congressional_record: CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgH7473-3
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| CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgH7473-3 | 2012-12-31 | 112 | 2 | A TIME OF PERSONAL REFLECTION | HOUSE | HOUSE | ALLOTHER | H7473 | H7474 | [{"name": "Russ Carnahan", "role": "speaking"}] | 158 Cong. Rec. H7473 | Congressional Record, Volume 158 Issue 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012) [Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012)] [House] [Pages H7473-H7474] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] A TIME OF PERSONAL REFLECTION The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Carnahan) for 5 minutes. Mr. CARNAHAN. On this last day of the year and on one of the last days of this 112th Congress, we are awaiting a fiscal deal that will strengthen the fiscal health of this country. I want to take a few moments to reflect on my service here in the House of Representatives and to personally thank many who helped me get here and to do the work of the people whom I represent and love in the State of Missouri. First, Mr. Speaker, Debra Carnahan, my wife but also an accomplished attorney, a former State and Federal prosecutor. She's really been the rock of our family and has been with me through the great highs and tough lows of this job. So I want to thank her. Also, our two great sons--Austin and Andrew--who have shared me with thousands of constituents for several years. They have grown into amazing young men, young men who I think will, in their own rights, make a difference as they work their way through their lives. Mr. Speaker, I want to also thank some of my amazing staff who are too numerous to name--dozens over many years--but there are four in particular who worked with me through the entire 8 years that I served in this Congress: Jeremy Haldeman, who has [[Page H7474]] staffed the Foreign Affairs Committee for me and the Oversight Subcommittee, and who has also been my chief of staff in the Washington office; Jim McHugh, who has been my district director and longtime friend and colleague in St. Louis; Suzanne Archer, who has been my deputy director; and Kathy Waltz from Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, a former mayor there but an invaluable part of our constituent outreach team. There are many other staff members, but I thank those in particular for their long and loyal service and for the difference they make in so many people's lives. To the Missourians whom I've had the great honor to represent, I am gratified and humbled beyond belief to have been able to represent them in this U.S. House of Representatives for 8 years and to also have represented many in the State house of representatives for 4 years prior to that. In working with them and for them we've been able to get some great things done on big national issues but also on important local issues back home. From ribbon cuttings and orange cones and construction signs all across the St. Louis region to investments in our infrastructure, which have created real jobs at home and have helped rebuild our region's roads, bridges, ports, lochs, dams, levees, flood walls, airports, high-speed rail, light rail, and our bus systems, those have made a real difference in people's lives. It was the reason I got on the Transportation Committee in the first place. We had two of the most deadly roads in America in Jefferson County, Missouri, and we got special funding to help rebuild those roads--to not only help their economy but to save lives. Recently, our firefighters were able to obtain a Federal grant for special patrol boats-rescue boats on the Mississippi River, which will serve the region for years to come. These kinds of investments are important, and I want to urge this new Congress that will be taking over in just a few days to pass a major transportation bill. It's one of the best investments we can make in this country in order to continue to grow this economy. We've seen after growing out of this Great Recession over the last few years the Recovery Act passed, the auto industry saved, major Wall Street reforms passed, health care reform passed, and stem cell research measures adopted in unprecedented bipartisan ways. I'll never forget the mothers with their young children who were sitting in my office the day that the health care bill was approved. There was not a dry eye in the room because all of their kids had preexisting conditions. Because of the new health care law, that cannot be the case anymore. I was also proud to serve on our House Foreign Affairs Committee and to chair the international organization's committee, so I just want to urge this Congress to take on the needed reforms to make this Congress work better for the American people. In closing, we recently greeted World War II veterans here at the monument built in their honor. They said that this Congress needed to take on the spirit they had in World War II--to put the country first and to put our differences aside--and that we could achieve great things. ____________________ |