Electing Officers of the House of Representatives
ELECTING OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, we will not take, certainly, the hour that is allotted; but I first of all want to say something about the two individuals who have just resigned their appointments as Clerk and as Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives.
Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to serve from 1987 to 2000 on the House Administration Committee and worked with my friend, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. Thomas, and others. I was a member of the House Administration Committee on which Vic Fazio, our former colleague from California, was the ranking member. He and Mr. Thomas came together and selected Jay Eagen to be the Chief Administrative Officer.
I think it would be inappropriate if I did not rise and congratulate Mr. Eagen on the job that he has done. I believe that Jay Eagen has brought a degree of professional management to this House of Representatives, which has been a credit to the institution and a credit to all of the Members, and a credit, I might say, to my colleagues on the Republican side, to the Republican leadership on this issue, and I congratulate them for that.
Mr. Eagen is someone who has worked on this Hill for many years. He will be leaving the Hill and leaving this city and moving his family to the west, and we wish him the very, very best.
Mr. Speaker, Karen Haas, who has been the Clerk and who submitted her resignation is, as well, someone who has worked for this institution, cares deeply about the House, and has comported herself, although for a relatively short period of time as the Clerk of our House, in a way that brought honor to the Office of Clerk and brought credit to the House of Representatives.
I know from my perspective personally and from Speaker Pelosi, and I both want to, on behalf of our caucus, extend to them our deepest thanks and gratitude for the service that they have rendered to the House of Representatives and to our country. Both of them, I know, have very exciting things to come. They are both young, they both have much to offer, and we wish them the very best.
Mr. Speaker, I will reserve the balance of my comments on Ms. Miller and Mr. Beard and would certainly yield now to Mr. Ehlers, who may also want to say something.
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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I appreciate the comments. I appreciated my comments when I made them. I still want you to know that I appreciate them, and I think that is a good practice.
I had the opportunity of sitting down with Mr. Beard just a few days ago, essentially, almost verbatim, in terms of how I believe he ought to operate his office in the sense that this is a business office, this is not a partisan office. Hopefully, he will respond to doing what is in the best business management practice, best practices as well as his own judgment without respect to party or partisanship. I would hope that that would happen. I expect it to happen.
But I appreciate the comments that have been made.
I want to say that, also, I am strongly in support of Lorraine Miller. This is a historic appointment, first African American to serve as an officer of the House, not just as Clerk of the House but as an officer of the House.
Lorraine Miller has served for three Speakers now. She served President Clinton in the White House. She is president of the NAACP in Washington, D.C. She is an extraordinarily knowledgeable, able individual; and she will be a tremendous asset to this institution and I think will send a very strong and powerful message to all of America about inclusion, as the election of our Speaker did.
Mr. Beard, as some of you know, has more than three decades of experience in policy and executive management, including senior positions in the House of Representatives, the United States Senate, the White House and the Interior Department, as well as the Library of Congress. Obviously, he has a long, distinguished career in management and, as such, is a professional appointment.
Again, I appreciate the comments that have been made. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support the nomination of both, because I believe both will serve this institution in a professional manner that brings credit on their offices and on this institution.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Mr. Clyburn be able to manage the balance of time available to me.
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