Steven Holt: “many of us here in the House of Representatives woke up one day and said, say it is not so, Doug. We did not want to see…”

“many of us here in the House of Representatives woke up one day and said, say it is not so, Doug. We did not want to see him go. For many Members here, it was hard to understand how someone who did the job so well would want to leave voluntarily, but he has so much to give and will continue to give. I have worked with him on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, others on the Committee on International Relations. We all think he would be an outstanding committee chairman, and one of the things we lament is he is leaving before he gets to serve in that way. Most recently, I worked with the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter) on efforts to improve the proficiency of Americans in foreign languages. I must say, it was a delightful and very productive experience working with him on that issue. The House will be diminished by his departure. There are very, very few people like the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter) here. He is industrious, he is astute, he is judicious, he is well informed. He has a very broad perspective, and I mean that geographically, historically, and ideologically. By that I mean he is not ideologically entrenched. Sure, he has solid values and is a person with integrity, but he can work with others. A word that comes to mind is collegial. He is not self-serving. He is about serving others, his constituents, and, yes, other Members of the House, junior and senior Members. He is considerate.…”