Louis Stokes: “I am pleased to share the success of this undertaking with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. In short, the…”

“I am pleased to share the success of this undertaking with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. In short, the bipartisan congressional retreat provided us with the opportunity to engage in candid discussions of how we can improve the working environment of the House. We focused on how Members currently deal with differences of opinion and how improvements can be made in this area. Mr. Speaker, in my opinion, this was the finest retreat that the House of Representatives has held during my entire tenure in Congress. While we are accustomed to having House Democrats gathered for retreats and Republicans holding separate retreats, I can say that the Hershey retreat was truly bipartisan. More than 200 Members of the House, and an equal number of family members were in attendance at the Hershey retreat. The retreat afforded the opportunity for Members of Congress, many of whom have only spoken to one another in passing, to commune with one another and have dialog in order to learn more about each other.”