Political Quotes

“Thank you all for coming here and being with us this morning. It is always a great privilege to be back in this Chamber and to reconnect with so many friends and colleagues, and there are many here. I am honored to represent the Association today in my capacity as vice president of the organization. I am a nonascending vice president. I ask that I not be considered as president, and I am delighted that Cliff Stearns will be the new president. So I suspect this will be my last opportunity to speak from the well, other than perhaps with a tour of family and friends and so forth. My dad served here before I did, so it is a great, great pleasure to make this presentation with you this morning, to have the associations that I have had with you all over the years. It is a huge and distinct honor to serve in this place. You all have experienced that. Very few people do. You all know the purpose of this place and the importance of this place, and we, every day, even as retired Members, represent those values. So I have had the great pleasure of serving with Barbara Kennelly of Connecticut. I am very proud of the many impactful things that we have been able to accomplish through the Association this year. We have many, many programs. And over the next 20 minutes or so, Barbara and I will report on our work. Unlike other years, we are a bit pressed for time, so Barbara and I will submit for the Record a more in-depth report covering our activities since the 2015 annual meeting.…”