Darrell Issa: “I rise today in support of another down payment on thanking President Gerald Ford for his legacy, a legacy that really…”

“I rise today in support of another down payment on thanking President Gerald Ford for his legacy, a legacy that really began, flourished and was all about this body. We are recognizing Gerald Ford as the 38th President of the United States because he did spend 2 years as our President. But, uniquely, the man born in 1913 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was, in fact, a man of the House. During his entire tenure in the House, he did not enjoy time in the majority. Yet his goal was to be Speaker of the House. He had no higher calling, never sought one, but accepted the one that was cast upon him. At the time that he was selected to be Vice President of the United States, we were already mired in the Vietnam War and disgrace had been brought upon the Vice Presidency. It was Gerald Ford who came in impeccably honest, undeniably a man of the people and a man who was only for the people. That is how he was selected, that is why he was selected, it is why the Senate and the House thought he was the only man for the job.”