Well, thank you all very much. And thank you, John. It is an honor to receive this award, and it is especially gratifying to receive it from John Breaux, who is somebody I have respected for so long. And part of it is because I think John’s style kind of appeals to my farm-boy sensibilities because I learned a long time ago that there are a lot of different ways to fix a tractor that is broken. But unless you make a decision on how to fix it, you are not going to get anything done. And I look at John as being one of the chief mechanics in Congress who has just done so much to get so many things done, and we should honor him because we are going to miss him.
I’m also pleased to be here tonight to ride on the coattails of George Koch, who is my good friend and somebody over the last fourteen years I have just learned to respect so much. He is such a gentleman, he is such a person of principle, and he clearly embodies the values and the ideals of Bryce Harlow, and it is an honor to be with you. And it’s an honor also to be receiving the award with Senator Don Nickles, obviously a terrific statesman. The one thing I respect about Don is we don’t agree maybe on every issue, but he has exhibited, I think, almost a rare quality that is not often found in Congress, over his twenty-four years of public service — his intellectual consistency — and we all should respect that quality.
You know I clearly had an advantage over George and Don in receiving this award because I had an advocate on the inside, and many of you had the chance to hear her tonight, but I’ve almost convinced myself that I received this award not because of Linda’s service as the Executive Director of the Bryce Harlow Foundation, but I am absolutely confident that I am receiving this award because I am positioned so, because of all the terrific support that Linda has provided for me over the last twenty-five years. And in fact, next week, we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.
I was born and raised working on a farm prior to running for Congress. And I had a lot of people ask me, “Why did you decide to run?” And I tell them that if you have ever been on a D7 Caterpillar tractor in the Central Valley of California in the middle of August when it is 105 and dusty, you know that there is something better in life. And I tell you that over the past fifteen years in Congress, I have seldom wanted to go back to sit on that tractor, but there have been occasions… And one of those occasions was the time when the Democratic Caucus actually spent a considerable amount of time chastising me for having the audacity to shake the hand of Bill Thomas after we had won a trade vote by one vote.
I actually had a defense. I said, I always stick my hand out when I see Bill Thomas approaching me because I don’t know if he is going to want to shake it or if I’m going to need it there for self-defense. Not to be disrespectful to Bill; He’s a great friend and we share neighboring districts. And he has provided a tremendous contribution to Congress, and I really respect the work he’s done.
I’ve had the opportunity of being raised on a farm, and I grew up around a lot of Republicans. I don’t know how many of you know this, but most of the farmers in California, including my family, tend to be Republicans, including my family, and you know, I got used to it. Not that I liked it. But in my first race for Congress I had particularly tough time trying to convince this one uncle to vote for me, who was a Republican. And after repeated attempts to convince him he said to me, “Cal, I’ve only voted for one Democrat in my life, and that was when I was on a jury and I voted to hang him.”
Now, there are some of you out there who think that is a fate too good for some of us. I obviously entered Congress with an objective of trying to minimize the number of people who wanted to hang us, including my uncle. I am pleased with my work with Senator Breaux, Congresswoman Tauscher, Congressman Moran, and Congressman Smith and Kind and Pomeroy and others that have attended here. We really tried to work and establish in the New Democrat Network, to really demonstrate that Democrats could provide leadership that could allow the United States’ economy to maximize its economic opportunities domestically as well as internationally. And at the same time, maintaining our true commitment to empowering the maximum number of our citizens to be full participants in this new economy. We are convinced that our agenda allows Democrats not only to respond to our base, but also to expand it.
I had the opportunity to read the book, Bryce Harlow: Mr. Integrity. I didn’t have the benefit that George Koch did of working and knowing Bryce, but it was an interesting opportunity for me to really get a better understanding. I was really pleased to read a passage where he was engaged in efforts that I kind of think in some ways similarly would unite the Republican Party, as some of us try to do, with the Democratic Party. During President Ford’s administration, when he was faced with selecting a new vice president, Ford turned to Harlow for counsel. And it was Harlow, at the time, that recommended Ford select Nelson Rockefeller as his vice president, and he did so, and I quote Harlow’s comments, “It would encourage estranged groups to return to the party and would signal that a new president will not be captive of any political faction.”
I like that part of not being captive to any political faction because I can relate to it, obviously. And I like to think that some of the work we’ve done, and the New Democrat Network, has been really focused on that effort. And I don’t know, Senator Breaux, as we are leaving here, we might want to think about expanding the definition of new Democrats beyond centrist, pro-growth, pro-trade, but also Democratic liberators? Some of us who are part of the DLC can now see Al From assuming the role as Chief Liberator of the Democratic Party.
The greatest thing about my role with the new Democrat Coalition is that it allowed me to get involved in a broad and diverse set of issues. And it’s not that I wasn’t enthralled with the issues that were in the jurisdiction of agriculture. But with John Boehner and I being the bipartisan coalition of two on the Agriculture Committee, arguing for reform of our farm policy against the other fifty members of the Committee, I was looking for new fields to plow. So I conveniently discarded and ignored the memo from the leadership that was talking about deferring to the senior members of various committees and respecting their jurisdiction, and sought to become constructively engaged in a variety of issues, including trade, technology, court reform, financial services, and health care. We adopted a motto in our office, “Strive to be relevant.” Fortunately over my fourteen years 14 years in Congress, I’ve had the opportunity to be relevant and make a difference.
But I was only able to do so, in large part, because I had some of the most competent people on the Hill working on my staff. And I won’t name them all, but two of them joined me in my first month in Congress. And many of you know and have worked with Lisa Quigley, who is my Chief of Staff and is my great friend. And many of you also have known and worked and have grown to admire and worship, as I do, Lori Denham, my legislative director who is here tonight. Lori has a distinction of also being a Bryce Harlow fellow, so it is an investment that I can well attest that paid off. I also have another former staff member who has a Harlow connection, and Michele Bright has joined Bryce’s son Larry Harlow’s firm, and is doing great work there.
But I was only able to get involved in so many challenging issues, in large part because of the partnership I have established with so many of you in the room. I have consistently told my constituents that my work on their behalf was enhanced by the contributions of lobbyists. I didn’t have the staff and the resources to gain the information I needed to make the best decisions on every issue. And the wonderful thing about people who are involved in advocacy is that we have people on every side of every issue that are there to provide information to me and my colleagues on the complexity of a policy. It is the gathering of that information that allows us, in its totality, to make the best-informed decision that is going to be in the best interest of our country as well as our constituency.
Charles Darwin said, “It is not the most intelligent species that survive, but the ones most responsive to change.” Darwin’s statement is true not only for species, but also for businesses and politicians, and defines a principle, which we should all embrace. We are in an era of incredible change. It is clear that the dominant economic model we face is globalization, which is driven by the forces of speed. Whether it be the speed of communication, the speed of innovation, or the speed of commerce, we must accept that our national borders are becoming increasingly porous to the flows of information, the flows of capital, and the flows of commerce. We must understand that we no longer have the luxury of instituting domestic policies that are immune or inconsistent with these global forces. We are all challenged, those of us in elected office as well as those of you who have been hired by a constituency to provide leadership that is focused on embracing the opportunities of the future and not responding to the challenges of the past.
Most often, when those of us in Congress and those of you who are lobbyists become agents of the ‘status quo’ or of the policies of the past, we are doing a disservice to the broader interest of our country. You cannot isolate our citizens or our economy from global competition or its challenges without denying our citizens access to the opportunities the world provides. And clearly, denying our citizens access to global opportunities will lead to the stagnation of our economy and the steady erosion of the quality of life that we take for granted.
I’ve had many great opportunities as a member of Congress. I will close with one that was most memorable. I think the best remaining perk in Congress is our gym that we have in the Rayburn building. I try to use it regularly. But in my first term in office, I was heading down to the gym, when I knew something was up because there were two imposing Secret Service officers who were standing at the door. And I obviously knew they weren’t concerned about my welfare, or the welfare of my colleagues. And sure enough, when I went in, there was President Bush — Bush 41 — who was playing paddleball with his good friend, Sonny Montgomery. I have to tell you, I took great pleasure in watching the President play paddleball, and he was a great player, and he was also in great shape. But I did my workout and I finished it up, and I showered. As I stepped out of the shower, I turned around and here I was standing buck-naked with the President of the United States. And I thought, boy, you’ve come along way from spending most of your time driving tractor to standing naked with the President. And I will tell you, that all in all, he is pretty much a regular kind of guy. No disrespect, Doro, whatsoever here….
In closing, I just want to thank my constituents as well as many of you for having the opportunity to have served in Congress. It’s been the most memorable and rewarding experience. I thank you for this honor, I thank you for your support in the past, and I thank many of you who are truly my friends. Thank you.