Welcoming the Honorable Timothy M. Kennedy to the House of Representatives

Floor Speech

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Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Nadler, my colleagues in the New York delegation, Mr. Speaker, and Leader Jeffries.

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you humbled by the opportunity God has given us to be together in this moment, this awesome and magnificent responsibility that has been granted to me by the people of western New York.

I am grateful to those who have entrusted me with their vote and their confidence to represent our beloved Buffalo-Niagara region in the United States Congress.

I want to take a moment to recognize my family, who is here with me, my wife, Katie, and our children, Connor, Eireann, and Padraic. I also want to recognize my parents, Martin and Mary Kennedy, and my in-laws, Dave and Jane Duerk. My brother, John, also made the visit down, along with many other family members and friends. I am grateful that they can all join us here today.

Looking down on us are our baby angel, Brigid, along with so many other family members and friends who have passed on and whose spirits remain with us here today on this auspicious occasion. They are no doubt toasting and celebrating in Heaven above.

Calling Buffalo, New York, and America home were the O'Briens and O'Donohues, Wilsons and Flynns, Dobmeirs and Stearns, McCarthys and Duffys. Mixed all together, the result is a Kennedy.

I hail from the City of Good Neighbors, the community of good neighbors; the original home of the Seneca Nation of Indians; the village of Buffalo, burned to the ground by the British in the War of 1812, and rebuilt and incorporated in 1832; the western terminus of the Erie Canal, helping to transform our Nation through improved commerce; a border community with our greatest ally, Canada, to the north; a region surrounded by Great Lakes; and, in between, one of the greatest wonders of the world, Niagara Falls. The grandeur of the falls is only surpassed by the people who have defined the region around us.

Today, we stand as a community of patriotic citizens who have always championed democracy and freedom, from the days of serving as a final stop on the Underground Railroad to the Niagara Movement, the precursor of the NAACP, which was formed in our community. The equality and justice these leaders strove for over a century ago has yet to be fully achieved, and there is still so much more work to be done.

In Buffalo-Niagara, we walk in the footsteps of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mary Talbert, Shirley Chisholm, and so many other civil rights leaders. In their spirit, we march on.

It was Niagara Falls that made Buffalo the City of Light. While we have seen our share of darkness, Buffalo is seeing a resurgence that generations only dreamt of, as a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures are helping to redefine our region and an economic renaissance has taken hold. We are a working-class community with a belief in achieving a better life and the American Dream through education; honest, hard work; and perseverance.

I believe the character traits that define us in the Buffalo-Niagara region are the same ideals held by all Americans. I believe the hope we hold as a western New York community in achieving our greatest potential is shared equally by all communities across our country.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to change our country for the better. I am hopeful that we in this Chamber can demonstrate leadership on a world stage that our fellow Americans can be proud of.

I wish to thank, once again, the people of western New York for having faith in me to lead our community and our country in the United States Congress.

God bless us all. God bless America.

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