Reception of Former Members of Congress

Floor Speech

Reception of Former Members of Congress

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Mr. HOYER. Let me come over here.

I tell a story when I greet, as so many of you have, constituents to the floor of the House. I tell them the story that few Members of the House did I come with a more negative perception of than John Rousselot, as you can imagine. John Rousselot had quite a reputation around the country. And I say that to them for the purpose of saying that I ended up thinking John Rousselot was one of the really delightful human beings with whom I served, notwithstanding our deep disagreements. Some of you who served during his term will recall, as we know, John had a problem with his leg, but he used to delight, as you recall, going over to that rostrum and talking to you us. You remember that, Bob, I am sure, very well. He did it, however, not in a confrontational way but with a twinkle in his eye, as if to say, I'm coming over here and I'm going to tell you guys what you really ought to be doing. And I really always enjoyed it.

When Jay said, well, I'm not going to speak from that rostrum, I'm going to come over here, it reminded me of that.

Unfortunately, as all of you know through the years now, the aisle has become more a wall than an aisle. A division has grown. I lament, I really do, Bob Michel's loss from the House and from the country's service in this body--he still serves our country as all of you do as well--because he was, with Tip O'Neill, two unifying leaders who tried to bring us together, not agreeing necessarily but disagree in a sense of trying to get together to solve problems with our different perspectives being involved. As all of you know, I have a deep affection for Bob Michel for that reason. But I always come here--before I was majority leader I came here--because I want to thank all of you for the service you have given to our country, the friendship you have given to me and so many others in this body.

Some of you I see on a regular basis. The Historical Society obviously making such a continued contribution. I saw Ben Gilman 2 days ago at a breakfast at which I spoke. But I really wanted to reiterate the welcome of Speaker Pelosi to all of you back to the House.

I also want to recognize our friends, and I'm not sure which one of you are here, from Great Britain, from Ireland. As a matter of fact, I think there are 19 Irish Parliamentarians here. There are a couple from Greece and New Zealand; Great Britain, as I said; and Canada. So we have five nations represented who with the United States have something in common with one of them, Great Britain. And we have much in common with all of us. We welcome you to the House. You are friends and great allies at a time of challenge for the global community, both in terms of economics, in terms of terrorism, in terms of moving our international community towards a more peaceful resolution of its problems.

Senator Mitchell. Did he leave? I'm sorry. I should have said that at the beginning. I was going to invite Senator Mitchell, based upon his experience in Northern Ireland, if he might visit us here and see if he can resolve the differences between the Senate and the House. I thought that might be a very useful contribution to the country. We're having some problems. You may have noticed. The Senate is a strange body, Senator Tydings. We're trying to work with them, but it is very difficult.

In any event, I want to welcome all of you back and thank you for what you have done for our country on both sides of the aisle, as Americans, not as Republicans or as Democrats but as Americans, and say how honored I am to have the opportunity to join with you on this day when you return, to remember what you have done here, but to also remember the friendships that we have made here.

Good luck to you. Thank you very much.

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