in my final days as a Member and have reflected on my 16 years here, I am going to tweak that line. I won't miss everything about the circus, and I will miss many but not all of the clowns. I also now understand why so many people are afraid of clowns.

I definitely will miss speaking on the House floor, so I will use my last appearance in this historic space to talk about what I will and won't miss.

I will miss the feeling that I am part of history, if not always history I would brag about.

I will miss the constant reminder that I have served in the same body as Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, John Lewis, and so many other amazing Americans.

I will miss the serious, thoughtful, and often noble discussions about how we can make a positive difference in the lives of so many Americans, even if we rarely make as big a difference as we would want.

I will miss the give-and-take of policy debates, even though I know there was never a chance the debates would change anyone's mind.

On the other hand, I won't miss the reality that most of our rhetorical firepower is preaching to our respective choirs and that too much of what we say comes from the devils and not the angels of our natures.

I won't miss the constant emphasis on raising money and the apparent conviction of some that only gobs of money can persuade enough voters to win elections.

I won't miss the frustrating reality that we rarely move quickly enough to deal with the challenges of a fast-moving world and the fear that if this body doesn't figure out how to work more expeditiously, we will continue to frustrate our citizens.

I will miss many of my colleagues, some of whom are now among my best friends and, yes, even some from across the aisle. They have broadened my perspective and reinforced my belief that, with all of our flaws, we are essentially decent and caring people who try to find better ways forward for our country. I respect them and thank them for their service and friendship. They are definitely not clowns.

I have so many other people to thank as I leave this body. Of course, I must thank my family for encouraging me to do this work and for excusing me for missing so much of their lives, and in recent years, my grandsons, J.D. and Rory, for being constant reminders that what we do here has implications far beyond the moment.

I will be eternally grateful to the people of Louisville, who have given me the extraordinary honor and responsibility to represent them here.

As a former staffer, I knew that a great staff is essential for success. I have been blessed with phenomenal staff members throughout my eight terms. Thanks to every one of you.

I am also grateful to the staff of the House Budget Committee, which always made me look more competent and knowledgeable as the chairman than I otherwise would have.

Thanks to all the House support staff, who serve quietly and effectively to keep this body functioning.

Thanks to the Capitol Police, who protect and defend us and who showed the world on January 6, 2021 how brave and selfless they are.

Thanks to all of my committee chairs and ranking members whose examples kept me from screwing up any more than I did.

Thanks and praise to Democratic leadership, Speaker Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Jim Clyburn, for their friendship, trust, and inspiration.

Finally, I thank the person who has been with me every minute of my 16 years in the House. If Julie Carr is not the best chief of staff ever to serve here, there is no better model to emulate. I often said that if she left me, I would retire the next day. Luckily, she stuck with me, and now she will also leave the House after 25 years of service to me and others.

The citizens of Louisville are, unbeknownst to them, much better off because of her work, and I was a better Member because of her intellect, judgment, dedication, and friendship.

Thank you for everything, Julie.

I will leave the House proud of my work, grateful for the opportunity to serve here, and committed to continue to serve our great country and its people.

For the last time, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Diana Meredith, staff director of the House Budget Committee. Diana is retiring after more than 25 years of dedicated service to Congress and the Executive branch, including 20 years on the House Budget Committee.

A native of Washington state, Diana worked as a newspaper reporter in Seattle and the Napa Valley for several years. In 1997, she came to Washington, D.C. to work for the Senate Budget Committee, led at the time by U.S. Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine. In 1998, Diana moved to the White House Office of Management and Budget (0MB) to serve as a program examiner for Social Security and fiscal issues, analyzing Social Security reform proposals and negotiating and resolving policy disagreements among agencies and White House offices.

After five years at 0MB, Diana joined the Democratic Staff of the House Budget Committee in 2003, under Rep. John Spratt, Jr. of South Carolina. Diana went on to serve as a budget analyst on the House Budget Committee for 14 years. She advised House leadership and committees on budget-related matters--developing recommendations, messaging guidance, and overall strategy for key Congressional legislative deliberations. Diana played a particularly important role in the development and passage of the historic Affordable Care Act (ACA) and in pushing back against harmful proposals to restructure Medicare and other crucial social programs.

In 2017, Diana became Deputy Staff Director of the House Budget Committee, where she assisted in the negotiation and passage of a number of highly consequential pieces of legislation. Her legacy includes the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, which ended the threat of annual discretionary sequesters from the Budget Control Act, the 2021 concurrent budget resolution that paved the way for the American Rescue Plan, and the historic American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which helped our nation rapidly recover from the COVID pandemic, with record- breaking job creation and broad-based economic growth.

Diana became Budget Staff Director in 2021, an enormously consequential year for President Biden, Congressional Democrats, and the American people. Diana led the Committee in enacting the framework for what would become the Inflation Reduction Act--landmark reconciliation legislation that has lowered the cost of prescription drugs for millions of seniors, expanded health insurance subsidies to help families access affordable, high-quality care, and provided the largest investment in U.S. history to combat climate.

Diana is a deeply caring public servant. She is uniquely adept at navigating complex budgetary issues and negotiations, while never losing sight of the reason we do this work: to help the American people. And Diana never missed an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate her staff's victories, big or small. The Budget Committee and our entire country has benefited from Diana's expertise, her extensive knowledge of the budget process, her mentorship of staff, and her unwavering dedication to America's working families.

I want to thank Diana for her advice, dedication, and leadership. I wish her all the best in her much deserved retirement.