Joseph Crowley

Mr. Speaker, this evening I say goodbye to the House of Representatives after 20 years of service. Thank you to the people of Queens and the Bronx. It has been the honor of a lifetime to be the voice of many people from New York City.

Mr. Speaker, as a son and grandson of immigrants from Ireland, more specifically, as a son of a New York City cop, as a husband and a father, I can only hope I have made my family proud. My family is everything to me. They taught me to pursue fairness and justice, to use my power--and my size and my voice--for good, and to give back. I hope I have done that. I hope my colleagues will keep working together to do the same.

We all have different backgrounds, but we are all united by our shared dreams for this great land. I believe in the best of America, its people, and its public servants.

Again, thank you to my family for the love and support you have always shown to me: to my mom, who was not able to be here tonight; to my brother, Sean; my sisters, Eileen and Maura; my brother's wife, Maureen, and their boys; my sister's children and their families; my children, Cullen, Kenzie, and Liam. I won't tell you their ages, because they can't be on the floor.

And, of course, my wife, Kasey, is with us as well. Thank you, Kasey.

To my staff, the greatest staff a person could ever have, all of you have made this such a great journey. From the darkest days of my life of 9/11 to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, a very special moment for me, it has been great to be a part of this amazing ride.

I thank you all very much, and God bless you all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say goodbye to the House of Representatives.

To say goodbye after 20 years of service to the people of New York and to the country. To say goodbye to what's been the honor of a lifetime.

I have been grateful every day for this opportunity--to come to work in this chamber, to walk beneath the Capitol dome, to stand in the footsteps of the giants who came before us.

And I will forever be thankful for having had the chance to represent my hometown community.

All four of my grandparents, and my mother, were immigrants from Ireland.

They left behind everything they knew, in search of a better life for not just themselves, but for their future generations.

I doubt they ever pictured that someday their grandson would serve in the United States Congress, but I hope I have done them proud.

My dad was the oldest of seven, who first became a New York City cop, then went to college and law school on the GI bill.

My mom didn't go to college, but she worked as a legal secretary, raised four children, and gave us every opportunity she could.

My family instilled in me the values that I hold dear to this day-- the importance of hard work, building strong communities, and ensuring opportunity for all.

They taught me to stand up for the little guy, to pursue fairness and justice, to use my power--and my size, and my voice--for good.

And I've tried to incorporate those lessons throughout my work.

My family also taught me the importance of service--of giving back. Of being part of something that's bigger than yourself.

That's what I've been thinking about as I say farewell to my time in Congress. Our time here isn't about any one of us--it's about what's best for the country.

I think sometimes we lose sight of that in the day-to-day--the legislative deadlines, the political positioning.

Our jobs here tend to be partisan--there's no escaping that.

But we can't--we shouldn't--let that blind us to what we're sent here to do.

Yes, I'll remember the day we passed the Affordable Care Act to bring health care to millions more Americans.

I'll remember marching for fair, humane immigration reform with Luis Gutierrez. I'll remember ``sitting in'' for sensible gun violence prevention.

But I'll also always remember walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with John Lewis, and watching my 13-year-old son hug John after the Chief of the Montgomery Police Department apologized for his treatment there so many years ago.

I'll remember welcoming Pope Francis, alongside Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner and the whole congressional leadership, many of whom I'm proud to call friends.

I'll remember fighting for sustainable peace in Ireland, for progress in Burma, for a stronger relationship with India all of which require cooperation on both sides of the aisle.

I'll remember returning to the Capitol after the September 11 attacks, after the worst day of my life when my cousin John was declared among the lost firefighters, and the way I was welcomed, and embraced, and loved by members of every political persuasion.

I think about those experiences when I'm wondering how we can get back to the days of working together, and seeing each other as people, not political opponents.

But I believe we can find our way again.

Because I do believe that government can do great things.

I believe that we can create good-paying jobs, and a vibrant and strong economy that works for all.

I believe that we can lead the world in innovation, and lead the world, period. But those aren't Republican or Democratic goals.

In my neighborhood, they're shared by the shopkeeper, the taxi driver, the firefighter. And here, they're shared by every one of us who walks into this chamber.

We all have our own backgrounds and our own family folklore, but we're united by our shared dreams for this country.

So I always believe in the best in this country, its people, and its public servants.

Part of what helps me to keep that optimism is the love and support I've always gotten from my family, many of whom are here today.

My mom, my brother and sisters, and their families.

My children, Cullen, Kenzie, and Liam.

And of course my wife Kasey, whose support has allowed me to participate in this great arena. It's been quite a ride.

And while I'm sad to be leaving, I follow that old Irish tradition of keeping your chin up, keep smiling.

I think you all know that I'm a little bit of a Bruce Springsteen fan. One of my favorite songs, Rosalita, has a line I can't help but think about: ``Someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny.''

I will seem funny. But it will also seem meaningful, it will seem compelling, it will seem historic.

And it will always stand out to me as the greatest professional experience of my life.

So thank you to my constituents, my friends, my family, my staff, and all of you who made this such a great journey.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding this time.

I want to thank Chairman Hensarling and Ranking Member Waters and all the members of the Financial Services Committee for working with me to pass this important legislation. It is something I began work on early in my tenure here in Congress, and it is important to me and to my fellow New Yorkers and, I think, our fellow Americans, as well, to see this legislation pass today.

Mr. Speaker, on September 11, 2001, our Nation was rocked by the most vicious terrorist attack in our Nation's history. The devastation and the loss of life shook the American people to their core. It shook the entire world.

But that morning, we also witnessed the bright light of heroism. The world saw and heard inspiring tales of rescue by public safety officers: our police officers, our firefighters, and our EMTs. They heard heartbreaking stories of many of those heroes, their injuries and their tragic deaths, people who risked their lives to save others.

There is something incredible about our public safety officers. Day in and day out, they put their lives on the line.

Growing up, most of us were taught to run out of burning buildings, but they do exactly the opposite. They are trained and they are devoted to responding to just that type of situation. They run into those buildings not to protect themselves or even the property, but primarily to save lives.

That is exactly what hundreds of first responders did on that fateful day in America. They ran in without pause. They climbed flights and flights of stairs, while an inferno raged above them. And as we remember all too well--the images are burned in our minds forever-- those towers eventually fell, taking just about all who were living inside those towers with them.

This experience affected all of us, and it still affects us all today. It personally impacted thousands of people in New York and in the New York region, I would say the quad-State region and beyond. It affected people right here in our capital region and our Pentagon. It certainly affected the people in Pennsylvania and in Boston, and wherever those flights were heading that day.

It was a national attack against America. Every soul in America experienced that attack. And it impacted me, personally, as well, because my dear, good friend and first cousin, Battalion Chief John Moran, was one of those brave public safety officers inside the towers that morning. His last known words were as his truck pulled up to Tower 2. He said: ``Let me off here. I'm going to try to make a difference.''

That is what all those who served that day tried to do: they tried to make a difference.

So, for me, as for thousands of Americans, the effort to honor these men and women is personal. After the attacks took place, I began working on legislation to do just that.

Earlier in 2001, just a few months before the attacks, Congress had created a Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor for those who went above and beyond the call of duty. But there wasn't a way to give that award posthumously to the many who displayed extraordinary courage and who perished on September 11. But we needed to change that, and we did.

In 2004, Congress finally passed our legislation, the 9/11 Heroes Medal of Valor Act, which established a decoration, posthumously awarded by the President of the United States, to the public safety officers who died rescuing individuals at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and elsewhere on 9/11.

The following year, I attended the ceremony at the White House with

many of the victims' families, where then-President George W. Bush bestowed this honor on 442 heroes and their families. They all deserved this important recognition.

But as the years went on, the Nation began to learn of the longer lasting effects of the attacks because, as we all know, the story of this tragedy did not end simply on September 11. For weeks and for months after the attacks, officers continued to work day and night, first on search and rescue missions, and then on the cleanup of the wreckage itself.

The toxic dust spewing into the air, when inhaled, proved to have enduring deadly effects, particularly for our first responders. For example, according to the Uniformed Firefighters Association, more than 170 firefighters have died as a result of 9/11-related injuries.

Eighteen officers died in 2017 alone. Hundreds of other public safety officers have met similar fates.

At the time that we passed the original 9/11 Heroes Medal of Valor bill, we did not yet know that more brave public safety officers would fall ill and pass away because of their dedicated service to their country. They, too, were heroes, and they deserve to be honored as such.

That is why I have worked to introduce this new 9/11 Heroes Medal of Valor Act. This bill will grant the medal to public safety officers who worked at the sites of the attacks and have since died from a 9/11- connected illness as defined in the Zadroga Act. It will also allow those who continue to succumb to 9/11-related illnesses to receive this award.

I am proud to say the legislation has the support of a wide array of public safety organizations, including the International Association of Fire Fighters, International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Sheriffs' Association, Major County Sheriffs of America, the FealGood Foundation, and, of course, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the New York City Police Department, and that of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as well.

Without the tireless advocacy efforts of these organizations, we would not be here today. So I am extremely grateful for the work that they have done and are committed to continue to do to make this bill law. I look forward to the day when we finally honor the hundreds of heroes who have died since 9/11 for the outstanding work they did and what they continue to do to help our Nation recover.

I want to thank, again, the chairman, Mr. Hensarling, Ranking Member Waters, all of my colleagues on the Financial Services Committee who cosponsored this bill from New York and around the country as well, and all of those who have helped get this long-overdue bill passed here today.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to its passage by the Senate and being signed into law by the President. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, in case the gentleman was going to yield back, I just want to thank my staff as well, both those who worked back in 2004 to help pass the original legislation, and my staff today.

In particular, I want to thank my chief of staff back home in Queens, AnneMarie Anzalone, whose husband at the time was a member of the New York City Police Department, and was a part of the cleanup on the restoration after the attack in Manhattan. It was because of her thoughtfulness in terms of moving me and pushing me to pass this legislation that this bill has come to the floor today. So I want to thank her in particular for her efforts.

I thank the gentleman again for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, on July 19, 2018, I was absent for recorded votes No. 363 and No. 364. I would have voted as follows if I had been present: On rollcall No. 363, I would have voted ``no''; on rollcall No. 364, I would have voted ``yes.''