Peter Welch: “This may well, Mr. Speaker, turn into a bit of a pile-on. There were a lot of new Members in the class, and Dean…”

“This may well, Mr. Speaker, turn into a bit of a pile-on. There were a lot of new Members in the class, and Dean Aguillen was the person that greeted us. And if there was one person that we met who seemed to have worked harder than the Speaker, it was Dean. And I remember every single one of us, as new Members, being anxious about what our place was going to be, how to find our way. We were very anxious about committee assignments, about how you become an effective and contributing Member of the House. And, Dean, you were terrific in just giving us calm advice, getting us together to work together, giving us some reassurance that we needed as new Members of Congress, that, in fact, it wasn't an accident that we were elected, and helped all of us find our way. And you've been the same way all of the time that we have been here. In politics so much of the interactions that we have are transactional, and all of us all of the time are trying to make them a bit more than that. And, Dean, you really helped provide the glue that made this class such a memorable experience for all of us who are Members of it. I thank you for the wonderful contribution you made to me and to all of us in our entry into the United States Congress.”