Date: 2012-11-28
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I thank my friend for yielding. and I must say that I very much appreciate the time that he has taken to recognize those of us who are leaving this institution who hail from the State of California. Twentyfour years ago. in 1988. I stood on this floor during this month to say goodbye to the House for the first time. I was privileged to be elected in 1978. just before Ronald Reagan came to Washington. D.C. I was proud to be one of the first seven Members of Congress to endorse him for President in 1979 and to travel with him at that time. I recall that whenever he was campaigning east of the Mississippi. he asked those of us Members of Congress who supported him to attend his political press conferences with him. What we would do is basically stand behind him and use ourselves as a backdrop to show that Ronald Reagan had some connection with Washington. D.C. It was a proud moment for me. It was even a greater experience for me to serve for 8 years in the Congress while he was President of the United States. He. in fact. showed that you can change a country and you can change a world through the power of your ideas. It was wonderful to be a foot soldier in the army of Ronald Reagan as we transformed this House. as we transformed this Congress. as we transformed this Nation. and as we allowed liberty to ring much louder than it had before. One of my proudest moments in the House of Representatives is being a member of the House Administration Committee that accepted the statue of Ronald Reagan from the State of California to be one of the two official statues here in the House Chamber. I was privileged to write the legislation which officially accepted it. If you look at that legislation. it permanently places the Ronald Reagan statue in the rotunda of the United States. So it will take a positive vote of the Congress to ever remove it. That is probably appropriate. When people look at that statue of Ronald Reagan. they should see the crack along the base. and those cracks are there because that is a piece of the Berlin Wall with Ronald Reagan standing above it. Our belief at the time was that this would allow for generations in the future. children in the future. when theyre accompanied by their parents. to ask their parents why they would put a statue here honoring a President thats cracked at its base. and it will allow those parents and others to explain to those children the story of the defeat of communism and the victory of freedom. For 10 years. I was able to work here in the House. I went home 2 years later and ran for attorney general. I was lucky enough to be attorney general of California for 8 years. Following an unsuccessful attempt to be Governor. I thought that I was finished with public service. but I happened to be here in Washington. D.C. on 9/11. I happened to be one of those not here in the Capitol. but in an office building downtown. one of those which was evacuated. We stood on the street corner for hours until we were allowed back in the building. I recall that while it was a terrifying moment. it was a unifying moment because people that you didnt know. black. white. Hispanic. and Asian. were all coming up to one another and asking who was attacking us. It was a threat. but it was also unifying in that we felt they were attacking us. It didnt matter what our color was. It didnt matter what our religious belief happened to be. It was that we were all Americans. I was joining a law firm at the time. and I was going to have an office here in Washington. D.C.. and I had the copies of the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights that had been made off the original copies and given to those of us as Members of Congress on the bicentennial of the Constitution. After I went back to the office. I got a hammer and some nails. and I tacked it up to the wall because I was trying to make a statement that no matter who it was that was attacking this Nation and us. they werent going to succeed and they werent going to destroy this country and they werent going to destroy this constitutional democracy. I vowed at that time if I had the opportunity. I would seek public office again to see if I could add something to the fight against terrorism. So Ive been privileged to be a member of the Homeland Security Committee for 8 years. and Ive been privileged to be a member of the Judiciary Committee where weve worked on FISA. the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. and we worked on other acts that were extremely important like the PATRIOT Act. where on the one hand we ensured that the civil liberties of this country would not be trampled upon. but we also ensured that this Nation would not be destroyed by those who wish us ill and wish to destroy us. Ive been privileged to serve as chairman of the House Administration Committee and served before that as the ranking member in attempting to try and make this House function better and attempting to help Members become better Members in servicing their constituents. and to try and provide a modicum of security for this House to ensure that this institution is not attacked physically or through the cyberworld. or in other ways. I have to say when you are lucky enough to be one of the less than 11.000 people in the history of this Nation to be a Member of this House. to be a Member of the Congress. you realize how lucky you are. you realize what a privilege it is. and you realize that this institution was here before you were. will be here after you leave. and if you can put a mark on it that helps it maintain its integrity and allows it to be the symbol of freedom that it has been. that you will have achieved something. One of the things I attempted to do. and was successful in. was making sure that the national motto "In God We Trust" is not only here over the rostrum. but as people come to the new entry way to the Congress of the United States. the CVC. the Capitol Visitors Center. the first thing they see are the words "In God We Trust" illuminated in stone. So in a funny way you can say I left my mark on this place. One would not think it would be controversial. but believe it or not. we were sued for putting that up there. But it is there. and it will be there as long as this institution remains. I would just say thank you to those who have elected me. I was privileged to serve from southern California and northern California. I was privileged to represent the entire State. I was privileged to have my children on the floor with me as I was sworn in and have my grandchildren on the floor with me when I was sworn in in my second tour. Not many men and women get that opportunity. So I thank the people of my State. I thank my colleagues from all over the country. but particularly those from California. We are a band of brothers and sisters. Weve worked together over the years. We have worked. I think. with integrity. with honesty. and hopefully with a modicum of humility. understanding how important this place is and understanding that as long as you consider what you do important and yourself not so important. you will succeed. So I thank my friend from California. and I thank my colleagues from California for this opportunity to at least say another goodbye.