Karen Bass: “As I mentioned before, I have had the honor of serving with Mr. McDermott for the last 6 years, knowing that he was a…”

“As I mentioned before, I have had the honor of serving with Mr. McDermott for the last 6 years, knowing that he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa. He was the one that led the effort around conflict minerals, something many people were concerned about in the country. They even made movies about the subject and all of the havoc that was wrought in many African countries because of conflict minerals. And also my work with him on child welfare issues and his legacy on both of those issues. I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott). (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, it is kind of awesome to become a myth in your own time. I was not a Peace Corps volunteer. I was in Africa in 1961 before the Peace Corps ever existed. When we were in Ghana in 1961, the first Peace Corps volunteers arrived, so I was there when it all started. I also want to remind you--when you know the history of something, it is kind of interesting to listen to it--this started in 1995. We put a bill in and, actually, Speaker Gingrich got it out of the House. It passed the House in 2000. We couldn't get it through the Senate. It had to come back under Mr. Bush. Then we finally got it through the House and the Senate, and it became law. It has been an issue that everyone recognizes something needs to be done.…”