Paul D. Ryan

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express the appreciation of the entire House of Representatives to Thomas G. Hungar for his exemplary service as General Counsel of the House. Tom has been a faithful defender of this institution, its Members, and its prerogatives since his appointment in 2016. Tom's distinguished legal career has included service in all three branches of government. In the Judicial Branch, he served as a law clerk in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States. In the Executive Branch, he served in the Office of the Solicitor General at the Department of Justice, including as Deputy Solicitor General. Having presented oral argument before the Supreme Court in 26 cases, Tom is one of our Nation's leading appellate lawyers and an expert on constitutional law.

Tom began his Legislative Branch service with the House in 2016, as one of only a small number of lawyers ever to serve as General Counsel of the House. Under Tom's guidance and leadership, the General Counsel's Office has provided sophisticated and invaluable legal advice and has been a trusted institutional resource for Members, Officers, Committees, and staff, regardless of political affiliation. Through excellent legal work and counsel, undertaken with zeal for the best interests of the House, Tom and his office have earned the respect of Members on both sides of the aisle.

When the House's institutional interests were at stake, Tom's legal advice was always tailored to safeguarding the House's constitutional prerogatives and protecting the House' s vital role in our constitutional structure. Tom successfully litigated cases defending and protecting the House's constitutionally based subpoena authority. Tom also defended the House and its Officers to preserve and protect the House's longstanding practice of opening each legislative day with a prayer. Additionally, under Tom, the House has filed amicus briefs articulating its position on the proper interpretation of the Appropriations, Rulemaking, and Speech or Debate Clauses of the Constitution. Numerous Members, Committees, and Subcommittees relied on Tom's extensive litigation expertise in connection with investigative and oversight activities. Finally, Tom defended House Members, Officers, and staff in judicial proceedings at both the trial and appellate levels and advised Members and Committees in connection with their interactions with both private and other governmental entities.

I know that Tom will continue his exceptional work wherever the next chapter of his impressive legal career takes him. On behalf of the House of Representatives, I express my deepest gratitude to Tom for his dedication to this institution, and I extend our very best wishes to him, his wife Jaye, and their children, Brett, Claire, Lance, and Paige.

Mr. Speaker, on November 29, 2018, the House by unanimous consent adopted House Resolution 1161 in advance of the administration of the oath of office to Representative Brenda Jones of Michigan. Representative Jones was elected on November 6, 2018 to fill a vacancy in the 13th Congressional District of Michigan for the remainder of the 115th Congress. Her certificate of election was received by the House on November 29, 2018. Representative Jones also currently serves as the President of the Detroit City Council. Representative Jones has indicated that she will abide by guidance from the House Committee on Ethics to minimize the conflicts that may exist with her duties as President of the City Council during this short tenure in the House.

The Speaker, with the concurrence of the Democratic Leader, finds that this resolution (1) represents a narrow exception to the restriction established by the House on January 20, 1909, that the duties of a Member of the House and the Governor of a State are ``absolutely inconsistent'' and may not be ``simultaneously discharged'' by the same Member and (2) does not address the Constitutional qualifications of a Member.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express profound gratitude to the people of the First District of Wisconsin.

Any time I get to swear in a new Member as we just did, it brings me back to the time when I was first sworn in here in 1998. I remember just being awestruck the first time I walked down that center aisle. That feeling just never goes away. I still feel it when I walk onto the floor each and every time.

I am immensely grateful to the people of southern Wisconsin for their trust and their confidence. I have always had this thing about calling the people I represent not my constituents but my employers. It is the way I have always thought of this, and I think it is important that we as Members understand that we work for the people and not the other way around, and that we are in this to make a difference for them.

We work every day to keep that obligation, especially, actually, when it comes to constituent service. It is the lifeblood of the work we do here as Representatives. It is something that goes unreported, but it is extremely important, extremely valuable, and very gratifying.

Any success that we have had is really, in my case, due to our humble and our hardworking staff. I have had the chance to work for and to work with the very best people. I really have.

Before I was a Member, I was part of a legion of Hill staffers. I was a staffer here before I got elected as a Member. I started as an intern in the mailroom, and I worked my way on up: legislative correspondent, legislative assistant, legislative director, and chief of staff, all of those things.

I figured I knew everything about these jobs, all long hours and all sacrifices, but nothing can truly prepare you for having people willing to help you in such a big undertaking on the front lines. So I am profoundly grateful for the dedicated public servants who have helped us serve the people--my employers--of the First Congressional District.

I want to thank the members of our team who have stayed with us to the very end: Rebekah Cullum, Jordan Dunn, Brandon Farnsworth, Megan Wagner, and Laura Wiley.

I want to thank Allison Steil, our deputy chief of staff, who has been with us for 10 years.

I want to thank Tricia Stoneking, our director of scheduling and office operations, who has been with us for 15 years.

I want to especially thank the members of our team who have been with us from the very beginning, from the start. We call them the lifers: Danyell Tremmel, my chief of staff; Chad Herbert, director of military and veterans services; and Susie Liston, district director.

Chad is a hunter. He is a veteran. Danyell came from my predecessor. She knows every nook and cranny in the Federal Government and how to help constituents navigate their problems. Chad has helped countless veterans. He knows the veterans system so well, and he has done so much good for the veterans of southern Wisconsin.

Susie Liston, our district director, has one of the most pleasant and happy demeanors. You can get a lot of angry constituents walking into a district office. She handles them better than anyone I have ever known.

Teresa Mora, director of outreach, has run my bilingual services. She has helped me with all my bilingual Hispanic townhall meetings. She has done a spectacular job of doing constituent outreach throughout my district.

Many of you know Joyce Meyer. Joyce was my first legislative director.

Andy Speth started off as my district director then my longtime chief of staff. He is my silent partner. Andy and I met in sixth grade basketball camp at St. Paul Lutheran School where he went and where his kids go. We have been friends ever since we went to high school together. When I moved home to run for Congress, he was the guy who helped me. He has been my partner in this venture all along, and I am so grateful for his friendship. I am so grateful for his partnership.

I also am just grateful for the people of Janesville, Racine, Kenosha, Oak Creek, Elkhorn, Lake Geneva, Walworth County, Racine County, Kenosha County, Rock County, Waukesha County, and everyone in between.

Since becoming Speaker of the House--which is not something that we are used to in Wisconsin; I am the only one who has done that--I appreciate the indulgence of the people I work for who indulge the fact that I had other responsibilities in addition. When I took on these additional responsibilities, the people of our staff really stepped up and really helped serve our constituents so that they continue to enjoy those flawless constituent services.

I am just so grateful for these people in my life. I am so grateful that they were able to serve the people of southern Wisconsin so well, and I am absolutely grateful to the people of southern Wisconsin for entrusting me as their Representative.