October 2, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 172 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
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HONORING ROD LINDSAY; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 172
(House of Representatives - October 02, 2020)
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[Page H5662] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] HONORING ROD LINDSAY The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2019, the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to memorialize and remember a friend that I first got to know when I got into the elective office realm. His name is Rod Lindsay, a gentleman from Shasta County. Early on, when I was a brand-new legislator and I didn't know a lot of people in other parts of our vast district that we have in rural northern California, it could be a little intimidating to get out and learn these new places and meet new people. And so for that brand-new legislator, this man here was one that embraced me fairly early on and wanted me to be successful in that interaction that we had. Mr. Rod Lindsay was many things, but during our overlap of time, he was mayor of Shasta Lake and I was a board member of Shasta Lake for several terms. More than that, he was a community leader that everybody knew and gravitated towards. Rod's heritage goes back as a member of the Miwok Nation Tribe in more central California. Northern California is very rich and steeped in Native American culture and history. Rod was one to always help make sure that that culture was part of the proceedings, part of what was going on in our communities for different community events. Rod would lead prayer. Rod would lead dance. Rod would lead in many ways that helped make sure the culture of northern California had diversity. We lost Rod recently, on August 27, after many years of service and many years of leading. I always thought of Rod as kind of everybody's elder, as kind of a Tribal elder for everybody in that Shasta Lake area. Rod did so much to help his community as an elected official, but also as an advocate for education, advocating for children for over 40 years, including as an executive director of a group known as LIFE, which is Local Indians For Education. He served on that until he passed away. Rod was a friend to many, a friend to me, a leader who just cared so much about his community, his friends, his neighbors, his family, and making things right for Tribes in northern California, as well. You don't get many people like this in your lifetime in your path that you cross, but I was proud to have walked that path and common ground with Rod Lindsay. I appreciate the time to be able to commemorate him here and acknowledge him. Indeed, a beautiful ceremony was had for him in his community just a few days ago, with a great outpouring of love and of shared stories and participation by local Tribes in northern California to have that heritage celebrated, as well. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the time that I was able to share with you about him here today. Honoring Bruce Sessions Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate a man who was known as a voice in not only Butte County, where he had lived previously, but a voice of mainstream media, he called himself, Bruce Sessions. This was a surprise to me. I just got word of his passing last night. Anybody in Butte County who listens to the radio knows who he is. Bruce spent many years on KRIJ radio, broadcasting from Paradise, California, and then he was a news director at KNVR in Chico. But finally, he was hired, where he really came into his own, on KPAY radio, in 1991, as a talk show host. All those afternoons Bruce hosted the KPAY Liveline. For 10 years, he hosted that show, a 3-hour show each afternoon. And for me, way before I got into the political realm, I was listening to it out in the fields as I drove the tractor and helped plant a crop or harvest a crop or irrigate in between. Bruce was the voice of the Liveline all those afternoons bringing largely conservative radio content to all of us in a several-county area there, and doing it with a lot of fun and doing it with a lot of humor--and a lot of self-deprecation, too. Bruce was quite humorous, but also very pointed and very direct, too. When I finally became an elected official, you would find yourself on the end of: ``Are you doing it right? Are you doing what you said you would do?'' So I appreciate that about him. Before being in Butte County, before moving to Magalia, California, Bruce spent 8 years as a reporter for radio stations down in the Las Vegas area. I can see Bruce fitting in pretty good down in Las Vegas, as well. Bruce Sessions, indeed, was a treasure for our area, and I always enjoyed him at community events and political events, where he would bring that wry humor and his Navy humor, because he did spend many years in the U.S. Navy. One of Bruce's sayings as he signed off was, ``Always keep a zero bubble,'' keep yourself level. So, when Bruce finally retired from doing the talk show host every day for those 3 hours, he backed off a little bit, but decided to still keep his fingers on the pulse, so he would have a twice-daily feature on KPAY radio called ``Tidbits from the B.S. Notebook,'' being his initials. But there you get that wry humor again because that might have a double meaning. Bruce would talk about the news events of the day in that format and just still keep that voice out there, keep that lively way of looking at things for those listeners in Butte County. I always enjoyed Bruce and his commentary and his discussion on the radio. It kind of helped me to understand things about life and about politics, as well, from a guy who had been around the block and was paying attention to a lot of things while I was paying attention to farming. Madam Speaker, I will miss Bruce. I thank him for his service. To his family, to those who go on, we all appreciated Bruce in Butte County, by and large. Maybe not so much on the other side of the political spectrum, but that is okay. We accept Bruce for who he was. But I enjoyed Bruce, and I am grateful to have been a friend and a listener for those many years in Butte County. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. ____________________
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