chairman, protem, and the house floor, this is where the people of california sent me to represent them. now, as we look at the challenges that lie ahead, they are very, very great. i deliberated over this decision, and i have to say that three years ago i contemplated leaving at the end of that congress, but ultimately made a decision that i wanted to continue to serve through this term. i wanted to do so in hopes that we would win the majority with a goal of pursuing the 4.0 platform that i had always run on, and that being the pursuit of a free economy, limited government, a strong national defense and personal freedom. and mr. speaker, i wanted to work with not just my republican colleagues, but my democratic colleagues as well, working in a bipartisan way to accomplish a number of things. first, it was absolutely essential that we do everything to end the course that we had been on that ultimately brought us an 82% increase in nondefense discretionary spending, and i'm happy to say we have is turned the corner on that. second, after years of languishing, we were finally able to pas

speaker smith, president protem, and lieutenant governor jim call cally and to members of the distinguished cabinet and follow citizens. pennsylvanians are people who embrace important qualities. we value service. we value bravery. we value compassion. we saw these virtues on display last year when floods hit our state. our first responders are firefighters, police, our men and women of the national guard stepped into the breach to prove once again that ewiwe are a commonwealth and act for the common good. in our county, robert spitco, a firefighter, from the county across the state learned of a woman who had been swept away. they tethered themselves to the rescue ropes and went through the swift and rising floodwaters, and they found that woman clinging for her life to a sapling. they brought her back safe. in lycoming county, there were calls received about a woman and two children ages 3 and 7 stranded on the roof of their home. the buildings around them had already been swept away. these brave men and women guided, excuse me, these brave men fieded a hovercraft through the waters at nig