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Floor Speech

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Mr. TIMMONS. Good morning. I am William Timmons. I represent Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina. I got elected to the 116th Congress.

My campaign slogan when I ran for Congress was, ``Washington is broken.'' To be the freshman member on the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress was really a dream come true.

I got to work with Tom Graves, my mentor, and Derek Kilmer, and I saw them do something that doesn't really happen up here much: They worked together. They were respectful of each other, and they really made that a priority for the committee. All the Members got to know each other.

We had a meeting at the very beginning. We talked about why we ran for Congress, what we wanted to change about this place, and we got to know each other on a personal level. We acted in the manner that we thought that this place should work.

That leadership from Tom Graves and Derek Kilmer was inspirational for the committee, but it was rewarding for me professionally because we have worked hard to get things done, and we passed 202 recommendations.

I have done my best the last 2 years to fill Tom Graves' void on the committee. I always joke that I am the vice chair with no hair. He has the best hair of any Member I have seen, so I always make that joke.

I also thank the former Members. It is my understanding that we wouldn't have been able to do this without your efforts.

Obviously, inevitably, some of the recommendations we made would devolve some of the power from leadership into the Members. We always talk about regular order, and I could imagine that many Speakers would not be inclined to do that. But the efforts made by current Members and former Members to have this select committee was critical. Not only did we get a year, we then got another year, and then we got 2 more years.

We are not done, as the chairman said. We are going to continue working to implement the 202 recommendations we have made, and I am optimistic that we will have an even greater impact than we have already had.

I thank you all for your help to have the committee created to push our recommendations forward. I thank Tom Graves, my friend and mentor, for showing me how this place can work.

Most importantly, Chair Kilmer, it has been incredible to work with you. Thank you for all of your hard work.

Last but not last, we have Derek Harley here. He is one of the staff directors. Yuri Beckelman is now a chief to a new freshman, so he is not here, but we couldn't do it without him.

We were a team, and we got a lot done, and as the chairman said, we are not done yet. We are going to continue to push the ball forward.

Thank you for all of your help and for having us here today.

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