Kim Reynolds: “Mr. Speaker, I had another appointment, and I was disappointed because I thought I would not have the chance to be here…”

“Mr. Speaker, I had another appointment, and I was disappointed because I thought I would not have the chance to be here; but I did not want to let this opportunity go by without joining in at least for a few moments in adding my words of great admiration and best wishes to a very, very dear friend and a remarkable colleague, Ben Gilman. Mr. Speaker, as we have heard and we will continue to hear, Ben has accrued a litany of achievements, any fraction of which would make each and every one of the 435 Members of this House very, very proud. During his 3 decades of service to his constituents and the American people, Ben has done so much for so many, not just here at home, but Ben, as we have heard, through his leadership on international, particularly, humanitarian and veterans issues. It is indeed, as the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) suggested, disappointing that politics beyond the control of an individual politician takes away from our ranks such an illustrious Member.”