Sherwood Boehlert: “I want to thank Mr. Inslee for those very kind comments. I want to thank all my colleagues. It has been a great…”

“I want to thank Mr. Inslee for those very kind comments. I want to thank all my colleagues. It has been a great privilege to work with you and for you and for this great institution. I also want to observe, before we bring this to a close, the great work of the staff on both sides of the aisle who have labored long and hard, almost 2 years on this bill alone. We don't give enough recognition to the staff. Those of us who are more visible, we come before the House and we are recorded on C-SPAN and everybody says they are doing some good deeds. But the real driving force behind so much of what we do is the very able professional staff that we literally are blessed with, both Democrat and Republican. And this comes from a former staff member, but I came to Capitol Hill 42 years ago as a starry-eyed young staffer. I got 3 years off for good behavior. I was elected county executive back home, and for the past 24 years I have been privileged to serve in my own right as a Member. But in those 42 years, one of the most dramatic changes...is a change for the good, for the positive, the very high degree of professionalism so evident in the staffs of the committees.”