On the recordJune 9, 2016
I love watching my friend from Florida speak. The only thing I love more than watching him speak is talking to him one-on-one when the cameras are turned off. It is not as easy as it ought to be in 2016 to come to the floor of the House and speak one's mind. Folks are worried about what the newspapers are going to say. Folks are worried about what the news is going to broadcast. Folks are worried about what the Twitterverse is going to do. A lot of folks will tell you one thing when the cameras are on and another thing when the cameras are turned off, Mr. Speaker, but Alcee Hastings is not one of those folks. It is the same message no matter who he is talking to and no matter where he is saying it because he comes from a place of conviction, and I love serving with people like that. Truthfully, Mr. Speaker, if folks knew that it wasn't just their Member of Congress that was like that, but it was the one next door, and the one down the road, and the one across the river, and the one upstate, I think we would have a very different discussion about whether Congress is working or whether Congress is failing. But, Mr. Speaker, when I try to sort those issues out, I don't really have to go back home to figure out why folks are disappointed. I don't even have to go back to the public record. I don't have to go any further than this one debate on this one legislative day. Just in our hour together, Mr.…
