Jeb Hensarling: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in great honor to recognize my friend and fellow Texan…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in great honor to recognize my friend and fellow Texan, Ralph Hall, for being the oldest Member of Congress to cast a recorded vote on the House floor. It is not often that I have been given the opportunity to recognize someone with such a long, long, long, very long history of service to our country. Everyone in this institution knows that Ralph's passion in this institution is science and space and technology. It represents the areas of the committee he now chairs. When I came here, I asked someone, Why is Ralph such an expert in science? And someone said, Well, you may not know it, but according to some, he was there when Columbus discovered the Earth was round, Newton discovered gravity, and Franklin discovered electricity. Now, Mr. Speaker, they say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and this was a poor attempt on my part to show how Ralph Hall brightens this institution every day with his humor. He is clearly the wittiest Member of Congress in a body that is in desperate need to be brightened up and occasionally benefited by such wit and humor. But besides his wit and humor, for those who really know him, he is clearly one of the wisest men to ever serve in this body. And I certainly benefit from that wisdom, as do so many others. {time} 1940 Mr. Speaker, we heard earlier that Ralph has said, I'd rather be respected at home than liked in Washington.…”