On the recordMarch 3, 2015
I thank my friend from Indiana for yielding, and I appreciate his leadership. Mr. Speaker, I don't know if you have thought about it--you have not been in this institution very long. You came here with a lot of hopes and dreams. The gentleman from Indiana, the vice chairman of the Budget Committee, has been here 4 years. He has been here 4 years. What I have loved about this institution the 4 years I have served here is that what was once a seniority-based institution, what was once if you could just hold on to your little piece of power long enough, you might one day rise to a place where you can be influential. When we came in that big class of 2010 and a new leadership structure was swept in here, folks said: No more. They said: We want to find folks who have talents and skills and who have the ability to lead, and we are going to put them in places where they can do that. I am so proud the gentleman from Indiana is able to fill that role for me. I sit on the Budget Committee, too, and I get to take advantage of his leadership. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Arkansas was down here earlier, and I don't think I am telling secrets out of school--I am sure the vice chairman will correct me if I am--but he raised his hands in one of these closed-door meetings and he said: I want to do the big things. I want to do the big things. I don't want to nibble around the edges. I don't want to just rearrange the dollars here and there.…
