[Pages H6429-H6435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      BIDDING FAREWELL TO CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Kilmer) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. KILMER. Mr. Speaker, over most of the past decade, each time I 
boarded a plane to head to D.C., I would write a note to my kids, 
Sophie and Aven, to explain to them why I was leaving and what I would 
be working on while I was gone.
  My kids were three and six when I started here, and when they were 
little, my letters were elementary: ``This week, I will be working for 
more jobs in our region.''
  My letters always ended with: ``Be good. I love you.''
  Later, as they became older, my notes to them became more 
complicated, covering all sorts of things, from Russia's invasion to 
Ukraine, to immigration reform, to the intricacies of the congressional 
appropriations process. Even as they became more complicated, a common 
thread in each of those letters was this: I tried to communicate to 
them that I was trying to work every day to make things better for 
their generation and for their country.
  Mr. Speaker, today, as I prepared to give these final remarks on the 
House floor, I sent my kids this note, and with your permission, I will 
read it.
  I wrote:

       Sophie and Aven--After 20 years total in public service and 
     the last 12 years in Congress, I have had a lot of people ask 
     me what I have learned.
       Honestly, I have learned a lot.
       I have learned that my left knee handles the aisle seat way 
     better than the middle or the window.
       I have learned where the best cups of coffee, the best 
     tacos, the best burgers, and the best bathrooms are in 
     Washington's Sixth Congressional District.
       I have learned more lyrics to more songs driving around our 
     district than anyone could imagine and certainly more than my 
     staff cared to hear me sing.
       But I have also learned some valuable lessons, and today, 
     kids, I want to share with you some of the things I have 
     learned.
       I have learned the importance of knowing your why.
       As you guys know, I grew up in the district that I 
     represent, in Port Angeles.
       When I was in high school, it was right around the time the 
     timber industry took it on the chin, and a lot of my friends' 
     parents lost their jobs, and a lot of my neighbors lost their 
     jobs. It had a big impact on me.
       So I went off to college, and my senior thesis was focused 
     on how to help timber towns in Washington State. When I went 
     to grad school, my doctoral dissertation focused on 
     challenges facing single-industry communities. I looked at 
     mining towns in the U.K. and timber towns in Washington, 
     trying to figure out what to do when the main industry that 
     is the reason for a community's existence declines.
       While I was always interested in our democracy, I didn't 
     know I was going to run for office. I was working in economic 
     development, and, honestly, I just got grumpy. I found myself 
     saying: Our ability to grow jobs in this region is surely 
     impacted by what government does and doesn't do.
       Finally, some of my friends said: Well, you seem like you 
     have a lot of good ideas, and you sure complain a lot. Why 
     don't you go do something about it?
       The next thing I knew, I was serving in the State 
     legislature.
       Then, about 12-\1/2\ years ago, my predecessor, Norm Dicks, 
     who has been and continues to be an extraordinary friend and 
     mentor to me, called me and said: In an hour, I am going to 
     announce that I am not running again, and you should figure 
     out whether this is something you want to do.
       The chance to create more economic opportunity for more 
     people in more places was the main reason I came here.
       That is my why.
       I came to Congress because I wanted to grow jobs and help 
     the area where I grew up.
       It has been the honor of my life getting to represent my 
     hometown and our entire region. Whether it has been helping 
     folks get access to broadband or securing funding for ports, 
     fighting for our community hospitals, delivering funds to 
     address flooding, securing investments to restore Puget 
     Sound, or helping ensure that the Federal Government lives up 
     to its trust and treaty obligations, I have been honored to 
     work for our region. I would like to hope that the work that 
     I have done has provided more opportunity for folks who 
     deserve it.
       Part of that effort involved taking some of the findings of 
     my doctoral dissertation and some smart ideas from some other 
     folks and turning them into legislation called the RECOMPETE 
     Act, legislation to provide flexible, multiyear support to 
     communities that are struggling. I am really proud that we 
     got this bill included in the CHIPS and Science Act, and I am 
     proud that it has become the most popular program in the 
     history of the Economic Development Administration, getting 
     565 applications from 49 States.
       Out of the 565 applications, there were 6 that got large-
     scale implementation grants,

[[Page H6430]]

     and one of the 6 was for the region where I grew up. How cool 
     is that?
       What are the takeaways?
       Well, first, apparently, I am really slow. It took me more 
     than 20 years to do something with my doctoral dissertation, 
     but, most importantly, I never forgot my why.
       Sophie and Aven--Whatever you do in your life, I hope you 
     find your why. I hope you are able to find something that 
     gives you as much drive as helping my hometown gave me.

  Mr. Speaker, I also wrote my kids the following:

       Sophie and Aven--I have also learned about the importance 
     of being a steward. I want to encourage you to care about 
     your country, your community, and the organizations that you 
     are a part of.

  Tearing things down is easy. Building things up is hard.
  In a commencement speech delivered in 1968 at Cornell University, 
former Secretary John Gardner spoke about the importance of 
stewardship. He spoke of the importance of people being what he called 
loving critics of the institutions and communities in which they work, 
and he spoke of two concerns.
  Sometimes, he said, institutions and communities suffer from what he 
called uncritical lovers, folks who went about their business 
smothering their institutions with love without thinking about how to 
improve them.
  Functional organizations and successful communities want to get 
better.
  Gardner also said that institutions and communities suffered from 
unloving critics, people who treat an institution like the pinata at 
the party.
  I see that a lot in my job. The most popular thing a politician can 
do is bash Congress, and if it is done in a way that is focused on 
demolition rather than on improvement, that is a problem, too.
  So why do I mention this? Well, John Gardner sounded that alarm 56 
years ago, and the alarm is ringing louder now.
  According to recent polling, faith in our institutions is at a 
historically low point. I am not just talking about Congress--which, 
according to recent polling, is less popular than head lice, 
colonoscopies, and the rock band Nickelback--but, according to recent 
polling, a majority of Americans no longer view institutions of higher 
education as forces for good.

  Fewer and fewer Americans have faith in public schools. Less than one 
in five have faith in newspapers and in news media in general. Faith in 
business is at the lowest point it has been since Gallup began polling 
that question. Heck, even organized religion has taken a hit. You know 
you are in trouble when we are losing faith in faith.
  What does it mean for us? It means all of us--we, all of us--need to 
be better stewards. Each of us needs to be a loving critic of our 
community and of the organizations and institutions about which we 
care.
  For me, it has meant trying to make Congress better. That is why I 
became chair of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, 
which was nicknamed the fix-Congress committee. We showed that Congress 
can do things better when folks checked their partisan agendas at the 
door and just focused on working together. The Democrats and 
Republicans on that committee were loving critics of Congress.
  We did things differently, to sit not by party, not on a dais, but 
around a round table, sitting next to someone from a different party. 
We had one staff, not separate Republican and Democratic staffs. We 
broke bread together and planned the work of the committee together, 
and it helped.
  Our committee, in the midst of Presidential elections, pandemics, 
insurrections, and other chaos, managed to pass 202 recommendations to 
make Congress function better for the American people. At this point, 
over half of them have been implemented. Another quarter are on their 
way toward implementation.
  Now someone can look at our record and say: Well, hey, bang-up job, 
pal. Clearly, Congress is fixed.
  Obviously, that is not the case, although I am reminded of a 
conversation I had right there on the House floor with the House 
Chaplain during the 15th or so round of votes for Speaker of the House. 
I saw her here on the House floor, and I said: Pray harder.
  She put her hand on my elbow, and she said: Just imagine how bad 
things would be in this place if I wasn't praying so hard.
  So that is sort of how I look at the work of the Select Committee on 
the Modernization of Congress. I think that, over time, you are going 
to see some positive change within this institution because of that 
work.
  I feel lucky that I got to work with some loving critics of the 
institution, such as William Timmons and  Tom Graves. I want to thank 
them for being collaborators, partners, and friends.
  I also appreciate the efforts of Stephanie Bice and  Joe Morelle, who 
want to see the efforts to improve Congress continue.
  I thank Speaker Emerita Pelosi for her vision in creating the Select 
Committee on the Modernization of Congress and for her faith in me to 
serve as its chair. It has been such an honor to get to learn from her 
throughout my time in Congress.
  I also got to work with amazing committee staff, such as Yuri 
Beckelman, who has an infectious enthusiasm for making the institution 
better; Derek Harley, who, over the last 4 years, has spent more time 
than anyone I know working to improve Congress; Allie Neill and Jake 
Olson, who built the committee from the ground up; and Marian 
Currinder, who brought more content knowledge on Congress than anyone.
  It takes special people to try new things, and I applaud all of the 
committee staff for the courage and commitment to that cause.
  We were also blessed to work with a cohort of nonprofits and think 
tanks and academics who have dedicated their time and energy to making 
government work better, and their work matters.

                              {time}  1145

  To state the obvious, there is a lot more work to do there. We are 
better than our current politics. I feel so lucky to have been partners 
with them, and I sure hope to continue to partner with them down the 
road.
  Sophie and Aven, I have tried to be a loving critic of this 
institution. I hope you will find a way to play that role in our 
democracy as well as steward the places and organizations that you care 
about.
  Mr. Speaker, I wrote my kids that I have learned that we are 
incredibly fortunate to live in one of the most special places on the 
planet. A lot of the work I have done has been focused on being 
stewards of those places, and I feel so grateful to have had amazing 
partners in that work. We are blessed to have the most extraordinary 
national park on Earth, with places like the Hoh Rain Forest and 
Hurricane Ridge. We are fortunate to have folks who work for the Park 
Service as stewards of those treasures.
  We are fortunate to have the United States Navy in our community. Our 
community is stronger because of the patriots who serve this Nation and 
call our community home. They bring their service ethic, skills, 
community pride, and pride as Americans to our community. We must be 
stewards for them and make investments in our naval shipyards to ensure 
that they can continue to keep our servicemembers and country safe.
  We are fortunate to be home to more military veterans than nearly any 
other place in our country, and, again, we are stronger for that. If 
someone serves this country, we should have their back. I am grateful 
for the folks at the VA and all the veterans service organizations who 
do that work.
  We are fortunate to have communities with local leaders, county and 
municipal elected officials and staff, port districts, public utility 
districts, chambers of commerce, economic development councils, and 
many others. There are too many to name, but they have been my friends 
and partners, and together, we have navigated a pandemic, built 
affordable housing, supported local businesses, and worked to make our 
communities safer and more vibrant. We have worked to fix flooding in 
Grays Harbor and to fix traffic problems in Gorst. We have stood up a 
forest collaborative to try to manage our forests in a way that works 
better.
  Mr. Speaker, these partners are stewards. They are my friends, and I 
am grateful for them.

[[Page H6431]]

  I wrote: Sophie and Aven, we have also worked to recover Puget Sound. 
We are fortunate to have this natural treasure that has supported 
livelihoods and lives for generations. We are fortunate to have a group 
of stewards that are fighting to help it.
  Paramount among those stewards are our Tribal partners. We are 
fortunate to have 12 Native American Tribes who call Washington's Sixth 
Congressional District home. They are extraordinary stewards who think 
seven generations into the future.
  I have worked with our Tribal partners on efforts to combat the 
climate crisis and to deal with its impacts as they try to move to 
higher ground, to strengthen Tribal healthcare and housing options, and 
on so many initiatives. The Tribal leaders in our region have been my 
friends and partners. They have taught me so much, and personally, I 
feel fortunate to consider them my friends.
  Sophie and Aven, one of the lessons I have learned is that the boat 
moves best when everyone has their oars in the water rowing in the same 
direction. You get further with partners, and I am so grateful to every 
constituent who has been a partner in the work of our office.
  Sophie and Aven, there are other things I have learned. I have 
learned that we have work to do to protect this amazing democratic 
Republic. When I say ``we,'' I mean all of us.
  President Kennedy said: ``In a democracy, every citizen, regardless 
of his interest in politics, `holds office'; every one of us is in a 
position of responsibility; and, in the final analysis, the kind of 
government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities.''
  To me, that is a reminder that we are not observers in this 
democracy. We are participants in it.
  How is that going? An NBC News poll found that 70 percent of 
Americans agreed with this statement: America is so divided it is now 
incapable of solving big problems, and the problem is getting worse.
  There was a battleground poll last year that found that, on a scale 
of 0 to 100, with 0 being no conflict and 100 being civil war, 
Americans put us at a 70. The median was a 70. That is the highest on 
record. That means, on average, Americans believe we are more than two-
thirds of the way to civil war.
  I visited a YMCA in our district thinking they wanted to talk to me 
about gymnasiums struggling from the pandemic. Instead, they wanted to 
talk to me about conflicts breaking out at the Y due to politics.
  I don't think we just need to accept that. None of us should throw up 
our hands and say, well, I guess that is just life in 2024. We just 
won't solve any big problems and just hate each other and worry about 
getting punched out on the elliptical at the gym. We need to figure out 
how to engage folks we disagree with.
  To that end, I introduced a bill called the Building Civic Bridges 
Act to support local efforts to bridge divides, to train AmeriCorps 
members in the skills related to bridge building, and to support 
colleges and universities that are doing work in this space. I hope 
Congress will eventually pass it.
  We are even trying to do some of the bridge building in Congress. I 
am a co-chair of a group called the Bipartisan Working Group, which is 
about a dozen Democrats and a dozen Republicans who meet regularly over 
breakfast to just try to find some common ground.
  I don't want to mislead you all into thinking that we are all sitting 
around the table and holding hands and singing ``Kumbaya'' or closing 
our eyes and doing trust falls into each other's arms. We stopped doing 
that after we dropped a guy. But I do find myself thinking that the 
work we are doing in the Bipartisan Working Group, the challenging work 
of trying to solve problems together, is something we need to see more 
of, not just in Congress, but in our country, too.

  I am grateful to my colleagues who are part of that group, 
particularly Scott Peters and my friends   Andy Barr, Jack Bergman, and 
  John Rutherford, who have been great partners from the Republican 
Conference.
  There are also civil society organizations, academics, and 
individuals trying to bring folks together to foster understanding, 
dialogue, and collaboration across our diverse communities to build 
bridges. I am really grateful to them. I am hopeful that their work 
will help us live up to our national motto, ``E pluribus unum,'' ``Out 
of many, one.''
  Just yesterday, former President Obama said: ``If you want to create 
lasting change, you have to find ways to practice addition rather than 
subtraction.''
  Sophie and Aven, I hope you will do the hard work of trying to bridge 
divides. We all have choices about whether we exacerbate polarization 
or bring people together. We do better when we listen to people, when 
we choose to go into conversations understanding that we may be wrong 
and others may be right, when we respect people even when we disagree 
with them, when we show empathy when we are trying to bridge those 
divides.
  Sophie and Aven, we are going to rely on your generation to help us 
heal.
  Sophie and Aven, I have learned the value of having an amazing team. 
You have been there when I have been asked by people, ``What are you 
proudest of during your time in Congress?'' You have always heard me 
give the exact same response, ``I am proudest of my team.''
  A lot of the success that I have shared with you wouldn't have been 
possible without the tremendous team I have had. From the beginning, I 
had an office led by Jonathan Smith in D.C. and by Meadow Johnson in 
the district. They, and the rest of the team, got us off to a great 
start. They had vision and hustle that set the tone for us.
  Over time, Joe Dacca became my district director. Whether we were 
visiting the naval shipyard, rooting for the Huskies, or listening to 
80's tunes circumnavigating the Olympic Peninsula, Joe was an amazing 
partner.
  Rachel Kelly was a top-notch chief while I chaired the New Dems and 
the modernization committee. She was a tremendous leader for our team, 
especially during the tumult of the pandemic.
  It was such a pleasure for me to watch the growth of Andrea Roper, 
who started as an intern on my campaign, became scheduler in my 
district office, and went on to become our district director and deputy 
chief of staff. She is a terrific professional, and I am proud of her.
  Heather Painter and our policy team have been tenacious about getting 
pucks into the net for our constituents. Heather is so talented. In 
fact, I won the lottery with talented leg. directors.
  In addition to Heather, we had Katie Allen, who was a wizard on 
environmental issues and knew so much about salmon recovery and 
managing healthy forests.
  We had Aaron Wasserman, who laid the foundation for our work with the 
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
  My first LD, Kevin Warnke, always engaged with a strategic mind and 
with kindness.
  I am grateful for every person who worked on our policy team over the 
years.
  I have had such excellent team members who helped us communicate with 
our constituents: Stephen, Tim, Jason, Martha, and Ian, who led the 
way.
  We had amazing schedulers in D.C. and in the district who made sure 
we always made time for our constituents, including Jolie and Tory, who 
are here today. I am grateful to each of them.
  Cheri Williams has dedicated her life to helping our constituents and 
has had a talented group of caseworkers, including our longtime team 
member, Chantell Munoz. They have done so much good for so many people 
that I could spend my entire time telling stories of the wins they have 
gotten for the people we represent.
  Sophie and Aven, I have had folks in the district, people you kids 
have met at events over the years, including, currently, Courtney, 
Haley, and Stephanie, and folks like Nicholas, Rob, Katy, MaryJane, 
Judith, and others who served our constituents for a long time and who 
have made sure we were available, accessible, and accountable to our 
constituents.
  My current chief of staff, Andrew Wright, is everything Americans 
should want in their public servants: ethical, kind, visionary, someone 
who hustles, someone who looks for wins for the American people. In 
every role he has been in on our team, he has been just awesome. I am 
grateful for him.
  I can't name everyone, but every person who worked on our team is 
worthy

[[Page H6432]]

of gratitude. Over the years, I have had absolutely outstanding folks 
who have worked in my district and D.C. offices, and I am so grateful 
for that and the fact that, without exception, they have focused on 
doing the right thing for our constituents.
  I also thank the Irwin family for sharing their daughter Kate with 
us. Though Kate passed away a few years ago, I think about her often 
and have told colleagues and staffers her wise words during one of our 
last times together. She said, ``This isn't have-to-do stuff; this is 
get-to-do stuff.'' She was an amazing young woman who made a very big 
difference in far too short a time.
  I thank each and every team member who served the people of 
Washington's Sixth Congressional District during my time in office. 
Together, we made a real difference.
  Sophie and Aven, whatever you do in your life, I hope you have a team 
as good as I have had--people who work hard, who do the right thing, 
and who care.
  Sophie and Aven, it is good to have a crew. You have heard more about 
the New Democrat Coalition than most Americans and certainly than most 
teenagers. I was honored to serve as leader in the New Dems throughout 
my tenure in Congress, including serving as chair.
  The New Dems are the best kept secret in politics, a group of 
pragmatic, problem-solving Democrats who chase impact more than 
headlines. Simply put, they are focused on getting things done for the 
American people. Politics could use more of that.

  I thank Ron Kind and  Jim Himes for being mentors to me in that 
coalition as well as the New Dem staff, including former staff members 
like J.D. Grom and current leaders like Anne Sokolov and Leighton Huch, 
among others. I also thank Helen Milby, who has been the fairy 
godmother of the New Dems and an amazing friend to me.
  Beyond that, I assure you that you can even find friends in the most 
unusual places, even in Congress. When I got to Congress, I was told, 
if you want a friend in this place, get a dog. I feel very lucky that 
my experience hasn't been like that at all.
  Sophie and Aven, I am proud that you can sing the Ami Bera song and 
you know that he is a delight to travel with, that you speak of Scott 
Peters like he is a superhero, and in many ways, he is. I am proud that 
you can do the  Dan Kildee handshake and that you know that he is an 
amazing roommate who has been with me on the toughest days here. I am 
proud that you know what to do for Adam Schiff when you see the Dave 
Grohl autobiography and that you watched ``The Big Lebowski'' to honor 
him and his courageous leadership.
  I am proud that you are wowed by friends like Abigail and Mikie, who 
are former CIA agents and helicopter pilots and who have such bright 
futures; that you know  Jim Himes hosts a great dinner party and that 
when I met him, I told you that I would at least have one friend in 
Congress; that you know that Lori Trahan can get me to laugh on even 
the roughest of days; that you know Pete Aguilar and I get into trouble 
when we sit next to each other at events, and that institution is 
stronger because Pete is one of its greatest leaders with a bright 
disposition, a willingness to have tough conversations on both sides of 
the aisle, and a passion for service.
  Sophie and Aven, I am sort of tickled that when I read this note to 
you on the House floor, it will formally enter into the Congressional 
Record the names ``Back Row Hecklers,'' ``Rusty Butterknives,'' and 
``The Indespicables'' into the Congressional Record.
  But whatever we call them, they are people I have broken bread with, 
talked about the world's problems with, been through a whole lot 
personally with, and I want each of them to know how grateful I am for 
them, for their friendship. Though I am moving on from Congress, I am 
confident I am not moving on from my friendships with them.
  I appreciate my plane buddies, particularly Suzan DelBene, Adam 
Smith,   Dan Newhouse, and Marilyn Strickland, who, in addition to 
being great leaders and partners, often made the time go faster on what 
really is a long flight. They have been amazing partners in standing up 
for our State.
  I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge my former roommate and 
former colleague, Denny Heck, who is a great Lieutenant Governor and a 
dear friend who often shared his warm almonds with me on the plane.
  I am thankful to the class of 2012 in Congress. What a dynamic group 
of people. Included among them are Hakeem Jeffries and Katherine Clark, 
both of whom are dear friends and stewards of this institution.
  Outside of Congress, I have had an amazing support system of friends 
and family. I am grateful, Sophie and Aven, to your Uncles Ryan and 
Jason and to your grandparents. They have instilled in me an ethic of 
service and have supported me throughout. My mom and dad taught me the 
value of education and the importance of thinking before you spell, and 
they taught me one word--family.

                              {time}  1200

  Tim, Ryan, and Ray are the definition of friends, being there when I 
most needed a hand and spending a very long day with me.
  Turi Widsteen has been my longest friend, and her family has been 
important to me for decades.
  Andy Weinstein and Jon Goldman, my college roommates, with whom I 
have shared music and laughter and ups and downs, have been there from 
the beginning.
  Sue and Chad have been rays of sunshine while working in a place that 
occasionally needs more sunshine.
  I enjoy thinking about leadership, asking all of the questions, and 
visiting Abe at the Lincoln Memorial with Lauren.
  I want to voice special gratitude to J.J. Balaban, who has been the 
most extraordinary adviser and friend a guy could ask for. I would not 
have served in Congress had it not been for his advice and help. Since 
I get to put this into the Congressional Record, I want to say this: I 
love you, J.
  I have learned how lucky I am to have such good friends.
  Finally, Sophie and Aven, I have learned how lucky I am to be your 
dad. I am grateful to you both. You were 3 and 6 when I was elected to 
this job. You are now 15 and 18. Over the years, you have come with me 
to fairs and festivals, parades and party events. You have met two 
Presidents and even talked about SpongeBob SquarePants with President 
Obama in the Oval Office. I hope some of those experiences are amazing 
memories for you, just as they are for me.
  Having said that, as nourishing as this job has been, in some 
respects I know it has come with profound costs for our family. Every 
theatrical performance and musical recital I missed, every family 
dinner I wasn't there for all had an impact on our family.
  I thank your mom for supporting me personally and professionally. I 
thank her for supporting our family during some tough times, 
particularly when I was in Washington, D.C. Though our marriage didn't 
last, my gratitude to her does.
  Sophie and Aven, I am conscious that I didn't always deliver in the 
way I wanted, and I hope you will forgive me for that. I hope you know 
that I was really trying my best to make the world better for you and 
for your generation.
  I want you to know how proud of you I am. You are informed. You are 
inquisitive. You can walk into a room of adults and make conversation 
about the events of the world. You have learned to use your voices in 
powerful ways. You can study politics or be involved in JROTC, and 
people see you as leaders.
  You have become terrific citizens in a way that makes me proud, that 
would make your oma proud.
  I remember sitting right over there in January of 2013 when I was 
sworn into this body. Aven didn't last long, but Sophie sat by my side 
when I got sworn in. When the ceremony was over, Sophie, you looked at 
me and said: Why was that supposed to be special?
  I hope, after 12 years of service in Congress, you see that this was 
special, that the capacity to work to try to solve problems for our 
region is, indeed, a special honor. I hope, despite personal setbacks 
and frustrations with our politics, you come away with hope.
  As I wrap up two decades in public service, I am so grateful for the 
people of the Sixth Congressional District for

[[Page H6433]]

giving me the honor of representing them. As I conclude this role on 
their behalf, I am hopeful.
  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks once wrote:

       Optimism and hope are not the same thing. Optimism is the 
     belief that things are going to get better. Hope is the 
     belief that if we work hard enough, together, we can make 
     things better.

  He also wrote:

       It needs no courage to be an optimist, but it does take a 
     great deal of courage to hope.

  Sophie and Aven, the task ahead for each of us, myself included, 
though soon from outside this building, is to be a part of that, to 
work together to make things better, to have hope.
  Sophie and Aven, have hope. Be good. I love you.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan,  Dan Kildee, my 
friend.


          I am Honored to have Served Mid-Michigan in Congress

  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I thank my friend and 
colleague, Mr. Kilmer.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the House for the last time as a 
Member of this historic symbol of our democracy.
  It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve my hometown and the 
people of mid-Michigan in Congress. I am so grateful to my constituents 
for putting their trust and faith in me to represent them for the last 
12 years.
  Every day that I have been in public service, I have been focused on 
doing what I can to improve the lives of the people back home. I am so 
very proud of the work that we have been able to accomplish together to 
make Michigan a better place.
  I am particularly proud of what we have done to revitalize our 
manufacturing base and to bring jobs back to this country. As I have 
said a few times in this Chamber, I am from Flint, my hometown, so I 
know firsthand about how unfair trade deals and the lack of industrial 
policy has hurt working families in the communities that I represent.
  In Congress, I got to work. As a member of the Ways and Means 
Committee, I helped to replace NAFTA with a better deal for America's 
workers. Under a Democratic Congress, we passed new laws like the CHIPS 
and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the bipartisan 
infrastructure law to incentivize us to make things in America. Those 
manufacturing policies strengthen our manufacturing and our U.S. supply 
chains. The real important aspect of that is it has grown our local 
economy.
  These laws have worked. Already in mid-Michigan, we have seen major 
companies expand and invest like SK siltron in Bay City, Hemlock 
Semiconductor in Saginaw, and NanoGraf right in my home county, Genesee 
County. These companies are hiring hundreds of workers to produce 
American-made semiconductors, advanced manufacturing chips, and 
electric battery materials to help ensure that America leads the way in 
manufacturing in the 21st century.

  To lower costs for families, again, I got to work passing new laws to 
put more money in the pockets of hardworking Michiganians. We authored 
the electric vehicle tax credit. We expanded the child tax credit to 
lower costs. In fact, I consider the refundable tax credit, the child 
tax credit, to be perhaps the best vote I have cast in my career in 
public office.
  We all come to Congress with our own priorities. Revitalizing mid-
Michigan manufacturing was certainly one of mine. The beauty of public 
service is that we are always learning something new from the people 
that we work for, from our constituents.
  I am very grateful to advocates in my district who first educated me 
on one of those issues, and that is the issue of PFAS contamination, 
chemical contamination. Today, most Americans now know the dangers of 
PFAS to their health and the environment, but back then when we first 
got started on this, most Members of Congress couldn't even spell PFAS, 
let alone know what it is.
  I first heard from constituents like Cathy Wusterbarth and Tony 
Spaniola about water quality issues in Oscoda, and we got to work 
urging faster cleanup of PFAS contamination surrounding the former 
Wurtsmith Air Force Base.
  I helped establish with my friend, Brian Fitzpatrick, the first 
Congressional PFAS Task Force, which brought together Democrats and 
Republicans around this issue to more urgently address a real public 
health threat and to ensure that those exposed, and especially our 
servicemembers, have access to the healthcare that they deserve.
  Finally, after years of advocacy, we have made progress. This year, 
the Biden administration announced the first-ever drinking water 
standard for PFAS and designated certain PFAS chemicals as hazardous 
substances to ensure the polluters, not taxpayers, have to pay to clean 
up that contamination.
  There is a lot more work we have to do to deal with cleanup of PFAS 
chemicals, but I am proud of what we have done and I am proud that we 
have done it by working together in a bipartisan fashion. I look 
forward to watching what my colleagues will do to continue to address 
this really important public health issue.
  Of course, throughout my time in Congress, the issue of clean 
drinking water has defined much of my work. In the richest country on 
the planet, at the richest moment in its history, drinking water should 
be something that is a right, not a privilege.
  One of my really proudest accomplishments here in Congress was 
working to provide real relief to Flint families during that terrible 
Flint water crisis. I worked to replace those lead pipes, expand 
healthcare services, and to establish the Flint Registry, which gives 
access to ongoing support for the long-term effects of that terrible 
crisis.
  What happened in my hometown wasn't an anomaly. It was a warning to 
the rest of the country that we have got to be serious about 
commonsense regulations to protect public health. From the moment that 
that manmade crisis began, I knew we had to get to work.
  Throughout the crisis, I organized numerous delegations of Members of 
Congress to come to my hometown of Flint. Democrats and Republicans 
responded. They came and met directly with the families affected by 
this terrible crisis. They learned about the decisions that led to the 
crisis in the first place, and they helped build support for Federal 
action.
  I brought President Obama to Flint to hold a townhall with the 
families affected. For over 2 years, I worked with the Obama 
administration to expand Medicaid, Head Start, and healthy nutrition 
programs for families that really needed those supports because of the 
exposure to lead.
  Because of that work, in 2016, despite the fact that then, like now, 
I was serving in the minority, I was able to secure $170 million in an 
aid package to help replace those terrible lead service lines, to 
create the Flint Registry, and to expand healthcare services.
  I will be forever grateful to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, then our 
Democratic leader, who recognized that a Republican majority needed 
Democratic votes to pass a year-end budget bill, and she deputized me 
to go finish the deal. She sent me directly over to meet with Speaker 
Ryan, and we were able to include that single Democratic priority in 
that budget bill that provided the aid to the families of Flint.
  As I also prepare to leave Congress, I am frequently asked, what will 
I miss the most. It is not hard to list the things I won't miss. It is 
also not tough to list those things I will miss the most: the 
friendships that I have made in this body. I thank my colleagues.
  First and foremost, to Michigan's congressional delegation, it has 
been a real honor to be the dean of our Democratic delegation and to 
work alongside our two great Senators, Senator Debbie Stabenow and 
Senator Gary Peters and to previously be able to work with one of my 
mentors, the late Senator Carl Levin. We came together to protect the 
Great Lakes, to support the hardworking men and women of the auto 
industry, and to clean up that terrible PFAS contamination that I 
mentioned.
  Specifically, to Speaker Pelosi, a masterful legislator, a masterful 
tactician: Simply put there is no one better in this business or who I 
have learned more from. I thank her for never forgetting about the 
people of Flint and always fighting for America's children, to give a 
punch and to take a punch for those kids. She has done that her whole 
career.
  Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is a true and honest friend, a 
classmate

[[Page H6434]]

from our 2012 class. We often joke about how the term ``my good 
friend'' is tossed about in this body pretty loosely, but he is an 
honest and true friend and an incredible leader for our House 
Democratic Caucus. I thank him for the trust that he placed in me to 
serve in the House Democratic leadership and to serve as the co-chair 
of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.

  Hakeem and I came to Congress together, along with an amazing group 
of people in 2012. They are all friends. We share a special bond. I am 
especially grateful to three members of my class--one of whom you just 
heard from--who are not just friends but became my roommates over the 
years: Jared Huffman from California; of course, Derek Kilmer, my buddy 
from Washington State; and Ami Bera, also from California. They have 
not only been roommates, but in that role have helped me get through 
some of the good times. They also were there as a listening ear to help 
me get through some of the really tough personal challenges that I 
faced during my time here in Congress. These are friendships that will 
last forever.
  There are other groups--the baseball team, the guys in the corner, 
and the indespicables--Congressman Kilmer mentioned them. We will 
explain that off the record. Two of them are here, Derek Kilmer, of 
course, and Adam Schiff, a group that we have been able to bond over 
and strategize with and sometimes just listen to one another. Those 
friendships will go on and on. Even though Adam is moving over to the 
Senate, I expect he will still remember our names.
  To my chairman, Richie Neal, the chairman of the oldest, and what I 
think to be the most powerful committee in Congress, the Ways and Means 
Committee, serving on that committee, especially under the leadership 
of Richie Neal has been some of the most meaningful work of my career: 
to pass fair trade deals, to cut the cost of insulin, to protect Social 
Security and Medicare and to cut taxes for working families, and 
especially expanding that child tax credit.

                              {time}  1215

  Mr. Speaker, it has been one of the greatest honors of my lifetime, 
of course, to work with the people here.
  One of them was a special friend, a person who I was very fortunate 
to get to know first as a person I admired from a distance but then 
became a colleague and a true friend. I am, of course, talking about 
the late John Lewis.
  I remember when we first got here how many times we would say to one 
another: As rough as it was, aren't we lucky we get to go to work every 
day with John Lewis?
  I remember literally sitting on the floor here when John led an 
effort to call attention to gun violence. It is the kind of good 
trouble that John was known for. I was happy to participate in that 
moment, never fully understanding until recently what devastating 
impact the pain of gun violence can have on families across the 
country. I am now one of those families. I didn't know it then.
  I got to call John Lewis for the last few months of his life every 
single time that we had a vote on the floor of the House because he 
designated me to cast his vote for him during the COVID proxy rules. He 
was too ill to be here.
  He gave me this incredible gift to vote for myself and Michigan's 
Fifth District and then to come to that podium and announce to this 
Congress that I was about to cast a vote on behalf of the gentleman 
from Georgia's Fifth District, John Lewis. The person known most for 
the precious right to vote gave me a gift I will carry with me for the 
rest of my life, and that was the opportunity to carry his vote to the 
floor of this House.
  I thank my extended family, really, my staff. To the dozens of team 
members, the past and present members of my crew, thanks for your hard 
work, for your dedication. I have really had the most talented and 
selfless team, dedicated D.C. and district staff, I could have ever 
hoped for. They pour their hearts, their souls, and themselves into 
this work.
  I have often told my staff that, while I carry the voting card and 
wear this pin on my lapel, they serve in Congress. They have done that 
extraordinarily well.
  I especially thank my longtime chief of staff, Mitchell Rivard, who 
has been with me not just since my campaign but who came to work for me 
even when I launched my campaign in 2011. He has been with me ever 
since, on the good days and on the days that were not so good, like 
being sworn in for first time. Then, he and I were both here in the 
Capitol on that terrible day, January 6. He has become like family. He 
has done an outstanding job leading my team, and I am excited for the 
great things that each of my team members will accomplish as they move 
forward.
  Mitchell and my district director, Jacob Bennett, were with me from 
the day I came to Congress until the day we packed up the office to go 
home. The country is really fortunate that they will both continue to 
serve in this institution.
  I want to thank a couple of my other team members who were with me 
for most of my time here, Jordan Dickinson and Ghada Alkiek, who I have 
known since they were probably too young to vote. They have been an 
important part of this experience for me.
  I said many times that while I have been elected to lots of different 
public roles, I have never felt I changed jobs. I just got different 
business cards and a different toolbox to do my work because my job 
responsibilities have been the same, which are serving, working for, 
and representing those people who I work for.
  I was first elected to public office when I was 18 years old. Five 
decades later--hard to believe--I continue to love public service and 
believe that this important work is that, important and honorable 
service.
  For me, it is time to go home. As I reflect on my time in Congress, I 
am thinking about the future. I am excited to see that Michigan has 
elected to be represented by a soon-to-be new Member of Congress, 
Kristen McDonald Rivet. I know Kristen. She will be a great, 
commonsense, pragmatic leader for our area. I am especially proud that 
I helped to elect the first woman ever to represent this district in 
Congress.
  While I am stepping back from public office at the end of my term, I 
am most definitely not retiring. I am looking forward to a new chapter, 
continuing to serve Flint and that region but just outside of elected 
office.
  I have a lot of friends to thank for helping me get here, and it is 
impossible for me to list all of them. I do want to mention one of 
them.
  Larry Rosenthal would have turned 62 today. He has been my friend for 
almost 40 years, my closest political adviser, my confidant. We lost 
Larry over the summer. I wouldn't have been a Member of Congress 
without him. I wouldn't have been as successful as a Member of Congress 
without him being at my side, and he was there every step of the way. 
He really was family.
  To my family, especially my wife, Jennifer, I say thank you. She has 
stood by me and given up the most through my public service here. I 
know, at least I think, she will be glad that I will be home full time. 
She has put up with a lot.
  Thank you, Jennifer.
  She has done so while having to deal with her own health struggles. 
She is my hero.
  I am grateful to my kids, to my son Ryan, my daughter-in-law, Ginger, 
and their children, the two most perfect grandchildren to ever occupy 
the Earth, Caitlin and Colin.
  To my son Kenneth, who lives in New York, and my daughter, Katy, they 
have put up with my schedule. They have given me the reason and the 
inspiration to continue to fight on. They have supported and defended 
me, even when the unfair critics chose to take their grievances to them 
instead of directly to me.
  To my mom, Margaret, my greatest defender, and my late father, Jack, 
I thank you for all you did to make this journey possible. I was happy 
to look into this gallery 12 years ago and to see you as I took this 
oath of office. I miss my dad every day, but I know, when I watched 
them up there, how proud he was. Thinking of that day still makes me 
smile.

  To my siblings, most especially my late brother, Tim, who we 
tragically lost this past March, they and their families were always a 
part of this experience, so much that one of my former staff, Ghada 
Alkiek, once

[[Page H6435]]

coined the term the B.I.C. for my family, the Built-In Crowd.
  My family has endured a lot. I wouldn't be who I am, and we couldn't 
endure the recent pain our family has experienced, without one another.
  Of course, I want to mention my late uncle, Dale Kildee, my 
predecessor in Congress, a mentor and a teacher to me since childhood. 
He was a man who set an example, an example that I have tried to live 
up to, that you can fight hard for the things you believe in and still 
respect the human dignity of everybody around you, even those with whom 
you disagree.
  Thank you, Dale, for that lesson. Congress needs to heed your example 
now more than ever, and that lesson has been tested even on me. I still 
remember the chair I sat in and the wall I hid myself behind on January 
6, knowing that some of the people who I share this Chamber with 
contributed to the necessary precondition for that attack.
  I have not been able to look at them the same. I have tried to take 
the lessons that my uncle provided me and continue to treat those 
people with dignity. It has been a challenge, but it is one I believe I 
have been able to overcome. I encourage future Congresses to continue 
to look at Dale Kildee as an example.
  Mr. Speaker, I will end where I started, expressing my deepest and 
most sincere gratitude to the people of my home communities and to the 
people in Michigan. It has been an honor of a lifetime to be your 
voice. I did my best. I will see you back home.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, for the very final time, I yield back.

                          ____________________