he fought paid discrimination with the lilly ledbetter pay act. he has worked to keep college accessible for all and has conserved the california landscape through his efforts to preserve san francisco bay. the centralss valley project improvement act of 1992 which increased water allocations for san francisco bay in the sacramento-san joaquin -- and the sacramento-san joaquin basin. he has protected endangered species and seven runs. on runs. he was intent on extending health care to all and thanks to his leadership, nearly 11 million people insured under the care act. it is not often that members achieve such lofty goals for this massive work has a twitter law for the history books -- but his work has led to a law for the history books. i hope that we can all learn from their examples. novak. yield back. >> i know yield two minutes. -- i now yield two minutes. you for giving me time and, mr. speaker, it is with such great pride mixed with a heavy heart that are pending are pending loss is together this evening to honor giants of the house of rep

he authored the last increase n the federal minimum wage, he passed the lilly ledbetter fair pay act so that we could address pay discrimination. imagine what that means to every woman, every family in this country. because of this legislation. he's led efforts to reform our nation's education system, as a school nurse this hits home with me. made colonel more affordable, to protect -- college more affordable, to protect our environment and our coastal communities from increased oil drilling. and that's an issue that you empowered me to focus on when i came here as a new member of congress. it must be noted that thanks to each of these members, to the work that you did on the affordable care act, so incredibly important each of you were to this major landmark passage. families now can have the peace of mind knowing that they're not going to go bankrupt, just because they get sick. and while we're going to deeply miss you here in this place next year, as we gather to vote tomorrow, if you look around this chamber during that vote you can see each of the people you have mentored during

he authored the last increase n the federal minimum wage, he passed the lilly ledbetter fair pay act so that we could address pay discrimination. imagine what that means to every woman, every family in this country. because of this legislation. he's led efforts to reform our nation's education system, as a school nurse this hits home with me. made colonel more affordable, to protect -- college more affordable, to protect our environment and our coastal communities from increased oil drilling. and that's an issue that you empowered me to focus on when i came here as a new member of congress. it must be noted that thanks to each of these members, to the work that you did on the affordable care act, so incredibly important each of you were to this major landmark passage. families now can have the peace of mind knowing that they're not going to go bankrupt, just because they get sick. and while we're going to deeply miss you here in this place next year, as we gather to vote tomorrow, if you look around this chamber during that vote you can see each of the people you have mentored during

the very first piece of legislation she cosponsored was the lilly ledbetter act. having worked as a corporate executive, she is aware of the difficulties working women faced. this ladies and gentlemen was personal to kay and she issue threw it through till completion. the daughter of a veteran, kay has spent her time in the senate creating sound passage for members of the armed services. she has done it not only as a united states senator but on that important committee, armed services. as a former executive with north carolina national bank, she knows all the challenges facing businesses in her state and how women have a little different view of how difficult it is to work your way through the corporate world. she's fought tirelessly to create a better climate for small business, to create jobs and grow. in any given sense at any given time kay hagan has advocated her position and done it well and refused to give up until meaningful solutions were discovered. madam president, while i'm sure senator hagan will take some well-deserved time off to think about her fu