A Ceremony

Unveiling the Portrait

of

THE HONORABLE

BOB GOODLATTE

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

1300 Longworth Building 

Washington, DC


c:\microcom\seals\CONGRESS.#13
COMMITTEE PRINT

A Ceremony

Unveiling the Portrait

of

THE HONORABLE

BOB GOODLATTE

A Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth of Virginia 

January 5, 1993–Present

Elected to the 103rd Congress

Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture 

One Hundred Eighth and One Hundred Ninth Congresses

PROCEEDINGS

before the

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

U.S. House of Representatives

September 25, 2007

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 2008

41-293 PDF 


c:\microcom\seals\CONGRESS.#13
A Ceremony

Unveiling the Portrait

of

THE HONORABLE

BOB GOODLATTE

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

U.S. House of Representatives

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

[ III ] 

v

The Honorable Bob Goodlatte

Representative Bob Goodlatte served as Chairman of the House 

Committee on Agriculture throughout the 108th and 109th Congresses from 2003-2006, convening 132 full and subcommittee hearings and guiding 38 bills under the Committee’s jurisdiction to the 

President’s desk to be signed into law. Since the start of the 110th 

Congress, Rep. Goodlatte has served as Ranking Republican of the 

Committee. 

Rep. Goodlatte has served on the House Agriculture Committee 

since first being elected to Congress in November 1992. Before becoming Chairman of the full Committee, Rep. Goodlatte served as 

Chairman of the Subcommittee on Department, Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry. An active subcommittee chairman, 

he held 14 hearings in the 107th Congress alone. The hearings covered a wide range of issues including implementation of the national fire plan, domestic nutrition programs, invasive species, and 

civil rights programs at the USDA. 

Rep. Goodlatte served as a conferee on the 2002 Farm Bill, working to provide programs to rural Americans who are in need of a 

stable farm economy, while providing suburban and urban Americans with the safest, most abundant and affordable food supply in 

the world. Rep. Goodlatte played a pivotal role in the creation of 

the rural broadband initiatives, including loans and grants, included in the 2002 Farm Bill. Programs such as the Broadband Access Loan program which provides loans for funding the costs of 

construction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities to provide 

broadband service to eligible rural communities help ensure that 

rural communities can participate in the incredible learning, business and communication opportunities the Internet provides. Rep. 

Goodlatte has also taken on leadership roles on issues such as welfare reform and forestry policy, working with his colleagues on the 

Agriculture and Resources Committees to introduce the President’s 

Healthy Forest Initiative. 

Rep. Goodlatte represents the agriculturally diverse Sixth District of Virginia, which includes the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. 

Virginia’s Sixth District, with its majestic mountain ranges, rolling 

hills, hearty forests, and green valleys, is as picturesque as it is agriculturally diverse. The district’s 7,600 farms produce a wide variety of agricultural products including livestock and poultry, fruits 

and vegetables, corn, wheat, barley, milk and dairy products, 

Christmas trees, nursery and greenhouse products, and forestry 

products. With 2.4 million forested acres in the Sixth District, the 

forestry industry plays an important role in the district’s economy. 

Rep. Goodlatte also serves on the Judiciary Committee and is cochair of the Congressional Internet Caucus where he has worked 

to ensure that rural areas and smaller cities and counties can take 

full advantage of the advancements in Internet technology. He also 

serves as co-chair of the House Biotechnology Caucus. 

Before being elected to Congress, Rep. Goodlatte served as 

former Congressman Caldwell Butler’s District Director from 1977 

to 1979, where he was responsible for helping constituents in the 

Sixth Congressional District. In 1979, he founded his own private 

vi

law practice in Roanoke. He was a partner in the law firm of Bird, 

Kinder and Huffman from 1981 until taking office in 1992. 

Rep. Goodlatte is a graduate of Washington and Lee University 

School of Law and he earned an undergraduate degree in Government from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He and Maryellen, 

his wife of 32 years, live in Roanoke. They have two children, Jen 

and Rob. 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Dean Paules was trained in electronics, not art, but he pursued an interest in 

painting from his early years. While following a career in business, he also created 

award-winning landscapes of his native Pennsylvania and the eastern U.S. 

It was not until the mid-1980s that Paules turned to portraiture full time, after 

selling his successful plastics firm. Largely self-taught, Paules emerges a standout 

in a room of contemporary painters. Whether a Paules portrait emphasizes emotion 

or restraint, it is always a minutely detailed painting, unerringly true to life. 

His subjects include Nobel laureate Dr. George Hitchings; General Richard Ellis, 

Commander of SAC and NATO; Ralph Larsen, CEO, Johnson & Johnson; Peter R. 

Dolan, CEO & Chairman, Bristol-Meyers-Squibb; William W. Boechenstein of 

Owens Corning Fiberglass Corporation; David Johnson, CEO, Campbell Soup; 

Chuck Williams, Williams Sonoma, San Francisco, California; The Honorable Tom 

Ridge, Governor of Pennsylvania; The Honorable John Cornyn, Texas Supreme 

Court; The Honorable Tom Davis, Chairman, Committee on Government Reform 

and Oversight, U. S. House of Representatives; and The Honorable Dick Armey, Majority Leader, U. S. House of Representatives. 

vii


41293.001
[ ix ]

P R O G R A M

MASTER OF CEREMONIES

The Honorable Roy Blunt 

INVOCATION

Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin 

Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives

PRESENTATION OF PORTRAIT

The Honorable Collin C. Peterson 

Chairman, Committee on Agriculture

REMARKS

The Honorable John Boehner 

The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert 

The Honorable Dick Armey 

ADDRESS

The Honorable Bob Goodlatte

ACCEPTANCE OF PORTRAIT

The Honorable Steny H. Hoyer 

Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives 

INTRODCUTION OF THE ARTIST

Mr. Dean Paules 

Benediction 

Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin 

Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives

[1]

The Unveiling and Presentation of the Official Portrait of 

THE HONORABLE BOB GOODLATTE 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2007

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

Washington, DC. 

REMARKS OF HON. ROY BLUNT 

Master of Ceremonies 

Mr. BLUNT. Well, thank you for your attention and thank you for 

being here. There is—I was asked if I wanted to participate in the 

hanging of Bob Goodlatte and I said well, I can think of a number of 

people first, but I am free, so I would be glad to do it. Like everybody 

else here, I am so delighted to be here with Bob. He is such a great 

guy, a great friend, a great member of this committee. When I was a 

member of this committee, a great chairman of this committee and I 

am pleased to be here. Before I ask Father Coughlin to come up with 

the invocation, I would like to recognize a couple of people, Randy 

Russell and Bill Lesher chaired the committee. 

There you are, Bill. Randy, Bill, right over there at the door. They 

chaired the committee, the fundraising committee for the portrait and 

I know Bob and all of his friends, including me, are appreciative of 

that. Also, Bob’s wife, Maryellen, is here. Maryellen is right here and 

she is the one that has put with the 5-day a week schedule this year. 

She is the one that has put up with the 5-day a week schedule, not that 

I just didn’t want to go very long without somebody mentioning it. And 

Mr. Hoyer’s got—we are on blue screen on the floor out of his appreciation for the importance of this event and we appreciate him managing it in that way, and Bob’s sister—Dorie Walmsley and her husband, David, are here, right over here. And we are all pleased you are 

here. And Father Coughlin, if you would come and let us get started 

with an invocation. 

INVOCATION 

Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin 

Reverend COUGHLIN. Thank you. Let us pray. The beauty of your 

creation, Oh, Lord, is also the source of sustenance for us in food and 

[2]

drink. The House Agriculture Committee maintains national policies 

which assure your people here in the United States of the safest, most 

abundant and affordable food supply in the world. For this constant 

custodial and creative care by farmer and government, we praise and 

thank you, Lord. Tonight we gather with members and staff of the Agriculture Committee, past and present, to honor and celebrate the contributions of the Honorable Bob Goodlatte as chairman throughout 

the 108th-109th Congresses. 

His efforts to protect our food supply, support the family farmer, 

help feed the poor and promote healthy stewardship of our land, was 

clearly focused, much appreciated and now part of the illustrious history of this important work of government. Confident, Lord, that Bob’s 

ready smile is sustained by the loving relationship of his wife, 

Maryellen, their children and friends. We suspect that such a delightful 

continence really comes from the broad and sweeping beauty of the 

Shenandoah Valley and so we are all anxious to see your smile unveiled upon this committee room. Lord, smile on all of us and this Nation, but especially upon those who love and care for the natural gifts 

of this blessed land and your creative hand. Amen. 

Mr. BLUNT. People in agriculture have had a good friend in Collin 

Peterson for a long time, as has Bob Goodlatte, and I am pleased to 

welcome Collin as he makes some official and important remarks. 

PRESENTATION OF THE PORTRAIT BY HON. COLLIN C. 

PETERSON 

Chairman, Committee on Agriculture 

Mr. PETERSON. Thank you very much, Roy, and I am more than 

pleased to be here with my good friend, Bob Goodlatte. Those of you 

who have gotten to know me know that I quite often say what I think, 

so they wrote down what I was supposed to say here. You don’t know 

what might come out of this mouth, so—and this is quite a turnout, 

which I think attests to Bob’s leadership and the friendship that he has 

developed here in the House across the aisle, so I am not surprised 

that there are so many people here today because Bob Goodlatte, as 

I said, has been an outstanding leader for agriculture and has earned 

the respect and admiration of his colleagues on both sides of the political aisle. 

I want to recognize Bob’s wife, Maryellen, who is here with us today. 

She has been recognized before. They have been married for almost 

33 years. And in addition to being a great source of support for Bob, 

she is also a very successful professional in her own right. Their two 

children, Jennifer and Rob, are away at school, so they couldn’t join 

us here tonight, but I know that they are very proud of their father’s 

leadership and service and wish that they could be here. 

[3]

Bob and I have served on this committee together for more than 14 

years now. His district and mine don’t have much in common, as far 

as agriculture, although we both have a lot of hogs and turkeys at 

home. And some people might say that that is not too different from 

life here in Washington. This committee has a long tradition of bipartisanship and some of the past leaders who have helped create that legacy are here with us today and I know that Larry Combest is here; 

former chairman, Charlie Stenholm, my predecessor. I don’t know if 

Charlie got in the room, yet or not. Who else is here that I am missing? We have many of our committee members here. 

As I said, most of the issues our committee considers aren’t politically charged, but this bipartisan tradition would not exist without remarkable leaders who have dedicated themselves to rising above politics to govern in the best interest of our Nation’s farmers and ranchers 

and Bob is one of those great leaders. I have learned a lot from the 

great example that he set. Last year, Bob set an active schedule of field 

hearings across the country to prepare the committee to write the 

Farm Bill. We heard from people representing many different regions 

and viewpoints and those hearings gave us a strong start on writing a 

new Farm Bill and without the work that Bob did, providing that leadership, we wouldn’t have been positioned as well as we were. 

Working together over the past year and a half, we have, in my opinion, put together a good bill that meets the needs of farmers and 

ranchers nationwide and we are hoping that our friends across the 

Capitol will see the wisdom and get moving over there. This is a great 

time to recognize Bob’s contributions to agriculture as he continues 

the work that he has been doing on the committee for the past 14 

years. His portrait will remind us of the great things that he has accomplished and all that he continues to contribute as a leader on this committee. 

And these are the official words, apparently. And so it is my great 

honor to present this portrait of my friend, Bob Goodlatte, to the 

House of Representatives on behalf of the House Committee on Agriculture. 

Mr. BLUNT. The presenting and the unveiling are obviously two different things and so we are going to get to that in a minute, but before 

we do that, Bob has asked two of the Republican leaders, the Majority 

leaders of our Majority, and the longest serving Republican Speaker in 

the history of the Congress to come and speak today and be with us 

today, and so John Boehner followed by Denny Hastert followed by 

Dick Armey will come. 

[4]

REMARKS OF HON. JOHN BOEHNER 

Minority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives 

Mr. BOEHNER. I don’t think I will get into a conversation about turkeys or hogs. About four and a half years ago, maybe 5 years ago, Bob 

came to me and he and I served on the committee together for 14 

years and I was the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee and there was this rumor going around that I had an interest 

in being chairman of the House Ag Committee. Before all you gag out 

there, relax. So Bob came to me concerned about this rumor. I said 

Bob, I have no intention of ever being the chairman of the House Ag 

Committee, much to everyone’s delight, most of you in this room. 

Bob Goodlatte has been a great member of the committee. He has 

done a great job as the chairman of the committee and all of you in 

this room are here because Bob works with everybody. And at the end 

of the day, being chairman of a committee, working in this institution, 

we are all privileged to work in, Bob has one of those skills that you 

can’t practice; you either have it or you don’t. He is a hell of a good 

guy, a nice guy and people like him. Congratulations, Bob. 

REMARKS OF HON. J. DENNIS HASTERT 

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives 

A Representative in Congress from the State of Illinois 

Mr. HASTERT. Thank you, John. You know, I feel very honored to be 

asked to say a few words at this official hanging, that is the way Bob 

put it. But anyway, I am really honored that I can get up here and 

speak before Dick Armey. As everybody knows, Dick Armey was always 

a huge advocate for U.S. farm policy all the time that he was in the 

leadership and you know, sometimes I just had to—hold him back at 

the table a little bit, but it is a great honor to be here, although, you 

know, if you are the former Speaker, you have no official words, so 

there are no official words coming from this dais at this time. 

I just want to say it is an honor to be here to say a few words about 

Bob and when Bob came and talked to me about the possibility of becoming the chairman of the Ag committee, you know, I was one of his 

greatest supporters. He is a person, in my book, that gives you things 

that are a very, very straight shot. He understands, he tackles things 

with an integrity and an intellectual honesty and a fairness. And every 

time that I pulled him into my office, sometimes at the 11th hour of 

passing a piece of legislation, when somebody wanted to hold something, you know, hostage like a dairy bill or something like that—and 

that will come, Steny. Don’t think it won’t. 

But anyway, Bob was willing to sit down, look at the facts, work out 

ways, how we could work things out and then follow through. And it 

[5]

happened time and time again. He is an honorable man, he is a good 

man. He is a person that this institution can be very proud of and I 

am honored to be here today to take part in the unveiling of this portrait and may it hang here for many years in great solemnity and Bob’s 

ever present wisdom. So thank you very much and Bob, congratulations. 

REMARKS OF HON. DICK ARMEY 

Former Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives 

Mr. ARMEY. Well, of course you can imagine my surprise and delight 

when Bob called and asked me if I would speak here. Bob, I think, 

is one of the few people who knew that I always had a secret hope that 

someday my portrait would hang in here as opposed to me being hung 

in here. But it was a delight for me, Bob, to say yes. For several years 

of my life, I had the privilege of working in concert with virtually every 

man or woman in Congress, the House or Senate, Republican or Democrat, that wanted to move a bill and it gave me an opportunity to really have a chance to see and appreciate my colleagues on what I think 

is the essential task that we undertake here, which is to try to make 

something happen for America. 

During that period of time, I read a book by a professor at Cornell 

University. I don’t know what got over me. But I went ahead with the 

book, anyway. The name of the book was Legislative Entrepreneurship 

and it was a fascinating book. As an economist, I have thought about 

entrepreneurship a lot, but generally, as it applied to the business sector of the economy. But as a legislative entrepreneur, I was described 

by this scholar as an entrepreneur, as a person who is able, imaginative, creative, courageous, hard working, and you will appreciate this, 

unrelenting and a general all around creative pain in the backside who 

won’t give up. And of course, I admire such a person and as I finished 

the book , I sat down and I made a little list from among my colleagues that I have the privilege to work with who were, in my estimation, the greatest entrepreneurial legislators in the body that I had 

the privilege of working with and Bob Goodlatte was the first name on 

the list. I have never forgotten that. The first guy I thought of. 

If you think about the privilege, the great honor of having your portrait hung in the Capitol and all the attributes that would warrant such 

an honor and being a good person, a good person in your heart, being 

a general well-liked colleague, certainly would be part of it. Being a 

creative entrepreneur or legislator who serves your district well would 

be part of it. But some place in the category of a list of characteristics 

that we would look for in a person to have that honor, in addition to 

all these other things, is just good workmanship, a commitment to a 

task that sees it through. 

[6]

And as you know, seeing it through this Byzantine process requires 

a person who will never give up and Bob, you are that kind of person. 

I was so proud of you. Many times you came to me and apologized 

for being a pain in the rear and I could only say I just wish everybody 

were, because you were a legislator and you legislated well and I was 

proud to be your colleague. Thank you. 

Mr. BLUNT. Only Dick Armey would find a way that pain in the rear 

would be a positive attribute. Things change more quickly in Washington than you think sometimes, which is one of the reasons we are 

hanging this portrait right now, a couple of years earlier than I would 

have chosen, Chairman, to hang it, but we are here for that reason. 

We hoped, we expected that Secretary Johanns would be here and he 

is not here right now, but the Acting Secretary, Chuck Conner is. 

Chuck, are you back there somewhere? Right here. He worked his way 

up to the front. Chuck, we are glad you are here. 

And my four colleagues have all said the things that need to be said 

about Bob Goodlatte. I will tell you that the first time I really noticed 

who Bob Goodlatte was, I was the beginning of my second term in the 

Congress. For some reason, even though we had been on this committee together in my first term and I had a lot of respect for him, 

I had never really seen him in action before until, as we began our 

second term in the Congress, we brought a class action reform bill to 

the floor. 

And I remember it so well because Denny had just become the 

Speaker. I had just taken his job as the Chief Deputy Whip and it was 

the first time members had ever come to me, as they have often since, 

said, why are we doing this? Nothing will happen over on the other 

side of the building, this is just going to make people mad. And I particularly watched Bob Goodlatte manage that bill on the floor all day 

and I guarantee you, by the end of the day, our members who didn’t 

think this is something anybody could talk about, were all eager to go 

home and talk about it because Bob Goodlatte knew how to explain 

things in a way that people understood them. 

And then he became chairman of this committee, his district and 

mine, and we had both been in each other’s districts a couple of times. 

His district and mine are a lot alike and not only was I glad to see him 

become the chairman of the committee, but I was also glad to see that 

he also, he always put the work of the committee in the context of the 

work we needed to do in the Congress. A great chairman, a great 

member, a dependable friend and we are all honored to be here with 

him, Bob Goodlatte. 

[7]

ADDRESS OF HON. BOB GOODLATTE 

Former Chairman, Committee on Agriculture 

Mr. GOODLATTE. Wow. Well, this is truly a great honor. I thank all 

of you for coming. You know, as we have been leading up to this, I 

have been thinking, you know, this is pretty neat, the last few days. Everybody is coming and the response is just so great. And then I started 

to see people on the floor today and they all told me they were coming 

to the public hanging and I started to get a little nervous and then 

I remembered that the last time we did this, for Larry Combest, who 

I am very honored is here, I talked about hanging a Texan and Dick, 

we will do that for you any time you want. 

And I see a number of Texans who are here to enjoy this public 

hanging, but I want to thank all of these leaders of the Congress, but 

first, I want to say, to Father Coughlin, I don’t know that I have heard 

in a long time, anybody articulate so well what this committee does and 

what we stand for and what we try to accomplish here as what you just 

did and so thank you very much. That was a wonderful blessing. 

All of the people who have agreed to come and speak are people 

that I hold in the highest regard. They have all proven themselves as 

outstanding leaders here in the Congress and that includes, I’ve got to 

say something nice about Steny, because he is going to speak after me, 

but let me just say that our current Majority leader reflects all of the 

values that Dick Armey articulated—he is the same kind of legislative 

entrepreneur that Dick described and he is a very determined and accomplished leader and I have a great deal of respect for him. I have 

had the opportunity to work with him for many, many years and I 

thank him very much for not only participating today, but for working 

with me across the aisle on many, many things. 

I also very much appreciate the leadership that we receive on our 

side of the aisle from John Boehner. He was preceded by Tom DeLay. 

And then before him, by Dick Armey. And Dick also reflects those 

same work ethics that we worked so hard on with the Contract With 

America and so many other things. And Denny Hastert is the longest 

serving Republican Speaker of the House in the history of the Congress and did so with great distinction and led us through many, many 

legislative accomplishments and many, many challenges, as well. Roy 

Blunt, with whom I have had the opportunity to work, as a member 

of his Whip team for many years is a dear friend and I thank him for 

agreeing to run this program. 

And finally, Collin Peterson. Collin and I serve on, what I think, is 

the most bipartisan committee in the Congress and that isn’t because 

we don’t ever fight, it is just that we don’t know always who is going 

to be on which team when we start the fight. But it was a great pleasure to have him as my ranking member and we worked very hard in 

[8]

leading up to the writing of the farm bill and I agree with him that 

the product that this committee produced was a very fine farm bill and 

I hope that we will see it through to fruition when we are through with 

figuring out some of the issues related to it and see what the United 

States Senate does, but it has been a pleasure to work with him as his 

ranking member, as well. And that bipartisanship will continue under 

his chairmanship though I am very much in favor of rotating back 

again as quickly as possible. 

But I really think that, rather than me try to articulate what this committee stands for other than to say that we work very, very hard every 

day to make sure that America’s farmers and ranchers and agri-businesses and America’s consumers can expect to have the safest, most affordable, most abundant food supply in the world and that our job is 

to make sure that the playing field is fair and let the free enterprise 

system work and those farmers and ranchers and everybody else will 

get the job done. That is the mission of this committee. And I think 

that over the years, with the leadership of my predecessors on the committee, since I have been here—Kika de la Garza, who, by the way, is 

going to have a portrait hanging again here in just a few weeks, and 

Pat Roberts and Bob Smith and Larry Combest—we have worked hard 

to accomplish those goals. So, I thank all of them. My other ranking 

member was Charlie Stenholm and I very much valued his contribution 

to the committee for many, many years. 

Now, I need to thank some people, not just because of the hard 

work that they have done, but because they are dear friends that I have 

had the privilege of working with for many years. First of all, as Roy 

noted, this doesn’t happen without the support of a lot of people and 

if you look on the back page of the program, you will find those individuals and organizations who helped make this possible, but it also is 

not possible unless somebody takes the lead on that. And Randy Russell and Bill Lesher have done just that. Randy and Bill should actually 

conduct this program, but they wanted to hear from these folks, so I 

thank them very, very much for, really, a year and a half of hard work 

to accomplish this goal. 

And there were other members of the portrait committee, the informal group, if you will, that worked so hard on this. Rachel Goldberg, 

who is with Lesher and Russell; Randy Hinaman and Laura Bell, who 

have worked with me for almost 16 years now in the political trenches; 

Shelley Husband, my Chief of Staff in my Congressional office; Kevin 

Kramp, who is the Deputy Chief of Staff on the Republican staff here 

on the committee; Bill O’Connor, the Chief of Staff, is here, as well, 

and I thank him for leadership over all of those years. He has served 

many Republican leaders of this committee and has done so with great 

distinction. And then, the last two people that I want to mention, in 

that regard, are the two most important of all. 

[9]

First, Debbie Smith. That is right. Debbie was hired, originally, I 

think, by Chairman de la Garza, and worked for the Majority. She is 

very smart, too, by the way. When the Republicans got the majority, she 

worked for us for 12 years and then when Collin took the chairmanship, she went back to working for Collin. But with one condition and 

that condition was that she would continue to work on this committee 

and she has put in, literally, hundreds of hours of time to make sure 

that everything went smoothly throughout the entire process, even traveling to Pennsylvania with Maryellen and I to visit our wonderful artist 

and his wife, who you will hear from in just a moment, to meet them 

and they are a wonderful couple, but Debbie has seen this through 

from start to finish and so I thank you very, very much for doing that. 

And then, of course, finally—and you will see in a moment my best 

way of expressing my appreciation—but my wonderful wife, Maryellen, 

who has, without a doubt, made it possible for me to be able to do 

this job. When she married me 33 years ago, I don’t think she had any 

idea. And I was very smart not to tell her. But she has been my partner 

throughout all of this and we want to make sure that she is properly 

recognized, so give her another round of applause. 

Now, for those of you, who for some reason or other I haven’t recognized, I apologize, but everybody in this room is very important to me 

and we want to include you all in the official record of this, so there 

is a guest book outside and if you haven’t had the opportunity to sign 

that, I hope you will take the opportunity to do that because you will 

find your signature will appear in the official report o fthis event. 

And then lastly, let me just say, although you haven’t seen his work 

or heard from him yet, I will tell you that I have tremendous respect 

for our artist, Dean Paules, and his wife, JoAnn, who has helped to 

shepherd this whole process through, as well. He is, in my opinion, a 

remarkable artist. I have told people the good news is that he is so lifelike and accurate in his work, that it looks just exactly like me. The 

bad news—well, actually, there is no bad news. So I thank him, both 

of them, as a matter of fact, as well. 

So Mr. Whip, I think with that, I hope I haven’t forgotten anybody, 

but I thank everybody. Let me just say that the committee staff, both 

the Majority and the Minority, and whoever is in the Majority or the 

Minority, are the best staff that anybody could expect to find on any 

committee in this Congress and my Congressional staff is the best staff 

that you will find in any Congressional office. So I thank all of them. 

There are many of them here and many former staff members, as well, 

many of whom have gone on to do great things. I thank you all for 

coming back today. This is truly a great honor and I am very much 

humbled by your presence here today and may God bless each and 

every one of you. 

Mr. BLUNT. Maryellen gets to do the official unveiling here. 

[ 10 ]

[Portrait unveiled] 

Mr. BLUNT. The next thing on the program, it says my very good 

friend, the Majority leader, gets to accept the portrait. I don’t know 

what would happen if he rejected the portrait, but I am betting he accepts and he is going to come and do that. Steny Hoyer. 

ACCEPTANCE OF THE PORTRAIT 

Hon. Steny H. Hoyer 

Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives 

Mr. HOYER. Roy really stole my line. I didn’t know what would happen if I said, I looked at it and of course, Dean, I would not do this, 

you understand, because JoAnn would be very upset with me, but if I 

looked at it and say no, I don’t think we will accept this, there would 

be, of course, a revolution in the room. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to be 

with you, sir. Mr. Majority Leader, Mr. Chairman. 

I am pleased to be here and participate in this program with my very 

good friend, Bob Goodlatte. Maryellen, you have been married 33 

years and you know him better than any of the rest of us in this room. 

But I will tell you, those of us who do know him from a different perspective and not as well, have great respect and affection for him. Serving in the Congress of the United States is a great honor. There is only 

one way to get to the House of Representatives, of course, and that is 

to be elected by your neighbors and friends. You cannot be appointed 

to the House of Representatives. The only way you get to be the chairman of the committee is to be reelected on a relatively regular basis. 

Actually, a regular basis, because if it is relatively regular, you get out 

of line. 

And it is a testament to, I think, our system, that those who become 

chairmen, notwithstanding the fact that many times they get there because they are a senior member, not always, but they are members who 

have earned their stripes through the years, not only on the committee. Roy Blunt spoke to it, Denny Hastert spoke to it, Dick Armey 

spoke to it. You get to know people as they move through the chairs. 

You get to know their judgment, their wisdom, their willingness to 

work, because in order to become a chair, you have to have worked 

hard. You have to know your subject. 

And Bob Goodlatte has the reputation on both sides of the aisle as 

being somebody who is a hard worker, an honest person who knows 

his subject. And he works across the aisle. As I said, Bob Goodlatte and 

I are good friends. He works across the aisle on issues that are not necessarily agricultural issues. For instance, he and Rick Boucher do a lot 

of work on technology issues, on which he is extraordinarily knowledgeable, and he understands the relationship between technology and 

farming. And Dick, as Roy was talking about your enthusiasm for farmVerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:43 Oct 24, 2008 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6749 Sfmt 6749 F:\DOCS\GOODLA~1\41293.TXT HAG2 PsN: JAMIE
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ing, I thought to myself of your FRAC Act. All of you have heard of 

the FRAC Act. It is the Farm Relocation and Closure Act. I have to explain that to some who don’t understand. I won’t go into it, but I am 

very pleased to be here. 

On behalf of Speaker Pelosi and myself, and the Speaker, as Speaker 

Hastert well knows, of the whole House. Dick and I have been the leaders of our parties’ partisan offices, but I accept this on behalf of Speaker Pelosi and the House of Representatives, not as a partisan, but as 

an admirer, as someone who knows that the House of Representatives 

is well-served on both sides of the aisle but conscientious and yes, courageous, people who are prepared to ignore their parties sometime 

and perhaps, even from time to time, displease their constituents if 

they believe it is in the best interest of their country and of the interests that they serve. 

And so on behalf of the House of Representatives, it is a great honor 

for me to accept this portrait. Dean, it is a beautiful portrait. It is a 

portrait, I know, of Maryellen, and you included Bob in the picture. 

A tip of the hat to the people paying, I suppose, but in any event, it 

is a great honor, because Bob Goodlatte represents the best that is in 

the Congress. Not a partisan warrior, although at times we are all that, 

but a person who sees his duty as making this country better, serving 

not just the farm community, but the millions of us that the farm community feeds. 

Bob, we are honored to accept this portrait and we are honored by 

your leadership in the Congress of the United States. Congratulations. 

INTRODUCTION OF THE ARTIST 

Mr. Dean Paules 

Mr. BLUNT. There is an important introduction of the artist, Dean 

Paules, on the program. You will want to read that later, but Bob wants 

him to come up, and I do, too, and talk a little bit about the portrait. 

I will also mention that Senator Harkin, the chairman of the Senate 

Ag Committee, just came in. Senator Harkin is right over here. And 

I can assure you, Senator, that both Chairman Peterson and Mr. Goodlatte had optimistic thoughts about the good work you were doing on 

the Senate side on the farm bill. Dean. 

REMARKS OF DEAN PAULES 

Mr. PAULES. When Congressman Goodlatte mentioned that his wife 

33 years ago would never have expected to be in this position, he and 

his wife, 33 years ago, I am happy to say that I wouldn’t believe that 

I would be here, in my life, 55 years ago, and I thought that would 

be greatly appreciated by my wife, since I got it right. Anyway, one of 

the nice things about the portrait business is the folks you meet and 

the folks who are being honored for their achievements. And this is 

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the aside that really is the important part of this business and I am 

glad that I am having a part in the program that Congressman Goodlatte is involved with and I thank you for the privilege of being able 

to be a part of this program and my congratulations to Mr. Goodlatte 

for all of these accolades that I have heard given to him, but I hope 

that it represents the best of he and his wife. I was wondering whether, 

when they came to the portrait, which one they looked at first. Who 

looked at what first. Which one of the portraits. Thank you very much. 

Mr. BLUNT. Thank you, Mr. Paules, thank all of you for being here. 

Father Coughlin, you want to come and see if you can rival that first 

prayer and thanks for being here to honor Bob. Bob, thanks again for 

your great work and your great leadership and for all of us, your great 

friendship. 

BENEDICTION 

Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin 

Reverend COUGHLIN. A concluding blessing. Lord God, we acknowledge you as the source of growth and abundance. Pour out your blessing upon this Nation. Make our land truly productive that we may always enjoy a rich harvest with grateful hearts. The farmers, ranchers, 

herdsman, agricultural teachers and scientists truly respect the good 

earth and the work of others. May the agricultural committee of this 

Congress build on its success of the past and learn from setbacks in 

the efforts to serve others and create laws that will increase production 

and protection. May you hear the prayers of hardworking people and 

enhance their labor with human dignity, lasting justice and true effects 

on America’s economy and high moral standards. Finally, bless the 

honorable Bob Goodlatte, his wife, Maryellen, their children, family 

and friends. May this celebration provide a sense of accomplishment 

and inspire even greater work in the future as you nurture them with 

health and happiness and increase their faith and love. God bless us 

with a rich abundance, Lord God. Amen. 

[Whereupon, at 6:45 p.m., the ceremony was adjourned.]

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COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE 

109TH CONGRESS

BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia, Chairman 

RICHARD W. POMBO, California, 

Vice Chairman 

TERRY EVERETT, Alabama 

FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

WILLIAM L. JENKINS, Tennessee 

GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota 

ROBIN HAYES, North Carolina 

TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois 

TOM OSBORNE, Nebraska 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

SAM GRAVES, Missouri 

JO BONNER, Alabama 

MIKE ROGERS, Alabama 

STEVE KING, Iowa 

MARILYN N. MUSGRAVE, Colorado 

RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas 

CHARLES W. BOUSTANY, JR., Louisiana 

JOHN J.H. ‘‘JOE’’ SCHWARZ, Michigan 

JOHN R. ‘‘RANDY’’ KUHL, JR., New York 

VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina 

K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio 

MICHAEL E. SODREL, Indiana 

COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota, 

Ranking Minority Member 

TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania 

MIKE MCINTYRE, North Carolina 

BOB ETHERIDGE, North Carolina 

JOE BACA, California 

ED CASE, Hawaii 

DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California 

DAVID SCOTT, Georgia 

JIM MARSHALL, Georgia 

STEPHANIE HERSETH, South Dakota 

G.K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina 

HENRY CUELLAR, Texas 

CHARLIE MELANCON, Louisiana 

JIM COSTA, California 

JOHN T. SALAZAR, Colorado 

JOHN BARROW, Georgia 

EARL POMEROY, North Dakota 

LEONARD L. BOSWELL, Iowa 

RICK LARSEN, Washington 

LINCOLN DAVIS, Tennessee 

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky 

PROFESSIONAL STAFF

WILLIAM E. O’CONNER, JR., Staff Director 

KEVIN J. KRAMP, Chief Counsel 

JOHN HAUGEN, Communications Director 

ROBERT L. LAREW, Minority Staff Director

Æ