Mr. Speaker,

Political careers tend to end in one of three ways: defeat, death, or retirement.

And despite the fervent and mostly noble exertions of my adversaries over the years, I rise today to bid farewell to this House under the happiest of the available options.

…What a blessing this place is, Mr. Speaker.  What a castle of hope this building is, this institution is for the people of our world.  It’s one of those things in political life that you always know but seldom notice.

The schedules we’re forced to keep during our days in Washington are not always hospitable to sitting back and reflecting on the historical significance of our surroundings.

In the weeks since I announced my retirement, however, I’ve found myself doing just that.  I notice things like I haven’t in years.  I notice the monuments on the National Mall.

I notice that in Washington’s obelisk, the Father of our Country is represented not as an object of glory, but as a dutiful sentry at attention… minding his post for eternity.  I notice that under Jefferson’s dome the statue of the man is relatively understated, while his etched words still thunder from the marble with the power to drive history.  I notice that in Lincoln’s chair, the man who sought above all peace and reconciliation keeps one of his hands in a perpetual fist.

…The dome above us, Mr. Speaker, is a lighthouse — a star, even — by which all the people in the world, no matter how oppressed, how impoverished, how seemingly without hope, can chart a course toward security, prosperity, and freedom.

It is worth considering — though, I’ll admit, it is considerably easier to consider after you announce your retirement — whether the days we lead here… the debates we wage… the work we do… is always worthy of the elevated ideals embodied in that dome.

…partisanship, Mr. Speaker — properly understood — is not a symptom of a democracy’s weakness, but of its health and strength — especially from the perspective of a political conservative.

…The point is: we disagree.  On first principles, Mr. Speaker, we disagree.  And so we debate — often loudly, and often in vain — to convince our opponents and the American people of our point of view.  We debate here on the House floor.  We debate in committees.  We debate on television, and on radio, and on the Internet, and in the newspapers.  And then every two years, we have a HUGE debate… and then in November we see who won.

That is not rancor. 

That is democracy!

You show me a nation without partisanship, and I’ll show you a tyranny. 

…To all the critics of the supposedly “mean-spirited” conservative policies that brought about these results, I say only this: compassionate is as compassionate does.

When I say that word, Mr. Speaker — “compassionate” — my thoughts immediately turn to one person: my wife, Christine.  Twelve years ago, Christine became what’s called a Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused and neglected children.  Soon thereafter, we became foster parents ourselves to three such children.

Over the last 10 years, I have spent more time and energy on the plight and needs of abused and neglected children than on any other single issue. 

The catastrophe of America’s child welfare and foster care systems is a national outrage, a government failure, and a bipartisan embarrassment…That you listen to the stories these children tell and study the broken system we have created for them… and help them.  For God’s sake… help them!

I ask this of Republicans and Democrats alike, not in the name of bipartisanship, but in the name of principle.

Which brings me back, Mr. Speaker, to those memorials and those statues…

To live, to fight, and even to die in the service of freedom.

We honor men with Monuments not because of their greatness, or even simply because of their service, but because of their refusal — even in the face of danger or death — to ever compromise the principles they served.

Washington’s obelisk still stands watch because democracy will always need a sentry! 

Jefferson’s words still ring because liberty will always need a voice!

And Lincoln’s left still stays clenched because tyranny will always need an enemy!

And we are still here, Mr. Speaker — as a House and as a nation — because the torch of freedom cannot carry itself.

I have done so at all times honorably and honestly, Mr. Speaker, as God is my witness and history is my judge.  And if given the chance to do it all again, there’s only one thing I would change: I would fight even harder!

…nothing — not this retirement, not tough losses or old wounds — can detract from the joy I feel and the blessings I offer to this House and its members.  I say goodbye today, Mr. Speaker, with few regrets, and no doubts.

And so, with love and gratitude for friend and foe alike — patriots all — I yield back the floor of our beloved House.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 9th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.