Speeches

“Mr. Speaker, it is indeed an honor and a personal privilege to join our colleagues on the floor of the House today to pay tribute to the life and celebrate all that we knew and loved about Jack Kemp. Our Members have spoken with great eloquence, with great emotion, with great knowledge of the contribution that Jack Kemp made to our country.”

“We pay tribute to the many people, who with pioneering spirits, brave determination, and deep commitment, made the modern state of Israel a reality. We recognize that far too many have been forced to sacrifice far too much.”

“As elected officials, our first responsibility is to protect the American people — whether in their homes, their neighborhoods, their communities, or to protect our country as a nation. This is not possible without the heroic courage of our public safety officers in our country.”

“North Dakotans are no stranger either to the ideal of neighbors helping neighbors. Through the weekend and early parts of this week, thousands of people — including high school and college students, National Guardsmen, women, and our own Congressman Earl Pomeroy, among many others — have stood shoulder-to-shoulder, filling sandbags to protect Fargo and other cities from the dangers of rising waters. Others have come together to offer shelter to those forced to leave their homes.”

“Thank you to the Coalition for National Science Funding for making the case to Congress for substantial new investments in science, which are critical to spurring innovation and new jobs. I would particularly like to welcome our university presidents, researchers and graduate students from California and to thank them for keeping our state in the lead of scientific discovery.”

“I’d also like to acknowledge the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. They have been the lead in so many issues, including this relationship between U.S. and Mexico. We’re such close neighbors, our fates are tied in many ways, our challenges are significant, and the relationship between our two countries is the issues of the highest priority to this Congress.”

“I believe the President is on the right path and did an excellent job in his leadership when we passed the recovery act here. This Congress is moving forward with regulatory reform to address the lack of regulation supervision and discipline in the financial markets that brought us to this place. The President’s initiatives on housing will help people stay in their homes – addressing the housing crisis is essential to addressing the financial crisis in our country. And then we have to deal with the stability of our financial institutions.”

“My colleagues, earlier we had the opportunity to welcome the President of the United States and the Taoiseach to this St. Patrick’s Day lunch. My colleagues and Members of the United States Senate who are present, let us now extend a warm welcome to the visiting delegations from Ireland and from Northern Ireland. Thank you all for being with us. We are honored by your presence.”

“We’ve been fighting this fight for a very long time. Little did we think, my colleagues, go back a generation when the Dalai Lama first came to the Congress in 1987 – first came with his proposal for autonomy – would we have ever thought then that over 20 years later we would still be making this case? Never after Tiananmen Square – that will be 20 years in June – and we talked about human rights in China and Tibet they said peaceful co-existence, peaceful engagement. They said it is going to lead to the improvement in human rights in China and Tibet.”

“The National Farmers Union has been in the lead every step of the way – from supporting our efforts to pass comprehensive energy legislation last year to being a leader among your peers in demanding a role for agriculture in cap-and-trade legislation.”