Designating the House Press Gallery in the United States Capitol As the ``Frederick Douglass Press Gallery''

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 137, as amended, which designates rooms H-315, H-316, H-317, H-318, H-319 in the U.S. Capitol as the Frederick Douglass Press Gallery.

We honor Frederick Douglass for his extraordinary contributions to this country. Born an enslaved person, he grew to be a prominent abolitionist, public intellectual, journalist, world-renowned orator, businessman, and statesman.

Frederick Douglass was a courageous advocate for equal rights who used his journalistic and oratorical skills to advance civil liberties for all his life.

It is fitting that we name the House Press Gallery after the first Black reporter allowed into the Capitol press galleries.

Mr. Speaker, I support passage of the resolution, as amended, and urge my colleagues to do the same.

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Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time, and I am prepared to close.

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Mr. LARSEN of Washington. I will also take this time to recognize Republican Staff Director of T&I, Jack Ruddy, who is leaving at the end of the week, after more than 6\1/2\ years of work on the committee and, of course, an additional 9 years directly with the chair.

During Jack's 3 years as staff director, 2\1/2\ of which I have been the ranking member of the committee, the T&I Committee has passed impactful, bipartisan bills that have moved the ball on a number of issues. From our work on the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 to the WRDA Act in 2024, which included the first reauthorization of the Economic Development Administration in more than 15 years, Jack has proven to be a trusted partner and effective negotiator.

Just to show you how much work he does do, one of the issues we had to settle on the FAA Reauthorization Act occurred when I was in my district on Whidbey Island, while Sam was on Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific--I don't even know which day it was on Midway at the time--but Jack helped facilitate the phone call that helped the chair and me resolve a sticky wicket issue that we had to get done to get the bill done. I appreciated Jack's help in making that happen.

Even when we disagreed, Jack was never disagreeable, and he worked to find common ground. We are actually sad to see Jack go. I know Jack will do well and we wish him great luck in his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I support the resolution and encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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