Ted Poe: “I thank the gentleman from New York. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to be here, as the gentleman says, to recognize the…”

“I thank the gentleman from New York. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to be here, as the gentleman says, to recognize the people who have influenced our lives. Of course, we are talking about the women who have influenced our lives to help us be what we turned out to be. I want to talk specifically about some Texas women whom I consider to be a rare breed. They are tenacious, strong- willed, nurturing, and also kind. One of those is my mother. I am blessed that my mom and dad are both alive. They are 90 years of age. My mom was a Red Cross volunteer during World War II. She met my dad. He was in World War II, in Germany, coming back to the United States. He was being re-equipped for the invasion of Japan. They met at a Wednesday night prayer meeting. We call that ``church'' in Texas. They got married, and they have been married now for 70 years. She not only started out as a volunteer, but she has done all remarkable things, including being a schoolteacher, raising my sister and me, and doing other wonderful things. In the State of Texas, we are proud, as other States are. We have many modern-day influential women, including former First Ladies Laura Bush and Barbara Bush and our late Governor, Ann Richards. These women were influential, powerful, and successful in their own right, but they were not the first of their kind.…”