Joe Barton

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. BARTON. In reclaiming my time, we are trying to give money to the Federal Government that your subcommittee can use. It is a good amendment. I appreciate your support, Mr. Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON. Will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. BARTON. Is it not true there literally is an escrow account in Texas with $30 million in it that they wish to send to the Federal Government?

Mr. BARTON. Is it not true that this is what we would call found money?

Mr. BARTON. Is it also not true that, if Mr. Simpson and Ms. Kaptur and their subcommittee and the full committee accepts this and works in good faith to actually implement it, that the subcommittee and the full committee can use these unobligated funds in whatever fashion they see best for programs within the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers?

Mr. BARTON. I thank the gentlewoman.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, 179 years ago, in a hamlet in what is now Grimes County, Texas, called Washington-on-the-Brazos, a handful of brave Texans voted to declare independence from Mexico. We call this day Texas Independence Day. As those brave men were declaring their independence at a decrepit old mission in San Antonio, Texas, less than 200 patriots--led by people like Davy Crockett and William Barret Travis and James Bowie-- were fending off an army of somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 Mexican soldiers under the leadership of a General Santa Ana. The Alamo fell on March 6, but on April 21, 1836, General Sam Houston, at a bayou called San Jacinto, led about 350 Texans in a surprise attack on the Mexican Army and won independence for Texas from Mexico. God bless Texas, and God bless all those patriots 179 years ago for what they did.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to remember an exceptional young lady taken from us far too soon. 20-year-old Kelly Walters was killed in a tragic hit and run accident on January 16, 2015 as she crossed the street in her hometown of Arlington, Texas. While her death made headlines back home--today I want to focus on the way Kelly lived. I met Kelly several years ago at one of my town hall meetings. When I asked the crowd if they had any questions, hers was the first hand that shot up. She couldn't vote yet, but her love of our community and interest in government was already on full display. A few months later, I was proud to sponsor her for the prestigious House Page program. While in Washington, her love of the civic process and politics only grew. She came by my office regularly to chat with me and my staff. She was too young at the time, but was already expressing interest in serving as an intern in my office. I understand she wasn't shy about sharing her future political aspirations telling people she was going to run for my seat as soon as I retired. I do appreciate her waiting for my career in Congress to end before hers began. I have since learned she was aiming even higher. She wrote a letter to President Clinton in December of 2000, at the ripe old age of six, saying she wanted his job. Kelly said, ``I think I would be a good President because I care about people and how they treat others . . . Please let me know when I need to come to Washington to begin my new assignment. I will need to let people know I will be out of school and have my work mailed to me.'' Kelly possessed a rare understanding of the importance of American politics and the impact that it has on everyday life. She had a keen interest and genuine curiosity about the legislative process. After her semester in the Nation's Capitol, she returned home where she continued to cultivate her deep dedication to civic duty. She volunteered in our community, worked on campaigns, interned for a state representative and excelled in the classroom. Kelly was a junior at the University of Texas at Arlington and was days from leaving to study abroad in Morocco. She wanted to promote women's rights in the Arabic world. So what drove this exceptional young woman? Kelly says it best in her own words. This is an excerpt from an essay she wrote a few years ago: ``America is based on many beliefs, but they all boil down to one simple word: Freedom. Life in America is free, it is one most people take for granted, but it was not cheap. Freedom is bought on the back of soldiers who were willing to risk their lives to fight for their country and America's right to be free. Thus Freedom is built on service, on a willingness to give back for what has been given. I don't pretend to know or understand why others volunteer, but for me it is a need to give back for all the opportunities that are standing open for me simply because I am an American.'' Profound words that everyone in this body should take to heart. It is rare to see someone so young so engaged. Kelly will be missed, but her love of our community and of our nation will not be forgotten.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Speaker for granting us this Special Order to honor Congressman Ralph Hall of the Fourth Congressional District and for granting me this time today. Although Congressman Hall has been sidelined by a recent accident, he is blessed to be on the mend, and he hopes to express his thanks in person sometime next year. Hopefully he is watching on C-SPAN television right now from Rockwall, Texas. I cannot tell him how many Members wish him the speediest of recoveries and wish that he was with us now. Ralph has asked me to put in the Record the following statement from himself: ``I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to those in the Fourth Congressional District who gave me their vote of confidence time and again, who gave me the benefit of their wisdom and good ideas, and who inspired me to do my best to represent their views and their vision in Washington. You will always be dear to my heart.'' With that, I yield to the distinguished Congressman from Collin County, Texas, Congressman Sam Johnson.

Mr. BARTON. Will the gentleman yield on that point?

Mr. BARTON. Well, while the Bonnie and Clyde story is more fiction than fact--Ralph would have been pumping gas at the ripe old age of 8 or 9 years old for that to be true--the Ted Williams story is fact and is true.

Mr. BARTON. I thank the gentleman from Sugar Land. I now yield to Congressman Gene Green, who represents the Houston ship channel and the battleship Texas and other such notable Texas landmarks. Mr. Green.

Mr. BARTON. I now yield to the gentleman from Houston, Texas (Mr. Culberson).

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Upton.

Mr. BARTON. Ralph, we love you. We will miss you. You are a great guy. We will see you soon. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON. I thank the gentleman. I now want to yield to the Honorable Dana Rohrabacher from California's 48th District in Orange County.

Mr. BARTON. I want to thank you, Congressman. I now want to yield to the gentleman from the Fifth District in Dallas, Texas, the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, the Honorable Jeb Hensarling.

Mr. BARTON. I yield to Mr. Smith, the chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, we have had a number of Congressmen come on the House floor and tell anecdotes about Ralph, about how funny he was and how smart he was, and they are all--at least the ones about how smart he was--very true. We have heard the urban myth about waiting on Bonnie and Clyde, which I do not believe is true. We have heard about Ted Williams and Ralph and Ted playing on the same baseball team in World War II, and that is true. We have heard about the offer to serve as a fight promoter for Cassius Clay, who later became Muhammad Ali, and that is true. A few more that you may not know: He was good friends with the Hunt brothers in Dallas and Clint Murchison, who was the original owner of the Dallas Cowboys. At one time, he was asked to be general counsel for what we today call the NFL, which he turned down. I got to know Ralph when I got elected in 1984. He and I served districts that touch each other. We both live in our districts in Texas, and so we became good buddies because we were always on the first flight to Texas after the last vote at the end of the week and on the last flight before the first vote to Washington at the beginning of the week. Once we built up enough frequent flyer miles, when there was a complimentary upgrade--we never spent taxpayer dollars to fly in first class--we would fight over who got seat 4F. Because Ralph sweet-talked the special service people at American Airlines, he always won. The only time I have ever gotten seat 4F on American Airlines was when Ralph was not on the plane. You have heard about the fact that he used to be a Democrat. He was until 2003 or 2004 when he switched parties. One of the first times that I realized how important Ralph Hall was is when the first President Bush won the election to be President of the United States. They called a special meeting over at the Capitol Hill Club on behalf of the National Republican Campaign Committee so that the Republicans in the Congress, who were in the minority, could have a meeting with the incoming President. We thought that was pretty special. There was a stir in the crowd. We thought it was the President coming in, and it was. The President walked into the room of the Eisenhower Lounge, which the Republicans will know is on the first floor at the Capitol Hill Club. Before the President began to speak, there was another stir. Through another door that I have never seen used who do you think came into the Capitol Hill Club but Ralph Hall. Now, what is surprising about that is that at the time, Ralph Hall was a Democrat. Ralph Hall had endorsed George H.W. Bush for President when he was a Democrat, and so he got special recognition at that Capitol Hill meeting. There have been many great Members from Texas that served in the House since our creation as a State in 1845, Mr. Speaker. Some of the ones that I have enjoyed working with in my tenure are people like Bill Archer of Houston, Jake Pickle, Steve Bartlett, and Sam Hall, but none has been more beloved and none has been more effective than Ralph Hall of Rockwall, Texas. I have some other things to say, but I see that others are here, so I yield to Mr. Waxman, the chairman emeritus and current ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the subject of this 1 hour Special Order for Ralph Hall.

Mr. BARTON. Thank you, Congressman Johnson. Before I yield to Congresswoman Granger, I want to say that most of Ralph's Washington, D.C., staff is watching this. Janet Poppleton, Christopher Roper Schell, Leslie Coppler, Jessica Carter, Mitzyn De La Rosa, and Van Carver: Ralph wanted me to thank you-all for your service to himself and to the people of the Fourth District of Texas. And with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlelady from the 12th District of Texas, the Honorable Kay Granger.

Mr. BARTON. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, before I introduce Congressman Neugebauer, I have already put one statement in the Record that Ralph wanted me to read, but by electronic device, he has sent a second statement. So this is another direct quote from Congressman Hall: ``Although sidelined by a recent accident, I am blessed to be on the mend and hope to express my thanks in person some time next year. It has been a great honor and privilege to represent the good people of the Fourth Congressional District for the past 33 years. I thank them for their vote of confidence over the years, for their wisdom and good ideas, and for inspiring me to represent their views and their vision to the best of my ability.'' With that, I yield to the Congressman representing Lubbock, Texas, where the Ennis Lions will play a high school football game this Friday night, the Honorable Randy Neugebauer.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. I want to thank the Congressman from Chicago, the Reverend Bobby Rush, for recognizing me. Mr. Speaker, we always in Texas refer to the former Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn who served for 48 years as ``Man of the House.'' In fact, there have been books written about Rayburn with that title, ``The Man of the House.'' I am a six-generation native Texan, so I certainly would be considered to be somewhat Texas-centric. In all honesty, I would have to say that the ultimate and true man of the House is the Honorable John Dingell of Michigan. His father served before him, elected, I believe, while President Roosevelt was President of the United States, and John Dingell literally grew up in the House of Representatives. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Roosevelt, I believe, the very next day, December 8, addressed a joint session of Congress in his famous Day of Infamy speech. John Dingell was on the floor to hear that speech in person, not as a Congressman, but as the son of a Congressman. He got elected to replace his father when his father passed away in 1955 and, as has been mentioned, has served longer than any other Member of Congress in the history of this Nation. If you count not only his service in Congress, but the time he spent as a child when his father was in Congress, he has literally been in the House for almost a third of its existence as an institution. I am not sure how many Members he has served with, but it is in the neighborhood of 2,500 Members that he has personally served with. When I got elected to Congress in 1984, I did not get on the Energy and Commerce Committee in my freshman year, but I did my sophomore year in 1986. John Dingell was then chairman and was chairman until the Republicans took the majority in the election in 1994, so I served with Chairman Dingell for my first 10 years in the Congress. He was a chairman in every sense of the word. The legislation that he helped craft during his chairmanship is some of the most important in the history of this Congress. Certainly, things that he would be most proud of would be the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, some of the health care legislation, and some of the telecommunications legislation. Those are laws that were passed under his chairmanship and are still the basic law in their field in this country. When I became chairman in 2003, he was the ranking Democrat on the committee. He helped me, sometimes in public, sometimes behind the scenes. Even when he didn't agree with the legislation that the Republican majority was pushing, he was always thoughtful and giving me tips on procedure and process and sometimes policy. When we passed a bill to move television from analog to digital, I wanted to put a date certain very quickly. With his counsel, he convinced me that we should draw that out, and he also said: ``The final date of the transition shouldn't be until after the Super Bowl; just in case there is a problem, people will get to watch the Super Bowl and won't be cussing you and the Congress for moving from analog to digital.'' He was absolutely right on that. With Chairman Upton's leadership, who is on the floor this evening-- several years ago, I went to Chairman Upton and suggested that we ask the Speaker to name the Energy and Commerce main committee room on the first floor of the Rayburn Building, 2123, the John Dingell Room. Chairman Upton thought that was a great idea. He recommended it to the Speaker, and that now is the John Dingell Room. I could go on and on, Mr. Speaker, but I do want to say that we are truly losing one of the giants of the Congress when John Dingell retires at the end of this session. He is still going to be here. His wife, Debbie, has been elected to succeed him, so hopefully, we will still see him in the Congress, but I really have difficulty imagining a Congress that John Dingell is not a member of. He will be missed. We honor him, and I consider it a personal privilege that he calls me a friend. I thank the gentleman from Chicago for yielding me some time.