Political Quotes

“I thank Speaker Pelosi for those kind words, the kind words of the Republican leaders, and the kind words of all my colleagues. It was mentioned that I love this institution, and I do because this is the great United States of America, and we are representatives of our districts. The one thing I learned, during my 46 years, is that each one of you represent your people, and I respect it. I may not agree with some of the things you stand for, but I respect that you were elected by your people. I had the privilege of traveling a lot, and I still do, in Members' districts, not to campaign against them, but to find out why and how they are elected and what they stand for in that community. This House is the people's House. I have to sort of confess to one thing that was alluded to by Kevin. It is a fact that I was a schoolteacher to fifth grade students, and it prepared me for this job. There is some truth in that because, I have to tell you, I have timed it as a teacher. The average attention span of a fifth grader is 7 minutes, and the average attention span of most Congressmen is about 4\1/4\, because they are so busy trying to do everything they can, and they are so busy representing their people. John Dingell was mentioned. And, Debbie, God bless you for him. He was one of my dear friends. Everybody says that, but he was a dear friend. I met him in 1964 in my hometown of Fort Yukon. He was on the Fish and Wildlife Committee. He was 9 years a Congressman.…”