Ronald Dellums: “I rise today to honor Sam M. Gibbons, a long-time friend. He is now retiring after serving in the House of…”

“I rise today to honor Sam M. Gibbons, a long-time friend. He is now retiring after serving in the House of Representatives for 34 years. He has served the Tampa Bay area well these many years, and his departure will sadden those of us who have served with him and those he has represented. Sam has been a stalwart member of the Ways and Means Committee since 1969, and he served as chair of the Subcommittee on Trade from 1981 through 1994. In that role, he championed open markets and free and fair trade around the globe, and his accomplishments have been hailed both on the international and the domestic fronts. He became ranking minority member in 1994 and showed the Republican majority that he was not afraid to stand up to them. The work done by Sam on the domestic front is close to my own heart. Sam helped to guide President Lyndon Johnson's antipoverty package through Congress in the mid-1960's, and is largely responsible for the Head Start Program, which has nurtured young children from poor backgrounds in preparation for school ever since. This is one of the major accomplishments of the war against poverty. His social conscience will leave a great legacy for years to come. Sam bravely supported the Voting Rights Act of 1965, helping to dismantle the artificial barriers that kept African-Americans from exercising their constitutional right to vote.”