On the recordDecember 2, 2010
I just want to take a minute to acknowledge and express my admiration for the service of the chairman of our committee, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar). The Public Works and Transportation Committee has a long and honorable record here in our Congress. I think the gentleman from Minnesota has been a contributing member of that committee both as a leading staff member, working his way up, and then as a member of the committee representing the Iron Range in northern Minnesota and working his way up to the chairmanship, for a significant percentage of the life of the committee. We are a 200-year-old-or-more-plus country and I think you've been on the committee for at least a quarter of that time. It has really been a joy for me to be able to learn about the background and history and contexts of a lot of the different decisions that the committee has faced over the years from the gentleman from Minnesota, who in some cases read about them, in other cases experienced firsthand the history that we were discussing and the background of the decisions that we were making. Like any other two Members of a body like this, we've never agreed on everything, but I think we've always tried to be agreeable. I certainly have appreciated that.
