[House Prints, 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
A Ceremony
Unveiling the Portrait
of
THE HONORABLE
K. MICHAEL CONAWAY
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
1300 Longworth Building
Washington, D.C.
COMMITTEE PRINT
A Ceremony
Unveiling the Portrait
of
THE HONORABLE
K. MICHAEL CONAWAY
A Representative in Congress from the State of Texas
January 3, 2005-Present
Elected to the 109th Congress
Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture
One Hundred Fourteenth through One Hundred Fifteenth Congresses
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
PROCEEDINGS
before the
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
U.S. House of Representatives
September 15, 2020
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
42-620 PDF WASHINGTON : 2020
_______________________________________________________________________
A Ceremony
Unveiling the Portrait
of
THE HONORABLE
K. MICHAEL CONAWAY
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
U.S. House of Representatives
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
_______________________________________________________________________
[ iii ]
The Honorable K. Michael Conaway
Congressman K. Michael Conaway was elected to serve in
Congress in November of 2004 and was sworn in as the
Representative for the 11th District of Texas in January of
2005. Over the course of his eight terms in Congress, Conaway
became a respected Member of Congress and earned his reputation
as a ``conservative voice of reason'' in Washington.
Born in Borger, Texas and raised in Odessa, Texas,
Conaway's childhood consisted of experiences shared by many of
those growing up in West Texas. He enjoyed hunting, playing
sports, and participating in activities with the Boy Scouts.
His first experience with organized sports came when he joined
the school football team in the fourth grade. Conaway continued
playing the sport through his senior year in high school when
his team won the Odessa Permian Panther's first Texas State
Championship game in 1965.
He married his high school sweetheart, Julie Flannagan, in
1968. They went to East Texas State University (ETSU) in
Commerce, Texas together, graduating in 1970. While at ETSU,
Conaway played football, was a member of Delta Sigma Pi
fraternity, and ultimately graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in
Business Administration. Conaway and Julie would go on to have
two wonderful boys.
In 1970, he was drafted into the U.S. Army where he served
at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. Conaway served with the 256th
Military Police Company at Fort Hood and was honorably
discharged from the military after attaining the rank of E-5.
Conaway became a Texas Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in
1974 and maintained his certification through most of his time
in Congress. He went to work at Price Waterhouse & Co.,
spending four years on the audit staff and more than four years
on the tax staff. In 1979, he and his family moved to Midland,
Texas to open the Midland tax practice for Price Waterhouse &
Co.
Conaway joined George W. Bush's oil company, Bush
Exploration, as the Chief Financial Officer in 1982. Through
this experience, he formed a lifelong friendship with George W.
Bush, who would later go on to become Governor of Texas and
eventually the President of the United States. While working
for Bush, Julie was diagnosed with leukemia. During her
treatment, Bush was incredibly supportive of their family,
including taking their boys to a basketball game and
encouraging Conaway to take time off to care for his family.
After a titanic battle, Julie tragically passed away from acute
lymphocytic leukemia in 1987. Through this period, God's love
and support were with the Conaway family.
With his two sons attending school in Midland, Conaway was
motivated to run for school board and was elected to serve on
the Midland Independent School Board from 1985-1988.
Conaway met Suzanne Kidwell in 1990, through mutual friends
at the First Baptist Church in Midland. Suzanne had two
daughters with Randy Kidwell, who was tragically killed in a
plane crash. The two quickly became inseparable, and married in
1991, blending together their own ``Brady Bunch'' family.
Soon after Bush became the governor of Texas, he tapped
Conaway to serve on the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy
(TSBPA) in 1995. Conaway volunteered on the board for seven and
a half years, including five and a half as Chairman. During his
tenure with TSBPA, he signed the board order revoking the
license of the accounting firm involved in the Enron
Corporation scandal.
His work on in TSBPA resulted in him becoming involved in
the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy
(NASBA), on which he served as the Chair in 2002 and 2003. It
was through his friendship with George W. Bush and his
positions on TSBPA and NASBA that Conaway became interested in
running for Congress.
Conaway's background as a CPA defined much of his work in
Congress. He authored the ``No New Programs'' legislation to
force Congress to offset the cost of creating any new program
with the elimination of an existing program of equal or greater
cost. This idea was eventually incorporated into the House
Rules at the start of the 112th Congress. Thanks to Conaway's
efforts, the House now holds all legislation to this standard.
Throughout his 16 years in Congress, Conaway pursued active
leadership roles, including as a Deputy Republican Whip. He
served all sixteen years as a Member of both the House
Agriculture Committee and the House Armed Services Committee.
Conaway was selected as a Member of the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence, where he served for twelve years. He
also served six years on the House Ethics Committee and four
years on the House Budget Committee.
Conaway's first Chairmanship in the U.S. House was during
the 113th Congress, when he served as Chairman of the House
Ethics Committee. He went on to serve as Chairman of the House
Agriculture Committee for the 114th and 115th Congresses, and
Ranking Member for the 116th Congress.
His commitment to fiscal responsibility extended to his
membership on the National Republican Congressional Committee
(NRCC), where he served as the Chairman of the three-Member
NRCC Audit Committee in 2007. Within a year, he uncovered a
fraud that involved hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen
funds. Conaway held his position as Chairman of the Audit
Committee throughout the remainder of his tenure in Congress.
As a Member of the Intelligence and Armed Services
Committees, Conaway made auditability of the Department of
Defense (DoD) and the intelligence community a top priority. In
2010, Ike Skelton (D-MO), then Chairman of the House Armed
Services Committee, asked Conaway to lead the charge on DoD
auditability. Conaway later served as Chairman of the Panel on
Defense Financial Management and Auditability Reform in the
112th Congress. His leadership resulted in the creation of a
report on the processes and procedures for a DoD audit, which
formed the foundation for DoD's audit process today. His
vigorous oversight on this issue spanning many years resulted
in DoD completing their first ever audit in 2018.
During the 2017 House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence investigation into Russian interference in the
2016 election, House Speaker Paul Ryan tapped Conaway to lead
the investigation after Chairman Nunes recused himself. He went
on to run the year-long investigation and authored the House
Intelligence Report on Russian Active Measures that was
eventually made public in 2018.
Conaway's membership on the House Agriculture Committee
allowed him to advocate for farmers, ranchers, consumers, and
rural communities. His conservative values drove his commitment
to enacting sound farm policies that protect both food and
fiber producers and taxpayer dollars. He was instrumental in
passing the 2008 and 2014 farm bills, including serving as
Chairman of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and
Risk Management throughout the development of the 2014 Farm
Bill.
In his capacity as Chairman of the House Agriculture
Committee, Conaway led the effort to develop and enact the
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (also known as the 2018
Farm Bill) on time. This effort involved holding over 100
committee and subcommittee hearings, including 20 hearings on
the federal food stamp program, along with holding several
listening sessions around the country. The 2018 Farm Bill was
signed by President Trump on December 20, 2018, the first farm
bill since 1990 to be signed into law in the same calendar year
in which it was introduced. The conference report passed with
87 votes in the Senate and 369 votes in the House, amongst the
largest vote margins for any farm bill reauthorization in
history.
Conaway prioritized legislation to benefit the 11th
District throughout his tenure. A proud representative of the
Permian Basin, Conaway sponsored legislation to lift the oil
export ban and was instrumental in overturning the ban in 2015.
The Permian Basin is now leading the way in oil production,
with the United States exporting more oil than it imports for
the first time since records began in 1949.
In 2019, President Trump signed into law a bill sponsored
by Congressman Conaway to rename the Odessa VA Clinic to the
``Wilson and Young Medal of Honor VA Clinic'' to honor the
lives of two Odessa heroes. Conaway also worked to preserve the
Midland home of the Bush family as a national landmark and was
successful in renaming the U.S. courthouse in Midland, Texas,
to the ``George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush United States
Courthouse and George Mahon Federal Building.''
The Conaways still call Texas home, and consider themselves
the blessed grandparents to seven grandchildren.
----------
About the Artist
Born and raised in Michigan, Robert Anderson was educated
at Yale University and the Boston School of the Museum of Fine
Arts. His tours of duty in the U.S. Navy included Vietnam
combat service with the Mobile Riverine Force in the Mekong
Delta. His studio is on the south coast of Massachusetts.
In addition to painting privately commissioned portraits
since 1973, for fifteen years Mr. Anderson was illustrator for
the John H. Breck Company. His pastel portraits appeared in
Breck Shampoo print advertising and in commercials on American
and Canadian network television. As spokesman for Breck, he
appeared on numerous local and network television news programs
and talk shows, including CNN's ``Take Two'' and ABC's
``Entertainment Tonight''. Between 1984 and 1989 he was under
contract with the United States Postal Service to execute
portraits for a number of U.S. postage stamps in the Great
Americans Series. Issues include stamps honoring John Harvard,
after whom Harvard University is named, Red Cloud, celebrated
chief of the Oglala Sioux Nation, and the famous Hunkpapa Sioux
Chief Sitting Bull.
Notable commissions include the official portraits of
former Massachusetts governors, William F. Weld and Edward J.
King, former Yale chaplain and SANE/FREEZE president, William
Sloane Coffin, and a double portrait of former MIT President
and Mrs. Paul Gray. In 2002 President George W. Bush selected
Mr. Anderson to paint his portrait for the Yale Club of New
York City. Mr. Anderson's portrait of Former Massachusetts
Senator Edward W. Brooke was chosen by the Senator to appear on
the jacket cover of his autobiography, Bridging the Divide--My
Life--Senator Edward W. Brooke.
Mr. Anderson was selected by The White House to paint the
official portrait of President George W. Bush for the National
Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
D.C. It was unveiled on December 19, 2008. His portrait of
former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was unveiled at
the Federal Reserve Board headquarters in Washington, DC in
August of 2010. His portrait of former Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge was unveiled in May of 2013, and one of
former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was
unveiled in March of 2014, both in Washington, D.C. Mr.
Anderson's portrait of former Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner was recently unveiled at the U.S. Department of the
Treasury and a second portrait now hangs at The Federal Reserve
Bank of New York.
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P R O G R A M
Welcome
The Honorable Collin C. Peterson
Chairman, Committee on Agriculture
Master of Ceremonies
The Honorable John Boozman
Invocation
The Honorable Tim Walberg
Remarks
The Honorable Sonny Perdue
Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture
The Honorable John Boozman
Unveiling the Portrait
The Honorable K. Michael Conaway and Suzanne Conaway
Remarks
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
Republican Leader, U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
Address
The Honorable K. Michael Conaway
The Unveiling and Presentation of the Official Portrait of
THE HONORABLE K. MICHAEL CONAWAY
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2020
House of Representatives,
Committee on Agriculture
Washington, D.C.
The ceremony began at 3:30 p.m. in Room 1300, Longworth House Office
Building.
WELCOME BY THE HONORABLE COLLIN C. PETERSON
The Chairman. On behalf of the House Agriculture Committee, I want to
welcome all of you here today to this wonderful room here on the
third floor of the Longworth building. And we are going to have
people watching virtually, apparently, we got that streaming going.
I want to say congratulations to Mike on this rite of passage. We look
forward to having Mike keeping an eye on us from above the
fireplace and making sure that we don't do anything too out of line
in the future, so we are looking forward to that.
And I was going to peek, but I didn't, Mike. I said, well, do you think
I can go in there and look? And they said, well, you are the
Chairman. You could probably do whatever you want. I said, well, I
think I will wait. But anyway, I want to be surprised like
everybody else.
We got a farm bill done together. It wasn't easy, but we worked through
it. And it takes an awful commitment, as you know, and dedication
and working with a lot of people that you necessarily wouldn't work
with to get that done. And so, Mike, we appreciate that good
outcome and all your hard work.
And as some of you have been through this a number of times, it is hard
to overstate the amount of time and stress and investment that you
put into doing a farm bill. You know, I remember when I did the
first one, when I was Chairman, I tell you what, I didn't think I
would survive. It is a tough process.
Being chair, especially during a farm bill, takes over your schedule,
consumes all your time, and blocks out many other things that you
would want to accomplish. But at the end of it all, you have a
product that is hopefully good policy and makes the lives of
farmers and ranchers and others in America better. Suzanne and
Mike's kids and grandkids have our thanks for their sacrifices and
for sharing Mike with us for all of these years.
I want to say, congratulations, Mike, again, on your service, and your
time as Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and all the
best to you and Suzanne and your further endeavors. And we will
look forward to you looking over us in the future.
With that, I am going to turn this over to the master of ceremonies,
The Honorable Mr. Boozman from Arkansas.
[Applause.]
REMARKS OF THE HONORABLE JOHN BOOZMAN
Master of Ceremonies
Mr. Boozman. Thank you, all.
And thank you, Collin, for being such a great partner to Mike and
getting so much done for our agriculture community.
You know, as we look here, we have got the who's who of the leaders in
the ag world and then also the movers and shakers in the House, and
Senator Roberts is here. Again, we just appreciate the fact that so
many are here. And I think we are live streaming to Texas, which is
a big deal.
I want to thank the U.S. Capitol Historical Society for their work in
allowing the Chairman Mike Conaway Portrait Fund to be part of the
managed section by the Historical Society. We appreciate them.
I will say a few more things about Mike in a little bit. You say, well,
what are you doing up here, John? And then, first of all, I miss
you guys. But the other thing is, Mike and I had the pleasure to
serve for 8 years in the House, and I appreciate his friendship and
example in so many different ways, he and Suzanne.
Let's have the opening prayer. I think Tim, Congressman Walberg is
going to come and do that for us.
INVOCATION
The Honorable Tim Walberg
Mr. Walberg. Thank you, John. It is good to have you back.
And, Mike, thank you. Knowing the man of faith that you are, that it is
a commitment, it is not just a religion. I appreciate the
opportunity to pray.
Our Father, God, what a privilege it is to come to the Creator of all
things, the Creator of this good Earth, the Creator as You designed
it. You put man and woman on this Earth, and You said, tend it,
tend everything about it, the fruits, the vegetables, the seed-
bearing plants, the animals, because it is good. It is very good.
You said that about Your creation.
And so today to honor a man who honored Your creation in his service to
this great country, who serves on this Agriculture Committee, who
chaired it, who went through all, as Collin has said, the exactions
as well as frustrations of farm bills and yet did it in a way that
was good.
We thank You for his service. We thank You for his commitment to You,
commitment to the fact that all things come from the Earth, the
Earth that You have made, and took it seriously to do it for the
people of this country as well as his great State and district.
God, I pray that You bless him and his dear family in the days ahead
with, not only memories, but experiences that redound for the
future, and allow him to continue to do the things that promote the
productivity of this good Earth that You have given to us to be
stewards of. And it is in the name of Jesus, my Savior, I pray.
Amen.
Mr. Boozman. Now, next we are going to have the Secretary of Ag come up
and say some things. We appreciate the Secretary so much for all of
his great work. He is in a very difficult position, as so many in
leadership positions like this, really handling a very difficult
situation where we are all working together for the benefit of the
American public.
So, Sonny, if you will come up.
REMARKS OF THE HONORABLE SONNY PERDUE
SECRETARY, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Secretary Perdue. Thank you, Senator.
Mr. Boozman. Thank you.
[Applause.]
Secretary Perdue. I am just honored to be here. I didn't know you all
let the executive branch participate in these, so thank you very
much. And it is a delight to be here, Madam Speaker, Leader, and to
all of you. And we are honored to speak about our friend.
The Secretary of Agriculture is a Cabinet position. I don't think I am
really qualified for it or any others, but I can tell you, I have
been blessed to serve under two different House chairmen, and both
have been delightful to work with and in the farm bill and creating
that and implementation of it.
I take pride in the fact that the Agriculture Committees on both sides
really are probably the least partisan, really most agriculturally
oriented, which is very important in this country. I take much
pleasure and delight in that, having served with both.
I know it is Mike's day. And, Mike, I want to tell you what a privilege
it was to have you as the first Chairman under which I stepped into
this role and how meaningful that was.
I think the most meaningful thing in the State, I came from both the
legislative and the executive branches, and I am a big believer in
representative government and the three branches of government. And
I think when I really began to admire Mike Conaway was my visit to
his district, and it was after Hurricane Harvey, and times were not
really good there in that part of Texas.
But as I went to Mike's district and was hosted by Suzanne in their
home, it was obvious that Mike was revered in his district. I think
that is the best compliment you can have among your constituents,
and the best honor you can have is to be revered in your own
district by the people you represent. That is really what
representative democracy is all about.
And I can assure you that is when I came to understand that Mike
Conaway was not only a man of integrity, faith, and action up here,
but he brought that same spirit of public servant, and leader there
to his district. And from a constituent service standpoint, I can
assure you I heard from him as well in the best spirit of
representative democracy.
Suzanne, I did have--I have got a little homework assignment, though,
for you. I remember when we had the--announcing the beef into China
for the first time in several years, I sent Mike an emoji. It had a
cow and a clap and a prayer and a thumbs up. And he said, what is
that for? So I think you need to go back to emoji school there a
little bit, Mike, when you get home and learn about all this new
conversation ability we have got with our iPhones to understand
what we are trying to say.
But, nonetheless, I know you were a big supporter in that, as many
other things. And I hope we have done you and Collin proud in the
implementation of the farm bill across the way. As I said, I fully
recognize and respect the role of the Legislative Branch. As an
executive, unelected appointed member, I respect very much the work
that you do, and it has been a real honor to do that.
I think the other thing that I saw in Mike Conaway's district was his
most important constituency, and that was in his home, the
relationship that he had with his family. And after all, folks,
that is what it is really all about. The most important
constituencies we have is that small circle that see us when the
curtains are closed and the lights are turned off, and that is the
kind of reputation Mike Conaway brought from home, from his Texas
district, here to the House, and I have not seen that impugned in
any way.
So, Mike, congratulations. Thank you very much. It has been an honor to
serve with you. Thank you, all.
[Applause.]
Mr. Boozman. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
Mike, you need to get with an 8-year-old kid to kind of fill you in on
what is going on these days.
Let me just say that, as I said earlier, I had the opportunity to serve
with Mike for 8 years. I immediately became friends with him.
Cathy, my wife, became friends with Suzanne. And I was drawn to
him.
You know, the nice thing about the House--you know, people ask me, what
is the difference between the Senate and the House? You know, I
think there is just a tremendous amount of camaraderie, and you
have got all different friends on both sides and this and that, and
that is really a nice thing.
But I was drawn to him not because he immediately, you know, was
becoming a very effective legislator, that was nice, but really
because of the way he lived his life. He loved his family, he loved
his friends, he loved the Lord. As the Secretary said, you know,
took care of his State, his district. And so for all of those
different reasons, being a true public servant and just being a
friend to so many of us. So we do appreciate you guys so, so very
much.
I want to recognize Robert Anderson. He is the gentleman that painted
this. And we are very anxious to see what it looks like. He is not
here today, but we want to give him a big shout-out. The Speaker
here is helping me, which I very much appreciate.
I guess we would like to do the unveiling then. So come on up and let's
see what this looks like.
UNVEILING OF THE PORTRAIT BY THE HONORABLE K. MICHAEL CONAWAY AND MRS.
SUZANNE CONAWAY
Mrs. Conaway. I have one job. So I have to figure this out. Oh, it is
not working. I am kidding.
Representative Conaway. Okay.
[Portrait unveiling.]
[Applause.]
Mr. Boozman. Now we are going to hear from Kevin McCarthy.
Kevin.
[Applause.]
REMARKS OF THE HONORABLE KEVIN McCARTHY
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Republican Leader McCarthy. Thank you, Senator.
When I first came to Congress, my next-door neighbor was the Senator,
Congressman at the time, and he was from the right district with
Little Debbies, and he always brought that to the office, but it
also brought a lot of mice too, so I appreciate all that.
You know, when you look at this portrait, it is beautiful, and this
portrait will hang in here and people will wonder what the story
behind it is. They will know that he was the Chair of the
Committee. They will know he loved Suzanne. But what will it really
tell? I want to tell you the story I will tell.
When I came here, I served on this committee. It wasn't as nice as
here. I was way out front. I think I had a folding chair, but I was
drawn to Mike from the very beginning because of integrity. I
watched that he prepared for his committees more thoroughly than
anyone could imagine. I watched that he took me under his wing, not
that I was from California, but he understood my district was more
like Texas and like his than almost any other in the country.
But I got put on another committee with him. It was over at the NRCC. I
was a freshman. I remember Boehner asking me to serve on this audit
committee. There is just two of us. We had just gone into the
minority. And the first thing we discovered, we had somebody
embezzle from us. And it wasn't because the person let us know, it
was because Mike was an accountant and figured it out. And you
learn a lot about somebody in a time of crisis like that, how he
righted the ship. It wasn't why he came to the House, but he just
knew to do the right things.
Then I will tell the story, how this job is not the easiest when it
comes to families, but there is always a mentor out there to show
you how to do it. As much as Suzanne as it is Mike, God had a plan
for both of you to put you together. And what I love about it is
you are not afraid to share that and tell it, and that is so
helpful to so many of us.
The other thing that many of us should know, yeah, this committee is
always known to be bipartisan, but it is easier to go the other
way. It is probably more difficult for Mike than anybody else in
the country. You see, his district is conservative, but it is
probably the most conservative next to Mac's.
So it would be easier to just say no. It would be easier just to blame,
but he always made the right decision and a tough decision, because
he believed in being a legislator. He knew his responsibility to go
home that the cable industry would say something much different, so
he wouldn't go home just to appease his constituency. He would go
home to show them that he was a leader, that he made the right
decision and he wasn't fearful to explain it to them if they didn't
understand at first.
And the part that I will remember the most, as a whip, the farm bill is
the hardest thing to pass. I learned it the hard way because it
failed the first time I was whip. Mike was not chair then, but he
was Chairman in waiting, and he was an integral part of making--
bring it back off the ground.
But I remember this one issue, and I won't bring what the issue was,
but it was one that we needed help with. And they had to make a
decision. It is one of those decisions in leadership that you kind
of regret at the time, and we did something that probably wasn't
right, but we made a promise to Ag that we would correct it.
I remember walking into this room. It wasn't Mike by himself, but it
was then the Ranking Member. And I was so impressed that it wasn't
talking to one side of the Committee, I was talking to the
Committee of the whole, because what they cared about was the food
that America made. What they cared about was the ability of the
farmers to do it and the next generation. And they spoke with one
voice. And because they held together, we were able to right that
ship.
So, yes, the painting is going to hang a long time, but your legacy is
going to be so much more. And that will just be my story, but there
will be so many of those stories that will be told about you.
Yes, I was sad when you told me you were leaving, but you earned the
right to do it. Because you may not be in these halls, but I
promise you, your character, your integrity will live on through so
many of us that have either watched how you carried yourself or how
we listened to you or how you led us. So congratulations on a job
well done. Thank you.
[Applause.]
Mr. Boozman. Next, we are going to hear from the Speaker of the House.
We are so pleased that she is here to accept the portrait and we do
very much appreciate that.
REMARKS OF THE HONORABLE NANCY PELOSI
SPEAKER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Speaker Pelosi. Thank you very much, Senator. It is always wonderful to
be in this room because it does have a spirit of bipartisanship. As
I came in, I was recalling some occasions when we have all come
together here when Mr. Chairman Peterson was leading a bipartisan
ensemble called, what, the Second Amendment up here. And, of
course, it is a beautiful room, and others have poached on it in
order to celebrate one thing or another. But as long as we could
hear the Second Amendment band, nobody cared about anything else.
The first time I came to an unveiling of the Chair of the Agriculture
Committee was for Tom Foley. So I turned around to Mr. Peterson and
I said, where is Tom Foley's picture? He said, well, that was a
while ago. He is in the other room.
So I know, Pat Roberts, Senator, it's an honor to have you back over
here always. Your picture is right there. May it stay there. Just
keep coming over and checking on it.
We know that this is a special occasion, the unveiling of the portrait
of the Chairman of the Agriculture Committee. Isn't it a beautiful
painting? Isn't it perfect? And how clever of him to have Suzanne
in the picture. We love that. That is pretty nice.
So, Suzanne, to you and to Erin who is here, your son Erin--lovely to
see you, Erin--and to the rest, Mike's other children and
grandchildren who are watching virtually, I can't wait till you can
come here to see this actually because it is quite a lovely
likeness of our wonderful Chairman.
So we celebrate the unveiling of this portrait and your 15 years
serving Texas, 11th District, Odessa and Midland. And, again, it is
fitting that this portrait will oversee the activities in the
Agriculture Committee, as I see Mr. Collin Peterson back here
behind the screen here but, nonetheless, looking over the work. And
I know that you work together.
And, Mr. Leader, I would just say, the one thing about the votes on the
farm bill, how about when we had to override the veto a couple
times in 1 year? But we did that in a very bipartisan way. That is
the only way you can override a veto.
The distinguished Secretary mentioned traveling to your district and
seeing how you were revered there. I would want to recall traveling
with you to Normandy and to the Battle of the Bulge and to see your
patriotism there. Thank you for being part of that in such a
substantial way and bringing your stature as a leader in the
Congress to those trips to say thank you to our veterans for their
service to our country.
So as Chair of the Ag Committee, as patriot in the Congress, thank you
for your leadership, thank you for your service. Congratulations on
this wonderful portrait. And as Speaker, it is my honor to accept
it, the portrait, into the House collection officially.
Congratulations. Thank you.
[Applause.]
Mr. Boozman. Thank you, Madam Speaker, so much. Again, thank you for
being here.
In a second, Mike is going to come up and talk to us a little bit, but
Kevin mentioned the farm bill, the Speaker mentioned the farm bill,
and that is so, so very difficult. Pat Roberts is over here, he and
Senator Stabenow, and then Collin, and you guys just did such a
great job. I think we had a record number of votes in the Senate,
and I understand, you know, these things are just so, so very
difficult.
The other thing that I think we did a really good job with you all
leading the charge, Mike was really educating our Members about how
important this was, you know, the difficulty that our farm
community was in then and even more difficulty now. We do
appreciate that.
Mike, would you like to come up?
I was thinking--I have got to needle him a little bit. Mike and I
played college football, and I was looking at that picture, and I
was just thinking, what would his buddies think from back in the
old days if they saw the former Chairman, his picture on the wall
in here. So, again, you can be very, very proud.
ADDRESS BY THE HONORABLE K. MICHAEL CONAWAY
Mr. Conaway. Well, first off, thank you for the standing ovation.
Appreciate that. It is always appreciated.
Madam Speaker, Leader, Sonny, Collin, thank you very much, Pat. Pat's
the only man on the face of the Earth who has ever chaired this
committee and the similar committee in the Senate. He trained here
to do the good job he did in the Senate, but, Pat, thank you for
being here as well.
Thanks, everyone, for being here. The rest of my family is online
watching this thing. I want to quickly say thank you to Brit, who
just had a baby son earlier this morning in Kansas City, and Brooke
and my team for putting all this together today, getting everybody
into the building and all those kind of things. It is a little odd
these days trying to get folks in for this thing, so I want to
thank those folks for that.
I want to thank the artist who did this. Snake--or Erin--I call him
Snake. It is a nickname, but Erin, the Reverend Erin Conaway, told
me that he was at an unveiling like this in which, when the artist
talked a long time about it, they dropped the curtain and it was
dead silent. And it began with just kind of pregnant clapping,
because the man whose portrait it was bore no resemblance to the
portrait whatsoever. And so I was a little nervous that that would
be the case, but Robert Anderson has done a great job, and I want
to thank him for that. The donors for the portrait on the back of
the program, thank you for that as well.
You know, we use the words ``thank you'' across an incredible spectrum
of emotions. Thank you for opening the door, thank you for picking
up something I dropped. This is all the way at the other end of
that spectrum. I can't tell you thank you enough with the most
sincerity, the deepest part of my heart, for everything that has
gotten me to this point.
Suzanne and I started this--somebody on my team just won a pot to say
how long this would take. We started in December 2002 on this
journey, and it has been an incredible experience and one that is
obviously the highlight of my professional career. I had a terrific
career as a CPA before I got here, but this work that I have done
the last 16 years has been stunningly gratifying and the highlight
of my professional career.
As we said, we have got Erin here today, and Suzanne. I typically
describe myself as Suzanne Conaway's husband, because that is the
deal. And I could not have done what I have done and succeeded the
way I have succeeded without her steadfast, loving support
throughout all of this.
She is the author of some 8,500 handwritten thank-you notes over the
last 18 years. And so she wrote every donor, finally decided that
might get a little tedious so she quit writing the ones up here,
but she wrote everybody at home a thank-you note. And so I would
not be here today without her love and support and faithfulness to
this job. And so thank you, sweetheart, love of my life.
And people have asked me around the room this afternoon what I am going
to do next. And she made it abundantly clear that she married me
for life, not lunch, and that next year, about 9 o'clock every day
I need to vacate the premises and about 4 o'clock I am welcome
back, that she does not need me supervising her routine on a daily
basis, and so I will be doing something.
As mentioned, Suzanne and I have a terrific family. We have four
children. They all have spouses. We have seven grandchildren, and
they are just terrific across the board, all of them successful in
their own way, and we love them dearly.
My seven grandchildren, though, I have missed--as the Members know, I
have missed 16 years of their life doing the job that I love. I
regret it in a sense, but I chose to serve, knowing that that would
be the case, and, yeah, so, anyway, it is--got to run for family.
The constituents in District 11, Sonny, there are a couple of them that
don't revere me. Just go to my Facebook page from time to time and
you will see those folks showing up. But, you know, they have
elected me eight times.
When you vote for somebody for a job, you basically tell them, I trust
you. I trust you to go do that job, take that responsibility, honor
the trust that we have done, and that is what I have tried to do
for 16 years. And so the folks in District 11 have made this happen
over and over again, and I can't thank them enough for their
steadfast support throughout all of this.
No Member gets to do what I have been able to do, to have this honor,
get to this point by themselves. It simply doesn't happen. There
are hundreds and hundreds of people across District 11, many of
them, and everyone in this room today, that have had a piece of me
getting to this point. I would not be here without each and every
one of you that are there.
The folks on my personal staff, many of them in the room as well, I
have had the best staff you can imagine. The folks back home are
chiefly responsible for me getting 80 percent of the vote each time
because of the great constituent service work they have done. I
have been blessed with them across that spectrum.
My professional staff here has been topnotch. I have relatively low
turnover, and I have been blessed by that. Each and every one of
them contributed mightily across the entire spectrum.
Committee staff, I also chaired the Ethics Committee. It will surprise
you that we don't do this for the Ethics Committee. There is not a
big constituency for the House Ethics Committee, but I had staff
there. I am blessed to serve on the Intel Committee for a long time
and the staff there, and then my Ag Committee staff here, and the
farm bill that everybody has talked about so far.
We would not have gotten as good a farm bill as we got without the
stunningly good, hard work that my team put in. I can't name them
all because we would be here for a long, long time, but no one in
this room but the people who did it and the leadership of that team
know the number of hours they put in, the number of things that
they missed with their family, making sure that we are trying to
get that job done.
It spanned to Thanksgiving. I think most of them took Thanksgiving
lunch off. Several of them came back after Thanksgiving during the
day to come back up here to keep pushing on that to try to get to
that 369 votes that we got, a record in the House.
It would have been 371, but Vicky was home taking care of her mom that
passed away. And then one of our good colleagues was wandering
around the Senate, had just missed the vote, who later told me--one
of my Texas colleagues, who later told me that he would have voted
for it.
But 369, but we got a record in the House, John, as well as a record in
the Senate. That, again, did not happen by itself. A stunning
amount of work went into getting that there across that board. I
look around the room and I see the folks from the ag groups, the
professionals in the ag groups as well as the individual, you know,
real people from back home ag groups.
When I started this job in 2005, as a CPA, I had done a lot of folks'
tax returns. And, Collin, I did not tell anybody that I had never
prepared a schedule F. Schedule F is the form that farmers use to
file their tax return with, and so I knew so little about the
farming business that I had never done a schedule F for any of my
clients.
And so a tremendous amount of trust from those folks that I could get
10 years later to start the process of doing that, 4 years of
earning this portrait. But they trusted me to get it done, and then
they shepherded me every step of the way. They answered my terrible
questions. They helped me through the mistakes I was making. They
helped me understand the business to know that I could get to the
point where my colleagues would trust me to be able to chair this
committee.
You know, Kevin mentioned the things that I'd done. You know, Kevin has
been a terrific leader on the Republican side and is responsible
for a lot of the things I have been able to do throughout this
entire process.
But I look around and I see the eyes of everybody in here that has had
a good part--a big piece. I see former chiefs of staff. I see a
former chief of staff who is a Member. I see others who just have
made an invaluable contribution to what I got to do, to the
bragging that I have been able to--that you are doing for me today.
Back home, people tell me all the time, well, it is great that you did
X, Y, or Z on the constituent service work. My colleagues know that
we don't do that, but our team does it. It is great to be a Member
because you have got a great team back home that does good stuff
and then we get credit. So it is wonderful to be us.
But I really can't thank everybody enough, often enough and sincerely
enough for all the things that you have done on my behalf to get us
to this point. And thank each and every one of you for being here
today. I know it was a hassle, unusual hassle.
Some of you, though, this is the first time you have been back since
March or April and you are kind of excited to be back in the
buildings and that kind of stuff. I understand that. Pat Roberts is
here as well, as mentioned. But, thanks, everybody for everything
you have done. I would not be here today left to my own devices,
left to my own skills but for that.
And I also want to thank--you know, the Lord has--people ask me why I
did this job. There is a verse in Luke 12:48 that says ``to whom
much is given, much is required.'' God blessed me with a little bit
of talent and a great deal of terrific life experiences, but He has
also blessed me immeasurably with people in this room, friends all
over District 11 that you are here representing that have made our
lives so much richer than it would have otherwise been.
The friendships and the relationships we have built through the fights,
through the struggles, are invaluable, and I will take them with me
forever. I may leave these halls, but you all will never leave my
heart. And so I can't say it any more sincerely, thank you so very,
very much for this, this great honor. Thank you very much.
[Applause.]
Mr. Boozman. Thank you, Mike.
I think that concludes our program. We have got a bunch of brownies
back there. I have already got mine. I was afraid that you all
would get them all, so let's eat up and visit. And, again,
congratulations, Mike and Suzanne. This is a wonderful portrait.
[Whereupon, the ceremony was concluded.]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
115th Congress
K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas, Chairman
GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota,
Vice Chairman Ranking Minority Member
BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia, DAVID SCOTT, Georgia
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma JIM COSTA, California
STEVE KING, Iowa TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota
MIKE ROGERS, Alabama MARCIA L. FUDGE, Ohio
BOB GIBBS, Ohio JAMES P. McGOVERN, Massachusetts
AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia FILEMON VELA, Texas, Vice Ranking
ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD, Arkansas Minority Member
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, New Mexico
VICKY HARTZLER, Missouri ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire
JEFF DENHAM, California RICHARD M. NOLAN, Minnesota
DOUG LaMALFA, California CHERI BUSTOS, Illinois
RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York
TED S. YOHO, Florida STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands
RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina
MIKE BOST, Illinois DWIGHT EVANS, Pennsylvania
DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina AL LAWSON, Jr., Florida
RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana TOM O'HALLERAN, Arizona
TRENT KELLY, Mississippi JIMMY PANETTA, California
JAMES COMER, Kentucky DARREN SOTO, Florida
ROGER W. MARSHALL, Kansas LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, Delaware
DON BACON, Nebraska
JOHN J. FASO, New York
NEAL P. DUNN, Florida
JODEY C. ARRINGTON, Texas
______
Matthew S. Schertz, Staff Director
Anne Simmons, Minority Staff Director
[all]
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