On the recordFebruary 11, 2010
I first came here as a student in 1963. It is a great city. I went to college here, law school here. I lived a big part of my life, at least part time, in Washington, DC. I never could get over how people in this town reacted to snow. I am convinced that infants born in Washington, DC, are taken from the arms of their loving mothers right when they are born into a room where someone shows a film of a snowstorm with shrieking and screaming so that those children come to believe snow is a mortal enemy, like a nuclear attack, because I have seen, for over 40 years here, people in this town go into a full-scale panic at the thought of a snowfall. We joke about it. Those of us from parts of the country that get snow and know how to live with it cannot get over how crazy the reaction is many times. But in fairness, this has been a heck of a snowstorm. It is the largest on record in Washington, DC. I wish to say a word on behalf of the people of the District of Columbia and all of the surrounding suburbs but especially for those who work on Capitol Hill, the Capitol Police as well as those in the Architect's office, who have literally been working night and day to make sure visitors who still come to this Capitol in the middle of a blizzard--I saw them yesterday coming up to take pictures of our Capitol dome--can come here safely. They have done an exceptional job. Today is no exception.
