Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to mark the passing of a man that meant a great deal to the people of Maryland's Fifth Congressional District--16-year Bowie City Council veteran, William Augustus Aleshire.

Bill's life was one of service. He served his country in the Air Force through two tours in Vietnam. He served his neighbors as a Washington, DC, police officer for more than 20 years. And he served his community as a member of the Bowie City Council--and more significantly, as an impassioned leader who always thought of others before thinking of himself.

Bill was a man that truly understood what public service is all about. Those who knew him best know that he had a fondness for costumes. At Christmas, he made appearances throughout the city of Bowie as Santa Claus. At Easter, he visited local parks and hospitals as the Easter Bunny. And he even made public appearances as ``McGruff the Crime Dog'' to help keep Bowie's children on the right track.

I always thought of Bill as a partner in our shared pursuit to enhance the quality of life in the city of Bowie--and I know that his boisterous personality and impeccable character will be profoundly missed throughout all of Prince George's County, Maryland.

My condolences--and those of a grateful community--go out to Bill's wife, Clara, to his daughter, Emily, and to everyone whose life was touched by William Augustus Aleshire during this most difficult of times.

Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk a privileged concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 158) and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Chair, I thank my friend, one of the Deans of this House, who has for so very long ensured that this country has a democracy of which our people can be proud and which is accessible to all of our people, as our Constitution promises. I am so pleased to join him, and I thank the ranking member as well for his leadership on so many issues.

Madam Chair, I intend to support this important bill before us, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which addresses the relationship between Members of Congress and those who seek to influence legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation as well.

This bill, like the one we just considered, is not perfect. Few bills are. However, these measures call for a greater transparency, and provide specific guidance to Members and lobbyists on the propriety of certain actions.

Without question, the recent scandals involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the guilty pleas of former Representatives Randy ``Duke'' Cunningham and Bob Ney have raised serious questions in the public's mind about the integrity of our process and the Members who serve here. That is unfortunate, but nevertheless true.

The legislation introduced by Chairman Conyers is an important step in addressing such concerns and thereby will help ensure public confidence in our legislative process and in this institution, the people's House.

Among other things, this legislation will outlaw the so-called K Street Project in which Members influenced employment decisions of private entities for partisan gain. In fact, violators of this proposition will be fined or imprisoned for up to 15 years, an appropriate penalty.

This legislation expands and strengthens lobbying disclosure requirements, mandating quarterly disclosure of lobbying reports and increasing penalties for violation of the Lobbying Disclosure Act.

This legislation requires Members to disclose job negotiations for post-congressional employment. The public wants to know that their representatives are acting on their behalf, not on the behalf of the special interest.

And this legislation retains the 1-year ban on lobbying imposed on Members and senior staff. But in addition to that, it importantly requires Members and such staff to recuse themselves from working on legislation in which a prospective employer has a vested interest, a substantial step forward.

This bill alone, of course, cannot guarantee honest, ethical conduct any more than the law against burglary will necessarily deter every burglar.

However, when coupled with the most sweeping ethics changes since Watergate, which the Democratic majority enacted on the very first day of this Congress, the legislation will help reassure the public that we appreciate the legitimate concerns raised by the Abramoff case and others and are committed to taking action to address them.

I understand that some believe that this bill and the one we just considered do not go far enough. I know that some sincerely believe that our current system in which lobbyists or any other American legally contribute to a political campaign is inevitably questionable. The public financing obviously would be the alternative. The public does not support that. We know that.

Let me say, however, without equivocation, I strongly disagree with the view that because there are private contributions that our system is broken.

The implication of this position is not only inaccurate but also an unwarranted smear on the integrity of the overwhelming majority of the Members of both sides of the aisle who diligently abide by ethical rules and our campaign finance laws and who otherwise conduct themselves with high integrity.

Do not misunderstand me. Our system can and should and must be continually improved to ensure public confidence in the integrity of our legislative process. However, as long as there is private financing of political campaigns, and as long as men and women exercise their right to petition their government, the relationship between private giving and public action will be recurring issues that require close examination by us and by the public.

That is precisely what this bill before us today represents: important reform that ensures greater transparency and specifically addresses some of the most egregious recent transgressions.

Finally, as important as this legislation and the ethics changes made in January are, they alone will not ensure the integrity of our process and this institution. Rather, the Members of this House will ensure the integrity of this House when we conduct ourselves openly and honestly and hold accountable those who fail to abide by the rules and the highest ethical standards.

Thus, we have an obligation to ensure that the Ethics Committee does the job that it was constituted to perform. The implementation of rules, while critical, must be followed by effective, real enforcement and accountability.

I urge my colleagues, Madam Chairman, to vote for this legislation and let us provide greater transparency of our legislative process and ensure public confidence in this institution in which all of us are so proud to serve.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the committee for yielding.

No matter how the Members vote on the two amendments before the House on this measure, I know that every one of us is absolutely committed to our men and women in harm's way and prays for their safe return home.

I also know that the Members on our side of the aisle, regardless of how we vote on these amendments, are united in our collective judgment that the President's policy is failing; and that after 4 years of repeated misjudgments in Iraq by this administration, it is long past time to insist that the administration and the Iraqi Government be held accountable for making progress; and, that we must change direction in Iraq.

In fact, the American public strongly support the Democratic position on the war. Just today, the latest New York Times/CBS poll found that 76 percent of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, say that the troop surge has either had no impact or made the situation worse. Meanwhile, 63 percent said the United States should set a date for withdrawing troops sometime in 2008. That, of course, is what the bill that we passed and sent to the President did. He vetoed it. That position was adopted by the majority of this House and the majority of the Senate in the last supplemental bill.

And 69 percent say Congress should appropriate money for the war on the condition that we set benchmarks for progress. I am pleased, of course, that the Warner language is in there, but it is not enough.

Mr. Speaker, it is deeply disappointing that the President continues to defy the will of the American people. But today, with this amendment which includes 18 strong new benchmarks on political, security, and economic progress, and other reporting requirements, I believe this Congress has moved the ball forward and begun to hold the administration accountable.

Is it as far as we are going to go? It is not. Should we go further? We must. Make no mistake, this amendment does not provide everything that we had hoped for, but I do not believe that it provides a blank check or that this Congress is rubber-stamping the President's request. The President did not want the Warner amendment attached. He doesn't want any constraints.

In addition to benchmarks, this requires the President to report on progress in July and September, and ties all economic support for Iraq to progress on the benchmarks, although a waiver is required. Why? Because the President said he would veto the bill if it was not.

The fact is, this is simply the best bill we could put together and that would be signed. It is a political reality. It is not what we want to pass.

It imposes truly for the first time ever a level of accountability that did not exist, however, previously. For the first time ever, we are also calling for the Iraqi Security Forces to step up and do the job assigned to them so our soldiers can step down by providing funding for an outside review of the Iraq Security Forces' current capacity and their reliance on our Armed Forces.

We have moved the ball forward. Far enough? No. Do we need to move further? Yes. But we have advanced toward a new direction and a new policy

in Iraq. And in the months ahead, we will continue to fight for a new direction in Iraq in the fiscal year 2008 defense appropriations bill and other measures to be considered.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, let me say that I am very pleased that the second amendment being considered will provide for the first time in a decade a long overdue increase in the Federal minimum wage, as well as additional funding for defense and veterans health care, and homeland security, drought relief, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and gulf coast recovery. The Katrina provision is a critical one.

Mr. Speaker, I will vote for both of these amendments, and I urge my colleagues to do so as well.

Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the resolution on the table.

I thank my friend for yielding.

As my friend from Wisconsin has heard me say so often, I am at once amused, and at the same time deeply disappointed because I have watched an unending series of young, earnest, very bright Republican leaders stand on this floor or stand in the OMB or in the White House, led by David Stockman, and then John Kasich, then Jim Nussle, and now Paul Ryan, all very able representatives who served in this body, who come before us and assert, with a certitude that is unflappable, that they have the answer to bringing economic well-being to America.

During that 26 years that I have observed those serious, I believe, conscientious young men make that representation, without fail they have presented budgets that have put this country, without exception, every year of their budgets $4.1 trillion further in debt. And then they said in 1993, when we adopted an economic program sent down by President Clinton, ``this is going to destroy our country.'' They called it the largest tax increase in history. They were, of course, not telling the truth. That was not the fact.

In fact, the largest tax increase that has occurred in this country since I have been in Congress, in terms of real dollars, was the Dole- Reagan tax increase in the early 1980s.

So I come before this House to say I hope the American people will understand that the representation we have just heard has been made over and over and over again. And the results of the policies promoted by that rhetoric have been unending and inevitable large deficits. In fact, of course, the revenues are substantially below, as the gentleman knows, the projections that were made.

Mr. Speaker, today the Members of this House can proudly vote for a budget conference report that addresses our Nation's critical needs on national security, education, health care, the environment and many other areas, while also making a 180-degree turn away from the most reckless fiscal policies in the history of our Nation.

My young friend from Wisconsin knows well that spending over the last 6 years was twice the rate of spending in terms of percentage increase under the Clinton years. Twice. Of course, the Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the presidency, and spending was at twice the rate of growth that it was during the Clinton years.

I urge every Member of this House, on both sides of the aisle, to vote for this responsible Democratic budget conference report. It will be a change from the past, because we will adopt a budget, and I say you are probably even going to adopt appropriations bills, unlike last year.

First and foremost, this Democratic budget provides robust defense spending levels, because our national security is our highest priority. This budget provides more homeland security funding than the Bush administration requested. It funds the 9/11 Commission recommendations, and it increases funding for veterans health care and services by $6.7 billion.

We talk about supporting our troops. If we support our troops, we need to honor our veterans, and we need to honor our veterans with more than just talk. We need to make sure that their health care is provided. This budget does that. In fact, this budget is $3.6 billion more than the President requested. Of course, he requested that before Walter Reed, before the long lines, before the American public was aware of how underfunded veterans health care is.

Furthermore, after 6 years of fiscal irresponsibility, this budget will bring our budget back into balance in 2012. President Reagan, President Bush I and the 7 years of Bush II, never one balanced budget year in those 19 years. During the Clinton administration, 4, half of the budget years had surpluses.

Now, the great falsehood, the great deceit, the great misrepresentation perpetrated by many of our friends on the other side of the aisle is that the budget somehow raises taxes. That is simply and absolutely untrue.

Now, the Republicans pride themselves on not raising taxes. They simply borrow money from the Chinese, the Japanese, the Saudis, the Germans. In fact, they borrowed over $1.2 trillion over the last 6\1/2\ years to fund their spending increases.

It is somewhat humorous, I think, that our Republican friends are claiming that this budget raises taxes by failing to extend cuts that the Republicans themselves designed to expire in 2010. By their logic, last year, when the Republicans still controlled both Chambers of this Congress and chose not to extend the taxes, in your budget proposal, remember that, my friends on the other side of the aisle, you did not suggest extending these tax cuts. It is ridiculous.

Don't take it from me, just listen to the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, which yesterday stated, ``The budget conference report would not raise taxes. If anything, the budget resolution assumes that Congress will cut taxes.''

This is true. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the budget accommodates the extension of middle income tax cuts, as the chairman has said, and provides immediate relief for middle income taxpayers affected by the Alternative Minimum Tax. We want to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax. In fact we want to fix it by giving 81 million Americans a tax cut.

In addition, this budget increases funding for Head Start, LIHEAP, accommodates a $50 billion increase to cover millions of uninsured children, and rejects the administration's harmful cuts to environmental programs.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, for our friends on the other side to complain that this budget provides for an increase in the debt ceiling strains credibility. The rule that is in this bill was in your budgets repeatedly.

In just 6 years, this administration and Republican Congress turned a projected budget surplus of $5.6 trillion into an over $3 trillion deficit, an $8.6 trillion turnaround to the red side of the budget on your watch when you controlled all of the levers of this House. And you raised the debt ceiling 4 years in a row.

The new Democratic majorities in this Congress have inherited a fiscal debacle that today, through this conference report, we can begin to address and make right. This is a budget that we can be proud of, and it stands in stark contrast to the extraordinarily irresponsible policies of the last 6 years.

I urge all of my colleagues, vote for fiscal responsibility and a brighter future for our children and for our country. Vote for this Democratic budget.

I will be glad to yield to my friend from Wisconsin.

Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I don't have it in front of me, but what your budget did was you assumed that the tax cuts were going to be extended. You did not extend them in your budget legally, which you could have done under the rules. You claim you didn't do it initially because of the rules in the Senate. I think that is accurate.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his work, I thank him for yielding me the time, and I urge a yes vote on this responsible, effective budget for our country.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I want to inform my colleagues that we expect no further votes tonight. We expect to proceed to completion of this bill tonight. All votes, further votes that are called for will be rolled and will be voted upon on Tuesday. But as long as the Members want to go tonight, we're going to go. We're going to finish this bill tonight.

I yield to my friend

I'd be glad to yield to my friend.

Well, we're coming back Monday. There will be votes at 6:30. There'll be suspensions. On Monday the House will meet at 10:30 a.m. for morning-hour business and noon for legislative business. We'll consider several bills under suspension of the rule as is usual. Notice of those bills will be given by the end of the week.

On Tuesday, the House will meet at 9 a.m. for morning hour business, 10 a.m. for legislative business. We'll consider additional bills under suspension of the rules. A complete list, as I said, will be announced by the close of business tomorrow. On Wednesday and Thursday the House will meet at 10 a.m. We expect to consider H.R. 1100, the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site Boundary Provision, and H.R. 2316, Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, and the conference report on the supplemental appropriations to fund Iraq, Katrina, veterans health and other matters.

It is our intention to pass the supplemental before we break for the Memorial Day Break, yes.

Madam Speaker, on the occasion of his retirement, I rise to thank James Eagen III, for 25 years of distinguished service to the House of Representatives.

Jay began his House career in 1982 as a Legislative Assistant and then Administrative Assistant to Representative Steve Gunderson of Wisconsin. From 1985 to 1991, he served as the Chief of Staff to Representative Bill Goodling of Pennsylvania. Following his Member office service, Jay assumed the role of Staff Director on the Committee on Education and Workforce--currently the Committee on Education and Labor. Jay served the Committee and Chairman Goodling for six years before being nominated and elected to the office of Chief Administrative Officer of the House. He was sworn in to this prestigious position on July 31, 1997.

Jay has served as Chief Administrative Officer in the last six Congresses, and under his leadership, the Office of the CAO dutifully fulfilled its mission to provide first-rate administrative, technical, and support services. During his tenure, the CAO achieved customer satisfaction ratings in the 90th percentile and set new benchmark standards for customer service by Government agencies. Thanks in large part to Jay, the CAO truly is a world-class organization.

Furthermore, the House achieved nine consecutive clean annual financial statement audits, and successfully responded to the anthrax contamination of House office buildings in 2001. Jay led efforts to strengthen the House's business continuity and disaster recovery readiness following the September 11 attacks, and to modernize the committee hearing rooms to upgrade broadcasting capabilities, which enhanced the House's ability to share the legislative process with a greater number of citizens across the country.

Jay Eagen has served the U.S. House of Representatives, and our Nation, with honor and distinction. And on behalf of our entire

community, I extend a heartfelt thank you to Jay and wish him many wonderful years as he moves on to the next phase of his life with his wife, Cathy, and son, Keiran.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. Speaker, after consultation with the minority leadership, I ask unanimous consent that during further consideration of H.R. 1585, pursuant to House Resolution 403, and after the next vote, the Chair may reduce to 2 minutes the minimum time for electronic voting under clause 6 of rule XVIII and clauses 8 and 9 of rule XX.

Mr. Speaker, what we have done, in conjunction with discussions with Mr. Blunt, is, we expect no further votes after this vote. We will consider the balance of the bill tonight, and tomorrow we expect six votes. The first one will be a 15-minute vote and the balance will be 2-minute votes.

We wanted to announce that so Members can be prepared for that tomorrow.

Madam Speaker, today I pay tribute to the career and personal achievement of one of the House's own--Tina Tate, who will retire on May 17 as the Director of the House Radio and Television Gallery after 34 years of service to this wonderful institution.

During the last three and one-half decades, Tina has worked tirelessly with the People's House and the media to chronicle the sometimes tumultuous but always lively day-to-day history of the Congress. She has gracefully assisted Democrats and Republicans in their interaction with the press during a period when technological advances changed the manner in which the media informed the American people about their government.

In 1969, Tina moved from her native Georgia to Washington, DC, with her husband and young son. Three years later, during the Nixon Administration and Carl Albert's Speakership, she was hired as the first female employee of the House Radio and Television Gallery. At that time, there were only three national television news organizations, and it was still one year before CBS radio took the bold step of launching a ``news on the hour'' service.

In 1981, she was selected Superintendent of the Radio TV Gallery--the first female to head that office. This was the first year of Ronald Reagan's Presidency and the fifth year of Thomas P. ``Tip'' O'Neill's service as Speaker. Since then she has overseen the historic coverage of the transition of power in the House, first from Democratic to Republican hands in 1994, and then a return to Democratic governance in 2006.

During her service, Tina served five Speakers of the House, guiding the House and those who cover it with integrity, honesty and a desire to help all sides succeed in a rapidly changing, frequently challenging environment.

Madam Speaker, Tina has left her mark on Congress and those who cover us for the people. For the press, she has been an advocate and steady hand in working with Congress to expand openness and access. For Members of Congress, she has been a faithful guardian of the institution's interests and the precedents that protect this body.

In addition to helping reporters gather news within the halls of Congress, Tina and her office have helped more than 5,000 members of independent radio and television organizations cover every national political convention. That makes sense, since once a nominee became President she oversaw their subsequent State of the Union Addresses.

Tina not only arranged logistics, she innovated. She developed new platforms for coverage, whether that be utilizing Statuary Hall to allow Members to talk to national and local media, or paving the way for new technologies like HDTV to find their place in the coverage of newsworthy events. She has had a hand in making all of this work and finding new ways to open up our government.

Tina's contribution will continue into the future. Since 2000, she has been working to establish a necessary and appropriate foothold for the electronic media in the Congressional Visitor's Center. As the technology and press have changed in 34 years, so have their needs and the needs of Members of Congress. She foresaw that growth and has worked with us to make the House successful in the years to come.

Let me close by thanking Tina for her service, friendship and gracious guidance. She leaves the House of Representatives the better for her service.

Mr. Speaker, as our Nation commemorates National Police Week this week and the 26th Annual National Peace Officers' Memorial Day today (May 15), let us honor the memory of those who have fallen in the line of duty and thank those who carry on their legacy, serving in communities across this Nation, keeping the peace, and protecting the American people.

It is altogether fitting that today--with thousands of peace officers in Washington to commemorate these events--the Members of this House will consider this very important bipartisan legislation, the COPS Improvements Act of 2007.

Mr. Speaker, when we pass this bill, the new Democratic Majority in this House will again demonstrate its absolute commitment to taking decisive action that protects our communities and combats crime.

In short, this legislation reauthorizes the highly successful Community Oriented Policing Services Program, or COPS, which was enacted in 1994 under the Clinton Administration and which helped local law enforcement agencies hire 117,000 additional officers between 1995 and 2005--including 908 officers in Maryland's Fifth Congressional District.

In fact, the COPS hiring program--with its emphasis on getting more cops on the beat--is credited with reducing the crime rate.

The nonpartisan General Accountability Office, for example, concluded in one study (and I quote): ``COPS-funded increases in sworn officers per capita were associated with declines in rates of total index crimes, violent crimes and property crime.''

Unfortunately, however, the former House Majority sharply reduced the funding for the universal hiring program under COPS in recent years-- from more than $1 billion a year in the late 1990s, to $10 million in 2005, to the complete elimination of hiring grants in 2006.

Mr. Speaker, let's put these figures in perspective. One billion dollars a years for COPS hiring grants is not an insubstantial sum. But today, in Iraq, our Nation is spending approximately $10 billion a month--or $2.5 billion a week.

House Democrats believe it is imperative to reinvigorate the successful COPS program. And thus, this legislation calls for putting 50,000 additional police officers on the streets over the next 6 years by authorizing $600 million a year for COPS hiring grants.

Furthermore, this bill authorizes $350 million a year for COPS technology grants, and $200 million a year for hiring community prosecutors.

Mr. Speaker, today, through this bipartisan legislation, this House will demonstrate that it is committed to protecting and strengthening America's communities.

We will demonstrate that the Federal Government is a committed partner in protecting Americans not only from the threat posed by international terrorism, but also from the dangers posed by domestic crime.

I urge my colleagues: Support the COPS Improvements Act.

I thank my friend for yielding and I congratulate him on his leadership of this subcommittee and

his leadership in our State of Maryland. I am proud to be Mr. Cummings' colleague. I also thank the gentlelady from Virginia for her leadership in bringing this matter to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly sponsor this resolution allowing the Greater Washington Soap Box Derby Association to hold the 66th Annual Greater Washington Soap Box Derby on the Capitol Grounds on Saturday, June 16.

Our Nation's tradition of soapbox racing began, Mr. Speaker, as you may know, in 1934, when Myron E. Scott, a photographer for the Dayton Daily News, saw boys racing engineless cars down a hill. This inspired Mr. Scott to hold a race and award the winner with a ``loving cup.''

The first year, the race took place in Dayton, Ohio. The following year the race moved to Akron due to the city's numerous hills. With the hard work of countless civic organizations, a permanent track site for the youth racing classic was created with the assistance of the Works Progress Administration, affectionately known as the WPA.

Soapbox derby racing in our Nation's Capital has a long and rich tradition as well. In 1938, Norman Rocca beat out 223 other racers to win the inaugural Greater Washington Soapbox Derby, which was then held on New Hampshire Avenue.

Over the years, thousands of the region's young people have participated in this great race. Although the location has moved from the original site on New Hampshire Avenue to Capitol Hill, the essence of the race has remained the same: homemade gravity-powered cars, the spirit of competition, and the pure joy of racing.

The soapbox derby consists of dozens of drivers, both boys and girls, ranging in ages from 8 to 17. These racers are divided into three divisions: stock, superstock and masters. The local winner of each division will automatically qualify to compete with racers from around the world in the 70th All-American Soapbox Derby in Akron, Ohio, on July 26.

The festivities in Akron begin when the racers receive a police escort into town and conclude in the winner's circle with the awarding of scholarships and merchandise. In between, the racers and their families participate in a whirlwind of activities that leave them with enduring friendships and memories that last a lifetime.

Mr. Speaker, this event has been called ``the greatest amateur racing event in the world,'' and it is an excellent opportunity for the contestants from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia to learn basic building skills while gaining a real sense of accomplishment and competition.

I strongly encourage my colleagues to join with me and the other original cosponsors, Representatives Frank Wolf, James Moran, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Al Wynn, and Chris Van Hollen, as well as Mr. Cummings and Mrs. Drake, in supporting this resolution, which honors such an extraordinary and in some respects uniquely American event here on Capitol Hill.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

He says he yields me so much time as I may consume. One of the great benefits of being majority leader, or minority leader, for that matter, although no one seeks the benefit of being minority leader, I understand that, but is that you are unlimited in time. You're yielded 1 minute and you take such time as you want. You become very arrogant in the use of verbiage at that point in time. But I am very, very pleased to be here with all of you. I try to make these events every time you come, because as Speaker Pelosi, and what an historic event you have just participated in. You are the first group of former Members in over 200 years of our Republic that has been greeted by a woman Speaker. The President was so gracious the first time that Nancy and I went down and had lunch with the Speaker. It was just 2 days after the election. President Bush could not have been more gracious and more generous in his comments about the historical aspect and his congratulations for Nancy's accomplishment. It is an extraordinary accomplishment. As you have noticed, she is as strong and focused and competent a Speaker as I have served with. And I know there is a wonderful friend here, who I also want to greet, and that is my friend Tom Foley. When I came to the Congress of the United States, Tom was the whip. I had the great honor of being the whip at one point in time, as you know.

I am now in the office that Tom Foley peopled. He was ensconced in the first floor of the Capitol, we had many whip meetings there, and he taught me how to be a Member of Congress. And I could have had no better teacher than Tom Foley, no more principled, decent person than Tom Foley.

I will tell you this, and you have heard me say it before. I would not have chosen to be in the minority. And in 1994 with this hostile takeover as I refer to it of the institution of which I was a Member, I became a minority stockholder in, one of the sadnesses, I think, of the 1994 transfer of authority was not so much it was a transfer of authority, that's what happens in democracies, but that an extraordinary American did not become the Speaker of the House, somebody that I love and respect and honor who I think is one of the most decent people with whom I have served in 40 years in a legislative body and that is, of course, the very distinguished, wonderful American first as well as, of course, a distinguished Republican leader, my friend Bob Michel. Bob, thank you for what you have done.

When the American people think of what they would like to see in the Congress of the United States and the kind of collegiality and respect for one another and civility that they would like to see, they think of Bob Michel and Tom Foley in my opinion. They may not think of them by name, but they think of who they are and what they represent.

I am also pleased to see Arlen Specter who was masquerading as a former Member sitting with the Speaker. As a matter of fact, Ray LaHood traveled with me overseas. We went to Darfur, we were in Sudan, and we were in Egypt. In Egypt, we had a cocktail party, a reception at the Ambassador's residence and I introduced Ray LaHood as the former staffer of the Speaker. Kathy, his wife, came up to me and said, ``Bob Michel was never Speaker.'' I said, ``I know, but in my mind he should have been.''

Jack Kemp is here, also my friend. We had the opportunity to serve on the Appropriations Committee as well. Jack, of course, a distinguished Vice Presidential candidate, now who continues as so many of you do in your own public lives to be so involved in trying to make our country better. Jack, thank you for all you have done.

I could mention each and every one of you, but Speaker Rhodes would say you're pressing on that 1 minute a little much. But let me say that those of you who are former Members, some, of course, are former Members by choice. Some, as you reflect upon a democracy that sometimes makes mistakes, are former Members by mistake of your constituencies. But in any event it occurs to me that all of you are financially far better off than us poor people you left behind, and I congratulate you for that.

I want to congratulate Mr. Slattery, who's our leader on the Democratic side, and Jay Rhodes. I saw Jay in the hallway just the other day. I had the opportunity of serving briefly with his dad and then with him and both reflect the decency of which I have spoken earlier.

Let me also say that I am now the majority leader, and thwarting the will of the majority is something that we criticize very severely and properly so. In a democracy, you do not want to thwart the will of the majority. But as majority leader, I want you to know that I work very hard at thwarting the will of the minority. Sometimes they get upset by it. I don't understand that, Bob, but it happens.

Let me thank all of you. Let me thank all of you for holding high the institutional values that the Founding Fathers and Americans want to establish, a body that brings together the various differences within our society, the various interest groups within our society, and tries to synthesize those differences into rational consensus for progress for our country. If we continue to do that, we will continue to merit the respect of our fellow citizens. If we do not, then they will properly have us all become former Members.

God bless what you have done, are doing and continue to do on behalf of our country and on behalf of the House of Representatives. Thank you very much.