On the recordDecember 9, 2014
I thank the chairman for yielding, and I thank him for holding this Special Order for a very dear friend to all of us, Ralph Hall. I guess my opening remarks would be that, if you took the greater percentage of all of us Members of the House of Representatives, everyone would rise up and say ``my good friend Ralph Hall'' and really mean it, for he was a good friend and is a good friend to all of us on both sides of the aisle. When I came to the United States Congress, I went to the Science Committee, and there was Ralph Hall, fighting for the issues that were not only impacting the Nation, but were impacting our great State. No one could doubt that Ralph Hall was a champion for Texas, a champion for the space exploration program. I used to love getting with him on the floor of the House and strategizing how we could continue to make sure that our human space exploration, our astronauts, and the great research that is done by NASA carries on. Certainly, as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, he was astutely concerned about the issues of energy, but also health care and many others. He loved his family, and he forever reminded me of a time when he came to Houston and he had to see his grandson, who is now grown, and I am sure one of Ralph's favorite grandsons, if you will--he loves his family--when he had to get a ride to the hospital where his grandson was, and of course we are so grateful that he recovered.…
