Steve Largent: “this being my last week to serve in Congress, I wanted to make just a brief statement to my friends and colleagues. Last…”

“this being my last week to serve in Congress, I wanted to make just a brief statement to my friends and colleagues. Last week my youngest son Kramer completed an essay on Mark Twain. I was struck by how many facts about Mark Twain's life reminded me of my 7 years in Congress. Samuel Clemens was born at the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835 and died the next time it came around in 1910. I thought about that as I prepare to cast my last vote in Congress on campaign finance reform and harken back to the days of 1994 when the first vote I cast was on GATT, the last vote of the 103rd Congress. In my son's report I also learned something I did not know, that Samuel Clemens' alias, Mark Twain, was actually a nautical term that was used by riverboat crews, and it denoted two fathoms, or 12 feet, the depth necessary for safe passage. We in Congress often refer to our Nation as our ship of state, and we hear pollsters ask questions to voters, do you think that the ship is headed in the right direction or the wrong direction? I ran for Congress in 1994 because I believed our country was headed in the wrong direction, and I wanted to make a difference, like most of you, the reason that you ran. Now, 7 years later, I believe that together we have worked to move our country into safer waters. We worked together to balance the budget, we overhauled welfare, we cut taxes, we strengthened the military together, we deregulated telecommunications and repealed Glass-Steagall.”