Rick Lazio: “I want to begin with a few ``thank yous'' of my own. First of all, I would like to thank the gentleman from California…”

“I want to begin with a few ``thank yous'' of my own. First of all, I would like to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stokes) for their assistance and for their leadership in helping to bring this bill to the floor and for allowing us on the authorizing side to carry almost 400 pages of authorizing provisions that comprise the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act to this floor. I would be remiss if I did not also at this time thank another important person, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Solomon), who was responsible for helping to craft the rule, not just this time, but on three earlier occasions that helped bring this to the floor. Jerry Solomon is a great New Yorker. People say Jerry is three things. He is a marine, he is a Republican, and he is an insurance agent, not necessarily in that order. He has always been a man who has done great service to this body, who has brought honor on this institution, and so it is my pleasure to tip my hat as I say to Jerry, ``Good luck as you just `step outside.' '' Let me thank also my staff who have been very important to this.”