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Since 1984, U.S. Rep. Howard Coble has represented Greensboro in Washington. The 6th District representative today will pass James Broyhill's record as North Carolina's longest-serving House Republican. A look back at some of Coble's Capitol Hill memories:

An exercise in futility

Ten years into Coble's tenure, then-Minority Whip Newt Gingrich's Contract with America promised to debate 10 reform bills in the next House session's first 100 days.

During a late worknight, a legislator proposed relaxing the time frame. Coble gamely mentioned the idea to Gingrich.

"I went over to him and I said, 'The natives are getting restless,'" Coble said. "He looked at me for a few seconds and he said, 'Get back to work.' It was an exercise in futility."

Hardest day at work

On Sept. 10, 2001, Coble met with members of the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce in his Washington office. One asked Coble to name the most important current issues.

Coble mentioned terrorism as a top concern.

"They looked at me as if to say, 'What have you been smoking?'" he said. "Course I had no idea the next morning we'd be attacked."

Coble was speaking the next day at the Supreme Court when the chief justice told him a plane had hit the Pentagon.

"I'll never forget how sobering that message was to me," Coble said.

I'll hold his coat

During Bill Clinton's 1998 House impeachment hearings, one witness said all votes to impeach were vengeance-driven.

"I said ... 'If anybody insists upon that fact, I'll meet him in the parking lot tonight,'" Coble said. "Immediately, the phone rings in the office upstairs ... The guy said, 'Yeah, I'll meet the son of a b---- in the parking lot.'"

Soon after, a Florida woman called, offering to hold Coble's coat during a fight.

Blowing smoke

Last November, Coble and other Republican leaders met at the White House, and President Bush said the GOP could regain in 2008 a majority in Congress and keep the White House.

"I turned to a friend of mine and said, 'What's the president been smoking this morning?'"

When the Southern Pines Pilot got wind of the story, readers weren't amused.

"We received a call from a woman in Pinehurst, and she was livid," he said. "She said, 'I demand a response in writing, so I can share it with my friends.'

"I said, 'Ma'am, I intended in no way to accuse the president of smoking illegal drugs.'"

A great place to visit

Twelve terms haven't made the Greensboro native a Washingtonian.

"I wouldn't live in this town," he jokes.