Political Quotes

“The last thing I would like to do, if I could, is I want to talk a little bit about John Dingell. I don't know if our Presiding Officer ever had a chance to meet him or know him. She says no--nods no. I had the pleasure of knowing him I guess since 1982, 1983, when I was elected to the House. I was a Representative, and he was already there. I was the new guy, and I had been a treasurer of Delaware and a naval flight officer before that, and I finally retired from the Navy as a captain a few years ago. He was so nice to me. He was a big guy, a giant of a man and kind of gruff. He was kind of gruff, and I can't imagine how the pages would have reacted to him if he yelled at them or frowned at them or growled at them. But for reasons that aren't all clear, he was really kind to me. I think in his heart that is what he was. I like to work out. I like to run. I like to work out in gyms. They have a gym over at the House in the basement of the Rayburn Building. It is a pretty nice gym. We have one here. It is small by comparison. It is modest. I usually go home at night, but occasionally I would spend the night in DC when I was in the House, and the next morning I would go to the gym, and I would either go run out on the Mall, or I would lift weights or ride the bike or something in the gym. When I finished up, before I took a shower and got dressed, I would go in the steam room--the gym had a steam room in it--and a lot of times, John Dingell was in there.…”