[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 162 (Thursday, December 9, 2010)] [House] [Pages H8282-H8284] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] CONGRESSMAN ETHERIDGE BIDS FAREWELL TO CONGRESS The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 6, 2009, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the House. I will be leaving Congress at the conclusion of this term, and I want to take a few minutes to speak to my colleagues and the people of North Carolina's Second [[Page H8283]] District, the people whose hopes and dreams, whose fears and apprehensions, whose challenges and opportunities have been my first and only priority every day for the past 14 years. We are joined here today in the gallery by my wife, Faye, who has been the foundation of my world for 45 years. No man has ever been blessed with a finer family, and Faye has been the light of my life for each of those days. I want to thank Faye. It's not easy being a Congressman's wife. The schedule is never your own; it's constantly shifting. Folks call your house or knock on your door--they have ours--at all hours of the day and night. And unfortunately, this past year brought us ugliness on a scale never seen before. Faye has endured it all and has been for me a constant source of strength, a sounding board of unfailing common sense, and a partner in every sense of the word. Thank you, Faye. And I want to thank my staff. As Members, we get all the credit and the glory, but it is the folks behind the scenes who do the grunt work that make it all possible. I have always said I have the best staff on Capitol Hill and also the best staff back in my home district, and I believe that's true. We are joined today--I hope by watching--by Russ Swindell, my chief of staff; Pat Devlin, my D.C. chief; Dr. David Weinreich, Ph.D, my legislative director; senior legislative assistant Chris Medley; legislative assistants La'Tanta McCrimmon and Andrew Dugan; legislative correspondent Mim Williams; press secretary Austin Vevurka; executive assistant Julia Cava; and staff assistant Mollie Jones. In my Lillington office, district representatives William Munn and Mercedes Restucha. And our Raleigh district staff, representatives Carolyn Smith, Sonia Barnes, and Mike Little; Amy Hornbuckle, who is our district scheduler, a very difficult job; Christy Sandy, our grants coordinator; and Debbie Privette, caseworker and projects coordinator. We call ourselves ``Team Etheridge,'' and for 14 great years we've been an incredible, effective team. I am proud of each and every member of Team Etheridge, and prouder still of what together we have accomplished for the people of North Carolina and this great country. As I look back on my service in this body--a body which I am proud to have had the opportunity to serve in--I am reminded of the many great men and women I have had the honor to serve with here in the people's House, folks like David Price of North Carolina, and really the entire North Carolina delegation, leaders like Steny Hoyer and the entire Democratic leadership who made this session one of historic significance on behalf of the American people. On the other side of the aisle, I've been proud to have worked with people like my friend Jerry Moran of Kansas, Ray LaHood, and our former colleague, Bob Riley, now the Governor of Alabama. This body needs more people willing to put partisan differences aside in order to get work done for the greater good of our country. I have been honored to serve with so many individuals I admire, like John Spratt of South Carolina, Collin Peterson, Ike Skelton, John Lewis, and others far too numerous to mention. Congress may be an imperfect institution, but our Nation is fortunate to have had the benefit of statesmen and patriots serving in this body. My life has truly been the American Dream. I was raised on a Johnston County tenant farm where neither my mother nor my father owned their home nor the land they farmed. Neither had a high school education, but valued education. Yet, I have been able to serve my country in the United States Army, graduate from college, play basketball, have a successful career in business, be elected to leadership positions at the county, State and Federal levels. All that was possible by education. Public education is the key to the future because it provides for everyone who is willing to work hard the opportunity to make the most of his or her God-given ability. That is why, for me, all of my years in public life have been about creating a brighter future for our children. As we look to the future, we can take great pride in the many accomplishments and countless lives that have been touched. Every single day since we opened our doors in 1997, my staff and I have worked hard to provide outstanding constituent services to anyone and everyone who needed our help in the Second District. These are real lives we have changed, from disabled veterans who needed benefits, to senior citizens who needed assistance with Medicare, or a nonprofit requiring a grant to keep serving people in our community; and I am truly proud of my staff for the constituent services they provided in our district. I know I am biased, and I admit that, but I think we have the staff that is second to none. We have achieved significant policy changes and accomplishments that really are making a difference in people's lives. Our Hometown Heroes Act gives widows and orphans of first responders-- and those first responders include rescue squad, firemen, and sworn police officers--who were killed in the line of duty--or lose their life, I should say, in the line of duty--the peace of mind that comes with receiving survivor benefits. Because of this law, those who die of a heart attack or stroke as they protect our communities are recognized in the same way as others who make the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe. {time} 1450 The other day, a friend of mine sent me a clipping from the Boston Globe about a local firefighter who died on Thanksgiving Day after suffering a heart attack, responding to an emergency call. Now, I've never lived in Boston. I've lived my whole life in North Carolina, except for the time I was away on military service. But because of the work we did on the Hometown Heroes Act, the widow and two young children of that brave firefighter will have the security of the Federal Public Safety Officers' Benefits fund that they would not otherwise have had. That is a story that is replicated across this country thousands of times. That fact gives me a sense of pride and makes my heart glow. The HIRE Act that was passed into law last year provided tax credits to small businesses that add workers to their payroll. That new law is helping turn the recession into a recovery, and it's replacing unemployment checks with paychecks for the middle class and workers struggling to get into the middle class. For the first time in history, we had the opportunity to write a farm bill that is about nutrition and energy and provides hope for the future of family farmers and rural communities. And the Etheridge School Construction bonds that I spent more than 12 years working to get passed into law are being put to work now in North Carolina and all across America. All across this country, the Etheridge bonds are creating jobs, building schools, and improving education for our children. Those are just a few of the examples of a record of accomplishments that I will always be proud of and a legacy of leadership that I hope others will look to follow. I have approached my role as a Member of this body as representing all the people of the Second District in North Carolina, listening to all sides of an issue and doing right by the people. Sometimes you don't always make everyone happy, but I can rest my head on a pillow at night knowing that I always did what I thought was right for the people that I represent in the Second District of North Carolina. I have always believed that public office is a public trust. I've worked every day in the people's House, the U.S. House of Representatives, to honor that trust and to earn the faith of the people that I was elected to serve. As I prepare to leave this office, I do so with my head held high, with my heart filled with gratitude for all the people who have helped me along life's journey. Many of us are disappointed by the outcome of the previous election, none more than I am. But we move forward, knowing that God still has work for us to do. There are many ways to serve the people, and other opportunities to serve will come. And at the end of the day, I will always be a proud North Carolinian, a patriotic American, and a humble public servant. May God continue to bless the United States of America. [[Page H8284]] ____________________