Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to be with friends and colleagues and am thankful for the support so many of them have shown me. I am looking forward to being back with everyone. I am especially grateful to doctors, scientists and health care professionals for their medicine, research and caring, which have allowed me to work every day for the community I love, through multiple surgeries, radiation and ongoing chemotherapy.
I know there are people on the Hill who have gone through cancer or are going through it now. My heart is with them. Cancer touches all of us, and it is hard. Sometimes the fight is week by week; sometimes it is hour by hour. It can be lonely despite having the best support system.
Those who are hurting should know they have one more person in their corner. I understand and support them and I walk beside them and their families as they climb every hill.