I have never forgotten my days as an Eagle Scout. I didn't know it at the time but what really came out of my Scouting was learning how to lead and serve the community. It has come in handy in my career in government.

The experience of learning how to get straight to the core of a problem proved to be of immense value later when I had a long succession of responsibilities in large complex government departments.

The Tea Party was born out of the disgust many Americans felt early in the financial crisis upon learning that the federal government was even contemplating reducing the principal on some troubled mortgages.

Organizations endure however in proportion to the breadth of the morality by which they are governed. Thus the endurance of organization depends upon the quality of leadership and that quality derives from the breadth of the morality upon which it rests.

What happened with Hurricane Katrina was the American electorate was forced to look at what lay behind the veneer of chest-beating. We all saw the consequences of having terrible government leadership.

I am honored that my freshman class colleagues have put their trust in me to represent our historic class at the leadership table. The incoming freshman class of Representatives is large and diverse but we share many common goals including cutting wasteful spending getting our economy back on track and making government smarter and more efficient.

I am not saying that during the Second World War Germany did not under the leadership of the National Socialist government commit crimes.

The public sector certainly includes the Department of Labor. Those are jobs that are available. They are open and they are good paying jobs. The government as a whole has been actually retrenching under President Clinton's leadership.

America somehow thinks that leadership relates to governance and it certainly does. But society is much bigger than governance and some of the truly great leadership of our society is outside the governance arena.

It is with obedience to your call that I take up the burden of government leadership for the final time.