celebrating. as a representative from the city of houston, i'm celebrating because of the texas medical center, this will call for $6.3 billion to be delivered over the next 10 years of the national institutes of health. it also provides that every one dollar of n.i.h. funding generates $2.21 in economic growth and jobs. it will deal with the curing of diseases and developing research that will help save lives. this legislation before us allows for the creation of an innovation fund through the national institutes of health so we can design the ways of curing disease of helping children and seniors and helping people who are dealing with incureable disease. the cures act is an act of the 21st century and thank you to

mr. upton and ms. did he get. i serve as an original co-sponsor. it will save lives. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. are there any other requests for one-minute speeches? under the speaker's announced policy of january , 2015, the gentleman from texas, mr. green, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i'm honored to stand before the house tonight to commemorate and celebrate the life of my former chief of staff, ms. jacqueline ellis. ms. ellis served well.

she, in a sense, of many, was the 436th member of congress. she helped to educate not only new persons who were here in administrative capacities, but also congresspersons. she helped us to understand what congress was all about. and i'm honored tonight to say some kind words about her and to acknowledge a colleague who's here and will be saying a word as well, because time is of the essence for some of my colleagues, i will yield to my colleague at this time and ask that she would give her comments and she tells me that she will be coming right back. so let me continue. to my right is a photograph of very dear friend and former co-worker, jacqueline ellis. she was born in mobile, alabama,

and she was born at a time when persons of african ancestry could buy a hat, but they couldn't try it on, at a time when persons of african ancestry would have to step aside so others could step forward, at a time when persons of african ancestry were relegated to certain places in life, certain schools, certain places of business. they had to go to the back door for their food, they would drink from colored water fountains. she was born at a time when this country did not respect all of her rights. and who could have known that when she was born in mobile, alabama, that she would make her way from mobile to capitol hill. there was no way to predict at the time of her birth that she

would come to this nation's capital and that she would serve three members of congress, one united states senator and two u.s. reps, major owens, the honorable major owens from new york's 11th congressional istrict, the honorable senator heflin and she served in my office. and this speaks to the greatness of the country that we moved light years away from some of the circumstances we had to endure in the history of this country. but notwithstanding all that has been done there is great work to be done. but tonight i want to say to you, this person born in mobile, during very difficult times, has received an indication from the president of the united states of america that he was saddened to learn of her demise.

i have the letter in my hand from the president that i shall place in the record that was delivered to the family. but she has been honored by a good honorable members on the hill, including nancy pelosi, who are expressed her sympathy honorable oyer and jim clyburn and honorable becerra and honored by members of congress in many capacities. we have a resolution that has been filed and this resolution that pays tribute to her and it has been signed on to by a good many members of congress as well. so tonight, i am pleased to say that jacqueline ellis, born in

mobile, alabama, found her way through and to the halls of congress is now resting in peace. she is a person that lived every day of her life in the sense that she was busy doing something for someone every day of her adult life. she worked up until the moment she was hospitalized, literally, i was the last person to speak to her. she and i were going to an and she e alc dinner was there to pick me up and take me to the dinner and called me and said to me, i'll be waiting for you. i'm downstairs. i said i'll be down in about 10 minutes. within that period of time, she

called me back and informed me that she needed to go to the hospital. i rushed down to her and when i got there, the emergency assistants were already there. she called them prior to calling me apparently. and i immediately assisted them and we went to the hospital together and she stayed in the hospital for some days and made her transition. the important point to make is that she was working. her work was her life. she lived to perform her duties. she was on her job in the sense that she was assisting that evening and she was there all day long. she was ill, but she would not stop working. there were times when we would ask that she take some time, but

she always wanted to come to work. her work was her inspiration, in a sense. her work was the thing that gave her reason to continue to go on. and she never ever complained. there is a song that speaks to the kind of person that she was, because there are many of us right here in congress that can relate to this. when you see the great eagle flying, you assume it's the wings. but there is a song that addresses how it is that the gle can soar to those high heights. and it is not the wing, but rather it is the wind beneath the wing. and she was the wind beneath the wings of a lot of people who were able to soar to high

heights, a lot of people who did not understand all of what was before them when they becameal member of congress. she became the wind beneath their wings and helped guide them through congress. i'm pleased to tell you we have had several celebrations of her life. we had this one in this area untimely to her demyself. i had hoped she would have been with us a lot longer and a celebration of her life in her hometown in mobile, alabama, attended by dignitaries and staffers from the hill, a celebration of live in the houston, texas, similarly attended. she has been recognized and honored by people that she came in contact with.

she made a difference. one thing before i ask my colleague to come to the podium, when i was looking for my first chief of staff and she was my only first and chief of staff and when i was looking for my first chief of staff, and i brought her on board, you are always unsure about a new hire, especially a person who is going to be key to a new office especially things that evolve around. i was unsure if i had made the right decision and she and i were together and i saw her pull over rather abruptly. she was driving. my recollection is that this happened more than once but as she pulled over, she ran over to

a person and i saw her hand a person something and she came back to the car. and i wanted to know if this was somebody she knew. she said no, i didn't know that person. that person was not dressed in a suit or tie. the person did not have the appearance of what we would call status, although i think everybody has status, the person did not happen to be a captain of industry, if you will, and she went over and gave that person money. i found out later on, that she would go to the credit union and she would extract dollar bills, i don't know how many in the stack, and she would use that money to give to people that she would encounter that she was of the opinion that needed some help. when she did it on that day, i knew i had made the right

decision. because i then knew that i saw the sermon that many people preach. it is better to see a sermon than to say one or to be one than to say one. and i saw that day, love your neighbor, as you love yourself. i saw on that occasion help somebody. i saw her live up to the true meaning of the spirit of the story of the good samaritan, who saw the person in the streets of life and went over and took that person to the end and said here is money. use this to help this person. and if this is not enough, when i come back, i'll give you more. i saw the good neighbor in jackie ellis. and i knew then that i made a good hire because i had a person who would not only speak a sermon but would be a sermon.

with this said, i will now yield to my colleague from houston, texas, who hales from the 18th congressional district, serves on judiciary committee and homeland security and served us in congress for a good many years, the honorable jackson lee. ms. jackson lee: i thank my colleague, the honorable al green. we are like family in this house, republicans and democrats as we work with our staff. and i'm very clear of the fact that ms. ellis was the only chief of staff that congressman green had and made an a-choice and she likewise in accepting his offer to be his chief of staff. but she is a 30-year veteran and she brought to his office, what brought to this house, a sense of affection and love for the institution, for democracy and

for america. not only did she have the privilege of working for congressman green and he the privilege of having her working as a chief of staff, she worked for congressman owens and late former alabama senator, howard hefflin. it meanings she understood the institution that helped to lay down the pillows of democracy. and she was a spiritual mother, to the tens upon tens of young people who came to this place with starry eyes to make a difference, spiritual mother, sister, mentor and friend to many people, including elected d people of high-ranking status. . she had a background in government affairs. but more importantly, she had a big heart.

and she was eager, as i am told by the staff, to be able to help all the new and young staff, they knew they could go to jackie ellen. she was a christian woman as well. and she served on many important organizations. in particular, i worked for the southern christian leadership conference. she was a national board member. the organization founded by dr. martin luther king and ralph david abernathy and where andrew young worked and jose williams and so many others. james orange, and those of us young people who believed that we could overcome. she was a recipient of the ella baker award from the fclc, and martin luther king iii. where i got to see jackie really making it and doing it was in her leadership with c. dolores tucker and her work with the national congress of black

women. as a board member, i remember coming as a young member of congress and we would go to that very famous breakfast, congressman green, the sunday after the congressional black caucus, and there was jackie. she was the orchestrater, the guider, she respected c. dolores tucker, she honored the women who came, she was at their beck and call, we need this, and she was the person that the likes of malcolm x's wife, rosa parks, and coretta scott king, because they used to come during their lifetime every year, and those of us who were young members of congress, she welcomed us with open arms and allowed us to sit in the royal place, at the feet of these great women, who she had come to know and they had come to know and love her, as we held this wonderful program

about the empowerment of women and in particular african-american women. she was as well the co-chair of e institute leadership forum and as well she's received awards from the congressional black caucus. so i close by simply saying, yes, she has a litany of accolades and honors. we wish that she could have lived on and on and on. some say the young die young. we certainly believe that jackie ellis, our friend, our lover of this institution, this great staff person, was taken way too young. as i told my friend and colleague earlier this year, i experienced an enormous tragedy in losing a dear staff person who, though a short time, had become so much a part of our extended family. so, congressman green, i know it hurts.

it hurts many of her fellow staffers and friends, certainly we know her family suffered great pain. ut i can say, as we salute great americans, and each have done something in their way to move this country forward, i want to say that jackie ellis lived in the greatest country in the world. it was already a great country. but she was so much a part of making this country a country that welcomed all of the young talent and those new faces that desire to be part of the greatness of this country. she did it with open arms and a big heart. we will miss her greatly, but she has left a legacy of service , as you have noted, she stopped along the highway of life and gave what she had to someone who look like they needed it more. so to jackie i say, farewell, our dear friend, farewell.

for you are certainly one who is a good and faithful servant. may you rest in peace. i yield back. mr. green: thank you for your very, very thoughtful and kind words. you did know jackie well. and she had a lot of respect for you. and i appreciate your taking the time to come by this evening. i want to also acknowledge that the honorable eddie bernice johnson was here, but had to step away and she has a statement that will be submitted into the record. i'd like to acknowledge that given 0 individuals have us expressions, concerning jackie. a number of organizations, at least 20, and we have 41 co-sponsors of the resolution hat i spoke of earlier, h.res. 905, which expresses condolences to her family and commemorates her life.

finally, we have elected officials, at least 64, including the president and former secretary of state, hillary clinton, who have expressed their sympathies and condolences. she was truly a person who touched a lot of people in a very positive way. and i am honored to say that i was associated with her and that she truly made a difference in my life. mr. speaker, as we travel the road of life, we meet many people. we remember some and a good many we do not. jackie ellis is someone that i will remember, and my belief is that a good many other persons who came into contact with her,

whether it was for a very short period of time, or for some duration, will remember her as well. these would include the members of the sorority that she was affiliated with, delta sigma theta. she was very active in this sorority. and she was loved and is still loved by the members of delta sigma theta. they would come to the hill on an annual basis and they always took time to come by and visit her. she would always welcome them and provide services. this is but one of the many organizations that will continue to honor her, i am sure. of the others that will remember her that she came in contact with, would be sclc, as was mentioned by my colleague, the southern christian leadership conference. this was the organization that dr. king led. this was the organization that

fought for human rights, civil rights and human dignity across the length and breadth of this country. she was a part of that organization. in fact, she was on the board. she and martin king, not marti king the father, but mrtin king iii, the son of dr. king, were the very best of friends. the very best ofriends. he has traveled great distances to pay tribute to her. he was there in mobile, alabama, cameere for the services that e had, a helways, always when he was in washington, d.c., would take the time to come by our office to say hello to jackie. people who met her along life's way would also include the links. the links was an organization tha she was affiliated with and at she took great pride in assisting as they were having their various events. she was always helpful to other

people, to make sure that they were able to be successful in the endeavors. when you travethe road of life, the highway of life, you meet many people, you don't remember them all. but thereare some who are special and these are the persons who will stand out in your mind and will be remembered in the very years to come of your life. so tonight i'm grateful that the leadership has allowed us this time to pay tribute to jackie lis, who was born in mobile, -- ma, born on october 2 october 22, 1957. a very difficult time in the life of the country. who made her transition on september 21 of 2016. she is gone, but she is not forgotten. she will be remembered and we are grateful that we've had an opportunity to commemorate her

life and celebrate the wonderful person that she was. th this, mr. speaker, i will yield back the balance of my time. and ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks nd include extraneous material on the subject of my special order. i thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman yields. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority party. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. speaker. today i and other members of the house, most especially members of the virginia delegation, but other house members who served

with three of our virginia colleagues, are here to express our thanks and pay tribute to their service to the people of virginia and the people of the united states of america. we are saddened to lose three members of our great virginia delegation. but we have the utmost regard for all of them and we wish them well in their future endeavors. i'm going to start by recognizing my dear friend and colleague on the house judiciary committee, congressman randy forbes. i remember when randy arrived here, i'd known him for many years before he was elected to the house, and was frankly thrilled when he decided to run for the house of representatives and got elected. and of course his first priority , representing the fourth congressional district, was to get on the house armed services committee.

and once he'd secured that, he was looking for a second committee and i encouraged him to seek a position on the house judiciary committee and helped him in hits effort to do that -- his effort to do that. he's a fine attorney and someone who was a great value to i and my predecessors who have had the honor of chairing the house judiciary committee. born and raised in chesapeake, virginia, randy forbes has never forgotten who he is or where he came from. growing up as a son of a world war ii normandy veteran, randy was raised on the values of duty, hard work, family and faith. he carried those principles with him to randolph macon college where he graduated as valedictorian of his 1974 class, and throughout his yearsality the university of virginia -- years at the university of virginia school of law. since first elected to congress in 2001, randy's highest priority has been to protect and defend our nation. the fundamental freedoms it was founded upon and the men and

women who fight for those freedoms. as chairman of the house armed services sea power and projection for examples -- forces subcommittee, randy is one of the nation's most forceful advocates for a strong national defense. as a result of his dedicated efforts, chairman forbes is one of the few individuals to be honored with the highest civilian awards offered by both the united states army and the united states navy. he's also a senior member, as i mentioned, of the house judiciary committee, are we served as a member of the subcommittee on courts, intellectual property and the internet, as well as the subcommittee on crime, terrorism, homeland security and investigations. and he's the founder and co-chairman of the congressional prayer caucus, and the congressional china caucus. randy began his career in private law practice, ultimately becoming a partner in the largest law firm in southeastern virginia, and from 1989 to 2001 he served the commonwealth of virginia in the general assembly. he and his wife, cheryly, have

four children and -- shirley, have four children and three grandchildren which randy personally regards as his greatest achievement. and no doubt as a grandfather myself, i understand well that sentiment. and i wish him very well with his family and hope that he has much time to enjoy with them. but not too much time, because he's too valuable to our country not to be afforded another opportunity to serve our country n some great capacity. congressman robert hurt also served with distinction in the virginia general assembly and then a little over six years ago came to visit me and my wife in our home to talk about his possibility of seeking election to the congress. we encouraged them to do just that and he did and was successful. robert hurt's a member of the financial services committee, which has jurisdiction over all

aspects of the nation's financial and housing sectors. within the committee he serves as the vice chairman of the capital markets and government-sponsored enterprises subcommittee, and serves on the housing and insurance subcommittee as well as the oversight and investigations subcommittee. a native of pennsylvania county, robert began his time in public service in 2001 as a member of he town council from 2002 to 2007, robert served in the house -- virginia house of delegates, representing parts of pennsylvania county, henry county and the city of martinsville. starting in starting of 2008, includes the city of danceville, franklin county and campbell county. received his college education at sidney college and law agree

from mississippi school of law in 1995. from 1999-2010, he was engaged in a general law practice in chatham, where he lives with his wife kathy and three sons. scott ridge ell was elected to congress the same year that congressman hurt was and we are delighted to have him come and join us as well and strong advocate for our nation's defense. jobs and e creating changing congress his most important priority. he is working to preserve our region's unique military assets and support our men and women in

uniform. he kept all aircraft carriers in norfolk and improved the language of military housing national the 2013 defense authorization act. the house and senate passed his drywall safety act of 2012 which was signed into law in 2013. this sets chemical standards for domestic and imported drywall and disposal of all drywall and china must be held accountable that the damage this product has caused in our community. prior to his election to congress, he was a successful entrepreneurf and community leader and founder of freedom to motive, she owned

dealerships. he served six years in the united states marine corps reserves. he has earned his b.b.a. from mercer university. and he and his wife are the proud parents of four children and four grandchildren. they are competing well with the forbes' family in the grandchildren department and i know they will enjoy more time. but i hope we see congressman rigell. m delighted that we have members whose districts ajoin he congressmen's districts and congressman rob whitman has to get somewhere else and aisle turn to him first and turn to

congressman scott and i'm happy to yield to the gentleman. mr. whitfield: it is a privilege to reflect about congressman forbes and congressman rigell hurt. gressman they are all leaders putting others before themselves and done that throughout a tremendous career in public service. randy is one of those unique individuals that truly, truly puts others first. and everything that he has done. i have known randy through his days in the virginia general assembly where he created great opportunities for folks not only in the district he represented but made an impact in the state

of virginia. he was a legislator and understood what government's ole was and he also played a critical role in his party. e grand ole party was better off. so we were blessed to have him in that capacity for a number of years. i have known randy as a dear fend but as one of the most effective legislators. his time, mr. chairman, on your committee is marked by many great accomplishments as well as very sound and thoughtful judgments and most importantly, some very probing questions when it came time to interview witnesses that came before the judiciary committee. he was adept to that and still is on the house armed services

committee. it was tremendous to watch him pick apart an issue and get answers whether it was as a briefing or whether it was there to ascertain the facts of the situation. he was extraordinary in his opportunities there and cares passionately about the men and women that serve, but also what we provide for them to serve. he has done a spectacular job in efforts to rebuild our nation's navy. this year for the first time in eight years, our navy is back to growing again. we are building more ships than retiring and that is no small part to randy forbes and things he has done to make sure that r new ohio-class replacement submarines are on on class.

he has been extraordinary in making sure he has been an advocate to make sure our sailors have what they need and our marines has done what they need. i have learned a lot from randy and have valued his counsel and watched his leadership. and i think they are extraordinarily important and i believe those accomplishments are things that will be valued and will have an effect on this nation not just in years to come but decades. he has had that influence. i hope that chairman randy forbes of the sea power subcommittee has the opportunity to serve this nation in another capacity where he could use that expertise and legacy of leadership there on the house armed services in other

capacities. i think our nation will be better off for having randy. so i'm hopeful that will happen and truly value the things he has done. and randy isn't somebody that focuses on the nation's military, he fights for our religious freedoms. he has been the co-founder and co-chairman of the congressional prayer caucus and we push back on those intrusions and he has done an extraordinary job there. i value that relationship as a member of the prayer caucus and unafraid to be out there to make sure he points out those efforts that are anti-faith efforts and make sure he stands strong on the side of those folks that those religious beliefs are

protected. not just here in virginia, but also across the nation. he has been seen as a true leader. and again, it goes to the heart of that true leader. we will miss him in those capacities. he will continue to make sure he is a beacon of defending religious freedoms and liberties in whatever capacities he continues after his term here in congress. we look forward to his efforts there also. you spoke to robert hurt. we come from a small town. and he began there in the small place. and robert has that heart of a servant leader and looked at where he could best serve his citizens in the town of chatham as well as going onto the

general assembly in the town of richmond where he and i served in the house and later in the senate and here in the house of representatives. robert and his wife kathy graciously sat down with my wife and myself what service would be like if he were to decide to run for u.s. house of representatives. and we told him what the challenges were but also what he could accomplish in that role. and i believe that he, again, put virginia way first in making sure he was there to serve when he made that decision and it was one that i know was a difficult one for him and one he came with a lot of passion to make a difference in the direction of this country. and robert has continued that. and i have known robert through

the years and has been a man of deep personal conviction. robert is a lover of life, but he is also one that never backs away from an issue that he feels passionately about. i watched robert give up and give speeches and doesn't make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. he is an effective standard bearer for issues that are important to the issues of virginia and been a real leader where he knows the issues backwards and forwards. but it's that background that he brings from local and state government that makes him extraordinarily an effective legislator here. but his next step in his career there with his wife kathy and three sons is where he will enjoy in the small town of chatham and will get back to the

important elements of what makes atham special and virginia special. but i know he will be special. now to scott rigell. i will never forget the rm conversation i had and how passionate about how the nation was going and what was happening to small businesses. he, as a small business owner and later to own significant businesses there in the tiedwater area saw what was unfolding in our nation and caused him deep, deep concerns not only for himself and his children and grandchildren. what a person of passion and very eloquent. and he was a person that wanted to make sure we reformed the way government conducted business. and he and i had deep

discussions of how making sure we are doing work of the nation was critical and what we were doing to help small businesses or ensure that our nation's military had what it needed or address the nation's finances, he was well schooled in those subject areas. he was a thorough study. he was exhaustive in how he would look at information and what he could do on a particular issue. you knew when he came to the floor to vote he knew that bill backwards and forwards. and i would talk to him about a bill that was coming up, scott knew it without limitations. he was very, very passionate about it. and that's why he came here and he did an extraordinary job here in congress and i appreciate his service and the sacrifice that

his family put into this. there are long hours that were spent here and terry came up here on the hill and was by scott's side. and so for the rigell family it was a family of service. and his efforts will indeed include public service. so we wish scott and terry and his family the best. and we are thankful for the three virginia statesman to affect hire community in chesapeake or virginia beach but what they have done to affect our commonwealth of virginia and the lasting mark. we are indebted to their service and the legacy they have left behind and make sure we continue the legacies of passion and the issues that are important to our nation, whether for the

military, small businesses or our nation's financial predictment, all of them have brought lasting change to this body and will after. and we thank them immensely. we are all better off for their service and i know we will continue to confer with them now as repositories of which is doms and mr. chairman, i want to thank you for taking the time for all of us to be able to recognize their true leadership for the state of virginia. their sacrifice and the families. and there are sacrifices frrm families. we wish them all the best and wish them god blessings in their years ahead and they will continue to lead and serve in

different capacities. and i yield back. . mr. goodlatte: i thank the gentleman for sharing his personal experiences, his friendship with these three outstanding members of congress. i'm now going to turn to the other neighboring congressman, the congressman from the third congressional district, who has served with me for many years on the house judiciary committee, until he went to become the ranking member on the house education and work force committee and has served here as long as i have. he has much knowledge about that part of the world and about these three gentlemen. i thank him for taking time this evening and happy to yield to congressman scott. mr. scott: thank you, thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my friend and colleague from virginia for yielding time and for organizing tonight's special order. tonight we honor three retiring members from the virginia delegation to congress, congressman randy forbes, robert

hurt, and scott rigell. despite our differences, from time to time on national policy, the virginia delegation has a long history of being able to constructively work together on issues of importance to the citizens of the commonwealth of virginia. former senator john werner, the long-time dean of our delegation, embodied this bipartisan work ethic and wve already heard it referred to as the virginia way of doing things. during their service in congress, randy, robert and scott have each put their mark on this institution and on national policy. robert hurt has been a leader in the financial services committee and focused on policies to expand economic opportunity and south-side virginia and communities around the nation. a strong advocate for community banks and credit unions over his three terms in congress, robert has also worked to ensure that consumers are financiallyly the are a rat with the necessary -- financiallyly the are a rat with the necessary information --

financially literate with the necessary information people need. i've come to know scott andy and very well as our congressional districts are adjacent to one another in the hampton roads area of virginia. along with our colleague, robert woodman, we have participated in countless joint appearances and events across hampton roads. both private and -- in both the private and public sector, scott rigell has dedicated his life to serving the hampton roads community and his three terms in congress he's developed a well deserved reputation as pragmatic, bipartisan leader, as he addresses the nation's fiscal issues and reforming how congress operates. we've been working together on many issues, but i especially appreciate his strong support and advocacy of the safe justice act, a comprehensive criminal justice reform bill, that the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. sensenbrenner, and i introduced

last year. i wish scott, his wife, and his children and grandchildren all the best as he transitions back to private life. randy and i have become good friends during his time in congress, we served together for many years on the house judiciary committee. hampton roads is the home to many military facilities, both private and private sector, defense contractors and military facilities, particularly those associated with the navy. and there's no member of congress who knows more about our navy than randy forbes. as chairman of the sea powers subcommittee of the armed services committee, he's been an important voice on defense and ship building policy. hampton roads has been fortunate to have randy fighting for our region's military and ship building interests over the last 50 years. i'll also miss working with him on modeling and simulation. he was the founder of the modeling and simulation caucus. he row moted that modeling and

simulation technology as a way to increase efficiency and to save the taxpayers money. i wouldn't count randy out just yet. i know he'll findays toen to serve our men and women in uniform in the months and years ahead, so i wish him and his wife and children and grandchilen well as they start the next chapter of their lives. mr. speaker, i again want to thank my colleague from virginia, mr. goodlatte, for tonight's special order. the departure of robert, scott and randy is a loss for the house of representatives and the commonwealth of virginia. each of these men desee our sincere gratitude, their service to our nation, and the civility that they have exemplified duringheir service. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. mr. goodlatte: thank the gentleman for his kind remarks about all three of these fine representatives. now i'm pleased to yield to the gentlewoman from indiana, representive walorski, who

knows them well as well. mrs. walorski: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i rise today as we honor the exemplary service of three departing member of this distinguished body. randy forbes, robert hurt and scott rigville served their districts and our nation with honor and distinction and will sorely missed. but i must take a moment and talk about the privilege i have had of serving alongside my frend, randy forbes, on the armed services committee, and on the sea power and projection forcesubcommittee he chairs. over the past few years, as the obama administration has sought to shrink the size of our armed forces, and reduce the number of ships in our navy, it's been randy that has led with a strong, passionate advocacy for our service members and a strong informed depped defender of our navy. article one of the institution states that congress should shal have the power to provide and maintain a navy. no one has fulfilled that task ly honorably or diligent

than randy forbes. rapidy, your experience and your insights will be missed in the congress on the armed services committee, but iook forward to seeing where your commitment to service leads you. until then, my friend, i wish yofair winds and following seas. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. mr. goodlatte: i thank the gentloman. and i'm now pleased to yield to anothe valued members of the house judiciary committee who ha served ongside congressman forbes. i think you sat next to if not close to each other for many years on the committee. the gentleman fromowa, mr. king. mr. king: thanyou, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to have the privilege to have some time yielded to me from chairman goodlatte from virginia, who i nola meants the departure of three very esteemed members of thvirginia delegatn and people've had privilege to serve with. certainly tip my hat and bow to and absolute allhree of them, randy forbes and scott rigell and robert hurt. but i came here this evening to focus the majority omy remarks on thatof randy forbes.

because, as chairma goodlatte said, i've had the privilege to t next to randy fbes on the judiaryommittee and our memories are never always exactly ght. it could be for the full 14 years i've been here. next to each other or within one seat of each period of time. i've long viewed randy forbes as my wingman on the house judiciary committee. he's the anchor, he's a man who we know that he's a man of faith, he led the prayer caucus here for a good number of years. we know that he's a constitutionalist, he served on the constitution subcommittee also with me for many, if not all of those years. and when a man puts that kind of commitment and effort into defending the constitution and defending innocent, unborn human life, and defending the values and the anchors of our faith, of our family, of our constitution, and by the way on the crime the crimer excuse me,

subcommittee, defebbedsing the rule of law and bringing about appropriate punishment for people who violate that law, that's the life of randy forbes. and i may be a little tighter than randy, i would sit down on the judiciary committee, i might be all wound up. randy was always a calming influence on me. i'm sure chairman goodlatte appreciates that. randy would reach over and say, now, steve, here's where we are, here's where we're going, and there would also be times he would turn his ear and he would listen to the arguments that i would make. we had hundreds and hundreds of conversations that helped shape me as a member of congress. and always were anchored in the right values. these values that you know come from a man who has demonstrated that here in the house of representatives. i thought too that randy was one of the best cross examiners of a witness that i've seen in this united states congress. those among the best do serve on the judiciary committee. those issues seem to come to us and they refine your skill settings. and randy would be sitting there

and as the line was coming down towards us, on where we sat on seniority, i might want to talk about what's on my mind, and chat with him a little bit on the other side, but i always knew the time when randy had his pen up and he would have his research paper there and he would be taking notes in between that. what he was really doing, mr. speaker, was preparing himself to take his -- sometimes we only had -- most times only five minutes. to take that witness down to the base facts that were necessary. randy did that as well as anybody that i have seen. it always was anchored in. the rule of law, the constitution, the faith and freedom and values, and of course his strong support for the military and strengthening our military. i wanted to put into the congressional record tonight, mr. speaker, something that impressed me about randy. was after hurricane katrina, hit new orleans and rabiddy forbes went down in that area -- randy forbes went down in that area, six months or a year afterwards, and he came back with this data which i wrote down and typed

into my notes because i thought it was something that just really gripped me. that the murder rate in new orleans post-katrina had risen to the point that it was 90 out of each 100,000 people were victims of murder in new orleans at that time. only one out of 83.33 murders resulted in prison time. and only one in 10 murders resulted in an arrest. and of those, of those total murders, only one in 8.33 resulted in convictions. and so one in eight murders were solved and that was the rate that's astonishingly high, when you compare those numbers. 90 of 100,000 murders, the violent death rate of the murder rate for new orleans, when the united states broadly is around six per 100,000, as opposed to the 90 per 100,000. randy brought that kind of information back to me. he was also a leader in the fight against gang violence and gang crime and he brought that case before the judiciary

committee a number of times for us and each time randy spoke we did listen and it moved policy in the right directions. one of the other things that, mr. speaker, that i cherish is my perspective of this, but mrs. davis, who represented virginia's first district at the time, and passed away untimely in the year 2007, i went down to her funeral, and i had, of course, served with joanne and traveled overseas with her into the war zones and she was also on the armed services committee, and randy forbes gave the eulogy for former congresswoman jo ann davis. and i remember sitting in that church in virginia and randy stepped up to speak about the life of jo ann davis and without notes gave one of the most moving and deepest eulogies have i heard in my life. it would have been impossible for randy forbes to give such a presentation had he not respected, revered and loved jo ann davis the way that he did. and watched her moves -- the

things she did in her life reflected upon him in a way that he could honor her life at a time like that, that had to give comfort to the family and friends that were in that church that day. i'd express this about randy, and i hope he's www.a long time to serb -- got a long time to serve america, but he's affected my life in a similar way. he's made me a better congressman. he's done so with dignity and with class and the time that he spent in public life, mr. speaker, from the time he was elected to the virginia house of delegates in 1990 and until 1998, on the delegate side, and then to the state senate of virginia in 1998, until 2001, when he came here at midterm, june of 2001, and served in this congress and will serve in this congress until january 3 of 2017. that is going to add up to somewhere really close to 27 years, 26 1/2 years, at least, of service to the commonwealth of virginia, i got that right, mr. chairman, the commonwealth

of virginia, and the united states of america. his wife, shirley, is a class act and anyone that knows her knows that and their four children, neil and jamie and jordan and justin, i hope they know tonight that they hit the jackpot had they were born into the family of randy and shirley forbes. i hit the jackpot when i had the privilege to be seated next to randy forbes and i hope that i can do my best to carry on that kind of legacy that he's leaving with us. he's made us all better, the united states of america's better, the commonwealth of virginia's better, and i appreciate the service that randy forbes has given to our country. thank you, mr. chairman, i yield back. mr. goodlatte: i thank the gentleman for that heartfelt appreciation of these three members. and it's now my pleasure to yield to the gentleman from the great state of maine, represents my alma mater, baits college, he's just about to start his second term in congress, but he