On the recordSeptember 12, 2012
I thank the gentleman for yielding. I apologize to my good friends, but this has to be a two-way street-- bipartisan--because I do believe that Jerry was an example of the Congress that I knew and loved where we worked together to solve problems. Jerry was very good at that. I, as chairman of the Transportation Committee, we worked through with Jim Oberstar, and we never had an adversarial vote in that whole period of time because he did believe in bipartisanship for the bills in transportation, not only in his district, but for the Nation as a whole. Jerry was a gentleman at all times. Sometimes I get a little excited, and he would remind me as the chairman that maybe I could be a little more kinder. I told him that doesn't always work. That worked for Jerry. And I do respect his capability to not only serve in his district, but making sure that this Nation had a transportation system in place that would serve this whole Nation. I look forward to Jerry's retirement--in a sense. I'm sure he'll do good and great things after this, but we will miss his time in Congress. And as a Republican, I definitely will miss him. I do thank Jerry.
