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Mr. SHERMAN. Madam Speaker, by tradition, the dean of the respective State delegation introduces new Members from their State at a swearing in after a special election. Our dean, the dean of the California delegation, is also the Speaker of the House. And while I have seen her do amazing things, I have never seen her be in two places at the same time.
So I have the distinct honor of filling in for her here as dean, and the pleasure of introducing Mike Garcia, the new Member from the 25th Congressional District. The election has, as I noted before, not been certified by the Secretary of State, but there is no dispute about the result.
Congressman Garcia was born in 1976, and is a native of Santa Clarita, California, and is a first generation American citizen. Congressman Garcia moved to Saugus, which is now part of the city of Santa Clarita, in 1982 with his mother and stepfather at the age of six.
Mr. Garcia received his bachelor's degree in political science from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1998. He was nominated to that academy and to the Navy by our long-time colleague, the former chair of the House Armed Services Committee, our friend, Buck McKeon.
He later earned a master of arts in national security policy from Georgetown University. He is a former U.S. naval officer and flew as a pilot in the Navy from 1998 until 2009. After the Navy, Congressman Garcia worked in the aerospace industry, and now owns his own real estate business. Mike is the husband of Rebecca Garcia and the father of Preston, age 13, and Jett, age 3.
I represent the district that lies immediately to the south of Mike Garcia, and the gentleman who represents the district immediately to the north is the distinguished minority leader, who I know has additional words to say about our new colleague.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy).
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Mr. SHERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garcia), our newest Member.
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