Connie Morella: “Thank you, Bev. Thank you for your report, your tireless efforts on behalf of the organization, not just the dinner…”

“Thank you, Bev. Thank you for your report, your tireless efforts on behalf of the organization, not just the dinner committee but also on the board and being an active participant in so many of our programs. Well, all of the programs we've 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 this opportunity to thank the board of directors--they are 30 former Members divided equally between parties--for their advice and counsel. You are the best. I also would be remiss if I didn't thank the other members of our association's executive committee: our vice president and birthday gal, Barbara Kennelly; our outgoing treasurer, Jim Kolbe; our past president, Dennis Hertel. You've all made this association a stronger and better organization than it's ever been, and I thank you for your time and energy and commitment, and I hope I can continue to count on your counsel and the counsel of all of the former Members who are here and those who couldn't be here. Well, to administer all of these programs you heard about this morning takes a staff of dedicated and enthusiastic professionals. I'm going to mention their names, but I want you to know that they're only like five paid employees that run this whole organization. Isn't that incredible when we think back on our congressional offices and the staff that we had? So they've got to be pretty remarkable people to do all of this.…”