Joe Barton: “We are here to honor a Texas legend in his own time, the Honorable Kent Hance of Dimmitt, Texas, some of us Aggies would…”

“We are here to honor a Texas legend in his own time, the Honorable Kent Hance of Dimmitt, Texas, some of us Aggies would put an ``a'' instead of an ``i.'' But Kent was born in west Texas and he, as has already been pointed out, got elected to the Texas Senate at a very young age. Then I got elected to the House of Representatives in 1978, along with such stalwarts as Phil Gramm of College Station. I think Charlie Stenholm was already here. Ralph Hall came a little bit later. Marvin Leath of Waco came a little bit later. He became what was known as a Boll Weevil Democrat. When Ronald Reagan got elected, President Reagan called a number of the Boll Weevils to the White House and asked if they would support his economic plan, but he only asked one to carry the Reagan tax cut which really began the renaissance of America, and that young man was Congressman Kent Hance of the 19th Congressional District. He was on the Ways and Means Committee as a Democrat. He carried the Reagan tax cut in the Ways and Means Committee and prevailed. I would assume the chairman then was Dan Rostenkowski. I am not sure, but I think that's right. Well, in 1984, he decided to go back to Texas. He relinquished his seat and Larry Combest replaced him, and five other young Texans came in as part of the Texas Six Pack: Dick Armey, Joe Barton, Larry Combest, Beau Boulter, I believe, and Mac Sweeney. He switched parties, became a Republican, and got appointed to the railroad commission.…”