Maxwell Frost

I think, obviously, the safety of our judges is of paramount importance.

Thank you, Cliff. It is always a distinct privilege to be back in this revered Chamber and to see so many of my good friends and former colleagues here. On behalf of FMC, I appreciate the Speaker's invitation to return to this wonderful…

Next is our distinguished minority leader, Kevin McCarthy from California. Mr. McCARTHY. It is an honor to be with you. A lot of you I have admired greatly. Some of you I have never gotten to meet. But part of the reason I ran, I watched…

And unlike many people in this room, I have actually been to Albania--it was an interesting experience--years and years ago, when I chaired a special task force of the House of Representatives to help the parliaments of Eastern and Central…

Thank you, Jim and Phil, for your reports and for your outstanding leadership of these important FMC programs. I would note for the Record that, since we called the roll, several people have come into the room. I notice Barbara Kennelly…

I am not sure the current legislature would have done the same thing, but that was a different era. Again, congratulations to you, Connie, and thank you so much for all you have done and continue to do for FMC. It is now my great honor in…

And, Connie, I know it may come as a great surprise to you, but the great State of Texas that Gene Green and I represented was one of the first States in the country to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.

Thank you all for joining us today. As I prepared for today's report, it brought back many, many happy memories of my 26 years serving in this august body. For all of us, service in this remarkable building was the pinnacle of our…

The Chair announces that 21 former Members of Congress have responded to their names.

I would ask that the gentleman suspend for just a moment. I know he is near the end of his report. We have been joined by the Speaker of the House.

He will come back. We have been joined by the Speaker of the House, Speaker Ryan. I don't know how busy your schedule is, Mr. Speaker. I know you have a lot of demands on your time. I will let Charles finish, and then we will call you up…

The gentleman from Tennessee has a brief comment, because the Speaker has to go.

I don't know how many of you know the amount of time that Cliff has devoted to this organization. It is very, very impressive. He has a full-time job and has been an excellent president, has attended many, many of our functions, has taken…

Now, those of you who know me know that I don't give long speeches. I do recall when Newt Gingrich became Speaker and he was asked to give his acceptance speech, he spoke for an hour. That was very unusual. Most new Speakers just say…

Thank you for your time and for your service. We need to let you get on to your meeting of your Conference. Thank you very much for being with us.

The Chair again wishes to thank the former Members of the House and Senate for their presence here today. Before terminating these proceedings, the Chair would like to invite those former Members who did not respond when the roll was…

Thank you, Charles. It is my privilege, at this point, to recognize the Speaker of the House, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan), who will be joining the ranks of the former Members at the end of this year.

The Chair now recognizes the president of the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress, the Honorable Cliff Stearns of Florida, to address the Members.

Now, I would like to ask the Clerk to call the roll. The Clerk called the roll and the following former Members answered ``present'': Mr. Boustany of Louisiana Mr. Buechner of Missouri Mr. Carnahan of Missouri Mr. Clement of Tennessee Mr…

Cliff, if we could suspend. The Chair recognizes the distinguished Speaker of the House, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan).

The Chair announces that 29 former Members of Congress have responded to their names.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule. I know that you do have a few things to look after these days, and thank you for being here and recognizing the significance of this organization. Mr. Stearns.

Thank you, Dennis. We are now going to recognize Cliff again. As part of this meeting, we have to conduct some formal business, which is to reconstitute our board, to continue our officers. Cliff has some remarks about staff also, but this…

Mr. Stearns, if you would suspend for just a moment, we are honored to have with us the distinguished Democratic whip, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

I would advise Mr. Hoyer that there is no 5-minute rule here; however, we do have to vacate the floor in 15 minutes.