On the recordDecember 12, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I am going to ask our North Carolina colleagues to join me here, along with the dean of our delegation, Mr. Coble. Mr. Speaker, our colleague of many years, Mel Watt, has just cast his last vote in this body. Mel Watt, the Representative of the Twelfth Congressional District, from Charlotte, North Carolina, has just been confirmed by the Senate to be the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, so he is going to leave us after today to take over that position. Howard Coble and I are the deans of our respective parties in the House delegation from North Carolina, and we both wanted the House to pause to pay tribute to Mel for his service and his dedication to this institution. I am happy at this point to yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble), my colleague.
