Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Davis for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise today to thank John Shimkus and wish him the very best in his retirement. Now, John, you may not remember this, but 4 years ago when I joined this Congress, I said I would like to come and meet you, so you invited me to your office. You could not pronounce my name. Few people can. I said, Just call me Raja. My last name allows me to get on a first-name basis with everybody in this place. From that point forward, we developed a relationship, a friendship, to the point where very recently, I came to him and asked him to cosponsor a piece of legislation, and he just said, ``Put me on it,'' without even asking me what I was asking him to cosponsor. It was moving to me, because he trusted me, and it was based on a friendship rooted on shared values. Even though we may not be in the same party, we are all Americans, and that is something that I deeply cherish about our relationship. Now, as a wise man once said, we can find common ground only by moving to a higher ground, only by moving to a higher ground. Working with John proved to me that we can ascend to higher heights, but only if we try. John Shimkus represents the epitome of a legislator who tries to ascend to higher ground every day. Madam Speaker, I thank John and his excellent staff, including his long-time chief, Craig Roberts, for their incredible devoted service to their family, to their community, and to their country.”