This is beautiful. What a tome. This is great. Thank you. I want to thank you very much, President Frost. You reminded me of something Mae West had said: Too much of a good thing can be downright enjoyable. I enjoyed it, but you could have…

Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Cliff, for the introduction and all of your comments, and particularly for your leadership of Former Members of Congress during this year. You have done a superlative job. Well, as you know, Former…

Thank you, Madam President. Thank you very much, Barbara. I just want to say it has been great working side by side with you for the 2 years when you were vice president, and you are doing a great job. It is nice to continue to be involved…

Keep it going, Lou. You are doing a great job. You know, all of the programs that we have described of course require both leadership and staff to implement. Our association is blessed to have top people in both categories. I want to take…

Thanks, Dennis. I particularly liked the tribute you gave me. Thank you very much. Thanks for your leadership and your active involvement in the international programs. I am very acutely aware of the power of personal interaction and…

Thank you, Larry. As a matter of fact, we have the same alma mater, Boston University. We are doing a Congress to Campus program very soon. We appreciate the great work that you and Jack do on behalf of this very important undertaking. And…

Congratulations to you, Ken, on the success of the program. It is patriotic, it is humanitarian, it is very moving. We are very honored that the association can play a small role in the rehabilitation of these amazing young men and women…

Thank you very much. Thank you, Dennis. This is a great surprise. It reminds me of something that Will Shakespeare--and I think really it was his wife who wrote it--who said: For these great blessings heaped upon me, I can nothing render…

Thank you very much, Bob. I am glad you listened to your aunt. We appreciate also the work you have done on this very important project and also the fact that you are on our board of directors, and that is very helpful. A great example of…

Thank you, Barbara. It is always a distinct privilege to be back here in this revered Chamber and we appreciate so much the opportunity to present today the 44th annual report of the United States Association of Former Members of Congress…

So you see, we are moving ahead. This association is progressive. So now back to our report. Our association is bipartisan. It was chartered by Congress in 1983. The purpose of the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress is to…

Thank you, Russ. And I know you abbreviated some of your comments, which will be in the Record. Our Association certainly has a very active and impressive international portfolio, and we appreciate your leadership in these endeavors. And…

Thank you, Leader Pelosi, for your inspiring words, for coming here to greet us, your former colleagues, and for explaining the initiative on jobs and elevating women. Leader Pelosi, I hope you noticed that this will be my last time as…

We are very honored that our minority leader chose to join us again to greet us as well as the Speaker of the House and Steny Hoyer. So let's continue on with our program. We were talking about programs that focus on Europe and Asia and…

Thank you all for joining us today. Our association, as you know, was chartered by Congress, and one requirement of that charter is for us to report once a year to Congress about our activities. Today, therefore, is our opportunity to…

Thank you. I am now going to yield time to my colleague from Maryland, Beverly Byron, to report on some of the other activities of the association.

I don't need to introduce this gentleman. You all know him. But I do want to say that he does exemplify what Ray LaHood has said about bipartisanship and drinking the waters of central Illinois. The bipartisan spirit in which Bob Michel is…

Thank you, Bev, for your leadership and your active involvement in this great program. As a former Ambassador, I am acutely aware of the power of personal interaction and people making a difference to bridge the cultural divide. This is…

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for sharing those words with us, particularly understanding the number of issues that are appearing before you, the little things that you mention. I also wanted to thank Dennis for what he's done, too, with the…

I want you to know he has a very extensive report to give on the congressional study groups because they've been very, very active, And they involve current Members of Congress. So you current Members of Congress who may be watching…

That was a nice beginning of our annual meeting. I'm now privileged to report to Congress about the activities of the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress since our last meeting in July of 2012. Our association is bipartisan…

Thank you, Jim. All the programs that we have described of course require both leadership and staff to implement, and I want to say openly and very enthusiastically our association is blessed to have top people in both categories. I want…

First of all, I want to thank, on behalf of all of us, Steny Hoyer for launching us this morning for this 43rd annual meeting that we had. Steny never really saw an aisle. He saw issues and compromise, and that's what we--the brothers and…

Thank you, Jack. You're right, it's a great way for us to share our experiences and enthusiasm with the younger group coming into leadership. Also, we thank Matt McHugh, your colleague, for the great job you've done with the program. As…