Jack Kingston: “several years ago, I went to a ribbon- cutting on a new road and the road had taken many, many years to build, yet all…”

“several years ago, I went to a ribbon- cutting on a new road and the road had taken many, many years to build, yet all the politicians who participated in the ribbon-cutting were newly-elected. But in great political fashion, we all stood up there and took the bows for it. That is the rules of the game. Another part about that is you do not see the staff up there cutting the ribbon, taking the bows, getting the applause. Kathryn Lehman is one of those staff members who has not been in the forefront of the limelight and yet, should. She has worked for every significant Republican leader in this House of Representatives for the last 10 years or more. Every critical decision of this House, every major piece of legislation was worked on on a team in which she was a staff member, anything from the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Henry Hyde) to the Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, and, most recently, our conference Chair, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce). The legislation that we moved all had the invisible fingerprint of Kathryn Lehman. I, as vice chairman of the Republican Conference, have had a chance to work with her. I can tell my colleagues she is intelligent, she is well versed, she is in the background, and she is a pro. One thing I will say, though, that is also significant about her, she works hard and, at times, when she has that rare opportunity to play and relax, she plays hard.…”