John Buechner: “Thank you, Lou. And again, your invaluable leadership has made the Annual Statesmanship Award Dinner the tremendous…”

“Thank you, Lou. And again, your invaluable leadership has made the Annual Statesmanship Award Dinner the tremendous success it has been each year. Mr. Speaker, allow me to just briefly highlight the other activities of our Association during 2004. In December of last year the Association hosted its Life After Congress Seminar. The purpose of that conference was to ease the transition away from Capitol Hill for those sitting Members who would not return for the next Congress. We assembled a panel of Congressional support staff to outline the services available to retiring Members, as well as a panel of former Members who have pursued careers in a variety of different fields. In addition, Dana Martin, the Chair of the Association's Auxiliary, spoke about some of the opportunities available to spouses of former Members, a very informative and worthwhile session. The Association also organizes Study Tours for its members and their spouses who, at their own expense, have participated in education and cultural visits to places such as Australia, Canada, China, Vietnam, the former Soviet Union, Mexico and Western and Eastern Europe. In 2004, the 60th anniversary of D-Day was the occasion to bring a group of 20 former Members and spouses to France. They spent 3 days in Paris, met with the Ambassador, French legislators, French Foreign Ministry. Our colleague, Connie Morella, who serves currently as the U.S.…”