With the election of a new Speaker of the House looming this week, will John Boehner sign off on a high note? For the sake of the institution he has represented and the country he loves, I hope he does. If I was his speechwriter, this would be my first draft.
My fellow colleagues:
I come before you today not as a Republican or as Speaker of the House. No, I stand before you as a proud American. Never in my wildest imagination, did I ever think that very first day I walked into this chamber, I would one day become its 61st Speaker.
{mosads}Remember, back in 1991, I was a newly elected, Ronald Reagan-inspired representative from Butler County, Ohio. If you had told me then that I would end my legislative career as your leader, I probably would have laughed … or maybe even cried. All I wanted to do that first day on the job was do right by my constituents.
The House of Representatives is a special place. It is commonly referred to as the People’s House. But you and I know it is more than that. It is, at its core, the heart and soul of this nation. That’s because, every two years, you and I stand before our constituents and ask them to renew their faith in us as their collective voice in Washington. When I first arrived on Capitol Hill, that responsibility was as clear as a fall day in my beloved Buckeye State. Today, I can’t really make that same statement.
The murky waters of special interest politics have crept into every facet of our lives as lawmakers. Some in the media have gone so far as to say the House is ungovernable. As a proud member of this institution and its current Speaker, I disagree. You only have to look as far as to where my distinguished colleague from Wisconsin, Paul Ryan, is sitting today to know the House of Representatives is alive and well. Not only have we thoughtfully elected him to become the institution’s next Speaker, we have done so respectfully and peacefully.
This is what makes us, as Americans, different from every one else. Democracy, my friends, isn’t some quaint concept we read about in history books. It is the cornerstone of our way of life and, I might add, the envy of freedom-loving peoples everywhere.
If you remember nothing else from my remarks today, I hope it is this: You, and this institution, are the embodiment of what the Founding Father’s had in mind more than 200 years ago. With that thought in mind, you have a responsibility, no a duty, to uphold their principles daily. This is what I have reminded myself every time I have walked onto this floor since 1991, and it is what I told myself just a few moments ago.
My friends, it has been an honor to serve along side you and to represent you as Speaker. For the good of this institution and the nation we all love, my hope is you never forget your constituents back home or the unique privilege it is to serve them.
And so it is for me, today, the end of a chapter in my life; but, a new beginning for you. To that end, I say God bless you, God bless our new Speaker, and God bless America. Freidenrich served as a congressional staff assistant on Capitol Hill in 1972. He writes from Laguna Beach, California.