Joe Barton: “Well, the former chairman, the ranking member now. When I think of Paul Gillmor, I think of two words, ``team player.''…”

“Well, the former chairman, the ranking member now. When I think of Paul Gillmor, I think of two words, ``team player.'' Earlier this year, when the Republicans lost the majority, we had to downsize the number of Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and I made a decision, as the ranking member, to try not to have to kick anybody off the committee and not bump off our junior members. So I went to the senior members of the committee and asked if there were any volunteers who might want to take a leave of absence to allow the junior members not to have to be bumped off, and of course Paul Gillmor was one of the ones who volunteered to take a leave of absence so he could serve on the Financial Services Committee and keep his seniority on the Energy and Commerce Committee. Because of that, several of our junior members were able to stay on the committee. Well, about a month ago, we had a contentious mark-up coming up. Sure enough, one of the junior members had a personal family situation that they couldn't get out of. They were going to have to take a leave of absence. We needed every vote. So I went to Paul, and I said, ``Would you be willing to come back on the committee for 1 or 2 days?'' He kind of grumped a little bit about it, but he said, ``If you need me, I'll be there.'' Not only did he come back on the committee, but he offered amendments and was there all of the time and didn't complain, whine, moan or groan about how tough it was.”