Recognizing Retiring U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Floor Speech
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Ms. LEE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is indeed an honor to be here, to get to recognize such an exemplary Member of Congress.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers does all of the things that you could hope a Member of Congress would do, and she does them with integrity and incredible skill. She leads on policy, tackling some of the most challenging issues of our time. She is completely unafraid to confront an issue because it is complicated or because it is a political challenge. If it is the right thing to do, she will stand behind it and she has. She has been an example to all of us in that way.
Equally important, she is an example to us of the type of person and the type of Member that we should all aspire to be. She is a spiritual leader to so many in Congress.
You have heard mentioned already tonight not just of one Bible study but of numerous, because she ensures that she meets Members where they are and that each of us has an opportunity to have a friend, a partner, somebody to walk with in our own spiritual journey as we are here. That is so vital to this place and our relationships with one another.
Everyone who knows her knows that she cares about her home and her family, and she is also an example to so many of us that we don't have to sacrifice that in order to serve here.
When I was thinking about running for Congress and before I had decided whether I could, she was one of the people who stopped what she was doing to talk to me. She shared with me the story of her family and how she managed to do both this, to be a good, strong Member fighting for good policy and for her constituents, but also to remain a wife, a mother, a servant of God, and that all of those things could, in fact, be done at once. She made the case that, in fact, it was necessary to have people in this place who were willing to try to do all of those things well at the same time.
There is no other person who I can think of who has done more to reach out, support, mentor, and help particularly new women who are Members of Congress. She has shown the way to do this and to do it well.
I am so happy for her, for her family, for the people back home who get to have her more often. I will tell you this, for those of us who stay here in Washington, D.C., she will be dearly, dearly missed.
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