Legislative Program

Floor Speech

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, before I inquire of the majority leader about the schedule for the week to come, I want to say, at the outset, I have now and have had great respect for the majority leader.

The majority leader is a person of significant intellect. He cares about this institution. He cares about our country and works hard on behalf of the principles which he believes in and which his party believes in, and I have enjoyed having the opportunity to work with him. We obviously, as people have seen from the colloquies from time to time, have not always agreed on what we ought to be doing.

The gentleman from the State of Virginia (Mr. Cantor) served in his House of Delegates, in his general assembly, for 8 years. He served there with distinction and then was elected to the House of Representatives in 2000, succeeding a good friend of mine, the former mayor of Richmond, Tom Bliley, who Mr. Cantor chaired his campaign for at least three cycles--obviously successfully.

He has served in the House of Representatives since 2001 and was selected early on as the chief deputy whip and then became the whip; and then after one Congress serving as whip, his party took the majority, and he was elected as the majority leader.

It has been my experience during that period of time that he has worked hard, has been attentive to his Members, and attentive, also, to the interests of our country.

Again, because we do not agree with one another on how to get to a destination, it does not diminish in any way the commitment of either side to the welfare and best interests of their country and the people that we serve.

So I wanted to say at the outset that I have enjoyed working with Mr. Cantor, and at times--not always--we have worked very productively and in tandem with one another for the interests of our country.

I want to say to the Members of the House of Representatives that I expect Mr. Cantor to continue to be, over the next 5 months, an influential and effective Member of the Congress of the United States.

I want to say to my Members, to his Members, and, Mr. Speaker, to those who might be listening, that I intend to continue to work over the next 5 or 6 months with Mr. Cantor on things that he and I can agree on because I believe that he will remain an influential and effective Member of the Republican Conference and a person dedicated to the best interests of this country.

I want to also say to his wife, Diana, it is tough being a spouse. I lost my spouse, Judy, 17 years ago; and the gentleman from Virginia is blessed by having an extraordinarily wonderful wife, not only extraordinary in terms of her partnership with Mr. Cantor, but also extraordinary in terms of her own talents and intellect and successes that she has had in business and in life.

They have three wonderful children who follow in their parents' success: Evan, a recent graduate of the University of Virginia, he could have gone to the University of Maryland, but he chose Virginia--such is life; Jenna, who is a senior at the University of Michigan; and Michael, a second-year student at the University of Virginia.

I know that their father will be continually successful, as he has been thus far in life, and will continue to contribute to his country in whatever capacity he might serve.

I congratulate him on his service in this House. I thank him for the opportunity to work with him as a partner from time to time and as a respectful opponent from time to time, always realizing that there are 435 of us elected around this country by our people.

They elect us because they have some faith and trust that we will represent their views and the best interests of their communities, our States, and our country. So I thank him for his service.

I am now pleased to yield to the gentleman from Virginia, the majority leader.

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