argument. but when you're just going after groups with a certain ideological bent because of what they believe and you're just asking those groups about those problems and just scrutinizing them, for their high salaries or for their donor list or what have you, then that's where it gets unfair. host: sarah westwood, an investigative reporter for "the washington examiner" thank you for being here this morning. guest: thanks for having me. host: that's our show for today. join us again tomorrow. we'll be talking about the two-year and $80 billion budget agreement passed by the house and senate this week and also talk about open enrollment for 2016 and the future of healthcare in the u.s. we'll be joined by joseph antos from the american enterprise institute and dr. alice chen from doctors for america. don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight. we'll see you tomorrow. ♪

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> next, education secretary arne duncan on the results of a study on standardized testing. then, house numbers paying tribute to outgoing speaker, john boehner. after that, nancy pelosi on problems in congress, and the importance of women in politics. on monday, education secretary arne duncan participated in a pound discussion on improving the effectiveness of standardized testing. panelists analyzed data from a new report. this is just over one hour. hour.

>> i am the executive director and i want to thank you very much for being here this monday morning. we are going to go ahead and get started because i am sorry to say i can say that we will begin wrapping up this conference at about 10:30 p.m. we have been asked to meet with the president on this report at 11:00 o'clock. so we will have to end early here so we can get over there in time. we will end this and look around at 10:30 p.m. i apologize for that. i would also like to thank our panelists in our moderator for being here today and we will introduce everybody shortly. it looks like the last two are coming in now. i want to thank the research

council. they include ray hart, amanda corcoran and liz and others. will you stand so everyone can see you? thank you. [applause] thank you so much. we are here this morning to talk about a new report from the council called student testing and inventory and literary analysis. the next steps that all of us on the panel are proposing and this was initiated by the board of board of directors which was comprised by the superintendent and one school board member from each city. in the discussion where they met in albuquerque about this time in 2013, the board realized that

frankly we did not know as an urban school coalition just how much testing we were actually doing. nor did we have a sense of policies and practices in place from district to district. the board charged us with what was administered in the urban public schools in the 2014 and 2015 school year, as well as reviewing how the tests were being used and reporting of the results of our inventory no matter what that inventory said. we were not interested here in who is right or wrong in the public debate. and we have some actual evidence about the extent of testing in our schools and proposing next batch. finally you should know that no one paid us to do this study. it was all done in-house with

our own staff and it was released as soon as we had finished her. and there's more than we can possibly describe this morning, but we generally concluded three overarching things from the research. first, everyone has had a hand in what the current testing system looks like. and the situation was not created by just one entity. it's inconsistent and redundant. >> and three, there are a lot of tests. and it's hard to know how many tests are too many. and it would be difficult for

anyone to conclude from the results that we are releasing over the weekend and into today, that what we have here is not too many tests or that the tests are not being too frequently given. in general we found that the average student in the schools will be required to take about 112 between pre-k and high school graduation, this amounts to about eight standardized tests per year. we can tests of indifferent subjects as two separate tests and we count multiple administrations of the test during the school year as separate tests as well. in all there were over 400 test titles that were administered across the 66 big-city school districts, not counting special education diagnostic tests or a career and technical education tests. students across the school systems on which we have data

sapper testing over 6700 times in the 2014 in 2015 will year, the focus of our review. finally the time devoted to taking this constituted about 2.3% at the highest tested grade level. you should note that at this time it only included the time devoted to these mandatory tests took every student in a designated grade would take. it did not include optional samples or program tests or tests designed for a special population. and did not include time for test prep and it did not include time spent on tests that were purchased or developed at the school level. it did not count these tests because not everybody takes those tests. so adding them to the time of testing that everyone is given

seemed to add apples and oranges and mandatory tests that are given to every child in a particular grade, optional test and special populations test. and that includes smarter balance and other college and career ready exams given by the states. exams that were typically given that the secondary grade level, such as tests in american history or chemistry. three, exams that were given

periodically over the course of the school year to assess student progress. some of these were required by the state and some by the district. some are commercial and some were homegrown. and student learning objectives that are typically given in otherwise untested grades and subjects often form the basis for evaluating staff. other mandated assessments, only when they are wired for all students in a particular grade. all have stayed summative exams that will take between six and nine hours apiece. 71% of the districts in minister and the tests in one of my subjects that will consume between two and five hours per grade. nearly 60% in minister formative exams on average three times per year that will take between

seven and 11 hours in the districts that give them. about 30% also in minister student learning objectives and dozens of subjects that take between five and 11 hours in each grade. in nearly all of the districts, they are going to give other mandatory test that consume an average of between three and nine hours. many in the same subject to the same students in the same grade. the second big category involve tests that were administered only to samples of students, although they were sometimes required. but the national assessment of educational progress is part of this. this also included optional tests like the sat. however, when these tests were required and they are required in some districts, we put them in the mandatory category. it also included those that were in a particular program like

advanced placement or international baccalaureate. these can take another five hours or so, but some program tests are particularly considerably longer. the final big category included special populations assessments. here we included english-language proficiency for english learners and various diagnostic tests for students with disabilities. in addition to the overarching conclusions that i mentioned earlier, we also found that the test were usually not aligned with each other or with any particular standard, although clearly some others are. testing time did not correlate with students reading or math achievement. third, there was considerable redundancy in the testing and i am sure that we will talk about that on the panel. orth, some tests are not used for the purges on which they are designed. and test results include

instruction. and particularly for the purposes for which they are given. [inaudible] it should give the nation caused. we have listed steps that many cities are taking to reduce testing. you will hear more about what miami and north carolina are doing this morning and we got word last night at the boston public schools is going to be reducing its tests by half as a result of this study. in addition, we are pleased to announce that the council of the great city of schools will form

formulate the commissions of academics and teachers and parents and we will do this in conjunction with our partners at the council of school officers and we will charge this commission with developing proposals and models for how we can make this more strategic and thoughtful and coherent. with that, i would be happy to answer your questions during the panel discussion, but i would like to also introduce our secretary of education, arnie duncan, for brief remarks. [applause] >> they really don't know what is out there.

if they do at the federal level, it becomes more of a federal requirement. it certainly took two years. and i think that that speaks to some of the complexity of this issue. this is one that all of us in education have struggled with or thought about for a long time. i often tell the story about taking over the chicago public schools in 2001. we were taking the illinois and iowa state tests. we lived in illinois but not iowa. but we stopped taking the iowa tests cut out the effect can see and our team believes in and thinks about this all the time. it is the goal of high standards and we think that it's hugely important that many states adopted no child left behind and especially disadvantaged

children who are told they cannot be successful. we actually believe in high quality assessments and i will come back to that. mike spoke about that in his comments. we believe in meaningful accountability. we have to talk about achievement gaps. and whether that is a school or district level, we need to know who is making progress and who is not. what we do not believe in which is clearly unnecessary are low-quality and redundant assessments that do not help anyone. and we have to say what have we done to contribute to the challenge and what can we do both individually and collectively to get us to a better spot.

and that includes the state and district level and we have the levels out there. that recommendation actually came when john was a state officer in new york. and it's so important for all of us to think about. so how do we get more strategic assessments that drive instruction. these are not in conflict with a good instruction, but they help to promote it. they actually want to know where their children are, parents do. they want to help their children do better and if it doesn't make sense or if it is confusing,

that is not helping to drive instruction. so if we think about time and time is one part of this conversation, the other part is the coherent strategy where good assessments are leading to better instruction. so we say that the goal of every great teacher is not to teach but to have children learn. and how we assess the learning and the strengths and weaknesses and how we empower students themselves along with parents and teachers, to know what the child's strength is and weaknesses is, the to help that child improve, that is what we need to get to as a nation. we want to be a better partner and try to lay out a roadmap with suggestions that we think would be helpful. we want to listen to chris and his team and figure out how we can get this to a more rational place. so i think together it's a very important conversation to have. we are not going to solve it all

today. but we need to open it up and so on an ongoing basis we should be looking at this. we look at lots of things and see again if you're reducing the amount of time but it's still not benefiting instruction, that is a good soundbite. if you're reducing the amount of time leading to better teaching and learning, that is pretty powerful and i think that that is the next iteration of this conversation. so i think that this is very important and i think that chris has been a great part of it as well. look forward to giving us a much better place. >> to begin the panel discussion i would like to introduce our moderator, caroline henry, who is the executive director of the education association. >> thank you. i'm really honored to be here today. it has been a whirlwind of news

on this topic. my members have been busy burning the midnight oil. we are a member of the media that covers education and we have a really great panel and we have chris from the executive director of the council of school officers and we have the deputy secretary that will be taking over and i think the

folks are knowledgeable about this topic and i am delighted to jump in. so my first question is to you and over the weekend as we all heard, the administration of knowledge that it bore responsibility for over testing of students. it also announced that the president has directed the education department to review the administration's role and how to address how it may have contributed to the problem and to respond accordingly. the department came out with a 10 page action plan in which not only do you accept some responsibility but you kind of layout stats that you plan to take to help states and districts cut back on testing. so some of my members have written about this at some of it is new and some of it is not so new and i'm hoping that you

could maybe walk us through what is new in this plan and what do you think is most significant. >> thank you for the question. let me add a couple of things for the leadership around the report and around these issues. having been a teacher and a principal with the sense that the key question is how do you establish the right balance. there's no question that needs to be an assessment that is high-quality and well designed and give good information to parents about how their kids are doing and how they can improve instruction and to students about how they are progressing and that distracts us from good instruction, things that are getting in the way.

the good news, which we call out in the plan over the weekend is that we have states all across the country that are moving toward this. dozens of states that have adopted better assessments and there is too much testing that is not helping instruction. and that includes student achievement and growth. the progress is that no test should be given just for the purpose of educator evaluation. we lay out the principle assessment that it should be

time limited, that we think that it should cast the amount of instruction on testing and many states are taking action in this way and we will talk about the work that is happening in north carolina, we know the work that is happening in mexico and delaware on these issues. we are laying out the principle that this should be one of multiple measures that are used when evaluating the progress with work of educators. as well as the principal assessments that should be transparent and actionable and timeless and it's important for educators to get education on which to act. and we also want to get to the heart of the question to help the financial support. we have already made available

their ability of the assessments that they give. the president made a significant proposal for 2016 focusing on a set-aside for those to put those tort in on it for they give so that they can call the assessments that are un-necessary or duplicative. and teaching is the core after in helping districts bring together those that evaluate the assessments that are given. dollars and technical assistance, we will continue to work with them as they evaluate the assessments that they give and try to identify the ones that they cannot. more importantly once that they can improve upon with a more

comprehensive and critical thinking focused assessment. and we will continue to work on this as well. and that includes others that identify opportunities. many states have received waivers from giving an eighth grade test that also take high school tests and those taking high school algebra should not have to take it again. fourth, we will continue to identify policy areas in which we can reduce the appropriate level of the role of assessment. we are looking at the teacher placement, where we want to make sure. teacher prep programs are focused on how well we assist students with learning, but we don't want them to look at that

only through the lens of assessment. we are also working with flexibility around teacher of valuation in places where we can use more performance-based effectiveness as a part of how we are looking for learning for teacher evaluation. ultimately we hope to accelerate the progress of work that the numbers have hardly begun. >> thank you for laying that out. one thing that i don't think you got into too much is the point that made the most news. was this idea of a 2% cat. i remember secretary duncan, when you were at the conference last spring, you said that you had been public about there

being too much testing. and that at that time you had urged them to cap state and district testing. in the past six months, what has changed, in your view, if anything, to put forward this recommendation that congress should ensure that states cap the amount of state assessments, you know. do you think that there is a federal for this beyond urging states to do it and congress actually coming in and saying that they shall cap testing? >> i think that these are all hard and complicated issues that get to the heart of the appropriate state and local role. i think that what has happened,

the fact is that the lack of clarity has led to redundancy and duplicative exams and things that are low quality. the biggest issue is not just the time that the lack of coherence and strategy and the lack of driving instruction and willpower. so we could have a lot of debates about the appropriate conversations to have. i think that collectively we all haveations to have. i think that collectively we all have a mutual responsibility to help to get this to a better place. so we are all trying to be pretty self reflective. what we tried to do is provide a lot of flexibility. some folks did some amazing things. pointing out an example in tennessee of a fantastic arts teacher that really didn't like what the state was doing in terms of the assessment that basically created his own. and i think it has been adopted

state wide. that is an example of it being used in a productive way. and i think what we are trying to do is provide some clarity in terms of guidance with what we think makes more sense. we could have an academic debate, but at the end of the day is it working for children and teachers and parents? and we need to find a way to let this work. >> you urged in this action plan that this is part of it. and maybe we can talk about where that came from?

>> that would be john. >> okay. [laughter] the amount of time to cap the situation as well, standardized testing and also the amount of time that was spent that involved traditional test prep simulation. the challenge is it is difficult at the federal level to figure out what is the right answer across this. so we have suggested that the states should take on this responsibility of setting a cap and communicating with families about what assessments are given and how the time is used. and the goal here is going to be balanced. because what we do not want is for states to move away from quality and say that we are going to do last writing and problem solving. >> and then there are those

doing so willy-nilly. i was pretty surprised as to how the report did not mince words as far as local school systems now. he said that they share responsibility for what today's testing portfolio looks like which is too often incoherent, misaligned, redundant and/or inappropriate. and i think that those are pretty tough words for your own member districts. how hard will it be to fix the situation at the district level. >> after this is all over if anyone has any job openings, please let me know. [laughter] and again the board of directors actually asks for the report and they also view the report after it was done. they solved the language that we used to describe what they were doing and they said amen, you

are exactly right. and i think that because they have embraced what the nature of the issue is that we are going to have a much easier conversation with our own members about strategies used to reduce the amount of testing. so i am not actually terribly worried about them because they really own the issue in a lot of ways. but let me ask chris to join me in this on the 2% thing. i understand and appreciate what the administration is proposing and i think that generally what the administration is proposing in its action plan is really an important step to action and i think that there is no doubt about that. and at the same time it is not clear to me that implementing a one-size-fits-all

across-the-board of the 2% cap is what the solution is to this problem. it will reduce the amount of time that one spans. but issues of quality and use and redundancy in all of that did unaddressed and there is a strong possibility that people will cap the test and the lemonades the tests that could be helpful in informing instruction. you could easily have a situation where under 2%, which is really what you're left with, which is only the federally required test. and those that are given to inform instruction could be squeezed out of this. so i would be concerned about being too hard and fast without

what a percentage actually ought to be. i think that the sentiment in terms of reducing time is part of this but drawing a line is clear and i think it could create negative unintended consequences that we cannot foresee at this point. >> chris, i know you want to jump in on the idea. but as you speak, i would love for you to address the findings in the report about the lack of alignment on many of the tests being given on the urban district to college and career ready standards as a leader that has been at the forefront in promoting the higher standards

and the aligned assessments and i think that that would be somewhat concerning to you. >> i really appreciate your work on this. i think it's clear that could have unintended consequences and so we are in a place where i would rather talk about polity and the idea that we are giving a bunch of tests that are not allowed with standards that are being taught is really the headline for me here. that these tests are just being given because they were given in the past. no one would have done so if they would have been a part of the standards of that point. these tests were given because they had been given over the last 10 to 12 or 15 years, i think. and i think that that is an important point for the state. i really appreciate what the secretary said about all of us owning some of this.

and the districts need to own some of this as well. i'm hoping that today will be a start of the conversation with states and districts. the second thing is that mike and i worked together to release a report last year where we laid out some actions of state and district we are going to take to reduce testing. obviously given that the survey had just been completed, we do not have any data to show the impact yet. but we do have 39 states working on reducing testing and we are tracking map. they're having conversations at the local level. and they care about it. i was just in school last week when the parents were telling me how important it was that they were getting assessments regularly. so for all the hubbub about assessments, i know that their art parents that want to know how their kids are doing. >> i do want to get that

conversation started. and so i would love the doctor to respond to this idea and also to talk a little bit about what you all are doing on the testing front to reduce testing and also to experiment with new approaches as to how you are getting these tests done. >> thank you very much and good morning to all of you. i appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this panel. when i was a student i had to take a lot of tests. for me the big idea is the purpose of the test and that is where we had started in north carolina. about two years ago we did an extensive survey of our schools to find out about testing. and what we found is when we include state and federal tests

that take about 1.6% of the students time and then when you add in local tests, that bumped it up to about 2.3%. so we started having the focus be teachers and students and that brought us to the point of students, teachers and our parents and what should be the purpose of the test is to help students and help teachers know what to do next in the classroom to improve student growth and achievement. for this here for the first time, we are doing a concept we take the standard for fifth-grade english language arts and the standard for sixth-grade math and we are counting the standards and administering shorter assessments to students, three

or four during the year so that we can give immediate feedback to the teachers and to the students about what to do next. as this became very important to me after having a focus group for fifth graders, seventh graders, and eight graders. one eighth-grade student said he would be so helpful if you would talk the standards and give me a shorter test so i would know what to do to improve if i am not learning certain stuff. and so we are taking the lead of an eighth-grader that says let's have smaller test spread out over time and that we would use that feedback immediately to help students improve. ..

>> >> and will talk about what he has been a to.

and to have a conversation to the issue.

>> >> of how much time we put before the kids to equality 81 dash qualitative conversation of the efficacy of these assessments provide to invade have informed teachers and parents? the third point is that the need to recognize or have been overstated the problem may face today is the result of the cumulative impact with the state requirement and the statutes in local

districts to be predictive and not be surprised if the scores come out if you put those together you have a complex issue. don't forget in many cases assessments across the country reflect the proverbial the tail wagging the dog. they were generated to pass a test so that this data -- the student data level for this state solution and mandates the end of course, assessment for every single course taught in the state. literally hundreds of not thousands of force assessments.

what is the solution? rather than ask permission for you to embark with the debt forgiveness so last spring decided to decommission those assessments at the district level to put under our control for the purpose to generate a benchmark. to simply eliminate those assessments restored to 260 minutes of teaching time. we testified in tallahassee and the governor issued the executive order amid the school year that eliminated the need for the vast majority of end of the forced assessments we could decommission almost 300 and discourse assessments at the elementary level we went from 23 mandated at zero middle schools 77 down at four.

as senior high-school with the real brought of coursework 186 down at just six. we are supportive of this report the next phase of the conversation can i just be a percentage of time it is a quantitative analysis with a robust and honest conversation with the purpose behind these assessments that is a qualitative conversation of america today should measure >> the president when don facebook to put out a statement tuesday as the end

of an era you think that is accurate or is that a misreading? >> look at the facts they echoed everybody has said i believe that for a while he also believes it is important to hold ourselves accountable for student learning the other point i want to make to talk about the 2% it is a lessening courageous leadership.

we live in a town where most say why they are right and everyone else is wrong. you don't have many looking into the mir that is the best outcome. so what are you willing to do as a leader to do differently? but i am very confident and optimistic of where we're going because people come at this with humility. >> this is in flames people of passion and certainly you were the target of fierce criticism of the rollout of

the new standards and test the knockdown movement was so strong in new york i believe 200,000 students were grabbed zero is this the effort to bury that hachette? >>. >> is the effort to make sure we have a smart approach. at the end of the day that purpose is to help us serve students. all of us at this table there is a civil-rights function. we need that information by race and income and we need to act on those. it is an abandonment of those principles to say there are smart ways to have

educators said the local levels for those that say do we need these? are there places that have the students' writing to historical research? in the present -- president talked about that. with part of that instructional process else to drive continuous improvement. >> he touched and i am deeply concerned about i think over testing or no testing of all or two sides of the immoral proposition three cannot go back to the years were about a high performing students hid the

pockets of underperforming kids you need some degree of assessment did not to be logical and restricted and a non redundant but this report is not meant to empower this moral responsibility we have to our kids and teachers. >> at this point we will open it up to questions for members of the media. if you have a question erasure hand please identify yourself. >> i thought the most interesting parts of the

testing plan was the fact you are easing up on the student growth so could you talk more about that to offer details of that flexibility? is this change in relation to the comments received that are largely critical? >> we are adapting the hour rule on the feedback but the key up part of the assessment to major teacher programs have good information how they affect student learning to create flexibility of their way to any one factor or elegant. this will evolve what to make sure the states are

innovative very creative to have of the evaluation over time. >> it is important to understand from a system that focuses entirely on input to look at the outcome. to act like outcomes to work in in disadvantaged communities that we will continue to challenge that. >> i still am not clear after listening to you both

with the put that forward as a discussion point if you really mean it? >> it is not that hard it is put up as a recommendation. to be very clear for the fifth time the goal is not just the capital we want to reduce testing it is to have good assessment that drives instruction if testing is reduced to 1% then that is all losses of failure. is that good assessment that helps teachers it is a could outcome so we have a clear recommendation one piece of this very important puzzle.

>> so it doesn't quantify the amount of test prop that is one area that goes into instruction and what the effect it may have on the classroom. >> the goal is the bad test prep to simulate construction so the goal that districts would spend to be focused on quality instruction if they ask

students how to solve the problem in math and it will focus on a good understanding of mouth in a lot of vague good assessment of construction that is for those low level or for guessing the deal will have the instruction that has the same low-level skills so it just cannot be about the time of equality. >> we did not include the time spent on test prep it is a phenomenon at the individual school level of the mandates so the schools

are responding to the accountability portion with the inordinate test prep we wanted to make sure that anybody do that the time to not include data entry urged somebody to do that. but it took two years to do what we did. i am tired. [laughter] >> one of the things you mentioned in a report is there over 400 test titles and often at the district level there are testing contractors pushing day

shiniest test making so much money in this industry is a realistic to think we would have a reduction of test prep because so many vendors have materials that are aligned to the test? >> it is a great question. sova tavis vendors have played a role to drive the amount of testing now it is our fault for buying them. so with that political pressure is sometimes put on people the villain of the reasons why it is important

for a coalition to work on these issues of federal states and local is be coz we put out a report on the amount of testing doesn't mean the vendors will say okay. they will not do that so our responsibility is federal/state local actors to create an entire midori set of proposals to make it to connected. >> from the state level we're already seeing the state's example after

example working with the school districts to reduce testing the other is 30 minutes last of testing to ready just in one year. at the time issue is secondary. with induce states building assessments and reedy to take a look at the old test to make sure we don't keep giving those. >> will get the bigger picture and for decades you had 50 different states all doing their own thing so you had no way to compare it was

apples to oranges. so you figured out who was doing a good job into wasn't so there were starting to evaluate themselves so over time we could see which districts are improving faster if north carolina is doing something we should replicate that. so we're still crawling we just never had an education and who's accelerating the learning of black children of the english language murders? what combination help them get better faster?

we never had that. >> are you disappointed as an effort to to make the interstate comparisons? >> we're very pleasantly surprised and nobody predicted this love all of courage it is an ongoing process but seven years ago you said so many states would raise standards no one would have said that is possible if all goes to local leaders. >> headed in touche 2016

some have seen the moons over the weekend to smooth the relations between the democratic party in the teachers' unions and they see this in a political context of above for you to respond to that and is this the beginning of the administration to do the about face like charter schools? is that down the road? >> this is about students we have an opportunity to make assessments better that one of the key is resources as a

going to do discussions with other reasons they make choices is they don't have the resources to develop and analyze a richer assessment because rigo those high be districts to have that resource is that would help a lot. this is how do we ensure the system to achieve at the highest level? >> i don't want the media to misread the president had won a clear message to do the right thing. something is have been politically popular just

keep it in that category. >> i have to say everything is political at some point. as a member of the board be demanded this report this analysis be conducted two years ago so the fact is released now is to just recently concluded so shave on us that it is chock full of information we limit actions to talking about it to convince ourselves and hopefully that will not be the case. >> the big idea is repass the test is not to medea or

not to feud just right all the benefi >> every weekend the c-span networks feature programs on politics, nonfiction books, and american history. tonight at 9:00 eastern, politics and internet experts on whether social media hurts politics, and its effects on campaign 2016. and sunday evening at 6:30, texas legislators and other officials look at the hispanic vote to the 2016 and 2018 elections. tv,y on c-span twos book starting at noon eastern, is the 27th annual southern festival of national,ival in featuring nonfiction author presentations including kristen green on a virginia towns reaction to the supreme court's brown versus board of education ruling, actor and producer wendell pierce on how hurricane katrina impacted his families

new orleans neighborhood, and cecelia tc remembers the life of author jack london. sunday at noon on in depth, a live three-hour conversation with walter williams, as he shares his life and career in response to your calls, e-mails, and facebook comments and tweets. on american history tv on c-span3. today at 6:00 eastern, historian don doyle looks at the worldview of the american civil war, and the perspectives of foreign-born soldiers who joined the cause. and sunday morning at 10:00 on oral histories, an interview with supreme court justice clarence thomas on his upbringing in the segregated south and the influence of his grandfather on his career. get the complete weekend schedule at c-span.org. congressman paul ryan was elected new speaker of the house, replacing john boehner of ohio. house members pay tribute to the

outgoing speaker. this is about an hour. the gentleman from ohio. mr. chabot: having represented a neighboring district to john boehner, i have come to know john pretty well and not consider him not just a colleague but a friend. not just this, but we have had a lot in common. we both lived in the cincinnati area our entire lives. we were born and grew up in a small blue-collar neighborhood just to the north of the city of cincinnati although my family ved to cincinnati when i was six years old. john was the second of 12 children. we are raised catholic and i know having pope francis

speaking to us. rivalh played football in high schools. and incredibly. we both played defense. in fact, we both have ties to former head coaches at notre dame. john played at moore high school and i was recruited to william ap marry. we both worked to put ourselves through schools as january tors. later, we ran small businesses. john with a packaging and a plastics business and i with a very small law practice and we served in local politics. in many ways, i understand the challenges that john has overcome. and make no mistake, john

boehner's story is incredible. it is the american dream. and we have a couple of my colleagues who would like to ike to speak this evening. i would like to yield to the gentleman from ohio, mr. gibbs, such time as he might consume. i would like to recognize speaker boehner. so many of us are here today serving -- had difficult races that year and it was a big morale boost. i remember the last days in the 2010 election. we had two standing-room only rallies in ohio. on the eve of the historic victories, i stood with speaker wayner and lay out the vision

for the republican house. i have a picture of the rally. i hope you will continue to look back on those fondly as i do back in 2010. thank you, mr. speaker, for the years of service for the people of western ohio and your confidence in me. i congratulate you in your retirement and wish you and your family nothing but the best, god speed. mr. chabot: i would now like to yield to the gentlelady from ohio, ms. kaptur, who will be handling the democrats' time this evening. and i might note that she is the most senior member now of the 16 members from ohio and the longest-serving woman in the house of representatives. i would like to yield to the gentlelady. ms. kaptur: i thank the gentleman for organizing this important hour of recognition

and i thank all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have been here to thank speaker john boehner for his service to america. john has served the people of ohio for well more than two decades having begun his career in the ohio legislature but has served here in the congress now for more than two decades and if we think about that period of time, we think about the various situations that he has faced as a member and then later as speaker. certainly in the late 1990's, being part of the broad coalition to balance the budget when president clinton was president and we were able to balance the budget by the end of the 1990's and begin paying back the nation's debt. the 9/11 attack on our our country and subsequent military conflict and the 2008, 2009

economic crash which we are digging our way out of it. well look at the sad invasion by russia of ukraine and the ensuing conflict in the middle east that has spilled over into syria. this period of speaker boehner's service have been a very difficult time for america. and if i think about some of my favorite memories of the speaker, it would have been one of our more recent experiences handkerchief 's ery wet and his utter joy to invite the pope to address us for the first time in american history a pope addressing the congress as a head of state. another memory i have of the

speaker and congressman chabot shared this was with ohio state and the victors in the speaker's lobby in the rayburn room, all of us posing, very proud of our hio buckeyes and some of our colleagues and handing them out. there were moments of joy as well. and the speaker's many accomplishments as speaker requiring bills to be posted three days online before we voted on them. he had many accomplishments and built a legacy in his own right as a reasonable right despite presiding over a frack issues membership. he worked to find a way forward in a period. even when compromise seemed out of reach. i would have to say without

question, speaker boehner's departure is a huge loss to our buckeye state. the house is a place for seniority and the ability to balance demands that matter and we are very, very grateful for his service. as the most senior member of ohio's delegation, i thank the speaker for his service to the people of the united states and this house for 25 years. his respectful and moderating presence often with a smile in this house will be missed. and may he and his family enjoy the years ahead as he returns get o other locations to deserved r and r. we have several speakers on this side. congressman chabot, and we await you yielding us time. and i thank you so much.

mr. chabot: i thank the gentlelady. reclaiming my time. i yield to the gentleman from mr. ren asy. mr. renacci: i didn't know we were going to talk about that. tonight, i join my colleagues in rising to voice my appreciation. speaker boehner has been a strong leader to some very difficult and unique times. he has faced many challenging situations and decisions and also celebrated many great accomplishments. he ranged to hear from great leaders such as israel's prime minister and ukranian president. most recently, he orchestrated the head of the roman catholic

church, pope fran list. he has improved our education system and the lives of all children. it has been an honor and privilege to serve along side him in this chamber and with the ohio delegation. mr. speaker, one fun fact about speaker boehner and i, we both love to play golf. and i played a lot of courses together with him but never in the same foursome. i look forward to joining you with a friendly round of 18. i thank speaker boehner and his family for his service and dedication to our country. thank you and i yield back. mr. chabot: i yield to the gentlelady from ohio. ms. kaptur: i would like to yield time to the gentleman from illinois, mr.ly pins ki of chicago. mr. lipinski: thank you for

yielding. i want to rise to commend the public service and commitment of speaker john boehner. the speaker has much to be proud of. and and we should be proud of his commitment. but we find issues that we didn't agree with him. i appreciate that he did his utmost to keep the house functioning in a vital branch of government yes in some very, very difficult times. history will show that john boehner did a fantastic job in getting us through these times. speaker boehner has a big heart. it's not demonstrated in his profane way that he likes to address his friends, but demonstrated well by all the time and effort he has put into a scholarship program for

children. ed he knew the advantages he had going to catholic school. he wanted to give that advantage to others and that says much more about john boehner than anything else. thank you, mr. boehner, for your service, your wife debey and your entire family have made. i would like to acknowledge the speaker's staff who are a great reflection of the speaker, and i want to acknowledge mike summers staff, former chief of barry, katherine, tommy andrews and so many others who really helped this place to run. so thank you for all of your service and i wish all of you the very best.

mr. chabot: i yield to the gentleman from ohio, mr. latta. mr. latta: i thank you for yielding and for the special order tonight to honor speaker boehner. this is a reflection and remember the first time you meet people and met people and this is one of the things that i remembered about john boehner. i was in the ohio general assembly and a couple of our colleagues and some of my fellow members will remember, we were walking across the street in columbus and said, why don't you come over with us we are having a meeting with john boehner. and that's the first time i met the speaker and i can remember how impassioned he was about the youth of america. next time i got to know the speaker is during my special election back in 2007 and after

it was all over, my wife and i, which got a call from the clerk's office at 11:00 on election night and said when are you going to get sworn in and i said don't we need to worry about the secretary of state? we started talking about that and make sure my daughters were here to see me get sworn in. i pulled into the parking garage about 9:00 and i was a member of the state germ assembly and had a vote that day and just as i'm pulling in, my phone rings and i say hello. and he said latta, when are you coming down here. and i said that's funny. he said you will be here tomorrow. leader, we'll see you tomorrow. but he has been accessible to the members here in the house.

and have been appreciative of that and never been a time an opportunity to sit down with him in his office to go over the issues that are important to me and the people in my district. and also important as the chairman said earlier about coming from the same area, the speaker and i share a county in northwest ohio which is mercer county. with all these years going by, i want to wish the speaker and debey and his whole family all the best and a great retirement and i yield back to the gentleman. . . ms. kaptur: i thank the gentleman very much. i would like to say that one of the features i like best about john boehner is that he wanted to be speaker of the house. he didn't want to be president. he didn't want to head over to the other body. he didn't want to -- a supreme court nomination. that he really loved this

house. and that matters. that matters to all of us who continue to serve and that matters to the historical record and we appreciate all of his substance that he has given, whether you agreed with him on issues or not. he definitely was a man of the house. i would like to yield time to the very able member from cleveland, down to akron now, congresswoman marcia fudge, my dear colleague from northeastern ohio. ms. fudge: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. mr. speaker, i am proud to stand with the ohio delegation this evening to thank you, mr. speaker, for 24 years in the u.s. house of representatives and your lifetime of public service. i'm just trying to get his atext. -- attention. ok. you have served this nation and the people of ohio with distinction. for 24 years, you have honored and respected this institution. you have worked arduously to get things done. as speaker, you have been a

leader willing to listen to all sides and address the complex issues of our time. we applaud your commitment and dedication to the house and we'll be forever grateful for your statesmanship and courtesy. while we may not have always agreed, your door was always open. i could always come to you and discuss problems and issues. i respect your opinion and consider you a friend. i speak for everyone when i say you will be missed in this house. you are a gentleman and a scholar -- scholar and it has been a pleasure and a privilege to have served with you. i wish you well in your retirement. >> thank you. i thank the gentlelady for her kind words. reclaiming my time, i mentioned before in my opening statement that there are a number of rival g.c.l., greater cincinnati league, high schools. there are rivals in all sports and academics and everything, especially in football. mr. chabot: as i mentioned,

speaker boehner went to moore and one of those schools, i went to la salle, elder is another school. and the fourth school, not necessarily in order, because they beat la salle this year, for the last five years, is st. xavier high school. and the next gentleman who will e share in this tribute to our speaker is a graduate of st. xavier high school, and that's brad wenstrup. i now yield to the gentleman. mr. wenstrup: i thank you, mr. chairman, for yielding. mr. speaker, i'm here to recognize the gentleman from redding, ohio. it's a town in my district full of hardworking people and committed families. this man from redding grew up in a big and very faithful family. he learned the value of hard work, sweeping the floors of his father's bar. and worked his walk through xavier university in cincinnati. when it came to -- when he came to washington, he was a reformer from day one of the -- one. the last man standing from the gang of seven. he worked to clean up corruption from the house bank in the 1990's into banning

earmarks today. for the first time in a half century, the house of representatives decreased discretionary spending for two years in a row. mr. speaker, with all of your service in mind, i'm reminded of a teddy roosevelt quote, it says, it's not the critic who counts and not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doctor of deeds could have done -- or whether the door of deeds could have done better, the credit goes to the man who is in the arena and that is you. john boehner attended molar high school as representative chabot mentioned. school in cincinnati that i'm proud to say is a rival to my high school, st. xavier. we beat molar this year and, mr. chabot, we beat la salle this year. through that catholic schooling, john boehner committed himself to thousands of children that seek a real education and value in their lives. his support for educational choice has opened pathways of opportunity for thousands of

children locked in poverty. fighting to give all students a chance to choose their own future. for over a decade, john boehner's held fundraisers for scholarships for d.c. children seeking a chance in life through education at d.c. catholic schools that otherwise they could not get. and hope that these acts of kindness will be permanently engraved in the legacy of speaker john boehner. so thank you, mr. speaker, on behalf of not only -- not only on behalf of the largest republican majority since 1928, but on behalf of my family, and for your and debby's personal kindness and guidance to us. good luck, mr. speaker. thank you. i yield back. mr. chabot: thank you. i thank the gentleman for his kind words and i'd like to now yield to the gentlelady from, ms. kaptur. ms. kaptur: thank you, i'd like to yield time to charles rangel.

mr. rangel: ask to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rangel: while i'm not only going to miss speaker john boehner, but i'm going to miss when he leave next year the congress that john boehner loved and i have loved so much. if republicans think that they had a problem with john boehner, they should have known jack kemp. because it was jack kemp that introduced -- introduced me to boehner. at that time we acknowledged that there were democrats and republicans, but the whole idea that you could be vindictive enough to attempt to destroy someone politically or not work together as john did with george miller in bringing the leave no child behind, the work that i've done on ways and ans with trade, and was so

open in dealing with john, who represented not an ideology but represented what he thought was best for the country, to me john boehner was, as so many people have said, just a regular guy. first one in his family, like so many of us, that went to college. entered public service. and through a variety of things became the speaker of the house that has to be just one of the greatest senses of pride that any american could ever have. the whole idea that there were people in this partisan time that would believe that they would want him to leave even more than democrats would want him to leave is something that would have to be explained by history. but of course things are strange today. black doctor brain surgeon is

now leading for president the republican party. and don trump, right behind him, running for president. a big battle as to who will replace john. these are things that are just so unusual, so that while i miss john, i'm just missing the days when we used to come to this floor and decide how many votes we need to get something passed and we hope that we would be in the majority. but the most exciting thing would be being able to work with the other side and being able to sit with the president or stand with the president and to truly feel that you were not a democrat or republican, but you got legislation passed. we never called it compromise. i guess we called it just working together.

and enjoying working together. and that's gone. i don't know whether it would come back. but it would seem to me that john is always going to be remembered as somebody that cared more about his country, his family, and this congress than he did about being speaker and that's the way i want to remember him. thank you, congressman, for giving me this opportunity. mr. chabot: thank you. we very much appreciate the gentleman's words, who has been around here, a very distinguished gentleman, korean war veteran, and we respect you greatly. the gentleman from ohio, mr. tiberi, is recognized. mr. tiberi: thank you. mr. speaker, what a journey, what a journey. a journey that i got to join after i was elected to the house in november of 2000. my first real interaction with

you, mr. speaker, you might remember, you were the incoming chairman of the education and work force committee. as freshmen, we were putting together our requests to decide what our top committee assignments would be. education and work force wasn't one of mine. but it was apparently one of yours. not just for you as chairman, but for me as freshman. because you came by and saw my list and said, i don't know why you're doing, that you're going to be on the education and work force committee. i said, no i'm not. yes, i was. and yes i did. and it was an unbelievable experience. it was one in which i did not expect and, as chairman rangel said, one that made history, with george miller and the late senator ted kennedy and

president george w. bush. and it wouldn't have happened without the leadership of then chairman boehner. boy, could he run a committee. it was really his forte, that most americans don't even know. what a great committee chairman he was. he was a committee chairman's chairman, quite frankly. and he, as leader, as speaker, will go down in history as one ho cherished that process, that process was not always what he liked or what he wanted, but he sure understood it, he sure respected it, he sure loved it. as mr. rangel knows, he was sure good at it. in a bipartisan way. in november or excuse me in

early 2006, we had an opening for majority leader. and i harkin back to a dinner that i was able to attend, back in like 2002, when i heard then chairman boehner said, you know, someday i'd like to be back in leadership. i looked at him like he was crazy. are you kidding me? how can you do that? you know what he did? he just worked hard, he did the right things, he played the long game. he helped people. and when the opening that he won aw came in 2006, an upset race on the second ballot. to become our majority leader. the dye was already cast and we lost that election in november of 2006. and the democrats took the

majority. and john was our minority leader. worked hard, many thought that we'd never see that majority again. and on november, the day before the election, in 2010, i had lunch with then leader boehner and he said, we're going to take the majority back and it's going to happen tomorrow. ladies and gentlemen, history all changed when pope francis came. it changed because pope francis was here, but it changed the history of john boehner's speakership. but i'm confident history will show that john boehner was one of the best speakers in the history of our country. mr. speaker, god speed, we'll miss you. mr. chabot: i thank the gentleman very much. very inspiring. the gentlelady's recognized again. ms. kaptur: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i'd like to yield time to

congresswoman joyce beatty, who had served as the minority leader of the ohio senate prior arriving here, and has just arrived with such capacity and i know she has served with john boehner and knows him very well. thank you for being here this evening, congresswoman beatty. mrs. beatty: thank you, mr. speaker. and thank you to my friend, congresswoman kaptur, and congressman chabot, for managing tonight's special order. i am proud to join my colleagues as we absolute speaker john -- salute speaker john andrew boehner, for his almost 25 years of service, and being elected this january to his had third term as speaker of the house. tonight my remarks are personal. i have had the pleasure of knowing john boehner for more than three decades. although at different times we both served in the ohio house of representatives.

he and my spouse, otto, served and worked on many things together. when i came to congress, he invited me into his office for a cup of coffee. it's not bad to have a speaker, the third most powerful person in the country, to call you by your first name and when we're back home to say to others in my district that i'm his friend. as a freshman, as most of you know, mr. speaker, seniority is very important in this house. i was a freshman, that equals no seniority. nelson mandela died and i learned that there was going to be an opportunity for members to go to south africa to nelson mandela's funeral. wow. yes, i wanted to go. all my colleagues said, there's one problem, congresswoman

beatty. and that word again appeared, seniority. well i'll always be so grateful for speaker boehner approving the reck menation from leader pelosi, and yes, i went to nelson mandela's funeral. tonight, i am proud to join my other colleagues and others in saying that speaker boehner served as a great statesman for ohio and the nation. the great state of ohio has benefited greatly through his leadership. while there are things certainly that we have not agreed on, we've always managed to not be disagreeable. in a way that was negative -- disagreeable in a way that was negative for ohio or the nation. but there were some things we did agree on. and there's one quote that was a very proud moment for me as a member of this united states

congress. when speaker boehner said, it was beginning to become a political football, and just as i thought it was time to stop, i thought, let's have a discussion with responsible members of congress to try to bring some resolution to this. but in his own views, there should be no debate because he said, mr. speaker, in my view, the issue is settled. the flag should be gone. and mr. speaker, that flag was the confederate flag. so i say thank you, mr. boehner, for that. thank you, congresswoman kaptur, for recent article that i read that you wrote about speaker boehner and i think you said it all when you talked about his life here in congress. and you said, we all have benefited in our state from the

great work he's done. i agree with you. thank you, mr. speaker, for always taking my calls, thank you for always having an open door, and i leave you with these words, the words of nelson mandela. it always seems impossible until it's done. thank you, mr. speaker. job well done. mr. chabot: reclaiming my time, the gentlelady refered to being able to attend the funeral of nelson mandela. the speaker made it possible for me to also go on a bipartisan delegation to the funeral of pope john paul ii. it's one of those experiences a once in a lifetime thing. 5 sad occasion but one that was inspirational to me and a lot of other members who when as well. i'd now like to yield to my

colleague, the gentleman from ohio, mr. scifres. mr. scifres: today i rise to honor a fellow ohioan who has for -- much mr. stivers: today i rise to honor a fellow ohioan who has done so much for the country. i didn't really know john boehner, but he convinced me to run for congress to make america better. he was very honest in that recruiting process. i said, i'd like to be on the energy and commerce committee, he took a big drag of his cigarette an said, not going to happen. so he never misled me, he never said anything that he didn't back up, and i will always respect that about him and the way he's acted his entire time for 25 years in this house.

i know he'll be happy to spend more time with his -- with the things and people that are important to him. he's going to spend more time with his wife debbie, his children, his brand new grandson. and of course he'll spend more time with his golf clubs and probably a bottle of wine. i think it goes without saying that we'll miss john boehner more than he'll miss us. he's always been the responsible adult in the room. he's always done what's right for america, regardless of the personal costs. he has a lasting legacy in this institution from simple traditions like the boehner birthday song that we'll sing in this institution for a very long time to policy matters like looking after at-risk kids both here in washington and all around this country. enacting meaningful entitlement reform and banning earmarks. he also had political accomplishments, winning become a republican majority in the house and growing that majority.

his legacy will be lasting indeed. and i'm a better representative for having worked with john boehner. they say washington changes you, but after 25 years in washington -- in washington, d.c., john boehner has never forgotten where he came from. his roots are that big catholic family, running a local bar in a blue collar part of cincinnati that background grounded him and gave him the right perspective on both life and public service. losing john boehner's bad for ohio and i believe it's bad for america but it's probably good for john boehner. speaker boehner, on behalf of my constituents, let me say thank you for your selfless service to this country and good luck in the future, and please don't be a stranger. i yield back the balance of my time, mr. chairman. mr. chabot: reclaiming my time, does the gentlewoman from ohio have further speakers? ms. kaptur: i have no further speakers but i would like to add

this, if i might. that is that the circumstances that have led to speaker boehner's decision to depart this chamber trouble me a great deal. and history will report on everything that happened that has led to this point, but how sad is it that someone with that experience, from our part of the country, the great lakes region, doesn't have all that much here in terms of leadership positions, would do this for what he views as the good of the country because certain individuals seem not to be able to work as a team. and if we can't work as a team, team america, then i think that really harm ours entire republic and speaking as the dean of our delegation, ohio will lose a great deal by this speaker's departure and many times aye said in my career, how is it that the state that produce --

that produced john glenn and to go to the moon, why do we have the smallest nasa center in the kun re? john boehner put his sword in the ground for the glakes region. i worry a lot about what this means for us as other parts of the country weigh in more heavily. as an ohioan, understanding that there are so many things we don't have from this froth, we don't have a major research center from the national energy lab if you -- we don't, other than wright patterson air force base we don't have bases as other parts of the country do to the same extent when you look at the federal establishment in ohio. if you look at the national park service and what it does west of the mississippi, versus what it does east of the mississippi, we actually had a voice for our part of the country. i take his leaving very personally in terms of what it

means to us as a state. i want to thank him for allowing ukraine freedom support act to move to the floor late last year. it was one of the last agenda items of that congress. and that session of congress. and i know without his intervention, we wouldn't be where we are today in terms of trying to be relevant at liberty's edge. so i thank him for his service, third in line to the presidency of the country, most americans will never know some of the burden that he bore with knowledge that most of us in this chamber does not have but for certain he did. and he held that close to himself and i thank him for all those quiet moments when perhaps the burden seemed almost overwhelming. i thank him for his service. i assume he'll continue to be involved in some ways in the days and years ahead, he loves

politics too much to just walk away from it. i thank him on behalf of the people of ohio for representing our state, our region, in his dutiful service to the united states of america. thank you, speaker, john boehner, from ohio. from the heartland. thank the gentleman for yielding me this timele mr. chabot: thank you very much. reclaiming my time. i want to thank the gentlelady for participating this evening. we really do appreciate making this a bipartisan event. our next speaker is not from ohio. she's the next best thing, the gentlelady from indiana, ms. brooks, and that's, no offense to our next door neighbors in kentucky or pennsylvania. ms. brooks: mr. speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from ohio for spearheading this special order tonight and giving us the opportunity to honor speaker boehner. part of his legacy and what i was told about speaker boehner before i arrived here was his incredible honesty, honesty to

all of us who he worked with and honesty to the american people. his humility, his sense of humor and his incredible patience. i remember first coming into congress in the 113th congress and in fact, it was the speaker's wife, debbie boehner, who became the mentor to my husband as a new congressional spouse. i was quite frankly a bit terrified of the thought of my husband being assigned to the speaker's wife. however, they were perfect, they both enjoy an incredible sense of humor but they also ground us and remind us what's important in life. i'd like to thank debbie boehner for sharing her husband and sharing the father of their children with the country all these many years. and what the speaker shared with all of us is he shared and taught all of us about the importance of this institution. its rich history and how to serve the people of our districts with distinction and honor. although i'm a miami of ohio grad, i have to admit i enjoyed

a common bond with the speaker in that my daughter played soccer with xavier university. it was fun to share the love of xavier university with him as well. i'd like to mention probably his last codell or last congressional tip. i was honored to be asked to be part of it, it was this summer a co-dell to eastern europe to -- a codell to eastern europe, to lithuania and poland and we ended in ireland. while we were in eastern europe it was because of speaker boehner that he showed the eastern european countries how vitally important it was that we stand with our allies against russian aggression. and it was an honor to be part of that trip because he demonstrated america's leadership and commitment to freedom and ensuring that we would stand with our friends and allies and it was an incredible learning experience for me and the others on the trip. when i think about the speaker, he probably has worked harder than anyone i will ever know to

protect this institution and although it's not for much longer that we will call him mr. speaker, i will always admire his steadfast commitment to protecting the american public and serving our country. i must share that one of the unique aspects of his leadership and that of his terrific team, which has surrounded him is that they have done an incredible job sharing his experience as leader with the american public. whether we have watched on youtube or other ways a morning trip to the diner for breakfast, fixing his lawn mower at home, carving the turkey or most importantly to him the historic visit to pope francis, he and his staff have done an excellent job of giving the american public an the american people an inside look at the life of john boehner, the speaker of the house. he embodies the qualities of an american patriot and it's truly been an honor to serve with him in the united states congress. i'm now so pleased he'll have the opportunity to enjoy being a new grandfather and enjoy --

enjoy his children, lindsay and tricia, and of course his wife debbie and he will very much be missed. thank you, mr. speaker, for your commitment to our country. thank you. mr. chabot: i thank the gentlelady for her words. she mentioned she's a miami of ohio, and i mention that my son is a graduate and i almost went there myself. i would like to yield to the gentleman from florida. mr. curbelo: i thank the ohio delegation for giving us this special opportunity to honor a man we all admire and appreciate. i'm not from ohio, i'm from the state of florida and i have been known -- i haven't known john boehner nearly as long as many of my friends who have spoken here tonight. however, i can say this, mr. speaker. for many of us, who are still relatively new here in congress, for many of us that represent

younger generation of leaders who have come here to serve, john bayner is a great example, n example of decency, of sincerity, of integrity, an of profound caring for every single american an for all of us. a. moved by john -- i am moved by john boehner's work in education which is clearly one of his great passions. as a school board member in miami-david county, i saw firsthand -- miami-dade county i saw firsthand the difference john boehner's work in education made in the lives of children. . oftentimes poor children, low income children, who would not be counted had john boehner not done such wonderful work in the committee on education and the work force. when he was chairman. the legislation that john

boehner and those who served with him advanced made sure that every child counted and that no child would be counted out, no matter where they lived , the color of their skin, or where their parents came from. so today i just say thank you to john boehner. i say thank you to his family. like the speaker, i'm the father of two girls. i know exactly how much they have sacrificed for him, for his colleagues and for our country. mr. speaker, i'm a better man for having served with john boehner. this institution is a better institution for his service. and tonight we and the american people thank him. i yield back. mr. chabot: i thank the gentleman very much and i'd now like to yield to the gentlelady from american samoa. mrs. radewagen: i thank the gentleman from ohio.

mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the unwavering dedication and years of exemplary service of house speaker john boehner to our great nation. as the delegate to the united states house of representatives from american samoa, i'm always honored to address the chamber and even more so today, so that i can acknowledge the sincerity, kindness and years of hard work of a man that i have known for over 20 years. as a man who has gone from the humble beginnings of a night janitor to the speaker of the house, the united states house of representatives, mr. boehner is the perfect example of the american dream fulfilled. it demonstrates that with hard work, dedication and a strong moral compass, one can achieve great things in our great nation. from the humble beginnings of a

child of 12 who used to sweep floors, to second in line to he presidency, not too shabby. i believe that the fact that he rose from very humble beginnings to the speakership has made him the man and leader he is today. one who always made even the lowest ranking freshman feel at ease and included. and thank him for that -- and i thank him for that. while we all know of the many achievements that this man of the people has accomplished during his career, and recognize his inquestionable dedication to our nation, many do not realize just how kind, modest and caring he truly is as a person. during a recent g.o.p. retreat, i was able to spend a few minutes with the speaker, or should i say, my granddaughter, ella, did. i had brought ella, who was two

years -- 2 years old, with me to the retreat so that i could spend some time with her during the breaks in between the activities. well, let me tell you, ella was mesmerized by the speaker and i'm pretty sure he felt the same. they had a conversation that only of two of them seemed to understand. and ella was just fascinated with this very funny man who as so kindly entertaining her. this short but memorable interaction is one that i noela will be proud to -- that i know ella will be proud to recount when she's older. mr. speaker, i ask that the house rise and join me in saluting the 53rd speaker of the united states house of representatives, john boehner, and also thank him for his unwavering dedication and outstanding service to our greatful -- grateful nation. thank you, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. mr. chabot: i thank the

gentlelady for her very kind and inspiring remarks. d i'd now like to yield to the gentlelady from virginia. mrs. comstock: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to honor speaker john boehner, a hardworking, dedicated gentleman who has served this institution with dignity and diligence. his perseverance in this role has been a true service to the nation. he's a class act whose respect for the institution and his love of country are extraordinary. i've been privileged to work with speaker boehner first when i was a congressional staffer on capitol hill back in the 1990's, when i worked for my predecessor, and at that time republicans took a historic majority in 1994. at that time speaker boehner then was in the leadership. and then this year i was able to join as a member of congress myself with the largest republican majority since the 1920's, and serve with speaker boehner once again. i know from that experience

both as a staffer as well as a member the incredible great treatment he always gave his staff and how we all know the legendary boehnerland and how he's always been so wonderful to work with. speaker boehner has taken on each of these tasks when he was a member, when he was a gang of seven member, when he was a chairman, when he was a leader and now as speaker, with an energy and willingness regardless of the headwinds. he's an honorable man of faith and conviction who has always served his constituents and the american people, particularly children, and the most vulnerable in a faithful andistent way. i particularly appreciate -- and consistent way. i particularly appreciate the speaker bringing this year the prime minister of israel, mr. netanyahu, and pope francis to this body to make historic addresses to congress, addresses that we will always remember and were just inspiring this year and so

appreciate his leadership in insisting on having us here for those wonderful leaders of the world. he's always served as a patriot committed to our founding principles and he will be missed by many on both sides of the aisle, although i know he welcomes this new chapter in his life and he will be happy -- and i am very happy that he will be able to spend more time with his beloved new grandson and his family. i thank speaker boehner for his service to this country and i wish him well, again, as he begins this new chapter in his life, and with that i yield back the balance of my time. mr. chabot: i thank the gentlelady very, very much for her remarks this evening. and i thank all the members who came here on both sides of the aisle to speak. i want to particularly thank ms. kaptur for participating in this tribute to speaker boehner so it was truly bipartisan this evening. i have some concluding remarks and i don't think there are any more speakers following that. i think we have just about enough time. i already said a few things about john, but let me

continue. john boehner, he was born in 1949, he was the second of 12 children. nine boys and three girls. his parents, mary andrew: and earl henry boehner, ran the family bills. andy's bar in carthage, which is a neighborhood in my district, and john's grandfather opened that bar back in 1938. john grew up in a two-bedroom house in redding, with john sharing one bedroom with three brothers, while his sister had the other. his parents slept on the pull-out couch. although his father would later build a three bedroom addition to the house, john still had to share a single bathroom with his 11 brothers and sisters. so he learn how'd to manage conflict early in his life. also, as the second oldest, he had to help his parents out, not only around the house, with his younger brothers and sisters, but also with the family business. at age 8, john began to work at andy's bar, starting by mopping floors. later he would wait on tables. in doing so, john learned the

value of a dollar and the importance of hard work. john attended molar high school and he played lak for future notre dame head coach john foust at molar. he learned that you can achieve any goal in life if you're willing to work hard. and to make the necessary sacrifices. as hard as it is for la salle like myself to praise a molar crusader, it's clear to me that john learned that lesson well and his life and career are a testament to that message. after graduating from high school in 1968, john enlisted in the navy. while america as we heavily involved in vietnam. he was later honorably discharged due to a bad back, an injury he suffered as a teenager working at the family bar. after holding several entry level jobs, john then set his sights on college degree, with the encouragement of william smith, a profess art xavier university, and high school football referee who was mentoring him ab