Political Quotes

“40 years ago Charlie Johnson, fresh out of Virginia Law School, came to work for the Office of the Parliamentarian. Little did he know that 40 years later, almost to the day, he would be announcing his retirement from that same office. Charlie, we are going to miss you. You have been a rock. You have advised seven different Speakers and countless Speaker pro tems on how they should rule on various parliamentary questions. You have advised thousands of Members and even more staff in how to draft their amendments. You have given us advice on committee jurisdiction, the favorite part of my job. The Parliamentarian in the House takes on special significance, more so than any other legislative body. You have to be exceedingly fair and judicious, and have to be seen as fair and judicious by both sides. And I know that is not always easy. Charlie replaced Bill Brown as Parliamentarian. Bill started the process of demystifying the precedents used by his predecessor, Lew Deschler. That is a pretty good pedigree of institutional knowledge. Charlie has continued to make the Parliamentarian's office more accessible and more open to Members and staff. Charlie is a man of many talents. He is dedicated to education and talks endlessly about his beloved Camp Dudley, a place for kids to learn about the great outdoors. He is a baseball fanatic, a southpaw who pitches batting practice for the Los Angeles Dodgers. And he has an avid interest in the English House of Commons.”