On the recordMarch 22, 2016
I thank Mrs. Black for her important words and again for all her service. One of the things that I will forever be inspired by with regard to Mrs. Black's service here in this Chamber is how much she values family and the strength of a strong family and the need for champions at all levels of government to fight on their behalf. I mentioned earlier my two daughters, Mikayla and Arianna, identical girls. They are 9\1/2\. They are finishing fourth grade. When they were born, they were less than a pound and a half. They were born 14\1/2\ weeks early. I was actually in Iraq in 2006, and a Red Cross message came out and said that my wife, Diana, went into labor and the babies weren't going to make it. It was a sad time. It was the 22nd week. The doctors at Georgetown University Hospital were amazing. Somehow they managed to keep my daughters alive for 3 more weeks. They were born in the 25th week. These girls went through more in their 3\1/2\ months in the hospital than I would ever wish upon anyone to have to experience. You learn a lot about prayer. I hope this is okay. We probably accepted prayers in about 16 different religions during that experience. We would see these twins on one side of our girls, and the twins might be growing faster than ours. We might say to ourselves why aren't our girls growing as quickly as those two. But then on the other side there might be triplets, and you are watching parents mourn the loss of one of their triplets.…
