Etheridge’s farewell address


Washington, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge delivered the following speech from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday:

Madam Speaker, I rise today to address the House. I will be leaving Congress at the conclusion of this term, and I want to take a few minutes to speak to my colleagues and to the people of North Carolina’s Second Congressional District — the people whose hopes and dreams, whose fears and apprehensions, whose challenges and opportunities have been my first and only priority every day for the past 14 years.

We’re joined here today in the gallery by my wife Faye, who has been the foundation of my world for 45 years. No man has ever been blessed with a finer family, and Faye has been the light of my life each and every day.

I want to thank Faye. It’s not easy being a Congressman’s wife. The schedule is never your own; it’s constantly shifting. Folks call the house or knock on your door at all hours of the day or night. And unfortunately, this past year brought us ugliness on a scale we’ve never seen before. Faye has endured it all and has been for me a constant source of strength, a sounding board of unfailing common sense and a partner in every sense of the word. Thank you, Faye.

And I want to thank my staff. As Members we get all the credit and the glory but it’s the folks behind the scenes who do the grunt work that makes it all possible. I’ve always said I have the best staff on the Hill and the best staff back home, and I believe that’s true. We’re joined today by Russ Swindell, my Chief of Staff and Pat Devlin, my D.C. Chief. Dr. David Weinreich, PhD, my Legislative Director. Senior Legislative Assistant Chris Medley. Legislative Assistants La’Tanta McCrimmon and Andrew Dugan. Legislative Correspondent Mim Williams. Press Secretary Austin Veruka. Executive Assistant Julia Cava. Staff Assistant Mollie Jones. In my Lillington office, District Representatives William Munn and Mercedes Restucha. And in Raleigh, District Field Representatives Carolyn Smith, Sonia Barnes, and Mike Little, Amy Hornbuckle, district scheduler, Christy Sandy, our grants coordinator and Debbie Privette, caseworker and Projects Coordinator. We call ourselves Team Etheridge, and for fourteen great years, we’ve been an incredibly effective team. I’m proud of each and every member of Team Etheridge and prouder still of what, together, we have accomplished for the people of North Carolina and this great country.

As I look back on my service in this body, I’m reminded of the many great men and women I’ve had the honor to serve with here in the people’s House. Folks like David Price and the entire North Carolina delegation. Leaders like Steny Hoyer and the entire Democratic Leadership who made this session historically significant on behalf of the American people. On the other side of the aisle, I’ve been proud to work with people like Jerry Moran, Ray LaHood, and our former colleague Bob Riley, now the Governor of Alabama. This body needs more people willing to put partisan differences aside in order to get work done for the greater good of our country. And I’ve been honored to serve with so many individuals I admire like John Spratt, Colin Peterson, Ike Skelton, John Lewis, and others far too numerous to mention. Congress may be an imperfect institution, but our nation is fortunate to have had the benefit of statesmen and patriots serving in this body.

My life has truly been the American Dream. I was raised on a Johnston County tenant farm where my mother and father owned neither the house nor the land we farmed. Yet I’ve been able to serve my country in the Army, have a successful career in business and be elected to leadership positions at the county, state and federal levels. All that was made possible by education. Public education is the key to the future because it provides for everyone who is willing to work hard the opportunity to make the most of his or her God-given abilities. That’s why, for me, all my years of public life have been about creating a brighter future for our children.

As we look to the future, we can take great pride in many accomplishments and countless lives touched. Every single day since we opened our doors in 1997, my staff and I have worked hard to provide outstanding constituent services to anyone and everyone who needed our help.

These are real lives we changed from disabled veterans who needed benefits, to seniors needing assistance with Medicare or a non-profit requiring a grant to keep serving people in our community. I’m so proud of my staff for their constituent service to this district. I’m biased, but I think it has been second to none.

And we’ve achieved significant policy accomplishments that really make a difference in people’s lives. My Hometown Heroes Act gives widows and orphans of first responders who are killed in the line of duty the peace of mind that comes with survivor benefits. Because of this law, those who die of a heart attack or stroke as they protect their communities are recognized in the same way as others who make the ultimate sacrifice keeping us safe. The other day a friend of mine sent me clip from the Boston Globe about a local firefighter who died on Thanksgiving Day after suffering a heart attack responding to an emergency call. Now, I’ve never lived in Boston. I lived my whole life in North Carolina. But because of the work we did on the Hometown Heroes Act, the widow and two young children of that brave firefighter will have the security of the federal Public Safety Officer Benefits that they would not otherwise have. That fact makes my heart glow.

The HIRE Act I passed into law provides tax credits to small businesses that add workers to their payrolls. That new law is helping to turn the recession into a recovery. And it’s replacing unemployment checks with paychecks for the middle class and workers struggling to get into the middle class.

For the first time in history, we wrote a Farm Bill that’s about nutrition and energy and provides hope for the future for family farmers and rural communities.

And the Etheridge School Construction bonds that I spent more than 12 years working to pass into law are being put to work here in North Carolina and in communities all across this country. The Etheridge Bonds are creating jobs, building schools and improving education for our children.

Those are just a few examples of a record of accomplishment I will always be proud of and a legacy of leadership I hope others will look to follow. I have approached my role as Congressman as representing all the people of the Second District, listening to all sides of an issue and doing right by the people. Sometimes you don’t make everyone happy, but I can rest my head at night knowing that I always did what I thought was right for the people of the Second District.

I have always believed that public office is a public trust. I have worked every day in the U.S. House of Representatives to honor that trust and to earn the faith of the people I was elected to serve. As I prepare to leave this office, I do so with my head held high and my heart filled with gratitude for all the people who have helped me along life’s journey. Many of us are disappointed by the outcome of the election, none so more than I am, but we move forward knowing that God still has work for us to do. There are many ways to serve the people and other opportunities to serve will come, and at the end of the day, I will always be a proud North Carolinian, a patriotic American, and a humble public servant.

Thank you. May God continue to bless the United States of America. I yield the floor.