Reception of Former Members of Congress

Floor Speech

RECEPTION OF FORMER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS -- (House of Representatives - May 10, 2007)

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Mr. HOYER. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

He says he yields me so much time as I may consume. One of the great benefits of being majority leader, or minority leader, for that matter, although no one seeks the benefit of being minority leader, I understand that, but is that you are unlimited in time. You're yielded 1 minute and you take such time as you want. You become very arrogant in the use of verbiage at that point in time. But I am very, very pleased to be here with all of you. I try to make these events every time you come, because as Speaker Pelosi, and what an historic event you have just participated in. You are the first group of former Members in over 200 years of our Republic that has been greeted by a woman Speaker. The President was so gracious the first time that Nancy and I went down and had lunch with the Speaker. It was just 2 days after the election. President Bush could not have been more gracious and more generous in his comments about the historical aspect and his congratulations for NANCY's accomplishment. It is an extraordinary accomplishment.

As you have noticed, she is as strong and focused and competent a Speaker as I have served with. And I know there is a wonderful friend here, who I also want to greet, and that is my friend Tom Foley. When I came to the Congress of the United States, Tom was the whip. I had the great honor of being the whip at one point in time, as you know.

I am now in the office that Tom Foley peopled. He was ensconced in the first floor of the Capitol, we had many whip meetings there, and he taught me how to be a Member of Congress. And I could have had no better teacher than Tom Foley, no more principled, decent person than Tom Foley.

I will tell you this, and you have heard me say it before. I would not have chosen to be in the minority. And in 1994 with this hostile takeover as I refer to it of the institution of which I was a Member, I became a minority stockholder in, one of the sadnesses, I think, of the 1994 transfer of authority was not so much it was a transfer of authority, that's what happens in democracies, but that an extraordinary American did not become the Speaker of the House, somebody that I love and respect and honor who I think is one of the most decent people with whom I have served in 40 years in a legislative body and that is, of course, the very distinguished, wonderful American first as well as, of course, a distinguished Republican leader, my friend Bob Michel. Bob, thank you for what you have done.

When the American people think of what they would like to see in the Congress of the United States and the kind of collegiality and respect for one another and civility that they would like to see, they think of Bob Michel and Tom Foley in my opinion. They may not think of them by name, but they think of who they are and what they represent.

I am also pleased to see Arlen Specter who was masquerading as a former Member sitting with the Speaker. As a matter of fact, Ray LaHood traveled with me overseas. We went to Darfur, we were in Sudan, and we were in Egypt. In Egypt, we had a cocktail party, a reception at the Ambassador's residence and I introduced Ray LaHood as the former staffer of the Speaker. Kathy, his wife, came up to me and said, ``Bob Michel was never Speaker.'' I said, ``I know, but in my mind he should have been.''

Jack Kemp is here, also my friend. We had the opportunity to serve on the Appropriations Committee as well. Jack, of course, a distinguished Vice Presidential candidate, now who continues as so many of you do in your own public lives to be so involved in trying to make our country better. Jack, thank you for all you have done.

I could mention each and every one of you, but Speaker Rhodes would say you're pressing on that 1 minute a little much. But let me say that those of you who are former Members, some, of course, are former Members by choice. Some, as you reflect upon a democracy that sometimes makes mistakes, are former Members by mistake of your constituencies. But in any event it occurs to me that all of you are financially far better off than us poor people you left behind, and I congratulate you for that.

I want to congratulate Mr. Slattery, who's our leader on the Democratic side, and Jay Rhodes. I saw Jay in the hallway just the other day. I had the opportunity of serving briefly with his dad and then with him and both reflect the decency of which I have spoken earlier.

Let me also say that I am now the majority leader, and thwarting the will of the majority is something that we criticize very severely and properly so. In a democracy, you do not want to thwart the will of the majority. But as majority leader, I want you to know that I work very hard at thwarting the will of the minority. Sometimes they get upset by it. I don't understand that, Bob, but it happens.

Let me thank all of you. Let me thank all of you for holding high the institutional values that the Founding Fathers and Americans want to establish, a body that brings together the various differences within our society, the various interest groups within our society, and tries to synthesize those differences into rational consensus for progress for our country. If we continue to do that, we will continue to merit the respect of our fellow citizens. If we do not, then they will properly have us all become former Members.

God bless what you have done, are doing and continue to do on behalf of our country and on behalf of the House of Representatives. Thank you very much.

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