{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2006-12-08-pt1-PgE2145", "2006-12-08", 109, 2, null, null, "FOND FAREWELL TO DEPARTING FLORIDA DELEGATION MEMBERS", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "ALLOTHER", "E2145", "E2145", "[{\"name\": \"Cliff Stearns\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "152 Cong. Rec. E2145", "Congressional Record, Volume 152 Issue 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Page E2145]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n         FOND FAREWELL TO DEPARTING FLORIDA DELEGATION MEMBERS\n\n                                 ______\n\n                           HON. CLIFF STEARNS\n\n                               of florida\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                      Wednesday, December 6, 2006\n\n  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, Florida is a state like no other. Our\ndistinct regions range from the white-sanded beaches of the panhandle\nto the pink-sanded, sophisticated boutiqued avenues of Miami, passing\nthrough the space coast, home to Kennedy Space Center, and, most\nexquisitely, through the beautiful, rolling horse country of Marion and\nAlachua counties.\n  Our congressional delegation is no less diverse. We have our rock-\nsolid fiscal conservatives, our steady moderates, and our progressive\nliberals. I am proud to be associated with them all.\n  Tonight, I join my Sunshine State colleagues to bid a fond farewell\nto Clay Shaw, Mike Bilirakis, Jim Davis, and Katherine Harris. Each of\nthem are unique seashells, sparkling on the beach that we call Florida.\n  Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Davis and I have spent many years together on the\nCommittee on Energy & Commerce. For countless hours, we have debated\nthe Outer Continental Shelf, Medicaid, and telecommunications issues.\nThere were never dull moments, but even as we disagreed, I think that\nthe three of us asked a common question as we legislated: what is best\nfor Floridians?\n  In Mr. Bilirakis, further, one could ask for no more dedicated\nadvocate for our Nation's veterans. He has introduced the fix for the\nunfair offset of concurrent receipt of veteran disability pay and\nmilitary retirement pay for 20 years now. Happily, he must leave here\nwith the satisfaction that Congress has made substantial progress in\nending this century-old problem.\n  Mr. Shaw's leadership in Medicare is peerless. Physicians around\nFlorida and around the nation have him to thank for his tireless\nefforts on their reimbursement, as well as medical liability reform. I\nam honored that he asked me to carry the torch for his work on medical\nscreenings for first responders. I shall not let him down.\n  Mrs. Harris has served honorably as a brilliant stateswoman, both for\nFlorida and for the United States. As Secretary of State for Florida,\nshe represented and advanced our interests in trade, with diplomacy and\naplomb. And, she is an accomplished horsewoman and solid booster and\nalumna of the University of Florida, with strong family ties.\n  As an example of our unity, like other States with no income taxes,\nour delegation has lobbied hard for federal income tax fairness, via\nthe deduction for state and local sales taxes. When I gathered the\nsupport of the Florida delegation for this deduction in the American\nJobs Creation Act of 2004 in a letter in the summer of 2004, I am proud\nto say that I collected the signatures of 100 percent of our\ndelegation, all 25 of our House Members, and our two Senators. One of\nour delegation, the Honorable Porter Goss, in fact had one foot out the\ndoor, to head the Central Intelligence Agency, but he still took a\nmoment to sign our letter. I don't think any of the other non-income\ntax states, including the even larger delegation of Texas, secured 100\npercent support. This solidarity just exemplifies who Floridians are.\nRepresentatives Bilirakis, Shaw, Harris, and Davis, fare thee well.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2006-12-08-pt1-PgE2145"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5168148092925549, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}