consume or as he may consume to the gentleman from california, mr. peters, who is the author of this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. peters: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise today to support my legislation, h.r. 1378 to designate the federal courthouse on west broadway in downtown san diego as the james m. carter and judeth n. keep united states courthouse and to designate the federal judicial senter in san diego as the john rhodes federal judicial center. in san diego's collaborative spirit in order to find a name for the new building, the san diego legal community reached out to find ideas and through this process some prominent jurists emerged. they were enthusiastically touted by a bipartisan coalition, including the san diego county bar association, our district federal judges, and both republican and democratic community loords across san diego. . judge carter was the moving

force behind the creation of southern california. he became the first chief judge of the district court serving in that position until he was appointed to the ninth circuit court of appeals. judge carter -- judge keep graduated from the san diego school of law as its valedictorian, becaming the first female judge for the southern court of california and later the first female chief judge. and this honors judge john rhodes who served as a federal judge in san diego for 22 years and was widely respected and beloved throughout the region's legal community. udge s. -- judges, carter, keep and rhodes showed excellence and integrity. i'm proud to honor their legacy with this legislation, and i want to thank two of my colleagues in particular, congresswoman susan davis who represented this area before i did, and led this effort for the past several years. and congressman darrell issa for his support and great

amendments to the bill. it's better because of his work. and i'm proud to have worked with them both to move this forward. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from ohio. mr. gibbs: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new york. mr. bishop: mr. speaker, we have no further speakers, so i urge adoption of this bill, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from ohio. mr. gibbs: mr. speaker, i, too, urge my colleagues to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1378, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the rules are the suspended, bams, and without objection -- the bill is passed, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table and without objection, the title is amended.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5059, as amended, the clay hunt suicide prevention for american veterans, or the clay hunt s.a.v. act. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5059, a bill to direct the secretary of defense and the secretary of veterans affairs to provide for the conduct of annual evaluations of mental health care and suicide prevention programs of the department of defense and the department of veterans affairs, to review the terms or characterization of the discharge or separation of certain individuals from the armed forces, to require a pilot program on loan repayment for psychiatrists who agree to serve in the veterans health administration of the veterans affairs,

nd for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from florida, mr. miller, and the gentleman from maine, mr. michaud, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and on 5059, ir remarks as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. miller: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. miller: mr. speaker, i rise today in proud support of h.r. 5059, as amended, the clay hunt suicide prevention for american veterans act. in july, amidst the largest scandal and accountability scandal the department of veterans affairs has ever faced, the committee heard testimony from three mothers whose sons had lost their lives

to suicide following their service in our military. one of those mothers was susan selke, the mother of clay hunt. clay was a marine corps combat veteran who served honorably in both afghanistan and iraq, where he was wounded in battle. despite suffering from posttraumatic stress upon his separation from service, clay devoted himself to humanitarian work and advocated on behalf of his fellow veterans. nevertheless, in march of 2011, clay took his own life at the age of 28. tragically, clay was far from alone in his struggle and his family and friends are far from alone in their heartbreak. on average, 22 of our nation's heroes commit suicide each day. in spite of significant increases in v.a.'s mental health and suicide prevention

budget, staff and programs over the last several years. what's more for some groups of including female veterans and veterans of iraq and afghanistan, suicide rates are actually getting worse. mr. speaker, we must do more to help these veterans, and with the passage of h.r. 5059, as amended, which is named in clay's memory, i think we will. help struggling veterans access the supportive services and mental health care they need to hopefully save their lives, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of v.a. programs and increase awareness of available services, the bill ould require an annual third party eequaluation of suicide prevention programs and would require that v.a. publish an interactive website to serve as the central source of information regarding v.a.

mental health services. to increase v.a.'s capacity to meet the mental health care needs of our veterans, it would establish a pilot program to repay education loans for individuals who have received a degree in psychiatric medicine and who agree to work at v.a. for at least two years. to create a seamless transition from active duty to veteran status, an increase -- and increase community support for those in need, it would establish a pie lat program to assist -- pilot program to assist veterans. importantly, the bill would also extend an additional one year of eligibility for v.a. health care services for certain combat veterans who who's t yet enrolled and five-year combat eligibility period expired. congressman walz from minnesota introduced the bill, along with me and congresswoman duckworth from illinois, and i would like to express my heart felt appreciation to both of them

for their service to our nation in their uniform and in this congress. i'm proud to say that this bill as the support of numerous groups of veteran service organizations including iraq and afghanistan veterans of american, the veterans of foreign wars of the united states, the american legion, the disabled american veterans, the military officers association of america and the wounded warrior project. the clay hunt s.a.v. act will not single handedly halt the scourge of suicide. the problems the v.a. health care system faces and the mental health wounds of war na our veterans face are -- that our veterans face are far too deep for any single solution to solve. it's a first step and it's a step we owe clay and those like highly who returned home from honorable service, troubled in mind and in need of help. with that i urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. 5059, as

amended, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maine is is recognized. michele beadle -- mr. michaud: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. michaud: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of h.r. 5059, the clay hunt s.a.v. act, which was introduced in july of this year. it has 134 co-sponsors, including myself, chairman miller, the chairman and ranking member of the health care subcommittee, congressman walz, the primary sponsor of this very important piece of legislation. over the years, the veterans' affairs committee has taken steps to address the rise of suicide among veterans, and in he 110th congress we enacted the joshua suicide prevention act. earlier this year, congress had a measure sponsored by our colleague, representative cinema, that would protect -- representative sinema, that

would protect veterans and make sure that options are available to them. today we're considering h.r. 5059, clate hunt s.a.v. act. there are no easy answers or quick fixes to addressing the veterans suicide. it will take a concerted effort for all of us in congress, the white house, the department of veterans affairs, the department of defense to work together to find real solutions. veterans support groups, community employers and families are part of the solution too. h.r. 5059 take a number of steps towards that goal it will improve the safety net for at-risk veterans while introducing some accountability into the department of veterans affairs mental health care and suicide prevention programs, using a third party evaluation. it will provide veterans with a website that will serve as a centralized source of information on mental health

services. h.r. 5059 initiates a program to help address some of the glaring mental health personnel shortages at the department of veterans affairs. while the incentives in this bill are limited to psychiatric fields, i'd like to see this effort expanded in the future to all mental health professional shortfalls. h.r. 5059 also takes steps to temporary expand peer support networks, which we've heard are quite effective. i believe the reports require, by this bill, will confirm additional resources that should permanently be dedicated to fully utilizing peer support. h.r. 5059 also provides an additional window of eligibility for combat veterans who may have missed the window of opportunity to sign up for v.a. health care. this extra time will help to ensure that veterans receive

the health care, including mental health care, that they need. i'd encourage my colleagues to support this piece of legislation. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: thank you, mr. speaker. it's a pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from the first district of michigan, who is the chairman of the subcommittee on health, mr. benishek. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is is recognized. mr. benishek: thank you, mr. speaker, mr. chairman, mr. ranking member and mr. walz. thank you so much for introducing this legislation. i rise today to ask my colleagues to support the clay hunt s.a.v. act. i'm honored to be an original co-sponsor of this important legislation. as the father of a veteran and a doctor who worked at the v.a. hospital in northern michigan, i know that the challenges the military -- of military life do not end once our members return from active duty. the wounds of war may be invisible but no less real to the young men and women

suffering from them. facing high unemployment rates, the stigma of posttraumatic stress disorder, the loss of military fellowship, returning veterans face the lack of confidence when they should feel nothing more but relief and rest. that's why the v.a. will put the very best mental health professionals to work for our veterans and will create peer support networks to help catch those transitioning service members who might otherwise fall through the cracks. the time to act to address the epidemic of veteran suicide is now. with this bill and with continued focus on the health of our veterans and their mental health as well, we can make a real impact. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and pass the clay hunt s.a.v. act. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from maine. mr. michaud: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'd like to yield

five minutes to the gentleman from minnesota, mr. walz. i want to thank mr. walz for his continued effort to make sure that our veterans are taken care of in this great nation of ours. mr. walz. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to extend my thanks to chairman miller and ranking member michaud. i think an american public who many times thinks all politics is is bickering and fighting and pettiness needs to see the two examples that these leaders show. consistently putting the needs of our veterans first and foremost, finding areas to improve and holding people accountable, but i would argue that this piece of legislation most importantly finding solutions to make life better for our veterans, and for that i am forever grateful to them for the work and for the staff that worked on this. ms. duckworth is not able to be with us today. there's someone i said a lot of times people talk about patriotism and service and heroics, and tammy duckworth's

case, you say her name and her life is a living testament to that. she works every day. we're happy she's with her little one now. had a big part in this. there's very few things that unite this country as the security of our nation and in the care of our warriors, and i think many of us know, as the millions who fought the conflicts, fought extremism across the globe, people like clay hunt, a young marine, went and did his duty, wounded in iraq. that wasn't enough for clay so he went to afghanistan where he experienced some of the most horrific conditions you could imagine. that wasn't enough for clay. he came home after he did his service in the marine corps and continued to serve. he went to haiti and helped after -- took his skills that he learned in the military, took his skills to help after the hurricane. and then came and sat in many of our offices and many conversations of working everything from the g.i. bill to the transitioning back of

our warriors, dealing with ptsd and making sure we address their mental health issues. and i know for many of us, clay was the epitome of american patriotism and it comes as such a shock. i know it sounds like a clay shay. how could someone so strong and done so much be dealing with these demons. we know he was and we know this nation didn't do enough and we know he didn't receive the adequate care he deserved and earned and to be quite honest with you, it's in our nation's best interest both morally and security-wise and everything else to get them that. so, again, he didn't stop there and his parents didn't stop there. his parents, his mother and father are here in this chamber, as are his friends, to make sure this never happens to another family. and our friends at the veterans service conversations, paul and his folks and the v.f.w., has asked to us do better and the result of this legislation is

folks like chairman miller, ranking member michaud, tammy duckworth, mr. benishek, others who have come down here to speak about our differences are small compared to our commonalities and our care for our warriors have to be here. you heard the specifics of this bill. there's not one of us that's kidding us that this will be the silver bullet but it puts it on the forefront. it brought solutions that came from our warriors, came from best practices, came from both sides of the aisle and brought it forward to find real solutions, and the thing that most encourages me about this is, it's asking us if things are not working, evaluate them and get rid of them and bring the things forward that are going to work and don't get buried in studies for 10 years. we don't have 10 years. we don't have 10 days for people. . i think that's the beauty of this legislation. it starts to move those things forward, it starts to bring the communities back into this. it starts to understand a holistic approach to dealing

with veteran's suicides because this nation cannot allow this to happen. we morally cannot. it attacks our soul when we do this and to be very honest, we can't afford to lose people like clay hunt. clay hunt is our leaders, he's our future leaders, our business leaders. he at some point would have been in this chamber or wherever he chose to go, that was his destiny and this is happening over 22 times every day. i encourage my colleague, support this piece of legislation but more importantly support the spirit that's behind it, bringing us together, get it right, care for our warriors with the best use of our resources and the accountability of those resources to make sure the outcome is most important. that outcome is to bring them home, make them whole, make sure that they're able to continue to serve this nation as they wish. and so for that, i'm grateful. i am especially grateful for the leadership of clay's family and

his mother susan who absolutely said, this can be done this must be done and it will be done. thanks to these two gentlemen's leadership, it will be. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman from florida. >> i yield to the gentlelady from indiana who has a great future ahead, mrs. walorski, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from indiana is recognized for two minutes. mrs. walorski: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the distinguished gentleman from florida, the chairman. every day 22 veterans take their own lives and many of us in this chamber have experienced this in our own districts. this has been a tragedy in my district as well. sadly on march 31, nearly three years ago, clay hunt was one of those 22 veterans on that day that took his own life at the age of 28.

an afghanistan and iraq war veteran and suicide prevention advocate, clay hunt epitomized what it meant to have a life of service in and out of uniform. today we honor clay and his family with h.r. 5059, the clay hunt sav act. clay enlisted in the marine corps and served on several missions in iraq and afghanistan. after his final deployment in afghanistan, his unit returned in october of 2008. he was honorably discharged from the mane roos. here's the key. clay relied on the v.a. -- from the marines. here's the key. clay rethrind v.a. received a 30% disability rating from ptsd. after realizing his ptsd is what prevented him from keeping a job, he appealed the 30% decision and encountered a

bureaucratic nightmare cha resulted in lost files he waited months to see a v.a. psychiatrist. he told his mother he would never go back. two months later he, took his own life. five months after his death, 18 months after filing an i peel, his appeal went through. his ptsd rating was 100%. too little, too late. clay's story details the story of urgency, of our nation's heroes and the urgency they deserve in care. if we're going to lower this incredible alarming rate of suicides, we have to improve the access and effectiveness of mental health care available tour returning heroes. and this step is a step in the right direction. the clay hunt sav act will increase access to mental health care, improve the quality of care troops and veterans receive. together we can change this system so no other veteran or spouse or parents will ever have

to do with -- have to endure what thousands of veterans have had to endure, including clay. we owe it to them to continue to do what we can do, including clay, and give them nothing but the best. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. he gentleman from maine. mr. michaud: i would like to yield three minutes to the gentlelady from florida, ms. brown, who has been a strong advocate for our veterans for a number of years on the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. brown: thank you, mr. speaker, mr. ranking member, and let me thank you for your service, your 12 years of service to this congress, what you've done for veterans throughout this country and also working with you on transportation. i want to salute you for all that you've done. thank you very much.

earlier today, i visited the walter reed national military medical center where part of the facility is named after jack murtha cancer center. jack murtha was a friend of mine and the biggest advocate in congress for men and women serving in our military. i'm especially proud of the normandy enter at the american cemetery in france, i had the opportunity to visit the center not long after it opened in 2007. it truly paid tribute to the soldiers who stormed the beaches and gave visitors a true sense of what the men and their loved ones had gone through on that d-day. i am pleased to have worked with john murtha and i am pleased of his memory -- that his memory will live on with the jack murtha cancer center at walter reed. i rise in support of this legislation to help bring

attention to the horrible problems that affect our nation's veterans. i am pleased that my colleague introduced this legislation that requires that the secretary of veterans affairs and the secretary of defense to arrange for an outside evaluation of their mental health care and suicide prevention programs. will also and person discharged for mental trauma to get treatment 2. 2 veterans' suicides per day is too many. one suicide is too many. i want to thank mr. walz again for introducing this legislation. last night at the white house christmas ball, there were cards available for members of congress to sign that would be nt to servicemen in this holiday season.

i have placed these cards in the democratic cloakroom and the republican cloakroom and i'm asking that members that would -- that members would sign these cards and send notes to our veterans throughout the world. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. he gentleman from florida. mr. deutch: i yield now to a -- mr. -- >> i recognize the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. jelly spak -- mr. jolly: across the country today there are families grieving remembering a loved one who in a moment of tragedy took their own life. these families also have in common another memory. today their loved one put on the uniform of the armed -- the day

their loved one put on the uniform of the armed forces for the first time, raised their right hand, took an oath to defend the nation, to defend and protect each of us. in many ways we as a nation have failed to defend and protect them. we have failed to ensure sufficient access to mental health care, suicide prevention services, we have remarkable care givers and mental health counselors in our v.a. and d.o.d. health that are on the frontlines of mental health services every day. they do remarkable work. but administratively we must do more. we must empower veterans to seek immediate care for mental health and suicide prevention services. we must incentivize mental health professionals to join the v.a. work force and deliver health care to our veterans and improve coordination between the v.a. and deform o.d. to deliver these services. this legislation does exactly that and that's why it deserves our full support. mr. speaker, this is a matter of national importance but it's also a matter of personal conviction for many families,

including a mother in my district. who on memorial day of this year t the c.w. bill young center approached me to share a story about the los of her son who took his own life while awaiting enrollment in the v.a., awaiting mental health treatment from the v.a. his mental health needs were left untreated and he took his own life. there are very few things more important for this body than to give voice to the voiceless. we are doing that today by speaking out about the tragic experiences of those who are no longer with us, and by improving the health care system that provides remarkable care every day to our veterans but needs this congress and this administration to enact much-needed changes. mr. speaker, this is critically important legislation. i urge my colleagues to join me in its passage and i thank you for the time. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back.

the gentleman from maine. mr. michaud: how many more speakers does the gentleman from florida have? >> we have one more speaker before i close. one more speaker, i believe she's on his way. i reserve the balance of my time -- mr. michaud: we have one more speaker, i believe she's on her way. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman from florida. mr. crenshaw: i would like to yield to mr. roskam for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. roskam: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, chairman. listening to the debate and this discussion today, is really a bill about real contrasts. and the contrast is the gentleman from -- as the gentleman from minnesota described a couple of minutes ago is starting at a very high point. that is, a sense of calling, a sense of patriotism, a sense of

going forward and meeting a duty and joining the armed forces of the united states. that's one end of the spectrum. then at the other end of the spectrum was the description that mrs. walorski had, and that was of clay hunt's experience. from one end of the spectrum to the other. you know, as i was sitting and listening, mr. speaker, i was looking above your head, there's a clock over your head. if you think about it you look at the numbers, 22 people every day are going to kill themselves, we know that, and you think about that, and you look at that clock and think new york a little bit more than an hour, there's going to be a terrible thing that's going to happen system of the good news is that tammy duckworth from illinois and tim walz from minnesota and jeff miller from florida decided to do something about it. and the power of this is when you have that broad of a political spectrum that says we're not going to tolerate this. we're going to make sure that this issue is not lost in the

shuffle. that this is not a statistic, this is not 22, and yet these are people who are going to be named, these are people who are going to be discussed, and these are people who are going to be defended. so i'm happy today to join with those who are asking for favorable passage of the clay hunt sav act. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. does the gentleman have further speakers? mr. michaud: i'm prepared to close if the gentleman has no further speakers. thank you, mr. speaker. providing sufficient and effective mental health care to our veterans is an issue that i believe we must focus on. this is an -- it is an issue that i hope will bring comprehensive policies in the next congress. finding real solutions will require the work of all of us working together and will require sufficient resources and dedication. i know my colleague, the gentleman from minnesota, will

be at the forefront of this fight. joined by chairman miller, member-elect, ranking member elect ms. brun, and all the republican and -- republicans and democrats on the veterans' affairs committee. . i will not be in the next session of congress to join that fight. in my years of congress i worked hard toward solutions that provided effective care and benefits for our veterans. i fought against inadequate budgets and for resources necessary to do the job. i've worked hard to improve the care and benefits of our newest veterans while never forgetting our veterans from previous conflicts. i've been encouraged by what we've all been able to accomplish together. but there is more we have to do, and i know my colleagues will not give up the fight until we've won that battle. i do want to thank chairman

miller for his leadership, his support and his friendship over the years. it's been an honor to work with you, chairman miller. it has been a pleasure to serve with you as well. i also want to thank the members of the house veterans' affairs committee both past and present. you've been true colleagues, mentors and friends. ms. brown, our ranking member-elect, i want to wish you the best of luck, and i hope that you'll enjoy your time as ranking member as i have enjoyed my time as ranking member. and for the staff, both the majority and minority staff, they are the ones that make members look good. they work very hard day and night to make sure that the policies that members of the committee want are put into legislation.

i can say truly that the majority and minority staff in this congress has worked very well together. you put aside the partisanship that other committees have. so thank you for your hard work, your dedication to make sure that we serve what we're here to do and that's to serve our veterans. there is no more noble calling than serving those who have served this great nation of ours. and to my colleagues here in congress who are veterans and to america's veterans, i simply say thank you, thank you for your service for this great nation of ours. it's because of you we are the country that we are today. you never turned your back, you never faltered and you -- some of you made the ultimate sacrifice and have given your life for this country, so thank you for your service.

with that, mr. speaker, i'd urge my colleagues to support this bill, to move it to the senate. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: thank you, mr. speaker. i would be remiss if i did not say thank you to mike michaud as the ranking member of the veterans' affairs committee. we, as a team, along with the members and the staff, have accomplished much this year, but it has all been done in a bipartisan way. we were able to move large pieces of legislation that will impact in a positive way veterans for years to come. we uncovered probably the largest scandal that has ever been uncovered at the department of veterans affairs, and we are now turning that agency in a direction to where it serves the veterans and not itself. this wouldn't have happened without the steady hand of mike

michaud as the ranking member. again, he's a fine man. he's been a great representative, and he's a friend that will be missed. i look forward to going to maine one day and hunting a moose with mike, who i've pestered for 12 years to get a chance to go up and visit, but we will miss you and we wish you well. and with that i want to take a moment to express my condolences and my appreciation to clay's family who i understand are in the capitol with us today, as well as all the families of veterans who have lost their lives to suicide. my thoughts and my prayers are with each of them. once again, i encourage all the members to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. all time having expired, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5059, as amended.

hose in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. without objection, the title is amended. the chair lays before the house n enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 5462, an act to amend title 49 united states code to provide for limitations on the fees charged to assengers of air carriers. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. the gentleman from texas. for what purpose? brayden murdoch mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent --

mr. brady: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the subject of this special order for ralph hall for one hour. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman will suspend. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the gentleman from texas, mr. barton, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. barton: i thank the distinguished speaker. i want to thank the speaker for granting us this special order to honor congressman ralph hall of the fourth congressional district and granting us this time today. although congressman hall has been sidelined by recent accident, he's blessed to be on the mend and he hopes to express his thanks in person sometime next year. hopefully he's watching on c-span television right now from rockwall, texas, and i cannot tell him how many members wish him the speediest of recovery and wish that he

were with us now. ralph has asked me to put in the record the following statement from himself. i want to express -- and this is -- i quote from congressman ralph hall. i want to express my heart felt appreciation to those in the fourth congressional district who gave me their vote of confidence time and again, who gave me the benefit of their wisdom and good ideas and who inspired me to do my best to represent their views and their vision -- and their vision in washington. you will always be dear to my heart. mr. speaker, i also want to put into the record a full statement by congressman hall at this time by unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. barton: thank you. with that i want to yield five minutes to the distinguished congressman from colin county,

congressman sam johnson. -- collin county, congressman sam johnson. mr. johnson: thank you. i rise to appreciate ralph hall. it's been said, quote, a hero is someone who has given his or her life to someone bigger than ones self-. ralph embodies these -- one's self. ralph embodies these word. he's a fierce protector of freedom and a great conservative. he is a shining example of all that is great about america and the great state of texas. ralph and i have known each other for a very long time. i won't say how long. we are blessed to represent neighboring districts, and there's no greater friend and ally in congress than ralph. we have worked together on a number of issues.

recently, i was pleased to help ralph with a zebra mussel water bill. that is a bill that provided clean water to north texas. now, ralph is known both around the hill and back at home for his sense of humor. you might say that's why he's never met a stranger. every person he meets is not just a friend but a close friend. on a more serious note, ralph is also known for his faithful love of his late wife, mary ellen. if you ever visit with ralph, he'll tell you she was the person who encouraged him to enter public service, and since then she was with him every step of the way. when ralph had his chairman portrait painted two years ago, he made sure mary ellen was part of that portrait.

that love and commitment speaks so highly of ralph's character. ralph, as your colleague, i thank you for your service to your constituents, our great state of texas and our great nation. as your friend, i thank you for your sense of humor but more importantly i thank you for your loyal friendship. you know, d.c. won't be the same without you. god bless you. i salute you, ralph. mr. barton: thank you, congressman johnson. before i recognize congresswoman greaninger, i want to -- granger, i want to say most of ralph's washington, d.c., staff is watching this. janet, christopher, leslie,

mitzy and ralph wanted me to thank y'all for your ervice for himself and for the fourth district of texas. i want to yield to the lady from the 12th district of texas, the honorable kay granger. ms. granger: thank you. it's such an honor to speak about our good friend, ralph hall. you know, his background and what he's done is really amazing. he joined the navy when he was -- in 1942. went to war. came back and got l.l.b. from southern methodist university. he was admitted to the texas bar and became a county judge, the president of the state judge and commissions association, elected to the state senate and was president pro tempore. then in 1980 came to the house

of representatives where he still serves. the most important thing is something that joe barton talked about in his life and he said, if you're going to talk about how important my life is, you'll talk about his wife, mary ellen. the love of his life. they were married in 1944 and were maried until she passed -- married until she passed. we talk about who ralph hall is. the first thing you think about is that great smile. he was always smiling. always had a twinkle in his eye and a joke on his lips. there was no one that told jokes better, there's no one that tells jokes better than ralph hall. he's always got a story and he's always got a joke. i had to go to the "dallas morning news" for endorsement at the editorial board one time and unfortunately ralph was interviewed right before i was. i walked in and they were still laughing at his jokes and no one could even think of a question for me for a while.

he was just that kind of person. never said a mean thing about anyone but told a lot of jokes to a lot of people. so i wish ralph were here sitting in this chamber with us tonight, but because of his accident, he's not but i know he's watching it. and to his family and to ralph, we miss you and we wish you the very best. it's been wonderful. we're all better from having known you. thank you. mr. barton: i thank the gentlelady. before i introduce congressman neugebauer, i already put one statement in the record ralph wanted me to read, but by electronic device, he's sent a second statement. so this is another direct quote from congressman hall. although sidelined by recent accident, i am blessed to be on the mend and hope to express my thanks in person sometime next year. it's been a great honor and privilege to represent the good people of the fourth congressional district for the past 33 years. i thank them for their vote of

confidence over the years for their wisdom and good ideas and for inspiring me to represent their views and their vision to the best of my ability. and with that i want to recognize for five minutes the congressman representing lubbock, texas, where the ennis lions will play a high school football game friday night, the honorable randy neugebauer. mr. neugebauer: i thank the gentleman. i rise to honor the service of my colleague, ralph hall. when you look at ralph's life, it's a record of serve to his country. it began in 1942 as a young lieutenant flying an aircraft off of an aircraft carrier, and after the war, ralph came back to this country and started work in the private sector in creating jobs and expanding the economy in texas. . later ralph would be the county judge for rock wall, texas, and

would late behr elected as a texas state senator. in 1980, he was elected to the united states congress to represent the fourth district of texas, where he has represented that district with distinction. one of the things, you ever traveled in ralph's district and stop at the 7-eleven or place to get a little gas and mention the name ralph hall, people's faces light up. i bet everybody in rock wall county has met ralph hall in fact, probably everybody in ralph's district has met ralph. because one of the things he was diligent about doing was making sure people in his district felt represented. since his election, he's worked tirelessly here in congress on a number of issues and i had the honor and privilege to serve on the house science, space, and technology committee with ralph, and one of the things i appreciated most about ralph, and i think most of us appreciated is ralph's sense of humor. that didn't stop him from asking

very direct and grilling questions of witnesses that would come before our committee. sometimes there would be a tense moment. but ralph always had something funny or a story to tell that broke the ice. you've seen a number of members of the texas delegation here today, particularly the republican delegation and every thursday, we have lunch together. talk about what's good for texas. but what was always a thing that we always looked forward to, we couldn't wait until ralph got there so that we could -- ralph could share a funny story. and you know, one of the things that i'll miss most about ralph is those times when he'd be on the floor or he would be at lunch, sharing those stories. now one of the things about ralph is that as he got older, he got wiser. and in fact he, got so wise, in 2004, he realized he needed to be a part of the republican party and so he switched from the democratic party to the republican party. we were so glad to welcome him

to that. so as i said, it's been an honor and a privilege, ralph, to be part of your team on the science, space and technology committee. it's been a great honor to be one of your colleagues, but more importantly, ralph, we want to thank you for your friendship and kinship and most importantly your service to this great nation and to the state of texas. so with that, we say, ralph, job well done, god bless you and we ook forward to seing you soon. mr. barton: i thank the gentleman from lubbock. i now recognize the congressman from the 25th district of texas, mr. roger williams. under the newest configuration, he's the only congressman represent that district. they must love him. mr. williams: i'm honored to stand here today and say a few words about our most treasured

friend, mentor, and leader, ralph hall. his service to country and his fellow man are full of victories as we have heard and hailts -- highlight taos numerous to count. he flew planes in world war ii. once the next congress convenes, we'll misthe only two remaining world war ii veterans in congress, also including congressman dingell. ralph hall has an appreciation for america that few of us can understand. he understands sacrifice. he understands service. he understands putting one's self aside for the greater good. he's always been an accomplished businessman, having served in a number of executive roles in the private sector. he brought his business savvy to congress, which contributed to him being one of the most respected and well-liked members we've had. his ability to bring humor was not just to get a laugh but

bringing different viewpoints together ralph has served north texas well and deserves recognition for his accomplishments. i am grateful to have served with my friend and patriot whose leadership, spirit, and statesmanship will be greatly missed. i wish him the best as he continues to serve texas, america, and his community back home. i will always pray for ralph and his family. i yield back. mr. barton: thank you, congressman. we would now like to recognize the congressman from the firth congressional district, deep east texas, soft spoken congressman louie gohmert. mr. gohmert spst it is an honor to be here honoring ralph hall. he has been my congressman for many years and in fact after being on the bench for -- mr. gome effort:. -- mr. gohmert: it is an honor to be here honoring ralph hall.

he has been my congressman for many years. and in fact after being on the bench, i thought i should legislate, wouldn't do it from the bench. i talked to him and told him as long as he was my congressman i had no need to run because he would represent me well. then we had redistricting in 2003 and it opened up a different district. but i felt that way then. if he had stayed my congressman, i'd never had a need to run, so some may wish we didn't have redistricting. as i hear people talk about his age, i think about ralph saying that when he turned 90, somebody on his staff said, congressman hall, would you rather we didn't mention to people that you're 90? and he said, no, i'm fine with that. i'd a lot rather you say, he's 90, than doesn't he look natural? and having been with ralph

yesterday, there in rockwall, as he's going through rehab, actually he, doesn't look natural at all he looks great. and just look forward to the days when he's fully out of the wheelchair and that rod in his leg is not bothering him as much as it is now. we miss him very much. and he did provide me a quote too, that struck him, having been chairman of the science committee. he said, and this is a quote ralph sent, we are reminded of the responsibility given to us by the scripture engraved on the hearing room wall of the science committee from proverbs 29:18, where there is no vision, the people perish. ralph's eyesight was 20/20. he could see where we've been. he could see where we were going. and it was an honor and pleasure and real privilege to serve with my friend ralph hall.

i yield back. mr. barton: i thank congressman gohmert. i'd now like to recognize the gentlelady who represents part of dallas county, the honorable eddie bernice johnson who comes from the same hometown i do, waco, texas. ms. johnson: thank you very much. i'm delighted to join you in saying some words about ralph hall, my friend. it has been my honor and privilege to serve with my colleague and friend and we had some laughs just recently when i visited him about our history nd working together in elected office. our relationship goes back to when i was in the texas house and i left the texas house in the 1970's. talking about things that we remember. i really regret that he's not here today, but he wanted to be and he planned to be, but he's not going to make it today.

but as all of you who have had the pleasure of serving with ralph, we are missing out -- as all of you have had the pleasure of serving with ralph, we are missing out on stories and jokes, some of them really funny and some can't be said in some places. so i won't try to match him in story telling but i'm going to tell you a little story that happened when ralph switched parties. called him and called him and called him and called him, and i couldn't get through, nor did he return my calls, until i finally said, well just tell him i still love him, i don't care what party he's in. so 30 seconds later, he returned my call. and he said, i just couldn't take another bawling out from a woman. he said, i've gotten it from my sister, i've gotten it from my wife. i said, but you know what,

probably no one understands more than i do, because i've been watching your numbers. it never interfered with our relationship. when he was chair of the science, space, and technology committee, two of the years he was chair, i was ranking member. he never hesitated to reach across the aisle to try to reach consensus. and really, the kind of spirit we need now, and i will miss him for that. i will miss him because of the history we both shared. our districts used to come right next to each other, now there are a couple that come between us, but it won't divide our friendship and i look forward to our continued friendship for many years to come. i have learned so much from him. i remember when i first came, he was the person who taught me how to make arrangements to go home every week with the airline that we use and also taught me how to find rooms -- how to find routes

and shortcuts how to get where you're going on this hill, which is complicated when you first get here. he will be missed. the space exploration program will be forever grateful to him. the science committee research and all of its -- and all it stands for will always have a part of his history -- a part of its history, ralph hall. i appreciate the opportunity to have had a chance to work with him, to know him and his family, and to wish him well. thank you. mr. barton: we now want to recognize the congressman from fort bend county, sugarland, texas, a navy pilot himself, as ralph hall was in world war ii, he honorable pete olson.

the gentleman's time is expired. mr. olson: mr. speaker, i thank my friend for that kind introduction. may 3, 1923.

ralph hall is born in fate, texas. there could not be in the whole world a better name to describe a man's life than being born in fate, texas. fate touched ralph in many ways. ralph as a young man in rockwall, texas, pumping gas as a teenager, guess who drove up and bought gas from my friend, ralph hall? bonnie and clyde. the gangsters. yes, sir, i yield my friend.

mr. barton: i have repeatedly asked him to prove that and he has absolutely failed system of that is an urban myth of the fourth congressional district. mr. olson: reclaiming time, my didn't aid, we saw him, know who they were, he got a quarter, a huge tip. the paper was there right beside the door he, saw this man and this woman, he pumped gas for hose two felons. he told his boss and they called the sheriff, the sheriff said, thank you so much for calling, i've got a call about two stray dogs, once i catch those dogs, i'll go after bonnie and clyde. fate and ralph hall. ut fate didn't stop there.

as was mentioned, ralph was a naval aviator, a pilot, in world war ii. he did flight training in pensacola, florida. he was there with the marines. a guy named ted williams. batted .403 in 1941. mr. barton: would the gentleman yield on that point? while the bonnie and clyde story is more fiction than fact, ralph would have had -- ralph would have been pumping gas at the ripe old age of 8 or 9 years old for that to be true, the ted williams story is fact and it is true. mr. olson: i thank my friend. the point is, ralph nose ted is

there. baseball game against army. i'll take all their paychecks. i got ted williams. then david comes, knocks on ted's door. he had some fishing gear. let's go fishing. ralph tried to stop him. ted, ted, i've told my wife i'm coming home with a big paycheck. i bet my whole paycheck on this game. ralph held the fence up so ted williams could go awol. maybe he lost the game and ralph had a rough night at home with mary ellen. fate touched ralph hall one more time. as a chairman of the nasa committee here in congress, ralph hall and his friends were

great americans. this picture shows the greatest. a man right there named neil armstrong. the first american to walk on the moon. colonel tom stafford, another apollo restaurant. right by the microphone there, captain gene. went to the moon twice on apollo -- apollo 10 and apollo 17. fate touched ralph hall's life. fate touched our lives by giving ralph hall to us. he is america's best. he's texas' best. ralph, we love you. god bless you. fair winds and following seas.

mr. barton: i thank the gentleman from sugar land. , mr. ecognize mr. green green. mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm not so sure about a noted texas landmark but i want to thank you for asking and scheduling this special order for our good friend, ralph hall. i rise to pay tribute to a great american who dedicated his life to protecting and serving our nation in the great state of texas, representative ralph hall, a true gentleman. ralph began his commitment to service second decades ago when he joined the united states navy. served as an aircraft carrier pilot in world war ii, returning to texas after the war, ralph became -- began private law practice in rockwall, texas, are we served as county judge in the 1950's and represented that area in the texas state senator --

texas state senate from 1962 to 1972. that's when i first met ralph hall, because in 1970 he ran for lieutenant governor in texas, in the democratic primary. and there were few other folks in that race. ralph didn't make it out of the -- into the runoff. but ralph was elected to congress in 1980 as a conservative democrat, where he served our state honorably on energy and commerce committee and the science committee where he was chairman from 2011 to 2013. in 2003, ralph became a republican. his votes were always conservative, though. my job in the 1990's as a deputy whip on the democratic side was the whip texas members. so i'd go to ralph and he was a distinguished gentleman and that's just not a title, he really was. he would tell me, he said, what do you want me to do? i said, well, i want to you vote this way. he said, you know, i can't really do that. i said, well, can you vote

late? ralph was always a conservative, no matter what democratic or republican label he had. i had the honor of serving with ralph in congress since 1993 and on the energy and commerce committee since 1997 and ralph has always been a true gentleman to me and to all i've ever saw him work with. i will best remember ralph as a true hero of texas who is a committed public servant, either in uniform or elected official, and always stayed true to his beliefs and did everything he could for his constituents. mr. speaker, congressman hall will be sorely missed by all of us and i want to thank him for both his hard work and dedication for years, but more importantly for his friendship to a lot of members, not just texans, but a lot of members in congress. and ralph will be very fondly remembered. i thank my colleague for yielding to me. mr. barton: now i want to recognize the distinguished congressman from i believe

flower mound, texas, in denton county, the honorable michael bureau jells. mr. burgess: thank you, chairman. thank you for calling this hour together. of course the ranks of those who are able to capably deliver a narrative in this house suddenly have gotten a little thinner. i had the opportunity to sit down and visit with mr. hall just a few days before thanksgiving. i know how intense was his desire to be here and be able to talk on the floor today on his own behalf. sadly that didn't come to pass. i hope you're able to watch today. i hope you're able to hear the accolades of all of your colleagues. we miss you, ralph. we wish you nothing but the best going forward. again, the ranks of the capable narrative deliverer here in the house of representatives has gotten a little thinner at the end of this term. chairman, thank you for the recognition. i'll yield back. mr. barton: thank you. now we want to recognize congressman from corpus

hristi, texas, mr. farenthold. mr. farenthold: thank you, chairman barton. it's great to be here to talk a moment or two about my good friend, ralph hall. when i was first elected to congress a few years back, ralph was one of the first people that i met being a texan and he has the kindest heart and always has a smile on his face and a good joke ready at hand. people ask me, what do you see your career as congress, who do you look up to, where do you see your career in congress going think? said, i might want to grow uper to ralph hall. then -- grow up to be ralph hall. then some of his adversaries said he was too old to be in congress and ralph jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. i had to rethink of growing up to be ralph hall after he jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. but it's a testament to the dedication and courage he has. ralph was committed to serving

texas and the folks that he represented and he would go to any length, including jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, to continue to serve. it was an honor and a privilege to have spent four years of my life as a colleague of ralph's. it's been the greatest four years of my life and it's an honor and privilege to have served with him and he truly will be missed. and i appreciate the opportunity, chairman barton, to be on the floor today to acknowledge my friend and quite frankly one of my strongest mentors here in congress, ralph hall. god bless you, ralph. we're going to miss you. mr. barton: thank you. now i recognize the gentleman from the 14th district of illinois, congressman hultgren. mr. hultgren: chairman, thank you so much. it is such a privilege to be able to say a few words for my

good friend and my chairman, chairman of the science committee when i first was elected to congress four years ago, had the privilege of serving under chairman hall on the science committee. a couple memories that i have. so many committees that i went to where the committee would stop because we were laughing so hard with a statement or comment or joke perfectly timed that chairman hall would put in and so enjoyed that time so much. my wife and i had an incredible privilege this summer. we have among ourselves here in congress some wonderful people we get to serve with. a few of them truly are heroes. and one of those heroes is ralph hall. had the privilege of going to the 70th anniversary of d-day to recognize those world war ii veterans and ralph hall was with us on that trip. we all loved being there, but everybody wanted to be with ralph hall. again, a true hero. and to be in that place with

ralph hall was a great, great honor for my wife and i. my greatest memory since i've been here, over the four years, was with chairman hall. and that was in the science committee and having the privilege of sitting about 10 feet away from armstrong and the first man to walk on the moon and the last man to walk on the moon. people who changed the trajectory of this nation and this world. and having the opportunity to talk with them and get to know them and to hear their amazing story, but also the humility that they had, that same humility that chairman hall has, just a privilege to serve. and, ralph, we love you. i wish so much that you could be here today to be able to express your own heart for the privilege i know that you felt serving in this incredible place, serving the wonderful constituents you have in texas. but i want you to know that we love you, we miss you, we're praying for you and we're excited to see, hopefully soon,

a full recovery for you and looking forward to having you back here and hearing those great jokes once again. so, ralph, want to let you know that we're pulling for you and excited again for all that you've done and all that you're going to do. with that i yield back to the chairman. mr. barton: thank you. wield now like to yield to the gentlelady from houston, texas, congresswoman sheila jackson lee. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much. i thank the chairman for yielding. and i thank him for holding this special order for a very dear friend to all of us, ralph hall. i guess my opening remarks would be that if you took the greater percentage of all of us members of the house of representatives, everyone would rise up and say, my good friend ralph hall and really mean it. for he was a good friend and is a good friend to all of us, on both sides of the aisle. i came to the united states congress, i went to the science committee and there was ralph

hall. fighting for the issues that were not only impacting the nation but were impacting our great state. no one could doubt that ralph hall was a champion for texas, a champion for the space exploration program. i used to love getting with him on the floor of the house and strategizing how we could continue to make sure that our space exploration continues and the great research that is done in nasa goes on. certainly as a member of the energy and commerce committee, he was astutely concerned about the issues of energy, but also health care and many others. he loved his family and he forever reminded me of a time when he came to houston and he had to see his grandson whoist now grown and -- who is now grown and i'm sure one of ralph's favorite grandsons, if you will. he loves his family. when he had to get a ride to the hospital where his grandson was. and of course we're so grateful that he recovered. but he always tells everyone

that i went 30 miles out of my way to take him to that hospital and i can say to you, i did it with joy. but he was always grateful and thankful for friendship and kindness and he was kind. and i must say that if he didn't have a career in the united states congress, he could be a stand-up comic. because his timing was everything, his jokes were unique. i don't think they were written anywhere. and of course he was always saying them. let me also say, since he's had such a long history, he reminded me of his friendship with the honorable barbara jordan and his friendship with mickey leland, two of the predecessors of my particular district. and then i would offer to say the same remarks that were mentioned just earlier about how excited -- exciting it was to be in normandy for the 70th commemoration and have our own special iconic hero, ralph hall, who was honored by the french and honored by many.

he was a regular hero and a dynamic hero, as we went about the town. so my hat is off to ralph. i know that he will be well. i know that he knows that we love him. but more importantly, let me salute him as a great american who has served his nation with dignity and honor and respect and integrity and who walks the pathway of a congressional person that respects the dignity and integrity of this house and as well the friendship of democrats and republicans, because he calls everyone an american. i yield back. mr. barton: thank you. i thank the gentlelady. now i want to recognize the congressman from the 14th istrict in texas, randy weber. mr. webster: i thank the gentleman, -- mr. weber: i thank the gentleman, mr. speaker. you may have heard about the revered halls of congress but let me say there's no more revered hall of congress than that of ralph hall.

you know, let me tell you why that is. ralph hall was a true texan and a great american. he's a great example to us all. as a true texas gentleman, time and time again i've seen him demonstrate the art of tact and he once described that art of tact as making someone feel at home when you wish they were. as a true texas gentleman he, could do that. as a true texas gentleman, i saw him time and time again use the art of diplomacy he explained to me he, said, randy, diplomacy is being able to tell someone to go to hades and make them happy to be on their way. ralph had that gift. ralph hall, and i'm going to list some descriptions of him, alphabetically. he was american, through and through. he was charming.

he could turn that charm on. he was committed. he was serious about what he did. elegant. he was a picture of elegance. you could see the way he moved and the way he worked. funny. gosh, he was so funny. the fact is, i think he was cut out to be a comedian but he was probably sewn together wrong. he was funny at times. gracious. a true texas gentleman. a mentor to us. could be stern when necessary. strong. did i mention texas through and through? witty. in short, ralph was a great example, mr. chairman, mr. speaker, i end with this acronym. en i think of ralph, r-a-l-p-h, i think of ralph. he was real, he was republican. r and then a, he was american. i think of l, he was a leader. then i think of p, ralph was

principled. and then i think of h. he was a hero. he is a hero. and i'll end with this. his last name, hall, h stands for hero. a stands for american, and l -- both the l's stand for the lasting legacy he's going to leave here in the halls of congress. when it comes to the halls of congress there is none better than ralph hall. ralph, we love you, we bid you a great american -- we bid you a great american and great texan farewell but only temporarily. don't be a stranger. mr. speaker, i yield back. mr. barton: i thank the gentleman. we now want to recognize from california's 48th district in orange county, the honorable dana rohrabacher. mr. rohrabacher: i have served

in the house of representatives now for 26 years and i have met good people and bad people and i met people i agree with and who i like, and people i disagree with and i like. and we are reflective of the american people. people ask me, what do you think about the united states congress? i always say, i reflects what the american people are all about. this is the house of representatives, where we represent all of these parts of our country. well, ralph hall was one of those representatives who represented the goodness in america and the greatness in america. ralph hall was, first and foremost, i believe, an american was a patriot and put that above every other one of his considerations. i was proud to know ralph, and he is still with us, we shouldn't think of him being

gone from the earth, he's still here and i hope he's listening right now, because we wish him all the best. ralph hall is a great american still and he has left his legacy here behind. i worked with ralph on the science and space -- space, science, and technology as they call it. and ralph has made enormous contributions to the well being of our country in terms of both on two areas in particular, we know of, i worked with ralph, number one he, did more to help direct america's space program and keep it a viable effort on the part of the united states to utilize space for the benefit of human kind and of course for the purpose of the united states to become a dominant power in the next frontier. ralph, his leadership was indispensable to creating the

potential that we have today of accomplishing great things in space and the things that we have already accomplished, ralph was right in the middle of it, making sure that that job got done. he was also very involved with energy development. i know that there's a little bit of confusion, just because someone is from texas that they're going to be backing up the oil companies and things such as that. ralph was a guy who, yeah, he believed in the oil industry. he was grateful to the oil industry for the good things it has provided us, the fact that energy and production of energy is so important to our national well being. but he was also a man who understood that science was going to develop new methods of energy and was always pushing our committee and the science committee to be on the cutting edge of research and development

and you know, when you get people here, running for congress they run for congress because they have strong ideas and ideals, often which they don't agree with one another. you can imagine trying to get legislation through committees and through -- on the floor of the house, etc., when you have people who are having to interact but have different points of view. well, tensions at that moment can be a blockage to making things better. and ralph, if anything else, was he guy who was able to take -- eliminate the tension in the air that was getting in the way of getting something done because he had the best sense of humor of any other member i have ever, ever come across. ralph, by doing that, kept this body a product i body and weren't at each other's throats and one last note. my father was a pilot during world war ii.

and he flew in the pacific. i have a very special place in my heart for ralph hall and all those guys because ralph hall too was a pilot in world war ii in the pacific. he's the godfather to us all. ralph, we respect you, we honor -- honor you, we love you, we are grate to feel you for what you meant to our lives and what you've done to help make our country better off. thank you and god bless. mr. barton: thank you congressman. i now want to recognize from the fifth district of dallas, texas, committee, of the mr. jeb hensarling. mr.sen sar ling: i -- mr. hensarling: i rise to honor this great patriot from texas, mr. ralph hall. i feel most inadequate to the task. there are a number of members who come to the house floor and

some provide humor. few have provided more humor than ralph hall at times when this body critically needs it. some members come to this body and they become more respected. certainly that is ralph hall. some are well liked. that is also ralph hall. some distinguish themselves for their accomplishments. and ralph hall will take second place to no one on what he's been able to accomplish in his house career. and then there's a handful, mr. speaker, of true american heroes. ralph hall served our nation with courage and distinction in world war ii. and my point, mr. speaker, is that i'm not sure i know of any member who combines them all, respectability, likeability, humor, effectiveness, and being true american hero.

we will miss ralph hall, we will miss his wit. but you know, mr. speaker, even many so, i think i will miss -- even more so, i think i will miss his wisdom. there are times we debate issues, either among the texas delegation or the house as a whole, and occasionally the voices get a littled how, the debate gets confused and almost out of nowhere, ralph hall comes in and imparts his wisdom and it is like a ray of sunshine piercing the darkness and i'll say, yes, that makes sense. and we come together as members of congress for the good of america. and i heard the previous speaker about it, there's so much we could say about ralph and his accomplishments, but how ironic in some respects that the oldest member of the house was so much on the cutting edge of science

and technology and has helped this institution lead america into this century. when ralph hall has spoken, when he has led so many have followed. so there are many reasons that it is a privilege to serve in the united states house of representatives but one of the great privileges is the people that you meet. there have been none nicer, none wiser, and more accomplished than ralph hall. mr. speaker, i will miss, texas will miss, america will miss ralph hall when he leave this is body. i yield back. mr. barton: i thank the gentleman. now i recognized from round rock, texas, the distinguished ohn carter, for two minutes. mr. carter: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i

rise today to speak about my friend, ralph hall. an amazing man. he's been just about anything adventuresome you could think about in your life. s the man that tells us he was a little boy when bonnie and clyde went through. -- this is the man that tells us he was a little boy when bonnie and clyde went through. truth. he's telling the and he was a fight reporter, and i newsom people turned down a ung man named cassius clay because they thought he had a glass jaw. he once ran for attorney general d he said he looked in the mirror, thought he saw the attorney general and it turned out it was oodooth guy he was seeing in the mirror.

he has served in this house as both a democrat and a republican and is loved by both parties, is respected by both parties. and he had an amazing talent for carrying humor around as a tool of friendship. i just wanted to share one small thing that was just -- it livened up a crowd like i've never seen before. we were at the laying of the keel of the aircraft carrier george herbert walker bush. there was about 50 or so people sitting in chairs in the hot sun. and they put a bottle of water under each chair. i was sitting next to ralph on the front row and he looked down there underneath his chair and saw that bottle of water and all these people were sweltering behind us, waiting for the thing to start and he reached down, picked up the bottle of water he, got up, turned around to the crowd behind him and said, somebody noise put a bottle of water beneath the chair.

who got the scotch. and the crowd started laughing and everybody relaxed and the ceremony began. ralph made friends like nobody else. he is my friend. think everybody in this house considers him a friend. he's a great american, a great texan and i'm going to miss him dearly. i yield back. mr. barton: i thank the gentleman. may i inquire how much time we have remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has eight minutes remaining. mr. barton: eight minutes. i want to yield myself se balance of the time. -- yield myself the balance of the time. we have had a number of congressmen come on the house floor and tell anecdotes about ralph and how funny he was and how smart he was and they're all, at least the ones about how smart he was, very true. we've heard the urban myth about waiting on bonnie and clyde which i do not believe is true.

we've heard about ted williams and ralph and ted playing on the same baseball team in world war ii. that is true. we've heard about the offer to serve as fight promoter for cassius clay who later became muhammad ali, and that's true. a few more you may not know. he was good friends with the hunt brothers in dallas and clint murchison, the original owner of the dallas cowboys. at one time he was asked to be yen counsel for what we call the nfl today. -- -- to be general counsel for what we call the nfl today which he turned down. i got to know ralph when i got elected in 1984. he and i served districts that touch each other. we both live in our districts in texas and so we became good buddies because we were always on the first flight after the last vote to texas at the end of the week and on the last flight before the first vote to

washington at the beginning of the week. and once we built up enough frequent flier miles, we used to fight when there was a complimentary upgrade, we never spent taxpayer dollars to fly in first class, but we would fight over who got seat 4-f. and because ralph sweet talked the special service people at american airlines, he always won. the only time i've ever gotten seat 4-f on american airlines is when ralph was not on the plane. . you heard about the fact that he used to be a democrat and he was until 2003 or 2004, when he switched parties. well, one of the first times that i realized how important ralph hall was when the first esident bush won the -- was, when the first president bush

won the election to become president of the united states, they held a club on behalf of the national republic campaign committee so the republicans in the congress, which were in the minority, could have a meeting with the incoming president. we thought that was pretty special. and there was a star in the crowd -- stir in the crowd and we thought it was the president coming in and it was. the president walked into the room, the eisenhower lounge, is republicans will know on the first floor of the nrcc, but before the president began to speak there was another stir and through the door that i've never seen used, who do you think came into the club than ralph hall? now, what's surprising about that is that at the time ralph hall was a democrat. and ralph hall had endorsed george h. bush for president

when he was a democrat and so he got special recognition at that meeting. there have been many great members from texas that served in the house. our creation as a state in 1845 , mr. speaker. some of the ones in my tenure that have -- i've enjoyed working with, people like bill arch aer of houston, -- archer of houston, jay pickle, steve bartlett, sam hall, but none has been more beloved and none has been more effective than ralph hall. of rockwall, texas. i have some other things to say, but you i see that congressman smith is here and congressman culberson. so i'm going to put the rest of mine in the record. does mr. waxman want to speak on ralph? in that case, i'll yield one

minute to mr. waxman, the chairman emeritus and current ranking member of the energy and commerce committee. mr. waxman: i thank you. i did want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to ralph hall. particularly for his early years in the house of representatives, when he was a democrat. he came on the energy and commerce committee early and we sometimes think about democrats or republicans. he became a republican. he had been a conservative democrat. but everybody on both sides of the aisle held him in the highest respect because he was a man of integrity and honesty. when he gain of you his word, you could count on it -- when he gave you his word, you could count on it. ralph and i became friends and i hope that friendship will continue into the future and i nt to express to him and his constituents, his family and his friends my admiration for him as a person and my respect for him as a legislator.

i know it's common to say, even though we didn't agree on all things -- it didn't make any difference. he always tried to do what he thought was right and he always as a result earned my and everyone else's respect for it. so i thank you for yielding to me. mr. barton: i want to yield one minute to mr. smith, the chairman of the science committee right now in the house. mr. smith: i thank the gentleman from texas, my colleague, mr. barton, for yielding me time. i just want to say, today we honor the distinguished service of our friend and colleague, ralph hall of texas. if there were a congressional hall of fame, representative hall would be a first-ballot inductee. as many years of -- his many years of service were highlighted at the end of 2012 when he became the most senior member of congress to ever cast a vote in the house of representatives. his career has spanned 34 years and since he was 19 years old he's made his contributions to our country. as a lieutenant in the navy

during world war ii, he served as a pilot and since then has never hesitated to accomplish a mission. has made him a distinguished member of congress and a very effective chairman of the science, space and technology committee. throughout his time in congress, ralph hall has served this institution with style and humor. ralph hall always said, i'd rather be respected at home than liked in washington. ralph has actually achieved that rare combination of both. we thank him for hiser is to congress, to the great -- for his service to congress, to the great state of texas and to our country. ralph asked me to pass along this comment. quote, i'm especially partial to my friends in the texas delegation who represent their districts so well and whose integrity and hard work have benefited not only our state but also our nation. i thank you for your friendship and countless acts of congress, end quote. i yield back. mr. barton: i'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman

from houston, texas, mr. culberson. mr. culberson: thank you, mr. barton. i want to be sure -- i just -- it's such a privilege to be here and honor ralph hall. the proverbs tell us that our good name is worth more than all the gold and silver on earth and that is certainly true of ralph hall. someone who i immediately bonded with when i came to congress in 2001. ralph was a mentor, has been a teacher, a dear, good friend and i could always, as we all could, count on ralph to do the right things for the right reasons and to be a man of his word, whose first priority throughout his time here was to do right by the state of texas. and as lamar said so ably, ralph always believed it's better to be respected at home, make sure that the folks at home knew what a good job he was doing for them and it's a real privilege for me to be able to serve with that good man and we will surely miss him and what a privilege for me to be here tonight to honor him on this special evening and i yield back. mr. barton: i'd like to yield one minute to the chairman

additional minute? mr. barton: i yield whatever time we have left to the gentleman -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman cannot -- the time cannot -- mr. upton: i just want to say ralph hall is an amazing man. i served with him on the energy and commerce a lot of years. i had the luxury of sitting next to him. we have a lot of great stories. that is for sure. i can remember when we chatted, when he came back from the science committee, that we had yet another texan and he said, when i'm done, you'll wish you had another 10 or 12. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. barton: we yield back and, ralph, we love you. we will miss you. you're a great guy. we'll see you soon. the speaker pro tempore: all time has expired. the chair lays before the house the following enrolled bill. the clerk: senate 2921, an act to designate the community-based outpatient clinic of the department of veterans affairs located at 310 home boulevard in galesburg,

illinois, as the lane a. evans community-based outpatient clinic. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the gentleman from illinois, mr. rush, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. rush: i want to thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. rush: mr. speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. mr. speaker, in 2 -- 21 years o, in 19 -- january of 1993, i was sworn into the 103rd congress as the 28th representative of the historic

first congressional district of illinois. one of the first members of was the o welcome me most heartwarming words and the widest smile, was none other than my friend from the great state of michigan, congressman john dingell jr. john david dingell jr. john dingell has trained me, me far ith me, inspired more than most of the members of this house. i can't think of any other member who has spent the kind of time and energy with me in this congress, teaching me the ropes, than john dingell. john dingell, mr. speaker, will go down in u.s. history as being one of the most powerful

house committee chairmen of all time. that's why, mr. speaker, around washington, d.c., throughout the nation, throughout this congress, he was and will continue to be respectfully known as the lion of the house. the lion of the house. that -- may aspire, aspire that honor to his forceful personality, mr. speaker in my experience with john and watching john operate as chairman, he used a scalpel more than a sledgehammer to score his legislative wins and to gather up and earn the respect of all the members, not

only of the committee on energy and commerce, but the members of this house on both sides of the aisle. many would say that the secret to john's success has been his rivaled mastery of parliamentary procedure and his institutional memory. i would agree that he has superb parliamentary knowledge -- knowledge of the parliamentary procedure and has essence of his institutional memory. but what makes john dingell successful and a genuine american treasure, who was just last week awarded the highest

civilian award that this nation bestows upon an individual, the presidential medal of freedom, john knows how to deal with people. he knows how to work with people. and john doesn't go around talking about all his great exploits. i recall a few years back, mr. speaker, i was traveling to michigan to campaign for john. at a challenge. and little did i know that the an who i was championing had at one time been sworn in his own district because he voted for the voting rights act of 1965. i didn't know that about john dingell. i didn't know that. but his -- my respect for him

just mushroomed to the top even more than i had before. because he was a man who when he believed in something, when he believed something, he has a commitment and the courage to stand behind his beliefs. mr. speaker, what john says -- he means what he says and he says what he means. and no one can ever say anything different about john david dingell. mr. speaker, john dingell, chairman dingell, my friend, i wish you continued health, i wish you continued strength and prosperity as you leave this house of representatives, this house of the people and return to your family, friends and your constituents in michigan. may god bless you and keep you. i will forever hold you dear, i

will forever look toward your example in terms of committee work and work on this floor. i want to thank you, john dingell, for all that you've contributed to this nation, to your constituents, to this house and certainly to the committee of energy and commerce. thank you very much, mr. speaker, i yield one minute to my friend from texas, chairman or ranking member of the science committee, eddie ernice johnson. ms. johnson: thank you very much, mr. rush, and i appreciate the fact that you're holding this hour. mr. speaker, i rise for the honor of the work of mr. john dingell who will retire this year as the longest-serving

ember with 59 years as a michigan representative. since 1955, congressman dingell has represented the southeastern michigan area and served on the committee on energy and commerce and twice as chairman. when i learned that mr. dingell would retire at the end of this term, i was saddened to know we would lose such a fine leader and advocate for social democracy. however, we must continue mr. dingell's fight for all americans. he is well known for his battles on behalf of civil rights, clean water, medicare and workers' rights. he's also the author of many pieces of legislation that enhance the protection of public health such as the affordable care act. why he expanded public health nd advocated for environmental conservationism, mr. dingell so combated corruption and

waste via his chairmanship of the committee on energy and commerce. he exerted strong, unwavering oversight of the executive branch through his committee and his successes in congress earned him the 2014 presidential medal of freedom. through his career in congress, he was willing and able to work across the aisle to accomplish tasks that made americans' lives better. a true advocate for the people, mr. dingell dedicated his life to ensuring that public health and safety of the american people was always in the forefront. whether authoring the clean air act or the patients' bill of rights, mr. dingell was unwavering in his quest to protect americans. i urge my colleagues to recognize the accomplishments of congressman john dingell and join me in congratulating him on an outstanding career in public service. i thank you and yield back. mr. rush: i thank the

gentlelady. i recognize now the chairman of the -- the ranking member on the judiciary committee, the one who will ascend to the dean of the house, a civil rights icon, the egendary john conyers. mr. conyers: i thank my colleague for yielding and i want to say, mr. speaker, and members of the committee, that i rise today to honor a true statesman in every sense of the word. the deep of the house. chairman emeritus of the energy and commerce committee. and a champion of the people of metropolitan detroit. the honorable congressman john dingell. now i've had the distinct honor of working with congressman dingell for the last six decades. first as a member of his

congressional staff, and then as his colleague in the michigan delegation. over these six decades we have fought together successfully for medicare, for clean air and water, for workers' rights, and most importantly for civil rights. over these decades, he has herculean truly tasks including passing the endangered species act, the 1990 clean air act, the safe drinking water act, the affordable care act, the patients' bill of rights, and the children's health insurance program, among many others. congressman dingell is a masterful legislator, but most importantly, a man of conscience. as he passes the torch on to

another extraordinary leader, congresswoman-elect debbie dingell. i am so proud to salute his legacy of compassion and service and i reserve the balance of my time. mr. rush: i thank the gentleman. i now, mr. speaker, recognize congressman from texas, the former chairman of the energy and commerce committee, my friend, congressman joe barton. mr. barton: i want to thank the congressman from chicago, the right reverend bobby rush for recognizing me. mr. speaker, we always in texas refer to the former speaker of the house, sam rayburn, who served for 48 years, as man of the house. in fact, there have been books written about rayburn with that title, "the man of the house."

but -- and i'm a sixth generation native texan so i'm -- i certainly would be considered to be somewhat texas-cent rick, but in all honest -- texas-centric, but in all honesty i have to say that the true man of the house is the honorable john dingell of michigan. his father served before him, elected, i believe, while president roosevelt was president of the united states. and john dingell literally grew up in the house of representatives. when the japanese attacked pearl arbor on december 7, 1941, president roosevelt, i believe the very next day, december 8, addressed a joint session of congress in his famous day of infamy speech. john dingell was on the floor to hear that speech in person. not as a congressman, but as the

son of a congressman. he got elected to replace his father when his father passed away in 1955 and it's been mentioned, has served longer than any other member of congress in the history of this nation. if you count not only his service in congress but the time he spent as a child when his father was in congress, he has literally been in the house for almost a third of its existence as an institution. i'm not sure how many members he served with, but it is in the neighborhood of 2,500 members that he has personally served with. when i got elected to congress in 1984, i did not get on the energy and commerce committee my freshman year, but i did -- but i did my sophomore year in 1986. john dingell was then chairman, and was chairman until the

republicans took the majority in the election of 1994. so i served with chairman dingell for my first 10 years in the congress. he was a chairman in every sense of the word. the legislation that he helped craft during his chairmanship, his legislation that -- is legislation that is some of the most important in the history of this congress. certainly things that he would be most proud of would be the clean air act amendments of 1990, some of the health care legislation, some of the telecommunications legislation, those are laws that were passed under his chairmanship and are still the basic law in their field in this country. when i became chairman in 2003, he was the ranking democrat on the committee. e helped me sometimes in

public, sometimes behind the scenes, even when he didn't agree with the legislation that the republican majority was pushing. he was always thoughtful and giving me tips on procedure and process and sometimes policy. move e passed a bill to television from an log to digital -- from analog to digital, i wanted to put a date certain very quickly and with his counsel he, convinced me that we should -- with his counsel, he convinced me we should draw that out and he said the final date of the transition shouldn't be until after the super bowl, just in case there's a problem, people will get to watch the super bowl and won't be cussing you and the congress for moving from analog and digital and he was absolutely right on that. with chairman upton's leadership who is on the floor this evening, several years ago, i

went to chairman upton and suggested that we ask the speaker to name the energy and commerce main committee room on the first floor of the rayburn building, 2123, the john dingell room. chairman upton thought that was a great idea. he recommended it to the speaker. and that now is the john dingell room. i could go on and on, mr. speaker, but i do want to say that we are truly losing one of the giants of the congress when john dingell retires at the end of this session. he's still going to be here. his wife debbie has been elected to succeed him. so hopefully we'll still see him in the congress, but you know, i really have difficulty imagining a congress that john dingell is not a member of. he will be missed.

we honor him and i consider it a personal privilege that he calls me a friend. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back and thank the gentleman from chicago for yielding me some time. mr. rush: i thank the gentleman. i yield, mr. speaker, one minute to the chairman of the energy and commerce committee and i want to just be -- remind people we have a growing list of speakers, so i yield one minute to the chairman of the nrbling and commerce committee, the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton. mr. upton: one minute? an i have a couple of minutes? thank you, mr. rush. i'll try to be brief. i do want to put a statement in the record from mr. camp who was here a little while ago and wanted to speak.

dingell,nt to say, mr. mr. chairman is what we still call him. i have known him since 1977 when i came here as a staffer. he treated me just as well as a staffer, which was great, as he has as a colleague and now for me as chairman of the committee. we're the best of friends. we really are. lots of different issues we worked on and he took me under his wing a lot of years ago and we discovered, too, for me it's better to have dingell on our side than being on different sides. but he's -- when he's on the other side, he certainly is a powerful adversary. our delegation in michigan is pretty close. we're involved in so many different issues. jobs and the economy, particularly the auto sector is one of the things where john dingell has led and cared about. as we know, he's the long -- longest serving member of congress ever in the history of this institution. he has cared about so well.

and i remember bringing over congressional records from years past and as joe barton said he, served weapon -- he served with -- said, he served with 2,500 members here. when you go through the journal with some of the big votes, like the voting rights act and going through what the members said on that particular day. he was a fair chairman. always went by the rules. had a command of the issues. a brilliant staff. still their loyalty exists today. and of course the light of his life, the lovely debra. a great person who we know is going to be taking his place, serving those 700,000 people in the next congress from soviet michigan. -- from southeast michigan. when you look at his life he served his country from the first day until today. a world war ii vet, something he has always been so, so proud of.

chairman of the most pow everyful committee here in the house. but in addition to -- of the most powerful committee here in the house. but in addition to all that, e's been a friend, a father, a husband, a colleague, whose word has always been his bnd and who has defined the very utmost of what we would like this place to be. a great american. thank you, john dingell. i yield back. mr. rush: i thank the chairman. mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentlelady from the great state of texas, congresswoman sheila jackson lee. ms. jackson lee: i thank the distinguished gentleman mr. rush and i thank mr. pallone for convening this special order. all of the members of this committee and this house of representatives that have come on the floor today with joy.

it is often said it is not how long you serve but how you serve. for john dingell that is not mutually exclusive. he served six decades and he served it greatly and grandly and with distinction. reminded of a description of him as a 6'3" distinguished gentleman, towering over witnesses, but having the biggest of hearts, coming from the best of legacies in his father that served 22 years. reminded of his commitment to the clean air act, safe drinking water, the endangered species. but john has always reminded us new ones, relatively speaking, that his greatest love was to proride the affordable health care to every american. and after decades -- decades after his father introduced such a bill, he never gave up. he never gave up. i stand here today to thank you, john dingell, for the affordable care act. they call it many things or ba macare, but i'm getting ready to call it dingellcare because you

work without ceasing. thank you for your service to this nation where you stood in the shadows of world war ii and stood as an american willing to serve. i'm grateful for the service he has given and the long years of service as chairman of the house energy committee. let me conclude by saying that there is much more that all of us can say but you can see so many members have come to the floor. on a personal note, two items that i want to acknowledge. thank you, john dingell, for recognizing that my voting rights, my opportunity to vote, as an african-american and the thousands and millions that you lped in 1965, will never forget your willingness to sacrifice personal political statute and do what is right. i also want to thank you so very much for being the kind of person on the floor of the house that asks about every member, every member who came to your attention, you asked them how

they were doing. including these remarks, his final words about the civil rights act, he said, he was glad to vote for a bill that solved a problem that was eating at the soul and heart and liver of the country. only john dingell. john dingell, i salute you as a great and grand american. thank you, debbie dingell, i continue to look forward to your service. and, we are going to -- and john, we are going to look forward to your service and of course your long life here in this great country and in your great state of michigan. again, john, thank you so very much. i yield back. . mr. rush: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to my colleague from the great state of illinois, mr. john shimkus. mr. shimkus: i know there are a lot of members. i'll be quick. you really have to come down to the floor to recognize a man who served honorably for as

many years. 58 years, to be exact. i'd like to highlight the fact that at 18 he joined the united states army and rose to the rank of second lieutenant and was prepared to be part of the invasion of japan until the bomb was dropped and the war ended. john won a special election to follow his father and then has been here ever since. he was a leading congressional supporter of organized labor, social welfare measures and traditional progressive policies. he's also known as a big hunter and fisher, which we heard many, many times. i also want to highlight that he is well-known for dingell grams, which were sent to the administration, regardless of party, that held them account for public policies and the excesses of the executive branch and he's well-known for that. i know he will be followed ablely -- ably by his wife, debbie, and i look forward to

working with him. may god bless you, john dingell, and may god bless the nited states of america. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield to a member of the energy and commerce committee -- i don't know we'll know this -- but we'll be hong him tomorrow night, mr. waxman. mr. waxman: thank you, congressman pallone, for acknowledging me that i'm the ranking member at the present time. of course, he will now take on that job very ably i'm sure. and both of us will follow in the tradition of john dingell. it's so appropriate that room where the energy and commerce committee meets is now known as the john dingell room. john dingell has been the leader of that committee, a leader in the congress for longer than anybody else has served in either of the senate or the house. but what i want to say is from

my own personal perspective. i've served on that committee for 40 years, and i've learned more from john dingell than i have from anybody else that i've served with as a colleague. there were times when we had disagreements and we argued them out and then resolved them and compromised them. but most of the time, he was a stalwart defender of the interest of the working people of this country, a protector of the environment, a person who led the efforts for civil rights, a man who cared about people and understood that government had a very important role to play in people's lives. from his father, who was active in the new deal under president franklin rosevelt who led this nation to use the government in a positive way, to help people who had nowhere else to turn,

john dingell carried on that tradition. it's the liberal progressive tradition, and i associate myself with it. i learned everything i knew as a member of the committee, and i learned everything i knew as a potential chairman and a short-term chairman from john dingell. he's a member's member, and he is going to go down in the history books as one of the outstanding members of congress and leaders and chairman of the oldest committee in the house of representatives. mr. speaker, i know we don't have a lot of time, so i just want to say to john dingell, i wish you all the best and i know you will whisper to debbie if she has any questions, the right course to take but, of course, she's been with you long enough she'll probably by this time know what to do on her own. god bless you, john dingell, and i yield back the balance of

my time. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, is recognized for the remainder of the hour as the designee of the minority leader. mr. pallone: thank you. now i'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman from west virginia, who's been the ranking member himself of two committees. mr. rahall: thank you, mr. pallone. i appreciate you yielding. mr. speaker, one of my distinct pleasures in serving for 38 years in this body has been to work with the dean of the house, mr. john dingell. throughout our almost four decades of serving the people of our respective districts and those of our nation, my respect and sincere appreciation for this son of michigan has only grown each and every day. few, if any, who have served here in the people's house over the last nearly 60 years would have a different view of the worth and the value of john dingell's contributions of the day-to-day work of this distinguished body. in fact, mr. speaker, representative dingell's vast legacy will assuredly be the

liegeans of members and staff who have learned the lessons of leadership under john's tutelage. basic, fundamental, timeless lessons on how to get the people's business done. we're always at the ready for any member to partake in and adopt for their own future use. and all of us can remember times when big john felt it appropriate, timely and beneficial to just gently impose one of his lessons on members. even on this body as a whole, if he felt it would move our country forward. first and foremost, john dingell has always valued good old-fashioned trust. he sees a person's word as their bond, a bond that never shifts, even in the strongest political wins. in john's playbook, loyalty, particularly loyalty to principles is a powerful force that can move the entire country forward.

and he insists on one other attribute for success, time-tested hard work. one must put in the time doing the hard work, the home work with great attention to the details, ensuring that every t is crossed and every i dotted. these virtues exercised by my friend rather by his hand wielding a gavel or his sizeable arm embracing your future in the back of the house chamber, he's served our nation productively. upon this many compromises have been struck to serve the people, their environment, their health and their livelihoods. a champion of the american worker, of the auto worker and of our nation's coal miners, john dingell fully appreciates the role that our government can and should play in supporting the breadwinners in every american family. from the moment john dingell came here to the moment he leaves and well beyond, these are the legacy that will always burn brightly in my mind as well as warm my heart.

had i but served a single term with john dingell i would have count many blessings because of it. multiply 29 times, suffice it to say, the entire nation can itself count many blessings thanks to the good work of our dear friend, john dingell, the dean of the house of representatives. i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield now one minute to the gentleman from new york, mr. tonko. mr. tonko: and thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you to the gentleman from new jersey for the recognition and for leading us in this special order, paying tribute to representative john dingell. it is my honor to stand on the house floor this afternoon to say thank you to john dingell, thank you for your service to country, thank you for your service to the state of michigan, thank you for service to your congressional districts through the years and certainly thank you for your interaction and networking with your colleagues, which has crossed over party lines and has shown

an exemplary fashion how to get business down -- in exemplary fashion how to get business done here in the house. your service to the military by serving us in the army and serving us during world war ii, also, the great lakes state, michigan, has produced a leader of greatness in john dingell. john, it is an honor to say here this -- during this special tribute that you were indeed everyone's coach. i know the person of humility that you are, you shed that praise when it comes your way but make no mistake about it, it's been your coaching, your reinforcement, your encouragement to each and every one of us, certainly to those of us who enter as freshman, you were right there to shadow us and guide us and remind us that there is a nobleness with the small end of service through the house that can influence policy and speak to the needs of those most marginalized in our society.

to that end i want to thank you for identifying so very strongly with struggle. you saw a struggle and you moved to address it, whether that be through health care, through human services, through education, certainly through all sorts of efforts that speak to public safety, our environment and our energy policy, you saw a struggle and you met it head on and you made certain that challenges were responded to. you showed us how to work across party lines and you showed us how to be factual and to see your word as your honor. with all of that, i salute you, john dingell, as being an awesome leader who taught by example how to conduct yourself in this public arena. you're proud of your heritage. we talked about that many times over. that has fed you, those roots have fed you so very well and have enabled you to be this person of greatness coming from the great lakes state. so thank you so much for your service to country and to all of us here in the chamber. with that i yield back. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, for

unanimous consent request i yield to the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. maloney. mrs. maloney: thank you so much. i'm testifying before the rules committee right now, but i request permission to place my statement in the record to know him is to love john dingell and he taught me that dedication to the legislative process and getting it done comes first. so may i place this in the record and get back to the rules committee? the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. maloney: thank you. mr. pallone: the gentleman from texas, mr. green. for one minute. mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my colleague and our new ranking member of the energy and commerce committee. i rise today to pay tribute to one of the great lawmakers of our era who has dedicated his life fighting for civil rights, strengthening our nation's safety net for the vulnerable and elled leer and pushing for workers' rights and protecting american jobs. i'm honored to call this man a mentor and a friend, the dean of the house, congressman john dingell. mr. speaker, i'd like to ask

that my full statement be placed into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. green: with the -- what the history books will never be able to share is the respect and kindness that john has been given to all who have been fortunate enough to work with him. john has always been generous with his time and sharing his institutional knowledge of the people's house. in 2005, john was a vital voice in supporting efforts to pass the energy act which was the key federal support for the energy renaissance, lowering energy prices for the american people today. outside washington, i was fortunate to spend time with john on hunting trips where we had the opportunity to get to know him better as a man, a father, a husband and an avid sportsman. mr. speaker, before i conclude, i'd like to personally thank john for his decades of public service and fighting for america's working families. our chamber will not be the same without him. god bless john dingell and the nited states of america.

mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from colorado, ms. degette. s. degette: thank you so much. mr. speaker, in 1997 as a 39-year-old freshman, john dingell took a risk on me. he put me on the energy and commerce committee as a freshman, and since that day i have learned at his knee every single day. he's become a friend, he's become a mentor and like so many of us on both sides of the aisle, our experience here in congress would not be the same without him. a lot of us know about the long arm of john dingell. over the years when chairman dingell would put his long arm around your shoulders and he would say, diana, i have a ttle chore for you, you knew that that little chore was anything but little.

it was a part of something much, much bigger. whether he was just moving a minor amendment to a bill or a large bill itself and no matter what the issue was, it was always an honor to work together with john dingell to get something done for the american people. as the now ranking member on john dingell's subcommittee, the oversight and investigations subcommittee of energy and commerce, i feel a special responsibility to his legacy. john dingell, over the years, held powerful people from all around the country, from every part of industry accountable to the american public, and today it's up to all of us as members of his distinguished committee to take up the great mantle of that legacy and to make the powerful tell truth to the american public. i commit myself today, along

with all of us who carry on his legacy to do just that, to make this committee a committee that john dingell will be proud of. i'm going to miss my dear friend. we all know about few retirements are as well deserved as such distinguished service as mr. dingell, and so i want to say, john, job well done, god speed. mr. chairman, i yield back the alance of my time. mr. pallone: i yield one minute to the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: if a test of a career is whether you made a difference

, big john's career has been a big success. in so many ways, john was tall in stature physically and in every other way. there has been much note about the particular accomplishments. i would like to spend a few minutes today talking not about those accomplishments that are so vivid and so clear, but to talk about john dingell and his character. he remembered his roots. never forgot them. there was always, i think, a sense of the underdog. i think his family came to this ountry and felt in a sense the underdog, thankful they had the

opportunity in this country to rise and it's so clear that john succeeded. might summit up this way, john ngell was a legislator's legislator. he combined courage and siff i willy, dedication and decency and strong views with strong friendship. i don't remember exactly when it was that down the hall here when john was being honored, he decided to talk about this institution. and what he had seen happen to it. and it was a very frank talk. moaned recent be visits here, where it was much more difficult to have strong

views, but not to have strong comradery, to have strong views but not have the ability to compromise them, to have strong views, but not find a way to seek and find common ground. that was so convincing, so persuasive for someone who's been in this institution longer than anyone else in the history of this country. so i think our best salute to john may be the best way to remember his contribution in addition to all of the particular legislation that came to be and meant so much to millions of people in this country. is to try to pick up the mantle that surrounded him all of his

career here, to really see if we can seek and find some way in this institution to operate the way john dingell saw so much of his career and why he felt it was such a loss when it dwindled. so i would like to join everybody else with some emotion. our two families have been so close for so many decades. our two families, the leffins and the dingells and the dingells and the levins have had their lives so interwould he haven, so interwould he haven, coming from somewhat different backgrounds, but those weren't an obstacle, those were really

an opportunity. so, i join so many others in saying to john and to debey, who debbie, his partner -- more than a job well done, a path that all of us should seek to follow. i yield back the balance of my ime. mr. pallone: i yield to the gentlewoman from california, ms. capps. mrs. capps: i thank my colleague for yielding and it is such an honor to follow in paying my tribute to follow one of mr. dingell's best friends, sandy levin, his colleague from michigan. i rise with great pride as well as deep humility, to honor the longest-serving member of congress, the dean of the u.s.,

united states house of representatives. the congressman for the 12th district of michigan and my personal friend, mr. john dingell. john has served his country with such honor and such distinction, first as a second lieutenant in the united states army during world war ii and the past 59 years, right here in congress, over the term of 11, that's 11 nited states presidents. yes, we are losing this man's incredible institutional memory, but hopefully neither he nor we will ever lose our love for this institution. john dingell's hand has helped construct every major advance in social policy that this country has known over the past six

decades. policies that support working families, that strengthen our middle class, and support the united states economy. many of us here speak of significant events in united states history. but john dingell can speak of these historic events because he was often right there, standing by the presidents' sides. he knows this institution inside and out and it is that knowledge, coupled with his belief that congress does have a vital role in making this country better for all of us. and that is what has made him so influential over the years. for all he has done for the nation, john has been and continues to be such a great friend to each of us, no matter which side of the aisle we sit on. when i first came to congress, john dingell took me under his wing and helped me to earn a seat on the energy and commerce

committee, his beloved committee. he told me we did need nurses at the table and has been a passionate advocate for quality health care. he is such a good friend to my own calling, the nursing profession. the good people of michigan are losing a great advocate for their state in congress, but this country is losing a passionate and brilliant representative and what i'm told is the best twitter feed on the hill. and i'm losing a personal friend on the floor of the house. and a real mentor on the dais on the committee of energy and commerce. but we won't be sad for long. next year, we will have another dingell, who will be here as one of us and that's john's very own, lovely wife, debbie. i look forward to working with her and she will continue the legacy of service that john and

his father before him have established. i do not say good-bye dear friend but best wishes and know that we are all so full of gratitude and great debt to you for your service, as you have so long been of enormous service to each of us. yield back. mr. pallone: i yield now to our emocratic whip, mr. hoyer. mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order. i thank the gentleman for yielding. i thank him for taking this special order. mr. speaker, in this -- when this new house convenes on january 6, it will be the first in 59 years not to include the

distinguished dean of this house, mr. john dingell of michigan. we will still have a dingell from michigan. it will be his wife debbie, whom so many of us in this house have come to know and admire. i have worked with debbie for every year. she won the election to succeed john and surely, we will continue to have him in our midst as a congressional spouse. sorelywill be very, very missed, all of whom he welcomed to the house as the longest serving member in the history of the congress. a lot of people like to put to john's tenure in the house and when he came to congress, eisenhower was president. brooklyn had a championship team and elvis presley had his first

gold record. what did americans not have? they did not have medicare. seniors were unprotected from the rising cost of health care in their golden years until john dingell introduced legislation that was the precursor to medicare. and he presided over this house when it passed medicare in 1965. americans did not have the civil rights act or the voting rights act. when john dingell took his first oath of office as a member of this house, millions of african-americans across the south, could not vote for representatives in this house. just four months after taking office, he bravely challenged the eisenhower's administration leadership on civil rights. he rows in this chamber with great audacity to demand that the president protect those being denied those fundamental rights as americans.

it almost cost him his seat. but all of us who know john understand why he was willing to risk everything for a cause that was just. americans did not have the clean air, the clean water act or the safe drinking water act. nor did they have the endangered species act or the environmental policy act. john realized that if congress did not act to protect our environment, future generations would inherit a nation spoiled by neglect. o he became a crusader for con conservation. the american people didn't have s-chip. he fought his entire life in public life to make affordable health care access to all needed t.

>> are signify the passage of that law, it was the same gavel that was used by john when he announced passage of the medicare act nearly 50 years before. i was proud to nominate john for the presidential medal of freedom, our nation's highest civilian honor and to be on hand last month as president obama presented to him at the white house that medal of freedom. let no one mistake john's legacy as one of simply longest. had he served nine terms and not 29, we would surely be here on this floor to praise him as a man of vision, of principle, of

courage, of achievement and of a deep love for this country and its people. and for this institution. i have had the privilege of serving with john in this house for 33 years. throughout that time, he has been a dear friend, of whom i have learned much and shared many memorable experiences, on and off this floor. john dingell, my colleagues, has been and is a man of conviction. has embodied civily and worked in a bipartisan fashion. his example is one if we follow it would benefit the country and he house. measures to promote manufacturing here in this country. his mericans will remember

determination to root out waste, fraud and abuse throughout the u.s. government and save the u.s. taxpayers and improving how the government works. 3 years ago this week, a young john dingell jr., then a house page, sat in this house chamber in which his father, john sr., served while the president delivered his most famous speech, asking for a declaration of war as a result of the attack on pearl harbor, on that day of infamy. four years later while serving in the united states army, second lieutenant john dingell was preparing to invade japan when the bombing of hiroshima and nagasaki brought the war to an end and quite possibly saving his life. we're all grateful for that, that providence spared him so he could come to the people's house and do the people's work

for 59 years. we will miss him dearly. i will miss him, but i take comfort in knowing that he will still be here among us as a private citizen, as the husband of a new member from michigan's 12th district and as an elder statesman for our country who i hope will always be ready to share the wisdom of his experience with those who will continue his work in this house. john dingell has been a great american, a citizen who loved his country and served it well. god bless you, john dingell, and thank you. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield one minute now to the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. kaptur. ms. kaptur: mr. speaker, it's an understatement to say dean and chairman john dingell is a gentleman of this house and a respected man of the law. he's served our republic his

entire life, beginning as a page for this house at the age of 12, followed by his enlistment in the united states army and his service during world war ii. he's a bona fide representative of the greatest generation's dedication and enduring legacy. he's a member's member, always available for counsel, always with an encouraging word. how many of us have benefited from hisess tute advice. this chamber -- his astute advice. this chamber says thank you to a man who knows how to negotiate, who knows how to legislate and who knows how to foster great change. he's a master of the art of compromise. his service has been honorable for over half a century. he's been indefat kabul. he's walked forth rightly in the shoes of his father before him and he served his nation nobly in this house and the people of michigan who re-elected him 30 times. his service has established an historical record 59 years long of consistent dedication to liberty and to the people of

our country. his torecally he's assumed -- historically he's assumed his place as a strong timber, a mast of the rules and decorum that should attend to our privileged service here. he's a champion of the dignity of the house. generations to come would be well-advised to emulate his service. he understands and treshes this house, -- trerures of this house, the centralities for our democratic service. of american manufacturing and the auto industry, of energy independence for america, of social security, as his father was before him, of his natural environment, legal basis for respecting it, our great lakes, the fish, fauna and creatures that form the wild kingdom, the park systems and wildlife refuges, the rivers and ocean systems that maintain and sustain the stunning beauty and bounty of our land and frankly sustain us. and he's the heartbeat of m

o-town. personally will tresh -- of motown. i personal hely will tresh the visiting of manufacturing platforms, of creating the first international wildlife refuges in our country, in the great lakes region, spanning our ohio-michigan border with canada. the clean water and clean air achievements, the tours of the company lazy boy and their firm's stellar involvement in stewardship of our ohio-michigan region. i shall always treasure our encounters, countless as they are, the ohio-michigan border that we share, the hundreds of plane rides together, often with deborah, along with colleagues like john conyers, billy ford as well as our car ride back to michigan together after 9/11. we have shared the priceless opportunity to guard liberty and extend her welcoming arms to the people of poland, our shared ancestral heritage. as poland cast off the shackles of communist oppression.

though each of us dreamed of the day when that incredible moment might transpired, that achievement is one of the most glorious moments. so the gentleman from michigan, house seniority ranked number one, the dean, you have inspired millions of people and ably met the call of daniel webster in your time and generation to perform something worthy to be remembered. you have met that test. my colleague, may god bless you and deborah and hold you and your loved ones dearly. america thanks you and so do i as dean of ohio's delegation. god speed. i yield my remaining time back to the gentleman. mr. pallone: i thank the gentlewoman. mr. speaker, i yield now to our democratic leader, the gentlewoman from california, s. pelosi. ms. pelosi: i thank the gentleman for yielding and appreciate his friendship with the distinguished leader of our -- of the ren tire congress,

he dean, number one as congresswoman kaptur said. mr. speaker, i'm going to be brief and yield -- put some of my statement in the record an hopefully return to the floor in the couple days ahead to say more about mr. dingell because so many members are waiting and i hope more time will be afforded to sing the praises of this great man. every now and then you hear the expression, somebody is a living legend. that doesn't even begin to describe john dingell. he is a living legend. he has had a hand in every -- nearly every major legislative accomplishment over the past six decades from protecting civil rights and workers' rights -- i'm so glad to see john lewis here -- to ensuring food safety, to enacting consumer protections, to creating jobs in michigan's 12th district and throughout our country. yet, among his countless achievements none holds greater

significance than his contribution to the good health of the american people. each congressional term since 1955 he introduced legislation to secure affordable health care for all americans. in 1965, he held the gavel in his hand that -- as medicare became law of the land. in 2010, more than half a century later, it was my privilege to hold that same gavel in my hand as we passed the affordable care act, realizing the dream of the dingell family. to work alongside john dingell is to be inspired by his strength, by the history of our institution, by the seriousness of his work, not only the length of his service, for sure, but the quality of his leadership. he is our distinguished chairman, our distinguished dean, a cherished colleague and friend, a living legend, as i said, but that only begins to tell the tale. his experience, his leadership, his partnership and his passion will be southerly missed by all of us -- sorely missed by all

of us who had the honor to serve around him. we wish our soon-to-be colleague, deborah, and his family the very best. he's a public servant of unmatched leadership and quality. with that i yield back to the distinguished gentleman from new jersey who follows in many footsteps of mr. dingell as the ranking member of the energy and commerce committee, thank you, mr. pallone. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. under the speaker's announced the of january 3, 2013, chair recognizes the gentleman from -- the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from minnesota, ms. ball clubmann, for 30 minutes. -- mrs. bachmann:, for 30 minutes. mrs. bachmann: i yield to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, 10 minutes. mr. pallone: we have a lot of

speakers so take one minute. i yield to mr. kildee. mr. kildee: as a freshman, i have learned to be brief. i will be brief. you know, coming from michigan and growing up in a political family and actually succeeding my own uncle, dale kildee, in this seat, one would think that dale is the first congressman that i really knew. but if you're from michigan and you were born anytime after the 19 -- middle of the 1950's, john dingell is the first congressman that we knew. he was a strong voice for our state and really was the picture of a member of congress for so many years. but his longevity is obviously remarkable but it's what john did and stood for that's most remarkable over his long tenure. he first was a witness to history in this place when 73 years ago, this past monday, when his father was here and he was a page he sat and watched franklin rosevelt give that

famous speech on december 7. . made history in this body i remember just a few months ago watching on c-span, as i do occasionally, in watching the signing of the 1964 civil rights act and watching john dingell stand there and receive a pen from president johnson as that act was signed into law. and sitting with him the next day and discussing that time in our history and realizing what an amazing privilege i've been given to serve in the same body with john dingell. so he's a witness to history. he made history. more importantly, for 59 years john dingell was on the right side of history. look at his record. look at what he has stood for. and he's always been ahead of the rest of the country. the one thing i do hope is that we can take a lesson from his

service and realize that there has been a time in this body when you can be a strong and passionate voice, when you can hold to principle but still find ways to work across partisan divide and find compromise and get things done. that's the lesson of his legacy and it's one that i think we all have an obligation to try to live up to. i yield back. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield one minute now to the gentleman from georgia, mr. bishop. mr. bishop: i thank the gentleman for yielding. you have heard that representative john dingell of michigan is the longest serving member of the house of representatives in the history of this institution. you heard that he's been a member since 1955 and his held a seat in this body since president eisenhower sat in the white house. you heard that exactly one day in 73 years ago a young john dingell, a page in this house, was standing in this very room

when president roosevelt gave his declaration of war speech against japan. he was a page. needless to say, it's been a long road of public service for our friend and colleague, john dingell. a great defender of civil liberties, john dingell stood aside president johnson as he signed the civil rights act of 1964. over his illustrious career he fought for civil rights, for clean water, for medicare, for american workers rights. on a more -- workers' rights. on a more personal note, he shared his overflowing reservoir of knowledge and wisdom about the history and customs of this body and the workings of congress. he will be missed. i will always remember and appreciate his character, his integrity and his courage in the fight for a better quality of life for the american people. the poet wrote a tree that never had to fight for sun and

sky and air and light that stood out in the open plain and always got its share of rain never became a forest king but lived and died a scrubby thing. a man who never had to toil by hand or life in life's turmoil, who never had to earn his share of sun and sky and life and air never became a manly man but lived and died as he began. good timber doesn't grow on ease. the stronger winds of tougher trees, a father sky, a greater length, the rougher storms, the greater strength. by wind, by sun or snow and trees are man good timbers grow. john dingell is good timber and, sir, you will be sorely missed. thank you for your service. mr. pallone: thank you. i yield now to the gentlewoman

from illinois, ms. schakowsky. one minute. ms. schakowsky: i am so proud to join with many of my colleagues in celebrating john dingell and recognizing the many, many things he's achieved for our country. it's not just that john dingell has been the longest serving member of congress in history, it's what he did in his 30 terms in the house. many today will honor him for support of civil rights and voting rights, his life-long support for working men and women and their unions, for the environment and much, much more, but for me it's his passionate advocacy for national health care. i came to congress with the number one priority of affordable, quality and comprehensive health care for all americans. i worked to join the energy and commerce committee so that i could learn from john dingell, who's been called a legend in the fight for universal

coverage. chairman dingell introduced the u.s. national health insurance act in his very first term and fighting to make health care ever since. john dingell sat in that chair when we passed medicare and medicaid and gaveled it into law. he pushed for the patients' bill of rights and created the health insurance program for children and key reason we were able to pass the affordable care act in 2010. because of john dingell today, more than 120 million americans have access to health insurance in large part of us his leadership and vision and i'm so grateful to have had the

privilege of serving with and learning from john dingell a and i hope we follow his strong legacy and continue to make improvements in health care and improve the lives and well-being of all americans. thank you, john dingell, for your unparalleled service to our country. i yield back. mr. pallone: i yield one minute to the gentleman from georgia, mr. lewis. mr. lewis: i thank my friend and colleague from new jersey for yielding. mr. speaker, i'm pleased to join my colleagues tonight to honor my friend, my brother, the longest-serving member of congress, the honorable john dingell. i knew him long before i came to the house. i knew he followed in his father's footsteps on his path to public service. he was one of the youngest members of congress at the time. i heard he would stand up, speak

up and speak out and fight for the issue of civil rights and social justice. john dingell is one of the most able and respected member of this body. yes, he is the dean of the house of representatives. he had the capacity and the ability to say we have a right to know what is in the food we eat, what is in the air we breathe and what is in the water we drink. he battled on the front lines of medicare and medicaid. only member of congress still serving today who voted for the civil rights act of 1964. he helped voted for the voting rights act of 1965. in closing, i want to say, john dingell is embodyyment when legislators did not hesitate to use the power of the federal government to do good for all.

john, my friend, my brother, my colleague, thank you for your service, thank you for all of the good that you have done to make our country and to make our world a better place. and i yield back, mr. speaker. mr. pallone: i yield one minute to the gentleman from california, mr. garamendi. mr. garamendi: thank you, mr. speaker. a new insurance commissioner in california in 1991. a lot of problems with pensions and insurance companies going broke. i was summoned to come to washington to explain. grite fear in my mind. the famous john dingell was chairing that committee. his goal and mine were the same, that is to find ways to protecting people. a deep friendship ensued for many years. and my mentor is leaving, leaving this session. i'll miss him. i know everybody in this house will miss him in many ways.

he is a good heart. his heart is as big as this nation. john dingell a great member of congress. i yield back. mr. pallone: i just wanted to thank the gentlewoman from minnesota for giving us the extra time and i wanted to ask for general leave for other eoples members to insert remarks into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. bachmann: it was a privilege, mr. speaker, to yield 10 minutes to the the gentleman from new jersey on behalf of our colleague, who set a record for 60 years and privilege for me now, mr. speaker, also to be in this well to deliver what is my last speech on this floor.

it has been a privilege and honor of a lifetime for me to serve as a member of the united states congress, serving as the first woman ever elected from the state of minnesota in the capacity of being a republican. it's an honor and it's a ride of a lifetime. and as i stand here in the well of this house, i'm fulfilled with joy and so much happiness and understanding that the privilege that i have is one of being really a link on a chain, that's gone on for hundreds of years. and i stand right here on the soil in the square feet that are the freest square feet in the world, because you see, mr. speaker, it is here where any ice that holds an election certificate can speak forth the words, words that maybe the president of the united states would agree -- disagree with,

words that maybe colleagues from one's own party or other party may disagree with, words that might have people go to riot. but words, nonetheless that are free, free, free because a price was paid so that speech could be given. it's an honor. where else could we find this level of freedom anywhere in the world? and that's why at the very top of this capitol on the rotunda dome, standing a full 20 feet tall is a statue called freedom. it's a woman and her name is freedom. and she stands as the upper-most point in this part of our nation's capitol. and she faces east, because she faces towards the sunrise, so

that every day freedom's face looks into the morning son and happily we begin yet one more day of liberty in this country. you see, i'm so proud to be a part of this nation. i'm so proud to be an american citizen, because i recognize the costs that my freedom was the price that was paid for it by those who have gone before and so thrilled to have this opportunity. just behind me mr. speaker, above where you are standing is our nation's motto, and it says in god we trust. what a fabulous motto. could any better motto be written for any nation to declare full voice that it is in god that we as a nation put our trust. what other more trustworth venue could there be? what other trustworthy vehicle

could there be than a holy god. these words were mouthed by the founders of our country, those who decided to leave the comforts of their home to come here to what was essentially an untested, untapped world where there were people, the native americans who populated this land, but where a brand new culture was about to be born. one that would be blessing the entire world. where people knew they could come from any portion of the world and find a new birth of freedom, as individuals but also as a nation. we have so much to be thankful for, so much to be grateful for. for people who have never been in this chamber before, this is the room where the laws of our nation are formulated. our founders meant that the

house of representatives would be the most powerful form of government. why? because it would be these 435 members that we eventually became, we would hold the power of the purse, we would hold the nation's credit card. and it would be us to decide what we spent money on and what we didn't. we would formulate policy with -million w 300-plus american people. we are the law givers. the people have given us the privilege of the election certificate to make the laws. we must never forget that it is by the consent of the governed that we rule and we decide our laws. as i look about this chamber, we re ringed with the sill wet. various law givers throughout all of time, law givers for whom

veneration is required and yet only one law giver has the distinction of not having it but having the full faith being revealed by the artist. that law giver is moses. moses is directly above the double doors that lead into the center-most part of this chamber. and in the face of moses, his eyes look straight upon not only our nation's motto, in god we trust, but moses' face looks full on into the face of the speaker of the house. daily the speaker of the house, as he stands up in his authority and in his podium, recognizes that he, too, is a man under authority, just as moses was a man under authority. because you see, mr. speaker, moses is given -- for the full

honor of the greatest law giver in this chamber, because he was chosen by the god that we trust to be entrusted with the basis of all law. the basis of all law as was written by blackstone, the famous english jurist was the 10 commandments that were given none other by the god we trust on mount sinai. we know those laws. those are the fundamental laws of mankind. and here in the united states, the 10 commandments that god gave to moses is the very foundation of the law that has given to happiness and the rise of the greatest prosperity that any nation has known before. r. speaker, it could be no

coincidence that this is nation knowing great prosperity, that it could be built upon that foundation of the 10 commandments and the laws given by the god in who we trust. what a privilege we have been given. what an unparalleled foundation. we have so much to be grateful for and thankful for. and before i continue my remarks. i want to also say to thank you to people in their individual capacity who have done so much to help me in my service in the ouse of representatives of --. i thank the people of the 6th congressional district of minnesota who gave me the election certificate that i have been privileged to hold for these four terms that i have served in office for eight years. had the people not elected me to

serve, i would have never known what a privilege it would be to serve them here in this chamber. and i thank the great people of the 6th district. it is known as the greatest people in this country as far as i'm concerned. people, where all the men are good looking and the children are above average. it is a state unlike any other. and it was a privilege to serve. i thank the numerous volunteers who worked on my campaigns to send me here. without their tireless works and making phone calls, it never would have happened. i was a home maker at home, with our family. i have been a federal tax litigation attorney. i had the privilege of starting a charter school and my husband and i started our own examine.

-- company. i want to thank the people of the 6th district and the volunteers who sent me here. and i thank the donors who gave their money also so i could be here. i had very hard-fought campaigns. i was the top nemes is and millions of dollars were spent to make sure that i would not have the privilege of standing in the well of this house. but i want to thank those who gave me the money to be able to come and who sacrificed so i could be here. over the years, my races were so expensive that at one point, mine was the most expensive race in the country and that was done on an average donation of $41 per donation. millions and millions of dollars with an average donation of $41. i'm so proud of that, because real people across the united states saw in me an authentic

credible voice who was here to speak for them. i had people who said to me, thank you, you speak for me and i'm so thankful that you fought for me here in washington. they knew i wasn't here to speak for special interests and knew i wasn't bought and paid for, and knew i was speaking for them. and i want to say to those who did donate money to my campaigns, i'm the same person today as i was when i came here eight years ago and i fought for you and for the values that you sent me here to fight for. . i also want to thank the god who created us. the creator god, the god that jefferson pointed to in the declaration of independence. it is because of him and because he created me in his image and likeness as he has each one of us that i even had the possibility of coming here

to be able to serve. i also thank my parents, my father who has passed away, i thank my mother, jene, and my step-father, for their love and their support over the years as well. i am thank tolve my brothers, david and gary and paul and my step-brothers and my step-sisters. i'm thankful to my husband, marcus, of 36 years. to to our five wonderful children, lucas and his wife, christine, harrison, elisa, caroline and sofia. and also to our wonderful 23 foster children that we were privileged to raise over the years. as i often joke, yes, i am the old woman in the shoe. i've raised 28 children and i'm so grateful for each one of them. i'm thankful for my very dear friend over the years who prayed for me and stood by me and helped me to get to this position, to my supporters from the great state of minnesota. and most particularly to the prayer warriors.

the very first committee that we formed every time i ran for political office was our prayer committee. and i thank you to the intersessers who prayed routinely for me, those prayers i believe were answered. i also say thank you to the men and women who serve today in our armed forces. it was the privilege of a lifetime for me to go and travel across the world to iraq, to afghanistan, to germany and various places around the world where i was able to meet you in your service and i thank you for allowing me to meet you there. i say thank you to our veterans who have gone before. you know how near and dear you are to my heart. i'm the daughter of a veteran, step-daughter of a veteran, sister of a veteran. and i am so grateful because i recognize we would not be here today if it wasn't for our veterans and i thank you for your service to our country. because you answered the call. i want to also say thank you to my staff, my longest serving

staff member, kim ruben, who came with me on day one and who has served me every single day so superbly as my scheduler. there is no one quite like her and i have absolutely no idea how i will order my life once i leave here without kim ruben. i say thank you to my chief of staff, robert bowlen, who has stepped in and done a wonderful job with our well-organized machine and our office. he makes it a joy for everyone in our office to serve. i say thank you to my press communications director, dan, who has done such a wonderful job every day, challenging know make sure that i can be as good as i can and to keep me from making the mistakes that i'm all too prone to make. for mckayla hall who keeps me on the current edge in absolutely everything that she does, with a brilliant career in front of her. for renee doyle, my dear long-time friend and legislative director, who has a heart of gold and who has served tirelessly in every form

of her capacity. for jason fry, sergeant fry, who has served our nation as a veteran, but who now will be a legislative director for my successor and he will do a wonderful job serving. for kevin wasaki who has a tremendous future and has served me so well. i thank him, mr. speaker, for the brilliant, high-quality man of integrity that he is. for jessica cah limbings, l who what -- cahill who has always served me. for our intern, julie, for our district director, deb, who has been so faithful to me during my time and service. for barbara harper, who has been with me through thick and thin, through 16 years of activism and political life. for nicole receiverson-pe -- receiverson--- severson-pelzer. i'm so grateful for the capitol police for all that they've done to secure my safety. for the sergeant at arms, for

our chaplains, our bible study leaders, for the clerk's office. i want to give a special shoutout to james who runs the railroad car in the basement of the rayburn building. james has become a wonderful friend, a man of god, and we literally have tears in our eyes when we are saying good-bye to each other in these last days. he has brought joy to my heart and i thank him, as well as i thank maria, who stands right out here outside the door. she has to fetch me all the time because i'm usually the last one in the chamber, trying to get more business done. maria says, it's time to go, congresswoman, and i thank god for maria and what a darling she's been. for the committee staff from financial services committee of which i've been privileged to serve for eight years. for the committee staff on intel committee. no one knows how hard they work and what a vital service they play to our nation. to bonnie, the elevator lady, who's always so happy. i'm so grateful for her. and for the two ladies that are at the lunch counter back in

the cloakroom. to ms. pat and ms. doirs. you are such good cooks, you make wonderful sand witches. and i always knew that if i was short $2, you'd see me through to the next day. so thank you for believing in my credit worthiness. more than anything, i want to say thank you to the founders of this nation who gave us the most incredible ride by believing in us and in our future, by recognizing that these truths are self-evident, that all men and all women are created equal, that we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, that among those rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. and what that means to me is this. no government gave me rights that only god can give. and no government can take away the rights that only god can give. the only reason that we even have a government and the only

reason it was instituted among men is to secure for me and for you the rights that god gave us. life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. beyond that we rule by the consent of the governed. this is a pretty simple gig to figure out here. there are things that government can't touch. would that we would learn that. but there are things that we do . and those things that we do should be for the happiness of man kind. you see, it is our job not to think only of ourselves but to think of the generations that are yet to come. my favorite americans are people who didn't know they were americans. they were the pilgrims. they came here before our nation was founded. and i love the story that was written by governor bradford. he wrote in his journal, which i have read in the kings english mument approximately times, it's one of my favorite groups of people, the pilgrims.

governor bradford wrote that with the sorrow and the sacrifice that the pilgrims made, you know, vet first year when they came over, fully half of them died in that first starving winter. governor bradford wrote that it was worth it all because the pilgrims saw themselves in his words as stepping stones. he said, they willingly laid down their lives and sacrificed themselves because they looked into the future, mr. speaker. and they saw you and they saw me and they saw all of the american generations that would come after them and they saw what a marvelous land filled with natural resources, the ability to have freedom, a completely new covenant, a completely new promise that we could make with the future and with the god that we trust. we could have here a brand new

ordered experiment in liberty and we did. and the generations benefited. and our generation has benefited like nothing before. and that's what we too must do. and as i wind down my remarks, i say thank you, mr. speaker. thank you that i could have that privilege of also being a stepping stone, to look to the future, so that the next generation would live better than we do today. thank you for the privilege and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: thank you, gentlewoman. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina rise? ms. foxx: mr. speaker, i send to the desk a privileged report from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 775, resolution foying for consideration of the bill -- providing for consideration of the bill, senate 2244, to extends the termination date of the terrorism insurance protection program established

under the terrorism risk insurance act of 2002, and for other purposes. providing for consideration of motions to suspend the rules and providing for proceedings during the period from december 12, 2014, through january 3, 2015. the speaker pro tempore: referred to house calendar and ordered printed. the chair lays before the house n enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 78, an act to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 4110, almeda road in houston, texas, as the george thomas mickey leland post office building. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the chair

recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. spear, for 30 minutes -- ms. speier, for 30 minutes. ms. speier: mr. speaker, i thank you. one of the great privileges of serving in this body is that occasionally we walk among giants. most of us, most of us 435 members are ordinary. but among us are a few extraordinary citizens who become members of congress and serve this great country. we are saying good-bye this week to one of those giants. john dingell, after serving some 59 years in this chamber, is leaving us. and leaving us with a legacy of legislation that is truly astonishing. the endangered species act, the 1990 clean air act amendments, the safe drinking water act, and legislation to create the first international wildlife refuge in north america. not to mention the civil rights

act or the affordable care act or any number of other giant pieces of legislation. you know, he has often said when asked about the jurisdiction that he was in charge of as chair of the energy and commerce committee that he would point to a map of the earth when asked about his jurisdiction and would say, if it moves, it's energy and if it doesn't, it's commerce. that's the way he would define the jurisdiction under his leadership. we are thrilled that his wife now continues that extraordinary legacy by joining us as a member of the next congress and i look forward to working with her on so many very important issues. so, to john dingell i say, i walked among many here in this

chamber, none as giant as you. and forever more i will remember your great leadership to this body and to this country. i now would like to shift gears, mr. speaker, and speak about an issue that frankly john dingell would be very concerned about as well. and that has to do with medicaid primary care pay bumps. at the end of this year there will be up to seven million more women who are eligible for medicaid through the medicaid expansion program, who will not be able to get health care. because they can't find a doctor. medicaid pays less than medicare and private insurance for primary care. not surprising, in twelve the average medicaid rates were -- 2012 the average medicaid rates were only 59% of medicare rates for primary care services. now, you may be scratching your

head and saying, well, why would we somehow cheat the poor out of health care? but that's precisely what we're doing. and by reducing the. a money available to physicians who provide care to the poor in this country, we are basically saying, find it if you can. in my home state of california, the medicare reimbursement rates are an average only 43% this map shows what the situation is. the light colors are those states that were at 33% to 57%. medium blue and dark blue at 85% to 98% of medicare rates. as you see, most states are in that 59% to 82%. 33% any states are between

and 57%. the affordable care act addressed this issue by creating a two-year medicaid pay bump for certain primary care services for millions of low-income individuals newly eligible for covered care. without congressional action by the end of this year, that pay bump expires. and with it, health care for millions of americans. i come to this floor today to demand we extend the medicaid pay bump past 2014 and protect health care for our low-income constituents. additionally, the way the current pay bump is structured, this advantages women, many of whom prefer to see their doctor to access primary and preventative care services. as we know, primary care and

preventative care are crucial to the health of our citizens as well as to the reduction of health care costs. but the pay bump doesn't provide care. i like many of us here tended to find legislation that related to something that i knew. and i realized that i never went to the doctor. the only time i went to the doctor was to visit my ob-gyn once a year. i thought why shouldn't they be allowed to be primary care providers as well. i introduced legislation in california that became law that ecified that indeed that ob-gyn's could be primary care providers. 6-10 women report seeing them on a regular basis. it is the one thing that women

do at least once a year. and one-third of women view their providers as their main source of care. so federal recognition of rimary care that ob-gyn's play in the pay bump lags behind this in our health care infrastructure. 35 states and the district of columbia classify ob-gy nmp's as primary care providers. health e, the federal are for military they are case managers. they are in the definition in community health teams, a grant program that supports practices and patient-centered medical homes. and in the primary care residency program called teaching medical education

program, that aims to increase the number of primary care residents and dentists trained in isolated in medically vulnerable communities. ob-gyns are included. let's be clear. lack of recognition of ob-gyns as primary care providers puts women who receive their health care at a disadvantage. they report a problem finding a new doctor who will accept their insurance compared to 7% of medicare beneficiaries and 13% of women with private insurance. due to the very low payment plans and rates that exist for medicaid. i urge my colleagues to extend the medicaid pay bump past 2014

and expand it to include a protection for women's health by officially including ob-gyns as primary care providers. with that, i will yield the balance of my time to my very good friend and someone who i dmire greatly as well, congressman nolan from minnesota. mr. nolan: mr. speaker and members of the house, i want to join my colleagues in paying tribute to the great member of congress here serving with us today, but planning to retire, the honorable john dingell and i would like to do so by telling a little story. some 40 years ago, i was elected to the congress of the united

states for the first time. and before i had even been sworn in, i faced my first big challenge. my president -- excuse me, the ongressman that i preceded had passed so legislation called the big stone wildlife management area and the editor of our biggest newspaper had applauded him for that, and i supported it in my campaign and said i will do everything in my campaign to see it is fully implemented and fully funded. i had just been elected, and the president of the united states announced that the project was not going to be going forward and not going to be funded. here i am. i had just been elected and it appears that i'm doing harm and damage to the district and had president been sworn in yet.

we came out here for a little orientation session and i decided i would check with the chairman of the interior committee responsible for this kind of legislation to see if he had any advice for me on how i could effectively deal with this, and he said, come see me tomorrow. so i went to see him the next day and he said put out the press release, it will be fully staffed and funded and implemented. and i said to him, questioningly, gee, mr. chairman, the president of the united states of america says it's not going to be fully funded and not going to be implemented and put his arm around me and said son, let me tell you something. he said presidents come and go around this time. he said old dogs like me are going to be here forever.

the bureaucracy will listen to an old dog like me before they listen to an old darn fool like the president of the united states. needless to say, i put out the press release saying the project was going to be fully funded and fully implemented, and indeed, it was. and in the process, i learned an incredit blid valuable lesson from mr. dingell and that is there are many ways to affect public policy beyond the legislative actions which are perhaps most important that we make in this chamber. but getting ahold of these bureaucracies and talking to them and telling them what you would like to see happen and when appropriate, being supportive of their mission and their goals, they are inclined to be supportive of you as well. so that little story happened 40 years ago.

well then, i went on a 32 year hiatus and spent the next 32 years of my life in business, community service and raising my family. i came back here 40 years later and who's still here proving his point, but john dingell. and as i said, 11 presidents have come and gone, but he is still here and i believe has served longer than any other member of the congress in the history of the country, perhaps most importantly, he is maybe the greatest member to ever serve in the congress. there is so much of the good things that have happened in this country over the better part of a half a century that we can attribute to the honorable representative, the great representative, john dingell. and john, we are all so grateful for your incredible service and i'm thrilled and honored to be

able to be here to join my many other colleagues in saluting you for your great service to the people that you have represented so ably from your own district, but your larger vision as well, what has been so important for the progress of the people here in america. thank you for your wisdom, thank you for sharing that with so many of us who were -- benefited from having sought your wisdom and thank you for your effectiveness and thank you for the great things you have done. we salute you and we will love you and miss you but we will be forever grateful and this country will be a better place for you having served in this chamber. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the chair

recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. gerlach, for 30 minutes. mr. gerlach: thank you to offer remarks concerning my six terms of service. what a distinct honor and privilege it has been to serve 700,000 fellow citizens from southeastern pennsylvania in these hallowed halls. from the moment i stepped foot in this building since freshman orientation back in 2002, i knew i was joining an institution hat was see center of landmark decisions. and i knew that i would put up scores of historically important votes on behalf of my constituents, from sitting in statuary hall where the likes of president lincoln and john quincy adams and sitting in this hall, to meeting with the president in the white house or on air force one.

i have had more than my fair share of pinch-me moments. but the essence of the service we provide is not the number of special moments interacting with the president or sitting through an historic speech. it is an honor and privilege to serve every day in working to meet the needs, the aspirations and expectations of one's constituents. we introduced legislation, we vote on bills that come before us and we undertake services that improve the quality of life of our citizens. the majority of this work is done outside of the political limelight and rarely reported on, but the real important work that all house members do every day boils down to being the strong and passionate voice for the 700,000 citizens we serve both in this hall as well as

through the constituent services we provide. i have had the great fortune of having bills passed both the house and senate and be signed into law and those experiences were heartwarming and satisfying nd i helped getting citizens veterans' benefits or receiving an appointment to one of our military academies. it has added to the richness and fulfillment i have received from my experience here. i must express my gratitude and my appreciation to the numerous people who have assisted and supported me along the way. i have been pleas blessed with wonderful supporters who helped me through tough campaigns. they were there to lend their energy and commitment and i thank them for the faith they placed in me. i have had terrific staff both in d.c. and district offices who have worked on behalf of my

constituents and supported me. i would like to recognize the various chiefs of staff i have ad over the years. they have been incredibly helpful and responsible to accomplish all that we have. on a more personal note. i would like to thank my mother for the unbelievable inspiration and example she was for me over the years through her work ethic, her honesty, integrity and passion for civic responsibility. i thank my two sisters for supporting me and helping me in any way they could. special thank you to my children and my stepchildren for their support for my public life. and i want to thank migrate partner in life, my wife karen who helped me and supported me in whatever public service decisions i have made. as we close out the 113th

congress, i would be remiss if i did not call on my colleagues here to renew their commitment to work across i had yol call lines to find the best public policy. we share a common purpose to represent and advocate on behalf of our districts and reflect the will of the voters, but the american people want something more. they have a burning hope that members regardless of party affiliation will work through their political differences and find the common ground that is the bedrock of our country. public service must be infused with the commitment to achieve and not just to argue. i wish all of those being sworn into office at the start of the 114th congress the best of success as they work towards historic achievements in the next two years. leaving congress gives one time

pause to think and ask the simple question, why did i come here in the first place? the answer is pretty clear to me and simple, to provide my constituents with a strong and passionate voice, to provide a level of constituent service that is second to none and to serve with honest and integrity in all actions. as i look back, i hope and believe i have accomplished these goals and most appreciative of all the great friends i have met in my time here. but above all, i thank all of those who voted me into public office for their confidence and for their trust. it's been an incredible honor and privilege to serve. and with that, i thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back and make a motion to adjourn the house. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted.

accordingly the house stands i do expect the committee will meet tomorrow, meaning wednesday, on the omnibus. we'll have more can he tails as they become -- details as they become available and we'll have live coverage when the house continues this last week of the lame duck congress. they return wednesday at 10:00 a.m. for general speeches, legislative business at noon, ive coverage here on c-span.

>> m.i.t. economist jonathan gruber apologized today on capitol hill. he was called before the house oversight committee about his comments on the health care law. 2013 that twelve and voter stupidity and the lack of transparency were paramount in passing legislation without any republican support. he started the testimony with that apology. here's a look. >> i'd like to begin by apologizing for the offending comments i have made. in some cases i made glib comments about the political process of the health care reform. in other cases i simply made mean and insulting comments which were uncalled for in any context. i sincerely apologize for conjecturing the to enof

expertise, for doing so in such a disparaging fashion. it's never appropriate to make one's self seem more important or smarter by demeaning others. i knew better, i know better, i'm embarrassed and i'm sorry. in addition to apologizing for my unacceptable remarks, i'd like to clarify some misconceptions about the content and context of my comments. let me be very clear. i do not think that the affordable care act passed in a nontransparaphernalia fashion. the issues i raised in my comments, such as redistribution of risk and the structure of the cadillac tax were roundly debated before the law was passed. reasonable people can disagree with the merits of these policies but it's completely clear that these issues were debated thoroughly during the drafting and passage of the a.c.a. i would also like to clarify some misconceptions about my january, 2012, remarks, concerning the availability of tax credits in states that did

not set up their own exchanges. the portion of these remarks that has received so much attention lately omits a critical component of the context in which i was speaking. the point i believe i was making was about the possibility that the federal government, for whatever reason, might not create a federal exchange. if that were to occur, and only in that context, then the only way to guarantee that citizens would receive tax credits was to set their own exchange. i have a long standing and well documented belief that health reform legislation in general and the a.c.a. in particular must include mechanisms for residents in all states to obtain tax credits. indeed, my microsimulation model for the a.c.a. expressly modeled for the citizens of all states to be eligible for tax credits. whether served directly by a state exchange or federal exchange. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> the democratic on the panel called mr. gruber's remarks in 12 stupid and creditably

disrespectful. you can see that -- see that hearing tonight starting at 8:00 eastern here on c-span. it's also available online at cspan.org. the house benghazi committee will hear from assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, greg star, and state department inspector general tomorrow. this is the special house committee created just for the purpose of investigating the attack on the u.s. facility in 2012. at hearing 2012. that hearing gets under way tomorrow morning. ge way to poke

president in the eye though because what they're doing, in effect, by breaking out the homeland security appropriations bill and putting it on automatic pilot, so to speak, is to in effect, cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the very functions that they want to protect. but this freeze in place, funding for border security for immigration enforcement. it will almost certainly delay the upgrades to make the white house more secure and through secret service. a big problem for the coast guard in having uncertainty what they're going to be able to procure and build. why on earth when you're posing that's champion of these functions and of immigration enforcement in particular, why

in the world would you cut off your nose to -- your face? it's all about sending a political symbol that we are displeased with what the president has done and setting a confrontation for the first of march this year although it's not clear what that's going to look like. but anyway, you have 11 regular appropriations bills stitched together and so for the balance of the year, you will have those appropriations in place. and that's a good thing. and this omission is just crazy. host: for viewers who are tuning into this, it might be helpful to explain what a c.r. is and what an omnibus is. guest: it's a combination of continuation resolution and appropriations. the achievement here is that the appropriations committee in both houses ha pursuant to this budget agreement, this ryan

murray budget agreement have written in a cooperative fashion appropriations bill. with some of the domestic bills, the numbers are so low that it's hard to write good bills. and so we're really not doing ourselves any favors in the areas of health research and so on. but still, you do have appropriations bills that are better, i think, almost uniformly. and putting the government on automatic pilot. and that's what a continuum bill is. you enact a continuum resolution. it means you don't shut things down but you don't make nuances that you make in an appropriations bill. host: as we've seen in headline this morning, this g.o.p. proposal to fund most to the government through september of 2015, except for d.h.s. has hit a snag as the headline in "the washington post" this morning. if this bill does get to the

floor, would you vote for it? guest: i would have to think about that because the omission of homeland security and that's a department that i've chaired as ranking member, that's the department that i've looked out for. that's a very major flaw in that bill and puts a real obstacle out for my support. but the snag has nothing to do, i think, with any of this. i mean, the snag, apparently, has to do with representative wanting to have his way with the regulations. isn't that typical here at the zero hour, this guy brings in this? he's trying to squeeze more out of the process. i hope he doesn't succeed. if we're going to move forward, we have to get this terrorism insurance done and put together with the omnibus bill. host: viewers want to go back and watch that full segment we

did on that. what are your democratic colleagues telling you about this proposal if speaker boehner doesn't have all the votes that would need to pass it among republicans? would democrats come over and support this measure? guest: well, they might. and the possibility that we might is partly what's driving this. there's some hard liners on the republican side who are probably not going to vote for anything. so if he's going to pass this bill, he's going to have some democratic votes. and he knows the sure way to not have those votes is to leave a lot of these riders, these extreme riders on the bill that have been put on the bill by republicans during the appropriations process. host: these are policy provisions? guest: that's right. and i think the fact that his knowing that he needs those democratic votes has had to do with keeping those stuff off,

like provisions trying to damage the affordable care act, once again, provisions trying to gut environmental regulations. the sort of things that the appropriations bills tend to attract. if you lead those sorts of things off, if the only major flaw is the omission of homeland security and it is major, but still. the question is how much could we clean this bill up? if it stays clean, it will pass. host: we're talking with congressman david price, democrat of north carolina. he's a senior democrat on the appropriations committee here to answer your questions and comments. if you have them, republicans can call in as well as democrats and independents. congressman david price, of course, 13-term member. just re-elected to his 14th term and serving as i said, on the

appropriations committee. on that committee, you had the homeland security subcommittee. can you talk more about the practical implications of the keeping homeland security on sort of that shorter leash? what will -- what could viewers see as the impacts of that? guest: well, there's the political purpose that's going on here. that's at work here, to try to express displeasure about the president's executive action on immigration which is a perfectly reasonable executive action, just exercising some discretion like every prosecutor does about hom we deport and whom we take enforcement action against. host: beyond the political maneuvering. guest: that's right. they want to show displeasure. their idea is to take the homeland security department out of the appropriations bill, put it on a short leash. freezing it in place until the end of february of next year. so the political implication is

that you have some kind of showdown at the end of february of next year. i don't know what they think that's going to look like or who it helps. but anyway, there has to be something before the department shuts down. the implication in terms of department functioning is something we should worry about. this is a serious matter. this is freezing in place, funding for the very things republicans profess to care about. freezing in place, border security. freezing in place immigration enforcement. making secret service scramble at best, making them scramble to put those additional protections in the white house in place that we need. the coast guard as a whole schedule of procurement and ship building that will be thrown into uncertainty. you know, and so we'll have to fix that in late february but amid conditions of probably political turmoil. host: but a shutdown of just d.h.s. happens in mid february if that debate happens and a

shutdown happens, what actually stops happening at d.h.s.? central functions would continue, correct? guest: no, that's a good point because d.h.s. is the homeland security department, after all, and that's a term of ours in government as our listeners probably know. the border security is not going to set home. but they won't be paid. with great uncertainty about what the future holds for their job and for their department. so, i think something like 85% of the personnel of homeland security are deemed essential personnel. doesn't mean the border will go unprotected but it means the hard-working people will not be paid or their pay will be delayed. and the whole -- i mean, one of the main problems, i think, with government these days is uncertainty. and the unpredictability and

just lurching from crisis to crisis. why would you want to be that and especially with homeland security, those essential tuckses would we want to do that? it's a temper tantrum taking legislative form here on our republican colleagues. poke the president in the eye. host: viewer calls with congressman david price. david is up first on our line for independents. good morning, david. caller: hey, good morning. how are you gentlemen this morning? host: good, david. go ahead. caller: i was calling about a comment that the representative made earlier about at the very last moment, we get a person like representative and it puts a snag in this at the very last minute. my question is we know from year-to-year when the appropriation is due. why is it that it is the very

last minute before anything is ever taken up or done about it? we have a group of democrats right now who are going to be leaving office and he talks about the politics of the republicans. but what about the democrats who want to push something through while they are in this lame duck period before the holidays and for a full appropriation bill continuingr reid has resolutions for how many years? host: congressman? caller: well, the -- guest:, well, the cralle as a whole has resolutions for a good number of years. and when the appropriations bills are not ready, the full process hasn't played out and we need to keep the government going for some period of time until we can pass bills. it isn't good practice. it speaks the kind of breakdown of the normal appropriations process which i think is a great loss for the congress. that's essential power of the

purse and a great loss for the country. so there has been this brinksmanship. it indicates that what used to be a fair from the partisan divisions that have beset us here in washington. we come at the last minute, whenever the fiscal year ends or whatever the continued resolution runs out, we have to scramble to get the bills and place. year is ans this relative improvement on that. we have had a budget agreement the murrayear, agreement which put some numbers in place thomas that escaped sequestration, escaped these mindless, across-the-board cuts, reasonably normal appropriations bills. what the good news is.

a stick together package of 11 out of those 12 else. house and the senate under reasonably cooperative circumstances. it is an effort to get back to something like this process. we should do that. we should go ahead and get these bills in place and take advantage of those that work. is monkeywrench that just throwing into the works has nothing to do with this. i think the caller is right about this. to say, well let's go back and revisit dodd frank, no. that is a path to further deadlock.

caller: there seems to be a lack of discussion about getting the whole federal leviathan on under control. the gdp constantly regulate or make it impossible to run a small business with obamacare and just the massive federal regulations. there was a congressman a few years ago who just said, every year, give somebody one penny less, dollar, to try to get this , how $18 trillion debt now is it no one in congress seems to care? throwing more debt on our backs, is there actual more discussion

in congress about this? >> we are nibbling around the edges of that problem. people who beat their chest the most about the problems you're talking about. a comprehensive budget agreement is required going forward. the reason that is not too hard to figure out is that we did it twice back in the 1990's. budget agreement, bipartisan basis, president bush, democrats in congress, and heavy lifting alone produced the 1993 budget agreement. the results of all of that was political --lot of

they dealt with appropriated spending. everything on the table, something for everybody to dislike. i will continue to think those were among the best votes i ever cast. what happened was a four-year budgets,alanced surfaces, we paid off almost 400 billion of the national debt. politicala lot of fallout for both sides. but we did the right thing. that of course is what went in the trash with the george w. bush administration, to billion dollar tax cuts right off the bat. get back to the so-called grand bargain. how do we get back to a serious budget agreement that puts our future in place? republicans will not even talk about taxes and neither party is comfortable with the entitlement question. what the folks running the house now have done is go again and

, which actually is some of the best investments we made, health research, building highways and transit systems. that builthe things our economic future. it is the wrong place to cut. say is right, that we need to get a hold of this, put it in a larger perspective, not just cutting, but also making sure that government functions well and that we are making good investments. the only way to do that is to get a solid budget agreement in place going forward. while the challenge is greater than they were in the 1990's, the politics were much worse. >> for a long time, even before the terms in congress, fester of clinical silent -- science and psychology, he is answering your calls, taking your questions this morning. up next in rockville, maryland,

on our line for democrats. good morning. good morning. congratulations, congressman. you have duke and carolina. that is great. my comment is that it seems , and just dealing with the continuing resolutions, this is bringing up budget a year.ore than once in it seems it would be more prudent to set a budget for three years and have a lot of debate and a lot of discussion, get it established, and then the business environment, everybody would know what is there and what they would be dealing with for three years. all the federal agents as well. i work for one, and at times we look at congress and say, that is the measurement for us?

we really do not feel that good about it. i work for health and human services. that has been a beleaguered agency because of budget uncertainty, moving from crisis to crisis. no function of government has , education as well, in recentwe have seen years. a one-year process that works the way it is supposed to. there have been people who have suggested by annual budgeting every two years or three years. with some specific functions, we have moved to that. public broadcasting for various reasons. there are areas where we have moved in that direction. i think what you have, honestly, if you tried to pass a

three-year budget it all at detail, what you have is an inevitable need for revisions, reprogramming. i am not sure you gain that much. there needs to be a response to changing conditions, and i believe it would be a pretty big stretch to write a detailed appropriations bill to cover a three-year. -- a three-year period. we need to think more about the budget process. we have a five year and a 10 year frame for budget planning. we need to make that work. i would settle for a good, solid, one year at a time appropriations process. we have not had that for years. john is waiting on our line for republicans. caller: good morning. why we keepondering

funding other countries that literally hate americans and do and constantlyre cutting american citizen's hair. it seems a little backwards to me. guest: which countries are we funding? caller: any country that hates american citizens. any country. the middle eastern countries. you name it. guest: we fund local health operations, foreign aid countries. i know we often get this question, i often get it. we fund our interest. that may be one of a humanitarian interests. where georgerea, w. bush stepped out and that has been good bipartisan support. our military operations are

undertaken in this country's interests. that is not to say we should not debate these things, but in principle, we are a local power, the global power, and we have a inke in what is going on various parts of the world. we have to measure that stake and invest accordingly. foreign aid, per se, is less than 1% of the budget. military operations, considerably more than that. be measuring stick should the u.s. national interests. what we stand for as a people. host: chris on our line for independents. caller: good morning. one of the things that, you know, i looked at is the federal government moves and has a

budget where there is an increase in every time someone takes away from the increase, they call it a cut in. personally, i have been in the private sector a long time. approach doesthat not have the responsibility built into it. the other thing is, when you not justbudget, you do say, hey, spend it on whatever you feel like. every single month in my department, i had to have my budget, what i was spending it on, what i was showing for it. that is something based on budgeting and whatnot, it constantly increases. we have to make our justification every year. if you can look at the world like we do in business, that could help you get things realigned.

let me try to address both of the points you raised. way ofe budgeting is a projecting financial needs for a department, and agency, a program, to maintain services. that is at the baseline is, an andstment for inflation, whatever might be involved in trying to estimate what is required in future years. in other words, to buy exactly what you bought in 2014, what would you need in 2015? you want to know the number because the absolute dollar number in 2014 will not suffice adjustment baseline is an adjustment to take into account inflation and other changes. budgeting baseline

acquires us or another agency to propose that. we want to know what it is, but we might appropriate a flatline budget, a baseline adjustment, or we might appropriate more than that. there is nothing automatic about the appropriations process. it is just a piece of information you need to have to do intelligent budgeting. entitlement programs like medicare and social security, those get adjusted by virtue of who is eligible for the program and whatever the cost might be. that is why you get hard to control inflationary factor or upward pressure. but that is not a baseline budgeting problem. it is one way of estimating your budget needs. it is not a required appropriation. directives, i am

all for directives. i do not want congress to macro manage every federal department. you we oftenl withhold funding until we are satisfied that a certain problem has been remedied or a certain directive has been carried out. it's than the rest of the money once this has been taking care so the appropriations process is all about directives and spending is to be carried out. it is a legitimate legislative function to scrutinize very carefully the -- the performance of departments and going forward, your money and your level of funding will depend on straightening things out. minutes left with congressman price of north carolina. i want to ask you this question

we asked our viewers about this morning, set to be the day that senate will release the so-called terror report, 6000 page report. some concerns about diplomatic reaction to the report and whether it might put troops and diplomats overseas in danger. where do you stand on whether that should be released right now? that is time to release report. it will apparently be released with the white house approving that release. that are considerations require us to prepare for possible repercussions overseas, and we know the report is going to embarrass this country. we will learn what we really already know, i think, in people, that what most would regard as torture was carried out and that this was a

wrong turn our country took. it has been corrected. transparency is a good thing in most areas, in most respects. whatrtainly need to know has done in our name and we need to know what has to -- been done so it does not recur. this report needs to be released. there will be appropriate s, but i believe in this case, the balance of considerations one estimate, transparency and accountability on the one hand, and protecting of security op >> on tomorrow morning's washington journal, john bradshaw on the c.i.a.'s

interrogation tactics after 9/11. then we'll talk with north -- a senator john hogan hoeven about c.i.a. interrogation techniques and other topics. "washington journal" is live on c-span every day. the lights are still burning on capitol hill because there's still work being done. the funding deadline coming up december 11 with the "washington post" reporting this evening that congressional leaders have reached an agreement on a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill that will keep most of the federal government funded through next september. months of protracted negotiations between democratic and republican leaders concluded tonight with passage expected in the coming days, according to top aides and representative pete sessions, chair of the rules committee in the house, saying his committee will meet wednesday to consider that omnibus measure. capitol hill busy today with a number of hearings, including

many we covered on the crambings span networks. jonathan gruber, former health care advisor to the obama administration, seen on videotape testifying that american voters are stupid, testified on capitol hill. here's an exchange he had with congresswoman cynthia lummis. >> dr. gruber, did you participate in the scoring aspect of the affordable care act? >> i provided economic microsimulation results to the administration and congress to help understand the costs and coverage effects of the law but i did not provide official scoring. >> well, you have stated that the a.c.a. was written in a way, a tortured way so c.b.o. would not score it as a tax. w how did the administration use your information to write the a.c.a. in a tortured way so c.b.o. would not score it as a

tax? once again, i apologize for my inopportune, inappropriate terminology -- >> but they didn't score it as a tax. >> the administration -- >> how did you do it? how did you get c.b.o. to not score it as a tax, knowing that at some point you might have to get the u.s. supreme court to say it was a tax? how did you do it? >> i don't run c.b.o., i didn't draft the legislation. >> what does c.b.o. stand for? >> congressional budget office. >> what is scoring? >> scoring is the method by which the congressional budget office estimates the effects of legislation on things like the federal budget. >> you have said in 2012 remarks that you wrote part of obamacare yourself. what parts did you write yourself? >> if i said that that was once again an effort to seem more

important than i was. >> why would you say you wrote part of obamacare yourself, and you're the numbers guy they used your modeling, and they knew they might have to convince the u.s. supreme court that it was a tax and convince the congressional budget office for scoring purposes that it was not a tax. how did you do that? >> ma'am, once again, i did not write any part of the affordable care act. >> why did you say in 2012 explicitly that you wrote part of obamacare yourself? >> i was speaking glibly. >> how many nonpoliticians know what c.b.o. is? how many nonpoliticians know what scoring is? how many nonpoliticians would know that you have to get by c.b.o. scoring in order to get the affordable care act to say

that it's going to lower costs? you are a politician. everything that has led up to your testimony today is inconsistent with your testimony today. which is to say that all of your prior statements were a lie, is that true? were all your prior statements a lie? or were they just glib? >> they were not a lie. >> i want to change subjects and visit with ms. tavener about something that you had had begun to discuss with dr. gosar and that is, is there a decline in participation? smallerwhat has yielded increases in the cost of health care? >> i don't have an answer to that and i think we'd have to

wait for someone. it's too early to know. >> is there a way to analyze the information to get that fact? to determine it? >> i think if you look at the medicare trustees report if you look at the national health expenditure, it will show you trends. >> i'm hope to feel get those trends. i'm going to give you a little story. i'm on obamacare. my husband was on obamacare with me. we were told that we were enrolled in obamacare and then when we filed claims we were told we were not enrolled in obamacare, then we got it straightened out and he filed claims and we were told once again that we were not obo -- not on obamacare. well, come to find out, my husband was having chest pains at the time that he was told we were not enrolled in obamacare, and come to find out, he didn't have all of the tests that he was advised by his physician to

have. so on october 24, a week before elections, my husband went to sleep and never woke up. he had a massive heart attack in his sleep at age 65. a perfectly, by all appearances, healthy man. come to find out, in a conversation with his physician after he died, he chose not to have one of the tests, the last test, his doctor told him to have. this happened to coincide with the time that we were told that by re not covered obamacare. i'm not telling you that my husband died because of obamacare. he died because he had a massive heart attack in his sleep. but i am telling you that during the course of time that he was having tests by a physician and was told we were not covered by obamacare, that he then decided

not to have the last test the doctor asked him to have. let me suggest that there may be a decline in participation and that it may not be to the benefit of the american people. i want to suggest that regardless of what happened to me personally, that there have been so many glitches in the passage and implementation of obamacare that have real life consequences on people's lives and the so-called glibness that has been referenced today, have direct consequences for real american people. so get over your foolishness. >> part of today's hearing. you'll see all of that oversight committee hearing beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2.

senator mike johans is retiring after one term in office. several senators spoke about his time in office and he gave his farewell address. mr. mccain: ask unanimous consent to speak to the senate as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: madam president, i come to the floor to praise the public service of and bid farewell to my friend and valued colleague from nebraska, senator mike johanns. with my remarks today, i celebrate not just mike's last six years in the united states senate but also his 30-plus years in public service that will cul culminate at the end of this term. at the highest levels of government in both the legislative and executive branches, mike's life of public service has been punctuated by greater accomplishment. from the lancaster county board in nebraska to the lincoln city council, from his service as mayor of lincoln to his service as the 38th governor of nebraska, from his service

28th u.s. secretary of agriculture and throughout his tenure in the united states senate, mike has democrat tax rated a commitment to -- hayes democrat tax rated a commitment to-- --has demonstrated a commitment. in the senate mike's leadership and bipartisan efforts to repeal purposeless tax reporting requirements in obamacare, h's championing new trade agreements, and his contribution to the development and final passage of a new farm bill this year, all drib a strong conservative legislator committed to stimulating economic growth through reduced government spending, lower tax rates and reduced regulatory burdens on american business. i have appreciated mike's partnership on key legislation including his joining me to cosponsor the bipartisan congressional accountability and

line-item veto act of 2009. during the 112th congress, we were both cosponsors of the foreign earnings reinvestment act, a bipartisan effort to let corporations reinvest earnings, keep overseas -- kept overseas by our high corporate tax rates back into the american economy. i was also proud to join mike as an original cosponsor of his bill, the two-year regulatory freeze act of 2011. it sought to give the american economy a much-needed reprieve to burdensome and confusing federal regulations that frequently hinder economic growth. mike also an original cosponsor of jobs through growth act and many others. i'm grateful that he joined in helping re-plenish the foreign services aging tanker fleet. a decade ago, the foreign service had roughly 30 tankers to fight wildfires that burn

millions of acres of land across western states including nebraska and arizona. today they own eight large air tankers. senator johanns and i saw an opportunity to transfer several excess department of defense aircraft to the fire service to temporarily address this shortage and that has happened. when mike and i have had disagreements along the way i've respected his knowledge and experience as a farmer, trade expert and former agriculture secretary. i'm proud of the areas where we agree, reining in certain farm subsidy programs, treatments with panama and south korea and working together to kill a proposed usda catfish office, a little-known $15 million program inside the last farm bill that we both highlighted as wasting taxpayers' money and negatively impacting our cattlemen and soy

farmers. we also agree on the need who help returning are veterans seeking to reenter the work force as beginning farmers, an effort he championed in our last farm bill and i've long applauded senator johanns for calling on congress to pass laws to stop farm subsidies from going to millionaires while he was a sitting secretary of agriculture. as much as i respect the substance of mike's accomplishment and public service i have valued how he has achieved them, with a quiet, purposeful dignity and indeed, a vibrant sense of humor. he's never been opposed to bipartisan cooperation whenever it's needed to further the interests of his constituents or the greater nation. for these reasons, his approach to governance and legislaturing has earned him the respect of colleagues and constituents across the political continuum. i would also serve as an example to all of us in this body who

remain behind. in an email mike wrote to his friends last february announcing his decision not to seek reelection in 2014, mike wrote -- quote -- "with everything in life there's a time and a season. well, to my friend and valued colleague, mike johanns, i bid fair winds and following seas in all that he and his lovely wife stephanie do, and i thank him for his service and his friendship. madam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the senator withhold his request. a senator: madam president? i would ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. chambliss: madam president, i want to rise and second what was said by my colleague from arizona. it's been a privilege of mine to serve in this body for 12 years and i'm going to be making some comments about that tomorrow, but during my early years in the senate, the secretary of

agriculture was then secretary mike johanns. and being a very active member of the agriculture committee, and being chairman for two years during then secretary join's tenure, -- johanns' tenure, i had the opportunity to work with mike on a day-to-day basis and boy, what a pleasure it is to work with one of the finest gentlemen, public servants i have ever known. he -- he's smart, he's political when he needs to be, political, but he has as much or more common sense as, again, any public servant i've ever known. for the last six years he has been my next door neighbor in the roughly building, so we -- russell building so we see east timor other coming and going and have the opportunity to visit on a regular basis. as i leave here at the end of this term, one of the real members of the united states senate i am going to miss is mike johanns. i publicly thank him for his

service, thank him for his commitment which he and -- wish he and stephanie the best but what i really thank him for is the great friendship he and i have developed over the years. thanks, madam president. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. isakson: i want to join the senator from georgia and my senior senator, senator chambliss to talk about mike johanns. i want to amend that. i want to talk about he and stephanie johanns. in the south we have a twofer and they're a twofer. a great pair for america and the state of nebraska. as a senator from an agricultural state i know the value he brought to the cabinet when he was secretary of agriculture. i know what a great job did he as governor and the last six years working side by side with mike johanns has been a real treat. he's a gentleman, a scholar, he doesn't do anything he doesn't know what he's doing and if he's not always right, he's almost always right because he's

always got stephanie to guide him in the right direction. i i'd like to pay tribute to a great couple, a great united states senator and a personal friend, mike johanns and his lovely wife, stephanie. i yield back. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. johanns, thank you, madam president. mr. johanns: thank you, madam president. let me say i appreciate the fine words of senators chain, chambliss, isakson, there are a few others that will weigh in and express a thought or two and i can't express how much i appreciate it. i would like to offer a few thoughts, my farewell thoughts, today. i rise first of all to convey a very deep and sincere appreciation to the people of a really great state, the state of nebraska. they've entrusted me with the high privilege and the solemn responsibility of representing them in this body.

i am honored to have served as a senator from nebraska and i hope and i pray i have done so in a manner that upholds the high standards that nebraskans have rightly established for their elected officeholders. madam president, if i could turn back the clock 32 years, i'd just do it again from my first day as a county commissioner throughout my service as a lincoln city council member, as mayor of our capital city, lincoln, as the governor of nebraska and president bush's cabinet, and now as a united states senator. no doubt about it, if i could turn back the clock, i'd just do it again. i am so grateful for the trust placed in me and the support of so many people who have made this service possible. let me start with the top of the list, and that would be my family. my wife, stephanie, she has

been an incredible pillar of support, one of my best friends refers to her as "spirited." that would be an understatement. she is a true partner, she has given her whole heart to public service. not only her own service as a state senator and as a county commissioner where we first met, but to my public service. i thank my children, justin and michaela. now they're growing up. they have their own families. they have five beautiful grandchildren. they have been a source of true joy and pride. they, too, have cheerfully supported me despite the sometimes long hours, missed birthdays and i could go on and on. it cut into that dad and grandpa time. i'd like to offer a special word of thanks to the hundreds, thousands of volunteers that i

could never thank individually. they went out there, they pounded the yard signs, they walked the prestints, they worked phone banks, probably wrote checks when the bank account was pretty low. their belief in me is what has been inspiring in those campaigns. another group of people near and dear to my heart are my current and my former staff, campaign or government-related. we've always called ourselves team johanns. it's an extended family and for good promote their hard work, their commitment, their professionalism enabled me to represent and serve our great state and our country. i have not only been truly blessed by the privilege to serve, but i've been blessed by the privilege of meeting some really extraordinary people. in my various roles i've been

with world leaders, spiritual heads, cultural icons, presidents, vice presidents, prime ministers, queens, and kings. all memorable experiences, to be sure. but i will say, madam president, that's not the extraordinary people that i speak about today. my real inspiration comes from ordinary people who i've observed and watched do remarkable, extraordinary things. each year for the past six years i've had the privilege of selecting a nebraska family to be honored as angels in adoption. and each year their stories of unconditional love shows the limitless capacity of the home hearts. juan family, the welchells of

nebraska, brent two children to seven. they adopted five children, all with special needs. they created a camp for these very special kids could share life's journey. how powerful is that? i've learned that heroes walk among us daily whose courage is revealed in split-second decisions, and in that split second they put the lives of others in front of their own. two nebraskans did exactly that, it was 2012, a school bus had collided with a semitrailer on a rule road near a community called blue hill, nebraska. these individuals, ron meyer and phil peter, arrived on this horrific scene. they bravely ran on to that burning bus to pull five children to safety. a witness who was there at the

scene expressed absolutely no doubt that those five children would have perished, as others, sadly, did, if not for the remarkable courage of ron and phil. i have been so moved beyond words by conversations with parents of fallen men and women in uniform. i would call them to offer my condolences, and i have found their strength to be so astounding. to a person they speak with such passion about love of country, pride in their loved one's service despite sorrow. they honor their children with their patriotism, they honor their children with their fortitude, their grace through incomprehensible grief inspires

immeasurable gratitude. may god bless them and all of the families of the fallen. walking the streets of a tornado-ravaged community -- and i've done that too many times as a governor and as a senator. i saw ordinary people doing extraordinary things. one stands out especially in my mind. i watched in amazement as kim nieman, the pilger, nebraska, city clerk attempted to take care of every conceivable need of every single resident following a devastating tornado that literally leveled this nebraska community. her tireless advocacy, her raw determination was focused entirely on the community she loved. she had virtually no regard for

her personal loss. you see, madam president, her home was destroyed, and her life was turned upside down by this tornado as well. but for kim, community came first. these are good people, and there are so many more like them. they inspire me, they've motivated me to search for solutions, to break through partisan rancor that too often dominates this government. but they also fuel my optimism for the future. you see, i believe that america's strength is in the fabric of which we're woven. the threads of this fabric include both the character of our people and the wisdom recorded in our constitution. it is a very strong and durable fabric that withstands the overreach of any one president

and the misguided policies of any one administration. that's why i look back not with any regret. i'd do it all over again. but with gratitude. there were victories won during my time here and i'm pleased to have led some of those charges. yet i have to acknowledge many battles do remain. i would be dishonest, madam president, if i denied some feelings of frustration about the absence of will to address issues of paramount importance to our country. but i know that no issue is powerful enough to shred the fabric of this great nation. rather, these challenges are overpowered by the ordinary people that do extraordinary things, by the character of our people, and by the wisdom of our founders.

so i reject the prophecy of hopelessness, as the challenges we face grow more urgent -- and they will -- so grows the collective fortitude to address them. and i believe that is about to intensify. on january 3 i will officially pass the baton to senator-elect ben sasse and i wish him the best. with the 114th congress there will be a new day in this chamber, a new majority and a lot of new faces and i hope that they embrace the new opportunities to severallify true statesmanship. though confidence in our nation's ability to solve problems may be shaken, i still believe that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. even here in washington, d.c.

may god guide those efforts and may god blows this great country, the united states of america. thank you. i yield the floor. [applause] with a. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: madam president, i had an opportunity to address the extraordinary career of the nor from nebraska the -- the senator from nebraska the other day and he was on the floor, which was welcome, and his staff was in the gallery. and i just wanted to say again in a much shorter version how much we all appreciate his remarkable contribution to our

country, to his state, and to the united states senate. and we wish him well in the future. mrs. fischer: madam president? ferraro the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, madam president. i rise today to celebrate the legacy of my dear friend, my colleague and my fellow nebraskan, senator mike johanns. senator johanns has dedicated more than three decades of his life to sesqui the people of nebraska and also this nation. his career in public service began at the local level where he was elected to the lancaster county board of commissioners. he later joined the lincoln city council and eventually became mayor of nebraska's capital city, where he served for two terms. perhaps the most infamous decision that senator johanns ever made throughout his career in public service was in his

days as mayor of lincoln. after an early season winter storm dropped more than a foot of heavy, wet snow on lincoln in late october, mayor johanns decided to cancel halloween. he cited power outages and hazardous downed power lines. as you can imagine, this news was not received well among some of those lincolnites. to this day, constituents haven't forgotten, and they still occasionally remind him of how he deprived an entire city of trick-or-treats on that fateful october evening. he made up for it, though, when he and his wife stephanie treated children who came to trick-or-treat at the mansion. fortunately, this incident didn't deal the death blow to senator johanns' political

career. he went on to serve as governor of nebraska and was reelected to a second term. as governor, he focused on fiscal discipline and the responsible use of limited state tax dollars, principles that he upholds here in the senate as well. at one point as governor, he even vetoed an entire two-year budget proposal because it raised taxes to expand government power. he also championed ambitious mental health reforms that allowed patients to receive care in the stability and in the security of their own communities where they could be near their loved ones. a decade later, these reforms in nebraska are still regarded as a major milestone in improving mental health care. before he was a senator or a governor or a mayor or a city councilman, he worked on his

family's dairy farm. that's not easy work. and as mike puts it, it's a job that builds character and humility. growing up on a dairy farm, he would milk cows every day before school, sometimes even taking the tractor halfway to town in the winter months when the roads were so bad that the school bus couldn't get out to his farm. this upbringing gave senator johanns a great appreciation and a deep understanding for the needs of our nation's ag producers. so it was no surprise when president george w. bush selected him to be secretary of agriculture and lead the department of agriculture. mike dutifully served in this role overseeing a new reform-oriented farm bill and opening doors to new global markets for our nation's ag

producers. as secretary of agriculture, he saw firsthand the challenges facing hungry nations. it was in this role that he fell in love with the people of africa, and is a worked here in the -- and he's worked here in the senate to develop food aid programs that not only feed but also empower hungry populations around the world. madam president, senator johanns has tirelessly worked for our state and our nation. he brought to the senate a unique perspective, having served virtually every level of government, and his well-rounded approach to his work here reflects that rare wisdom. many of us here have had the pleasure of working closely with him because he always makes a point to work with his colleagues, regardless of party affiliation, whether it be on

complex legislation or that annual senate secret santa tradition. we're all familiar with the confident, peaceful demeanor that he brings to the senate and his plain-spoken clarity will truly be missed once he leaves congress. this is who mike johanns is. it's who he's always been. a quiet workhorse with a soft spot for the world's most disadvantaged and a burning desire to help wherever he can. friends back home who have known him since before he began his career in public service will tell you that he is the same man today that he was back then. never losing sight of his goal of helping people, never getting a big head and always putting nebraska first. the senator's wife stephanie has been by his side throughout every step of this tremendous journey, always supportive and

steadfast. and anyone who knows mike knows that he and steph are inseparable. i'm sure they're both looking forward to having more time to spend with family next year. mike, you are a statesman and a model citizen. i am thankful for all the work you have done for nebraska and for the entire nation. you have set such a great example for your fellow senators and we all appreciate your dedication over these past 32 years. you have served nebraska with dignity and integrity. good luck. i wish you and stephanie all the best. god bless you both. i yield the floor. mr. portman: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: madam president, this is a bittersweet time for all of us. as you have heard, as we close the book on one term o of congrs

and look forward to the next, we are here to say goodbye to one of our esteemed colleagues who's finished his service in the united states senate. it's all tough but it's especially hard for me with respect to senator mike johanns, a good friend and sort of the perfect example of the statesman through his impressive career as a mayor, governor, cabinet member and senator, as his colleague just said, he has displayed that. i first met him when he was secretary of agriculture. i was the u.s. trade representative and i truly believe i have traveled around the world more with mike thank i have with my family. we went all over, from asia to europe, south america and africa. we fought for farmers and ranchers. our idea was that we could expand exports. we went to far-flung corners of

the world to deal with cotton issues. we spent countless hours on something called the green-room negotiating sessions trying to reach an agreement on doha. i remember one time we had the opportunity to brief reporters as we were going across africa. we were racing across the sahara desert to make our way to an airport because the airport had no lights and the pilots insisted that we get there while we were still on the flight to see where they were landing. he talked to me a lot, not just about arcane agricultural issues but he also taught me a lot about negotiating and about how, as we said earlier, to be a statesman. we had some tough negotiating sessions, but mike was always a proud and relentless representative and champion for the interests of our great country and the interests of the farmers and ranchers that he knew so well.

and he always did his job on the global stage with honor and dignity. there's never been a better veecadvocate for farms. in 2007 he told me that he was going to leave the administration and go home to nebraska and that he was considering running for the senate. i never thought i was end up serving with him because i didn't know ifsz going to follow hism but i knew that he would be in the united states senate and he would bring the same level of dedication to this body as he had as secretary of agriculture. he's not fleshy. his colleague from nebraska has just called him a workhorse. i hope he takes that as a compliment. i would. he has never sought out the cameras or for that matter sought out recognition for his good work. a true statesman. we're going to miss you. we're going to miss stephanie. we wish you godspeed. i yield back.

the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: thank you, madam president. first time i met mike johanns was in hutchison, kansas, where we have the state fair every year. i was somebody then. i was the chairman of the sometimes powerful house agriculture committee, and i had made a pitch to get the secretary of agriculture to actually come to the fair, thinking that mike johanns would be a far better speaker than myself and maybe i could avoid some trouble. so we had the secretary come and i hai made the promise that evey feerm farmefarmer that wanted te secretary of agriculture a question would have that opportunity. i hadn't bothered to tell mike about it, but when he arrived on the screarntion h vacancy, scend

and said fine. and he had this yellow tablet you understand his arm. -- under his affirm all the activities in the state fair he attend. he went around to all the exibtz. we ended up in the amphitheatre and there he was. there must have been -- there must have been 150, 175 farmers all lined up waiting to speak or to question the secretary of agriculture, and i thought to myself, oh, my gosh ... what have i done? the secretary of agriculture has come in. didn't know mike that well at that particular time. what have i gotten him into? he didn't seem to be bothered at all. he was just absolutely comfortable, unflappable, and he had the microphone. he sat down, put down the yellow tablet and said, yes, sir, what is your first question and what is your name? and he gave his name and the question. and mike would write down the

question. he said, thank you veep for -- e said, thank you very much for that. it will receive all of our attention. he went through the 150 and never answer add question. but he wrote it down. every farmer later came up to my and said, you know, the secretary wrote down my question! there was tremendous impressed. as opposed to me, silly me, i would have tried to answer their question, and we would have been there two hours, three hours, lord knows how long. i asked mike, how do you get by with that? and he said, well, it saves a lot of time and you never get in trouble for what you don't say. what a class act that he really was. county commissioner, mayor of lincoln, governor, secretary of agriculture, u.s. senate. i suppose if i floated a balloon for you to be president that you might -- nah, stephanie wouldn't

buy t you wouldn't either. but that would be the logical next step, michael. and i think we certainly in all probability do a lot worse. i do have somewhat of a minor discomfort or -- it isn't a quarrel. i would never quarrel with stephanie. but some degree of discomfort. we have meetings to have meetings around here a lot. and some of us stay for the whole thing. you'd always look around for mike. he'd be around for the fireworks and then he would leave and he would always go home because he had a home here on capitol hill to be with stephanie. she was absolutely wonderful. she had the best smile ever. you cannot be in a bad mood ever when you see stephanie. you just aren't.

i would come to work in the hart building or in the capitol and i would run into stephanie and she would always have that big smile on her face and say hi, pat, how are things going? what are you going to do? i'm trying to be the curmudeon of the senate and she would flash that smile and i would say just fine. i would go into the office and they would say what's wrong? you have a smile on your face. i would say i have been stephanized. i'm really going to miss that. i remember sitting in the back, we had concluded the farm bill for the first time. it took us 400 days to get the rest of it. mike is an expert on agriculture program policy. ask anyone else if they would like to talk about agriculture

program policy, you get a high glaze after about eight seconds, but not michael. mike knows agriculture farm policy. we call it program policy in kansas. he knows an awful lot about it. i asked him how many people do you think in this body, in this senate absolutely understand farm program policy and he retorted how many people want to understand agriculture program policy? we decided there were about five in the senate and maybe about ten in the house, which shows you why we have a tough time getting the farm bill done. i really relied on his counsel when i was the ranking member. i am so sorry -- i really regret, should i have the privilege of becoming chairman of the senate agriculture committee, i would really look forward to a dynamic duo with regard to what we could accomplish.

but you have -- you're like shane. come back, shane. come back, mike. but shane rode way and you're going to ride back to nebraska. i give you that and i give you all of the success that you can possibly have. six years, six years is all this man has served. some people have been here a lot longer. i have. you can accomplish a lot in six years. people say what can you do in six years? well, number one, you can work on legislation, and you can know what you're talking about, and you can earn people's respect, and you can be smart about it. i don't mean smart smart. i mean just smart. and so that what you say and when you say it, people pay attention and that's precisely the kind of person that mike is. and you can have all the integrity in the world, and you can do exactly what he says when he talks about the people of nebraska, the people of kansas are very similar to the people

of nebraska. my only complaint with the people of nebraska is they chose to go play in the big ten, and are finding it a little more difficult than running the track meets they used to run against kansas state and k.u. if you want to go to the big ten and do that, that's your business. but we have the same kind, same kind of roots. i've always said that there are no self-made men or women in public office, that your friends and the people you represent make you what you are, and you have spoken so eloquently to that. michael, i was trying to think of a tag that i could lay you with that might be noteworthy of everything that you stand for. others will do better than me, and others have already said that. i simply came up by saying that you are an uncommon man with a very common touch. and i'm going to miss you, and everybody in our conference is going to miss you, and i suspect

everybody in the senate is going to miss you for the way you've conducted yourself, the job you have done for nebraska and we wish you all the best, and we love you. ms. collins: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. when senator mike johanns stated in february of last year that he had decided not to seek a second term in the senate, he did so in a way that revealed so much about his character. there was no dramatic press conference. there were no weeks of rumors. there were no guessing games. instead, there was just a simple and brief press release. then the very next day it was back to work for senator

johanns, traveling throughout the state of nebraska for a series of town hall meetings with the people that he is honored to serve. nine months later, in october of 2013, his character again shone through. the federal government was shut down due to a massive failure to govern responsibly. it was stifling our economy and causing great harm to the trust the american people deserve to have in their government. as a key member of our commonsense coalition, senator johanns worked effectively and quietly to restore government operations and to restore citizen trust in government.

again, no dramatics, no search for the limelight. just solid results, just effective leadership. quiet, effective leadership guided by common sense has been the hallmark throughout the senator's 32 years in public service. from lancaster county commissioner and mayor of lincoln to governor of nebraska and united states secretary of agriculture, he has been well informed, thoughtful and untiring. the old farm country saying that sowing is easy. reaping is hard, perfectly describes his record of accomplishment and his

determination to see any task to its completion. most of all, the senator from nebraska always does what he thinks is in the best interest of our country and of the people he so proudly represents. in an interview shortly before he announced that he would be leaving the senate, senator johanns said that he hoped he would be remembered as -- quote -- "a guy who was good to work with." end quote. working with senator mike johanns has been more than just good. it has been an honor and a privilege, and i wish him and stephanie all the best. thank you for your service. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the

senator from north dakota. a senator: i'd like two minutes to express my appreciation for senator mike johanns and for his wife stephanie. mr. hoeven: i first met mike as i was serving as governor of my state, right away went and visited with mike and could tell this was somebody who was not only somebody you could count on but who really had the right motivation in public service, had great ideas, was somebody that i could look to as a mentor. and i have ever since. from his experience at the local level as a commissioner and as a mayor, then as governor, then as secretary of agriculture, and then as a senator, mike has been somebody that all of us have counted on and somebody whose advice we have sought when we wrestle with tough decisions. so i just want to add my voice as well to the others who have

expressed our appreciation for senator mike johanns and for stephanie and to say how much we're going to miss him. and we're going to miss him not only on a personal level, because he's a great guy and a great friend -- somebody you can count on -- but we're going to miss his advice, his counsel, his participation in this process on behalf of the american people. i think mike really epitomizes the kind of approach that we need to have here in this body to really get worked on to listen, to think carefully and to remember always that we work for the american people. and he has a long and distinguished career doing that. and he's somebody that will be truly, truly missed, and i think he's somebody that exemplifies the very best, the very best of this body and of public service on behalf of our great nation. thank you, mr. president.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: thank you. our colleagues know the fellow in the presiding seat is a recovering governor. i'm a recovering governor. mike johanns is a recovering governor. we're sort of a support group for one another, men and women who used to be somebody and were special. i'm kidding. i think we still are. the senator was talking about michael and had the privilege of knowing him for a number of years. we were governors together and my wife martha and his wife stephanie were first ladies together. i thought they defined what the standards should be for first lady or first man, if you will, if you have a female governor. i'll never forget when i first met him, i was talking about stephanie and how they got to

know each other and so forth and told me this great story about i think they were both county commissioners. it was lancaster county. i think he used to be in those days maybe a democrat and a long time ago i was a young republican for barry goldwater when i was a 17-year-old republican student freshman at ohio state and later found out that hillary clinton was a golden girl at a convention. i hope maybe the reason i'm fairly thoughtful is because we have the abilityd to work -- ability to work across the aisle and see the views of other people. the story about how he and stephanie when they were on county council together, they met, started liking each other, started dating and fell in love and later got married. they had lunch together every day they were county council and every day he was governor, they

continued to have lunch together and here too for many days. that is a love, the kind that you just don't see. you just don't see that very much. i just want to say you are such an inspiration to the rest of us, you and your wife, the way you cherish each other and hold together and support iech -- each other and stand by each other. a real source of inspiration. the other thing i want to say, there is an old saying if it doesn't matter who gets credit for something you get a lot more done, and you define that. a guy who doesn't need headlines, a lot of attention, i hope the rest of us are that way but you define that for us. we love working with you, we're going to miss you. we wish you the best and wish you godspeed >> the senate intelligence committee released a summary of

its investigation into the c.i.a. interrogation program which claims the c.i.a. misled the white house and congress. we'll hear from the committee chair, diane feinstein and others. later, secretary of state john kerry testifying about the mill tabt group isis is also asked about the senate c.i.a. interrogation report. also today on capitol hill, former health care consultant jonathan gruber testified about the passage of the health care law. the headline, gruber critics of the health care law for his comments about the "stupidity of the american voter." the m.i.t. economist who helped tote this was summoned answer for controversial comments that have surfaced in

recent weeks on the internet. that is from roll call. here is part of the opening comments from mr. gruber. like to begin by apologizing sincerely for the offending comments that i've made. in some cases i made uninformed and glib comments about the process behind health-care reform. an expert in politics. in other cases i simply made mean and comments that were uncalled for. i apologize for conjecturing with a ton of expertise in doing so in such an insperity in fashion. i will not make myself smarter by demeaning others. i know better and i'm embarrassed and i'm sorry. addition to apologizing for my own remarks, i would like to clarify some misconceptions about the comment and context of my comments. i do not think the affordable care act was passed in a not transparent fashion.