2019 Congressional Football Game

Floor Speech

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Mr. PANETTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to present to you, to present to this body, a trophy that recognizes something that hasn't been done in over a decade.

Now, I am not talking about the 2009 Raise the Wage Act. I am not talking about the 2009 Hate Crimes Act. I am not even talking about the creation of the Office of Congressional Ethics in 2009.

What I am talking about is that these Congressmen in front of you actually beat the Capitol Police in football on Tuesday night for the first time in a decade.

Now, at the game, Mr. Speaker, fortunately, there were no serious injuries. At practice, there was, but not at the game.

We had a lot of sore muscles, but most importantly, we did raise a heck of a lot of money for local charities and the Capitol Police Memorial Fund.

So, Mr. Speaker, I present this trophy to you, this rather large trophy to you, I present it to this body as a reward for that victory, but also a small reminder of what Democrats and Republicans can do when we work together.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to say thank you to everybody standing up here. They came to practices in the mornings, they braved serious injuries.

Mr. Speaker, a special shout-out to our colleague, Rick Crawford, who is not here, who broke a fibula trying to play for this game. We missed him.

Mr. Speaker, another shout-out goes to Bob Dole and Jeff Denham, former Members who have played, but certainly our pros that helped coach us, John Booty and Ken Harvey. All of them deserve thanks.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all Members, whenever they see these great Capitol Police officers, thank them for what they do each and every day for us and for the millions of visitors that come to this institution. But remind them that the charities are the winners, and make sure they know that the Members are the victors.

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