[Senate Document 114-23]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]









 
              TRIBUTES TO HON. HARRY REID





                                        
                     Harry Reid

             U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA

                      TRIBUTES

                 IN THE CONGRESS OF

                 THE UNITED STATES




[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                           
           




                                          S. Doc. 114-23



                    Tributes

            Delivered in Congress

                   Harry Reid

         United States Congressman

                   1983-1987

           United States Senator

                   1987-2017





[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]



   
   
   
   
   
          U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                 
                 WASHINGTON : 2017
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
   
   


        Compiled under the direction

                  of the

        Joint Committee on Printing
                             
                             
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                             
                             
                             
                                      CONTENTS
             Biography.............................................
                                                                      v
             Farewell Address......................................
                                                                     ix
             Proceedings in the Senate:
                Tributes by Senators:
                    Boozman, John, of Arkansas.....................
                                                                     41
                    Boxer, Barbara, of California 
                     ...............................................
                     ....
                                                               3, 6, 20
                    Cardin, Benjamin L., of Maryland...............
                                                                     25
                    Casey, Robert P., Jr., of Pennsylvania.........
                                                                      4
                    Collins, Susan M., of Maine....................
                                                                     30
                    Durbin, Richard J., of Illinois................
                                                                     14
                    Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming...................
                                                                     29
                    Feinstein, Dianne, of California...............
                                                                      6
                    Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah.......................
                                                                     36
                    Heller, Dean, of Nevada........................
                                                                     10
                    Hirono, Mazie K., of Hawaii....................
                                                                     31
                    Klobuchar, Amy, of Minnesota...................
                                                                     34
                    Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont..................
                                                                     24
                    McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky..................
                                                                  7, 36
                    Nelson, Bill, of Florida.......................
                                                                     31
                    Peters, Gary C., of Michigan...................
                                                                     39
                    Portman, Rob, of Ohio..........................
                                                                     41
                    Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island....................
                                                                     23
                    Reid, Harry, of Nevada.........................
                                                                      9
                    Stabenow, Debbie, of Michigan..................
                                                                     38
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                      BIOGRAPHY

               To understand Senator Harry Reid, you must look to the 
             small mining town of Searchlight, NV.
               There in the desert, more than an hour away from the 
             bright lights of Las Vegas is where he was born and 
             raised.
               Searchlight is where Harry Reid watched his father work 
             as a hard rock miner. It's where he attended a school with 
             one teacher for eight grades. It's where he learned Nevada 
             values like hard work, opportunity, and independence.
               Harry Reid was the Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate, 
             someone that earned the respect of colleagues from both 
             parties, and a powerful advocate for Nevada families. 
             Every day Senator Reid put his leadership position to work 
             to deliver meaningful results for all Nevadans.
               He was guided by the lessons and values he learned in 
             Searchlight.
               The Las Vegas Sun newspaper summarized Senator Reid's 
             story by saying that he ``has gone from underdog to 
             Senate's top dog.''
               Parade Magazine, the Nation's largest weekly magazine, 
             identified Senator Reid as one of a handful of leaders in 
             Washington with ``integrity and guts.''
               Since Nevadans first elected him to the Senate in 1986, 
             Harry Reid developed a reputation as a consensus builder 
             and a skillful legislator. His Republican colleagues have 
             praised his reasoned, balanced approach.
               Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican from Utah, has said, 
             ``We all respect Senator Reid. He is one of the moderate 
             voices around here who tries to get things to work.''
               Former Republican Senate Leader Trent Lott said, ``Harry 
             Reid is out there finding a solution. I enjoy working with 
             him very much.''
               Senator Reid worked with both parties, including all 
             members of the Nevada congressional delegation, to address 
             the issues important to the State.
               After Nevadans reelected Senator Reid to a third Senate 
             term in 1998, he was chosen by his colleagues to serve as 
             the assistant Democratic leader, also known as the 
             ``whip.'' After he won a fourth term in 2004 by a wide 
             margin, he was unanimously elected Senate Democratic 
             leader, a position he held until his retirement. In 2010, 
             he was reelected as Nevada's senior U.S. Senator.
               Harry Reid wasn't afraid to speak his mind--but he 
             wasn't afraid to listen, either. Like the desert country 
             that helped shape him, he didn't cry out for attention. 
             He's soft spoken--but when he talked, people listened.
               He earned the trust of both Democrats and Republicans, 
             and his reputation for integrity and fairness gave the 
             small State of Nevada a powerful voice in Congress.
               Since he came to the Senate in 1986, Harry Reid fought 
             tirelessly to make Nevada an even better place to live by 
             promoting economic development, investing in 
             infrastructure, working to address the foreclosure crisis, 
             investing in clean energy development, fighting the 
             proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump, delivering 
             quality affordable health care, protecting Social 
             Security, and ensuring the readiness of our military. As a 
             result of surges in the State's population over the last 
             decade, Senator Reid used his leadership position to meet 
             Nevada's unique needs.
               As the Democratic leader, Senator Reid worked on 
             building a clean energy future that would help provide 
             Nevadans with safe, reliable, and affordable supplies of 
             clean energy, and he championed efforts to make Nevada the 
             Nation's leader in clean energy. He supported investments 
             in renewable energy, transmission lines, and energy 
             efficiency that create jobs and reduce energy costs for 
             Nevada families. Since 2000, he secured over $100 million 
             for Nevada-based projects to research and advance our 
             Nation's renewable energy and energy efficiency 
             capabilities, and he also helped to pioneer renewable 
             energy development on public lands in Nevada. Since 2008, 
             Senator Reid cosponsored the National Clean Energy Summit 
             in Las Vegas, NV. These summits brought business leaders, 
             elected officials, and experts in energy development and 
             technology together to develop policy recommendations that 
             guide Federal and local government in developing clean 
             renewable energy and growing a greener, more sustainable 
             economy.
               Senator Reid also secured hundreds of millions of 
             dollars to make Nevada safer. These funds helped put more 
             police on the street, and ensured that Nevada's military 
             bases throughout the State have the vital funding they 
             need. In 2005, Senator Reid worked with the Base 
             Realignment and Closure Committee (BRAC) and fought to 
             successfully prevent the removal of the Nevada Air 
             National Guard C-130 aircraft and the closure of the 
             Hawthorne Army Depot. He also worked tirelessly to ensure 
             the Southern Nevada Veterans Administration Medical 
             Complex became a reality. He secured over $600 million for 
             the project and because of Senator Reid's work, the 
             700,000 square-foot center opened in 2012 for Nevada's 
             veterans.
               As an avid sportsman, Senator Reid has long been a 
             champion of Nevada's outdoors. In 1986, he authored and 
             passed legislation establishing Nevada's first national 
             park, Great Basin National Park, He led the fight to 
             protect and restore Lake Tahoe, and in 1997 he invited 
             President Clinton and Vice President Gore to join him at 
             Lake Tahoe and secured a Federal commitment to restore and 
             protect the lake. From this, the annual Lake Tahoe Summit 
             was created, which brings leaders of all political stripes 
             together with the common goal of preserving Lake Tahoe's 
             clarity.
               While some were taking away funding from Nevada schools, 
             Senator Reid used his leadership position to deliver more 
             Federal funding to invest in Nevada students, reduce class 
             sizes, and lower the dropout rate. He also helped make 
             college more affordable by increasing grant aid and making 
             student loan payments more manageable. He secured hundreds 
             of millions of dollars for Nevada's colleges and 
             universities for research in energy, medical, and science 
             industries.
               Born in the small rural mining town of Searchlight, 
             Harry Reid grew up in a small cabin without indoor 
             plumbing, and attended a two-room elementary school. As a 
             small boy he would accompany his father, Harry Reid, Sr., 
             for long days deep underground in the mines. His father 
             was a hard rock miner with an eighth grade education and 
             his mother never completed high school; yet, the youngest 
             of Harry and Inez Reid's four sons would go on to achieve 
             the American dream.
               Searchlight had no high school, so after eighth grade, 
             Harry began attending Basic High School in Henderson, 
             where he boarded with local families during the school 
             week.
               It was at Basic High that he met Landra Gould, who 
             became his high school sweetheart. In 1959, 2 years after 
             they had graduated from Basic, Harry and Landra were 
             married. In 1961, their first child and only daughter, 
             Lana, was born. Son Rory was born in 1962, and three more 
             brothers--Leif, Josh, and Key--followed.
               Basic High was also where Harry Reid met a teacher named 
             Mike O'Callaghan who would play many roles in his life: 
             teacher, boxing coach, political mentor, trusted advisor, 
             and best friend.
               After high school, some businessmen in Henderson helped 
             him go on to college, an act of generosity that Harry Reid 
             would work hard to repay in the years that followed. He 
             graduated from Utah State University in 1961 and went on 
             to get a law degree from George Washington University. 
             During these years as a law student, he supported his 
             young family by working nights as a U.S. Capitol Police 
             Officer.
               After completing law school, the Reids headed back to 
             Henderson where Harry served as the city attorney, 
             revising the city charter and working on extending 
             Henderson's boundaries by acquiring Federal land. His 
             outstanding record helped him win an election to the 
             Nevada State Assembly in 1968, at age 28.
               In Carson City, as a young assemblyman, he introduced 
             the first air pollution legislation in Nevada's history 
             and also worked on laws to protect consumers. In 1970, at 
             the age of 30, Harry Reid became the youngest Lieutenant 
             Governor in Nevada history, winning election as Governor 
             Mike O'Callaghan's running mate.
               In 1977, he was appointed chairman of the Nevada Gaming 
             Commission, where for 5 years, he made headlines with his 
             legendary and unrelenting fight to clean up Nevada's 
             gaming industry.
               Harry Reid returned to his private law practice for a 
             few years, and, in 1982, won the first of two terms in the 
             U.S. House of Representatives. In the House, he championed 
             issues important to Nevada families, introducing the 
             Taxpayers' Bill of Rights as well as legislation to 
             protect Nevada's wilderness.
               He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, and reelected 
             in 1992, 1998, 2004, and 2010. He served as the chairman 
             or senior Democratic member on several important 
             committees and subcommittees, and was the Senate 
             Democratic leader.
               Harry Reid was a tireless worker, and it wasn't unusual 
             for him to be the first Senator to arrive at the Capitol 
             in the morning and the last to go home at night.
               Despite the demands of his career in government, Harry 
             Reid's family has always been his first priority. The 
             bonds forged in the tight-knit family have only grown 
             stronger as the Reid children have grown up, embarked on 
             their own careers, and started their own families.
               Senator Reid and Landra are the proud grandparents of 19 
             grandchildren.
                               Farewell to the Senate
                             Thursday, December 8, 2016

               Mr. REID. Mr. President, the history of Searchlight 
             starts this way, the first paragraph of that book:

               Searchlight is like many Nevada towns and cities: it 
             would never have come to be had gold not been discovered. 
             Situated on rocky, windy, and arid terrain without artisan 
             wells or surface water of any kind, the place we call 
             Searchlight was not a gathering spot for Indian or animal.

               Searchlight. It is a long way from Searchlight in the 
             U.S. Senate.
               I grew up during World War II in Searchlight. As Senator 
             McConnell mentioned, my dad was a miner, a hard rock 
             miner, an underground miner, but work wasn't very good in 
             Searchlight. The mines during World War II were especially 
             gone--all over America but especially in Nevada. There 
             were a few things that went on after the war, promotions. 
             He would work, and sometimes they would pay him, sometimes 
             there were bad checks that would bounce. Sometimes they 
             wouldn't pay him, they would just leave.
               My mom worked really hard. We had this old Maytag 
             washer. There were lines outside. She worked really hard.
               Searchlight had about 250 people then. It had seen its 
             better days. Searchlight was discovered in 1898 when gold 
             was discovered, and for 15 or 18 years, it was a booming 
             town. It was one of the most modern cities in all of 
             Nevada. It had electricity--turn of the century 
             electricity. It had a telegraph. It had telephones. It had 
             a fire station, firetrucks. It had roads with signs on 
             them designating the name of the street. It had a 
             railroad. When I grew up, that was all gone. Searchlight, 
             as I said, had 250 people.
               So people may ask: How did my mother work so hard in a 
             town with 250 people? We had at that time no mines, but 13 
             brothels at one time in Searchlight--13, not over time but 
             at one time. The biggest was the El Rey Club. So that 
             tells everyone what wash my mom did, from the casinos and 
             from the brothels. She worked really hard. She ironed. She 
             washed.
               As I look back on my growing up in Searchlight, I never 
             felt, during the time I was a boy, that I was deprived of 
             anything. I never went hungry. Sometimes we didn't have, I 
             guess, what my mom wanted, but we were fine.
               As I look back, it wasn't that good, I guess. We had no 
             inside toilet. We had a toilet outside. You had to walk 
             about 50 yards to that because my dad didn't want it close 
             to the house, and we had a good time, even with that. My 
             poor mother, what a wonderful woman she was. Sometimes, my 
             younger brother and I sometimes, just to be funny, when my 
             mother would go to the toilet, which had tin walls--it was 
             made out of tin--and we would throw rocks at that. ``Let 
             me out,'' she would say. It doesn't sound like much fun, 
             but it was fun at the time.
               When I started elementary school, there was one teacher 
             for grades one through four and then another teacher for 
             grades five through eight, but when I got to the fifth 
             grade, there were not enough students for two teachers so 
             one teacher taught all eight grades. I learned at that 
             time in that little school that you can really learn. I 
             have never ever forgotten a woman by the name of Mrs. 
             Pickard. I can still see her with those glasses, just a 
             stereotype spinster teacher--but she was a teacher. She 
             taught me that education was good, to learn is good. When 
             I graduated, we had a large graduating class: six kids. 
             The Presiding Officer from Nevada [Mr. Heller] should feel 
             good about me. I graduated in the top third of my class.
               My parents did the best they could. My dad never 
             graduated from eighth grade. My mom didn't graduate from 
             high school. In Searchlight--this is probably no surprise 
             to anyone--there was never ever a church service in 
             Searchlight that I can ever remember. There was no church, 
             no preachers, no nothing regarding religion. That is how I 
             was raised.
               My brother and I were born in our house. There was no 
             hospital. It had long since gone. I didn't go to a dentist 
             until I was 14 years old, but I was fortunate. I was born 
             with nice teeth, especially on the top. The bottoms aren't 
             so good, but rarely have I had a cavity of any kind. I 
             have just been fortunate in that regard.
               We didn't go to doctors. It was a rare occasion. There 
             was no one to go to. I can remember my father having such 
             a bad toothache, I watched him pull a tooth with a pair of 
             pliers.
               My mother was hit in the face with a softball when she 
             was a young woman in Searchlight and it ruined her teeth. 
             As I was growing up, I saw her teeth disappear--a few, a 
             few less, and finally no teeth. My mom had no teeth.
               My brother was riding his bicycle, slid on the dirt, 
             broke his leg, never went to the doctor. I can remember it 
             as if it were 10 minutes ago, my brother Larry in bed. We 
             couldn't touch the bed, it hurt him so much, but it 
             healed. The bottom part of one leg is bent, but it healed.
               I can remember once a TB wagon came through Searchlight, 
             the only time I remember. People had tuberculosis, or TB. 
             I can remember Con Hudgens had TB. I don't remember who 
             else. We had miners who were there who had silicosis, some 
             of them, my dad included. My mom had one of those tests. 
             She went into the big truck and had her chest x rayed--I 
             guess that is what they did. A few weeks later, she got a 
             postcard that said her test was positive and she should go 
             see a doctor. She never went to see a doctor. I worried 
             about that so much. I can't imagine how my mother must 
             have felt, but obviously it was a false positive. Think 
             about that, never going to the doctor when you are told 
             you have tuberculosis.
               As I learned more about my dad, I know how important 
             health care would have been for him, to be able to see 
             somebody to try to explain more to my dad so he could 
             understand himself a little better.
               I am sure I haven't done all the good in life I could 
             do, but I am here to tell everyone that there is one thing 
             I did in my life that I am so proud of, and I will always 
             be. I hope I am not boasting; if I am, I am sorry. I 
             worked long hours at a service station. As Mitch 
             indicated, there was no high school in Searchlight so I 
             went to school in Henderson, NV. I worked in a Standard 
             station. I worked really hard, long hours. I took all the 
             hours they would give me. I saved up enough money--I had 
             $250--I was going to buy my mother some teeth. I went to a 
             man--he was a big shot. They named a school after him, and 
             he was on the school board in Las Vegas. He married this 
             beautiful woman from Searchlight. I went to him. I had 
             never met him before, but Dr. Smith knows who I am. His 
             name was J.D. Smith.
               I said, ``I want to buy my mother some teeth.''
               He said, ``I don't do credit here.''
               He insulted me. So I went to Dr. Marshall in Henderson 
             and bought my mom some teeth. It changed my mother's life. 
             My mother had teeth.
               My parents lived in Searchlight until they both died. 
             There are a number of people who know, at least my staff 
             knows, that my dad killed himself. I can remember that day 
             so plainly. I had been out and spent 2 hours with Muhammad 
             Ali, he and I, one of his handlers and one of my staff. It 
             was so--for me, as someone who has always wanted to be an 
             athlete, an athlete want-to-be, that was great. Some of 
             you know I fought, but he was in a different world than I, 
             but he was nice. He was generous with his time and he was 
             so much fun. He said, ``Pay no attention to me. I am 
             fighting some White guy and I am going to cause some 
             trouble out here.'' He kicked the walls and yelled and 
             screamed, and I was happy.
               I walked to my car, got to my office, and my 
             receptionist, Joanie, said to me, ``Mr. Reid, your mom is 
             on the phone.'' I talked to my mother all the time--many 
             times a week. She said, ``Your pop shot himself.'' So she 
             lived in Searchlight. It took me an hour, an hour and a 
             half to get out there. I can still remember seeing my dad 
             on that bed. I was so sad because my dad never had a 
             chance. He was depressed always. He was reclusive. I did 
             things; he never came to anything that I did. I never felt 
             bad that he didn't because I knew my dad. My mom came to 
             everything she could. But I felt bad about that. I will 
             talk some more about suicide in a little bit, but I think 
             everyone can understand a little bit of why I have been 
             such an avid supporter of Obamacare, health care.
               I was ashamed, embarrassed about Searchlight. When I 
             went to college, when I was in high school, law school, I 
             just didn't want to talk about Searchlight. I was kind of 
             embarrassed about it. It was kind of a crummy place. I 
             didn't show people pictures of my home.
               Many years later, I was a young man, and I was in 
             government. Alex Haley, a famous writer who wrote the book 
             ``Roots,'' was a speaker at the University of Nevada 
             foundation dinner in Reno. He gave a speech that was 
             stunning. It was so good. Basically, what he said to 
             everyone there--he directed his remarks to me, I thought, 
             and of course he didn't, but he said, ``Be proud of who 
             you are. You can't escape who you are.''
               I walked out of that event that night a different 
             person, a new man. From that day forward, I was from 
             Searchlight. When I got out of law school, I bought little 
             pieces of property so I had contacts there. My parents 
             lived there, and I went there all the time, but I became 
             Harry Reid, the guy from Searchlight.
               So one thing people ask me all the time--they say, ``You 
             have done OK. Tell me what you think are the important 
             aspects''--especially young people ask all the time--and 
             ``young'' is a relative term--``what would you recommend? 
             What do you think is the way to success?'' I tell them all 
             the same thing. I didn't make it in life because of my 
             athletic prowess. I didn't make it because of my good 
             looks. I didn't make it because I am a genius. I made it 
             because I worked hard. I tell everyone, whatever you want 
             to try to do, make sure you work as hard as you can to try 
             to do what you want to do. I believe that is a lesson for 
             everyone.
               The little boy from Searchlight has been able to be part 
             of the changing State of Nevada. I am grateful I have been 
             part of that change.
               When I graduated from law school, the population of 
             Nevada was less than 300,000 people. The State of Nevada 
             has now 3 million people. We grew from one Member of 
             Congress in 1864-1882. One was all we had. Now we have 
             four. During my 34 years in Congress, I have seen the 
             country change. I have seen Nevada change. The change for 
             the country and Nevada has been for the better.
               Now I am going to spend a little bit of time talking 
             about some of the things I have been able to do as a 
             Member of the U.S. Senate. I know it is long and I know it 
             is somewhat tedious, but I have been here a long time, so 
             please be patient.
                                   My Legislation
               Reducing tax burdens. I am sorry he is not here--David 
             Pryor from Arkansas. I don't want to hurt the feelings of 
             any of my very capable friends, but the best legislator I 
             have ever served with in State government, Federal 
             Government, was David Pryor. He was good. He was not a big 
             speaker, but he was good at getting things done.
               The first speech I gave as a Member of the Senate was 
             way back there where Cory Booker is right now. I gave a 
             speech. I tried to do it in the House; it was called the 
             Taxpayers' Bill of Rights. I couldn't get Jake Pickle, the 
             chair of that subcommittee on Ways and Means, to even talk 
             to me in the House. But I came over here and gave that 
             speech, and David Pryor was presiding. He was subcommittee 
             chair of the committee dealing with that in finance. Chuck 
             Grassley was also listening to my speech. David Pryor sent 
             me a note when I finished and said, ``I want to help you 
             with this.'' Chuck Grassley did the same thing. So my 
             first speech led to the passage of the Taxpayers' Bill of 
             Rights, with the help of David Pryor and Chuck Grassley. 
             It was landmark legislation. It put the taxpayer on more 
             equal footing with the tax collector. Everybody liked it 
             so much, we have done two more iterations of it since then 
             to make it even stronger.
               Source tax. I am sure it is just a boring thing to 
             everybody, but it wasn't boring to people who came from 
             California and tried to retire someplace else. The State 
             of California was merciless in going after people. They 
             had the law on their side, they thought. If you had worked 
             in California, it didn't matter where you went, they would 
             go after you--for your pension, is what it amounted to. I 
             tried for 15 years to get that changed, and I got it 
             changed. No longer can California--with all due respect to 
             Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer--do that. They can't do 
             that anymore. If you retire in California and move 
             someplace else, they can't tax that money.
               Mortgage tax relief. We all participated in that. I 
             initiated it when the collapse of Wall Street took place. 
             That was a big help.
               Tax incentives for solar and geothermal--very important. 
             I will talk a little bit more about that.
               Payment in lieu of taxes. All my Western Senators will 
             appreciate that. It was just 4 or 5 years ago that we were 
             able to fully fund PILT, payment in lieu of taxes. I 
             worked very hard with Max Baucus and Ron Wyden, and we did 
             things to take care of some issues they had. That is the 
             first time it had ever been fully funded.
               Cancellation of indebtedness. Those are buzzwords for 
             people who understand taxes a little better. But what 
             happened is people--everything collapsed. They would try 
             to get out of the debt they had. They couldn't because the 
             IRS would tax them at the value of it when they bought it. 
             It was unfair, and we got that changed. That was in the 
             stimulus bill. We got that changed.
               Let's talk about the economy a little bit. I know some 
             of my Democratic colleagues will say, ``Why did you do 
             that?'' Here is what I did. I worked with Republican 
             Senator Don Nickles from Oklahoma. There was a Republican 
             President. Don and I talked about this. We knew the 
             administration would change and it would affect every 
             President, Democratic and Republican. It was called the 
             Congressional Review Act. What that said is the President 
             promulgates a regulation and Congress has a chance to look 
             it over to see if it is too burdensome, too costly, too 
             unfair. We have done that quite a few times. That was 
             because of Harry Reid and Don Nickles. That was 
             legislation that I did, and it was great when we had 
             Republican Presidents, not so great when we had Democratic 
             Presidents, but it was fair.
               One person who has been so important to the State of 
             Nevada is a man by the name of Kirk Kerkorian, an 
             uneducated man. He flew over the North Atlantic during 
             World War II for England at great personal sacrifice to 
             himself. As I said, he had no education, but he became one 
             of America's legendary entrepreneurs.
               Many years ago, as a young new lawyer, I met him, and 
             for many years I helped him and especially his brother 
             with their legal issues. He is the man who helped create 
             Las Vegas the way it is. He did something unique. He 
             decided he was going to build something on the Las Vegas 
             Strip called CityCenter. When you go to Nevada, look at 
             that sometime. You could be in the middle of New York 
             City--you would think you were there, basically. This is a 
             magnificent operation. Well, it started before the 
             recession. They were desperate to get it finished. More 
             than 10,000 people worked on that project. I would drive 
             by there and count the cranes--25, 30 cranes at one time 
             there at work. Well, I interceded in that. I did some 
             things that probably a lot of people wouldn't do, but I 
             did it because I thought it was very important that the 
             operation didn't shut down. Kerkorian had already put 
             billions of dollars of his own money in it, and they had 
             an investor from one of the Middle Eastern countries. I 
             did a lot of things, I say, that a lot of you probably 
             wouldn't do, but I did it and I saved that project. I 
             won't go into detail, but I called people whom I doubt any 
             of you would call. I called bank presidents, and I called 
             leaders of countries. Anyway, it is completed now. I take 
             some credit for that.
               The stimulus, the American Recovery and Reinvestment 
             Act. We got that done. Yesterday, the Presiding Officer 
             was the senior Senator from Maine [Ms. Collins]. Oh, she 
             was so helpful. I will probably get her in trouble by 
             boasting about her here today, but she and her colleague 
             from Maine, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter--we only had 
             58 votes as Democrats, and they were the difference. We 
             were able to get that passed only because of them, and it 
             was so good for our country.
               President Obama--the first 2 months after having been 
             elected, the country lost 800,000 jobs. Can you imagine 
             that? One month. But because of the stimulus bill, we were 
             able to reverse that. We did a lot of wonderfully good 
             things in that that were important for the country.
               The Travel Promotion Act. Amy Klobuchar is here; she 
             worked so hard helping get that done. It promoted travel 
             to get foreigners to come here, come to America, and it 
             worked out so well. Seven different clotures I had to file 
             on that to get it done, but we got it done finally, and it 
             has been remarkably good for America. Other countries--you 
             will see them on television--are always advertising: Come 
             visit Australia. Come visit the Bahamas. Come visit 
             England. Come visit everyplace. But now there is 
             advertising around the world: Come visit America. Now, 
             everyone knows that Las Vegas gets more than its share, 
             probably, of visitors, but it was good for Nevada and it 
             was also good for the country.
               Nevada Test Site workers. We were the cold war veterans 
             in Nevada. That was a big project. We had 11,000, 12,000 
             workers there at one time. An aboveground test--I could 
             remember seeing them. We were a long ways away in 
             Searchlight, but you could see that flash. You wouldn't 
             always feel it. Sometimes it would bounce over 
             Searchlight. But it was a very big deal. We didn't know it 
             was making people sick, but they were good enough to make 
             sure the tests didn't go off when the wind was blowing 
             toward Las Vegas. It blew up toward Utah, and Utah 
             suffered terribly because those were aboveground tests. So 
             we worked to make sure the test site workers were a part 
             of it because they were the reason we were winning the 
             cold war, because what they did was dangerous. We passed 
             that. It took a number of different segments to get it 
             done. So we have done a lot to protect people.
               Nevada transportation. McCarran Airport. I have tried 
             for years to get the name taken off--a Democratic Senator 
             from Nevada who was an awful man. I tried to get his name 
             off that, and it didn't work. I tried to get J. Edgar 
             Hoover's name off the FBI Building; that didn't work. We 
             had a vote here. I can still remember how mad Orrin Hatch 
             was when I did that, but, anyway, everybody had to vote on 
             it. I think I made a mistake. I tried to name it after 
             Bobby Kennedy. That was a mistake I made on that.
               Anyway, McCarran Airport. It is I think the fifth 
             busiest airport in America now. We have gotten money for a 
             new air traffic control center. It is one of the largest 
             structures in the Western United States. We have done a 
             good job taking care of McCarran, with all kinds of 
             construction funding for runways and rehabilitation of 
             runways. In the stimulus bill, one of the last things we 
             put in that was bonding capacity that allowed McCarran 
             Field to build a big new terminal. More than $1 billion we 
             got in that legislation. It was really important during 
             the recession to have all those workers. There were 
             thousands and thousands of them on that new terminal, 
             which is now completed.
               Reno. I was also able to direct money toward getting a 
             new traffic control center there, a new control tower. We 
             have done all the construction funding. A lot of stuff, 
             good stuff for the airport in Reno.
               So I feel good about what we have done to help Nevada 
             transportation, not the least of which, everybody, are the 
             billions of dollars in directed spending for roads and 
             highways in Nevada. It has made a change in northern 
             Nevada and in southern Nevada.
               It is important for us to be able to bring people to Las 
             Vegas, so we made deals with the California State 
             Department of Transportation, and we participated in big 
             construction projects that took place in California, in 
             Barstow and San Bernardino. We did that because it would 
             make it easier for people to go to Las Vegas. So I wasn't 
             just giving money to Las Vegas, NV; we also did it, of 
             course, for California because it helped us.
               Health care. The Affordable Care Act. I have talked 
             about that a little bit. It would have been wonderful if 
             we had something like that around to help my family when 
             we were growing up. I worked hard to help a number of you 
             on the Children's Health Insurance Program. Orrin Hatch 
             was certainly involved in that.
               Just like I had trouble coming to grips with my home in 
             Searchlight, I had trouble coming to grips with the fact 
             that my dad killed himself. I was like most--we are called 
             victims. We shouldn't be, but that is what we are called.
               This year, about 32,000 people will kill themselves in 
             America. That doesn't count the hunting accidents that are 
             really suicides or the car accidents that are really 
             suicides. So I couldn't get my arms around the suicide. 
             Republican Senator Cohen from Maine was chairman of the 
             Aging Committee upon which I served, and we were doing a 
             hearing on senior depression. Mike Wallace came--the 
             famous journalist--and here is what he said: ``I have 
             wanted to die for years. I would take the most dangerous 
             assignments I could hoping I wouldn't come back. You know, 
             I am OK now, though. I want to live forever.''
               He said, ``I take a pill once in a while, I see a doctor 
             once in a while, and I am good. I am OK.''
               I said for the first time publicly, ``Mr. Chairman, my 
             dad killed himself.'' That was a long time ago, but I 
             think it would be extremely important for this committee 
             to hold a hearing on senior suicide because we have 
             learned--since my focusing on suicide, we have done some 
             good things as Members of Congress. We have directed 
             spending to study why people kill themselves because we 
             don't know for sure.
               Isn't it interesting that most suicides take place in 
             the western part of the United States? You would think it 
             would be in the dark places, like Maine and Vermont, where 
             it is so dark and cold, but, no, it is in the bright 
             sunshine of the West. We are learning a lot more. That has 
             been so good to me as a person, and we have now funded 
             projects around America where there are suicide prevention 
             programs that are extremely important. There are suicide 
             victims programs where people can get together after a 
             loved one kills themself. That is something I am glad I 
             worked on.
               Finally, health care. So 24 years ago, one of my friends 
             from Las Vegas called me, Sandy Jolly, and she said, ``I 
             would like you to look at this film I am going to send 
             you. You are not going to want to watch it, but I want you 
             to watch it.'' What it showed was a beautiful little girl 
             in Africa in a white party dress. She looked so pretty. It 
             was a party. Suddenly, two men grabbed her, spread her 
             legs apart, and cut out her genitals--right there, with a 
             razor blade.
               I thought: Man, that is hard to comprehend. My staff 
             said it is something you shouldn't deal with; it should be 
             something for a woman. But I went ahead, and I did 
             something about it. We haven't done as much as we should 
             do, and I hope that we have people who will pick up this 
             issue. I had a meeting last Friday--the biggest audience I 
             have ever had. There was a conference on female genital 
             mutilation. I say that word because that is what it is. 
             Millions of little girls have been cut. That is what it is 
             called--``cut.'' Last year, no one knows for sure, but 
             probably 250,000 little girls were cut.
               Last Friday, I had 200 people there. I said, ``This is 
             wonderful.'' I said, ``I have had 10 people a couple of 
             times. Two or three of the people were lost and didn't 
             really want to be there.''
               It is really important that we do something about it. We 
             have some laws now. It is against the law in the United 
             States. They can't go away for the purpose of being cut. 
             There is a lot more that needs to be done. Our government 
             has done almost nothing.
                                     Environment
               I am going to spend a little bit on the environment. I 
             have been chairman of the Environment and Public Works 
             Committee twice--not for very long. I gave it up once 
             because I had to, because of the control of Congress, and 
             one time I gave it away. Remember? I gave it away. I gave 
             my chairmanship and my committee spot to Jim Jeffords. I 
             love that committee.
               I have been involved in environment and energy issues 
             since I came here. The State of Nevada is 87 percent owned 
             by the Federal Government; 87 percent of the State of 
             Nevada is Federal land. The rest, 13 percent, is private 
             land. Of course, I should be concerned about it. As to 
             Yucca Mountain, I am not going to get into a long 
             dissertation about that. We spent about $8 billion there 
             so far, maybe more. It is gone.
               Someone asked me the other day, ``Well, you know, 
             Republicans are in power now. They are going to come back 
             to Yucca Mountain now.'' I said, ``Well, they better bring 
             a checkbook with them because there is nothing there.'' 
             They would have to start all over again. With the big 
             auger, they spent well over $1 billion digging that 
             tunnel. That is scrap metal. There is nothing there. You 
             can probably get it going again now for $10 billion, $12 
             billion. If you have a way to pay for it, good luck. If 
             you were smart, what you would do is leave it where it is 
             in dry cast storage containers, which is proven to be 
             extremely safe and effective. That is what should be done.
               Renewable energy transmission. Part of the stimulus bill 
             said one of the problems we have with energy is that we 
             don't have a way of transmitting electricity to where it 
             should go. We talk about all this renewable energy, which 
             is produced in places where there aren't a lot of people, 
             but you can't get it anyplace where there are a lot of 
             people. That has been changed with the stimulus bill.
               For example, in Nevada we have Line One, and for the 
             first time in the history of the State of Nevada, we can 
             move power from the north to the south of Nevada. That is 
             underway now. That line will go up into the north-
             northwest. That was good legislation.
               I have had clean energy summits for many years. We bring 
             in national leaders. Democrats and Republicans have 
             focused attention on the problems America has with energy. 
             The Clintons have come. President Obama has been there. We 
             have had Republicans. Here is one who came and did a great 
             job--Tom Donohue. Everybody knows him. We Democrats know 
             him, for sure. He is head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
               I have no problem with coal. I have helped fund clean 
             coal technology. The Tracy powerplant, outside of Reno, 
             was a clean coal plant. It didn't work. So they had to go 
             to another type of fuel. I have nothing against coal. 
             However, I was upset about this. Nevada is very pristine. 
             I have told a couple of people this.
               People don't understand Nevada. Everybody thinks it is 
             the deserts of Las Vegas, but it is not. Nevada is the 
             most mountainous State in the Union, except for Alaska. We 
             have 314 separate mountain ranges. We have a mountain that 
             is 14,000 feet high. We have 32 mountains over 11,000 feet 
             high. It is a very mountainous State.
               When I learned from reading the papers that we were 
             going to have power companies come to Nevada in the most 
             pristine areas and they were going to build three or four 
             new powerplants fueled by coal, I said no.
               My staff said, ``You can't do that. You are up for 
             reelection, and they will destroy you.''
               They tried. They left leaflets on all the cars in the 
             parking lots and said I was running up the power bills. I 
             won; they lost. There are no coal-fired powerplants in 
             Nevada. There are two left. One of them is going out of 
             business in 2 weeks; the other is on its way out, probably 
             within a year. We are not going to have coal-fired plants 
             in Nevada, but we do have a lot of renewable energy.
               I have done work, especially with John Ensign, when he 
             was here, on major land bills--Clark County, Lincoln 
             County, White Pine County, Carson County--and we were able 
             to do a lot of good things to save land. He was a real 
             conservative guy, and because of him, I had to make deals 
             to make some of the 87 percent land private. I was able to 
             do that. He was able to work with me to create more 
             wilderness, and we worked together to get that done.
               I created the first national park in Nevada, Great Basin 
             National Park. It is wonderful. Everything within the 
             Great Basin is in that park. It is hard to believe, but in 
             Nevada we now have a glacier. We have the oldest living 
             trees in the world on that mountain. Those old pine trees 
             are there. They are 6,000 or 7,000 years old--bristlecone 
             pine. It is a beautiful park.
               As to Basin and Range National Monument, I worked with 
             President Clinton on this. There are more than 700,000 
             acres in a remote place of Nevada. It is a place where 
             John Muir came as a young man, camping there, and talked 
             in his diary about how beautiful this was. Now everyone 
             can see that. In part of that wonderful place is a man who 
             is a world famous artist. His name is Michael Heizer. He 
             worked for 40 years building this monument in the middle 
             of nowhere. It is in the middle of nowhere, and it is 
             done. It is called the City. It is magnificent. We don't 
             have roads coming there yet, but we will pretty soon. That 
             is done.
               Tule Springs. People came to me and said, ``We have this 
             place in Nevada where we have the oldest and most abundant 
             source of fossils anyplace in America.'' To make a long 
             story short, that is now a national monument. You can come 
             to Las Vegas if you are an archaeologist, or if you are 
             interested in old fossils, you can come there. I don't 
             mean old people. You can come there. There are all these 
             studies going on with Tule Springs Fossil Beds National 
             Monument.
               When I came to Congress, we had about 70,000 acres of 
             wilderness in Nevada. Now we have about 4 million. Those 
             are legislative initiatives of mine. We have approximately 
             4 million acres of wilderness. We have 1 million, 1.5 
             million acres of additional conservation of land, and I 
             mentioned some of it here.
               Water has been difficult for Nevada, in the north and 
             the south. I knew I had been elected to the Senate, and I 
             was leaving Reno, NV, on an airplane and someone asked me: 
             ``What is the most difficult problem facing Nevada?'' I 
             said, ``Water.''
               Having said that--we have all done it--I thought: What 
             am I going to do now? I had to do something. We did 
             something. Now it is all done. We settled a 100-year water 
             war between the States of California and Nevada. We 
             settled all the litigation on the Truckee and Carson 
             Rivers. It took 20 years to finally implement that. There 
             were many water systems--the Lake Tahoe region--and they 
             are gone. We had large wetlands that had gone dry, and 
             that is now getting fresh water in it. It involved an 
             irrigation district for Indian tribes and endangered 
             species, and we were able to get all that done. It made a 
             stable water supply for northern Nevada, the Reno area.
               Southern Nevada is really a desert. It has 4 inches of 
             rain a year in Las Vegas. We have worked hard with Pat 
             Mulroy. She has done wonderful things.
               I see the junior Senator from Arizona [Mr. Flake] here. 
             When he was elected, the States of Arizona and California 
             wouldn't speak to each other. They were fighting over 
             water. Now we work together on water. It has been 
             remarkable what we have been able to do as partners to get 
             things done. We bank water for Arizona, and when they need 
             the water and it is in our ground, we can give it back to 
             them. It has been good for Nevada because we can use that 
             water in the meantime.
               We have done good work with California. California got 
             most of the water out of the Colorado River. They took a 
             lot more than they should have, and we were able to work 
             on that. We worked with California in a very positive way. 
             We help pay for port reservoirs. We help line canals. We 
             have done a lot of good things to help water in that whole 
             area. I am happy about that.
               We share Lake Tahoe with California. Lake Tahoe is a 
             stunningly beautiful place. There are only two alpine 
             lakes in the world. One of them is in Siberia, and the 
             other is there. I have had 20 summits there. We have 
             gotten over $1 billion there with the cooperation of the 
             California delegation and many others. We have done well 
             in stabilizing and helping the clarity of that beautiful 
             lake.
               Walker Lake is another lake that was originally 
             controlled by the Indians. It has been stolen from them by 
             us. We now have gotten hundreds of millions of dollars 
             directed toward that, and we have bought up water rights, 
             and we have saved Walker Lake. There are 21 desert 
             terminus lakes in the world. There are two in America. 
             They are both in Nevada, and we saved those two lakes--
             Walker and Pyramid Lakes.
               There was a great big gravel pit. It was 10, 15 times 
             bigger than this Chamber--huge. There were spots of black 
             that appeared on it. The State of Nevada didn't have the 
             resources to take on the oil companies and airlines. So 
             they didn't know what was wrong. I got Bill Bradley, who 
             was chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, to hold a 
             hearing. It was so important we did that because we 
             determined that oil was coming from broken oil lines, fuel 
             lines, going to the Reno Airport. Had we not done 
             something, it would have been awful. It was declared an 
             emergency Superfund site, and people immediately moved in 
             and took care of that.
               I am giving a quick look at it. That gravel pit is now a 
             beautiful lake. It is called the Sparks Marina. There are 
             condos, apartments, and businesses all around there. 
             People boat on it. It is wonderful. It all started out as 
             a gravel pit. I appreciate Bill Bradley's good work on 
             that.
                                  National Security
               I want to talk about national security. There are people 
             in this Chamber much better than I am on national 
             security, and I know that, but I have worked hard. We have 
             been a dumping ground for all things in the military. We 
             have Nellis Air Force Base. It was named after Bill 
             Nellis, who was from Searchlight. He was a war hero in 
             World War II. It is the finest fighter training facility 
             in the world. If you want to fly jet airplanes, then you 
             must train at Nellis. They have a large gunnery range. The 
             Navy does the same thing in northern Nevada with the naval 
             air training center. Frankly, I was able to get tens of 
             millions of dollars for both of those operations because 
             they have been important.
               We hear a lot about drones. Every drone attack that 
             takes place in the world takes place 30 miles outside Las 
             Vegas at Creech Air Force Base. We have all of these great 
             servicemembers, mostly airmen, who take care of that. They 
             protect us around the world.
               Barbara Mikulski is here. She was in a position to help 
             me on appropriations. She said, ``This facility in Reno is 
             awful, and I--Barbara Mikulski--am going to do something 
             about it,'' and she did, very quickly. We renovated that 
             place. It was so bad. It was a little VA hospital with 
             hallways so narrow they couldn't bring in new hospital 
             equipment because they couldn't get it down the hall. I 
             appreciate what Senator Mikulski did for that hospital.
               I requested money for two VA hospitals, and they were 
             built in southern Nevada. We had one that was an 
             experiment. It was a joint venture between the Veterans 
             Administration and the Air Force. It worked great except 
             we had a Middle East war and the veterans had to go 
             someplace else so we don't have that hospital anymore, but 
             we have a huge new one. It is the newest and best in the 
             entire VA system. They don't have all of the equipment 
             they need, but it has been functioning very well for the 
             last couple of years. I feel very proud of that.
               The Nevada Test Site is part of our national security, 
             and I have done everything I can to make sure that 
             facility is taken care of, and it is. There are a lot of 
             experiments going on there all the time. We have fuel 
             spills and different tests that take place there.
               Finally, this is one of the best things I ever did. 
             Yesterday I heard Barbara Mikulski say listen to what your 
             constituents say. A group of veterans came--just a few 
             feet from here--to talk to me a number of years ago. One 
             of them said, ``Senator, this is somewhat strange. I am 
             disabled from the military, and I am also retired from the 
             military. I can't draw both benefits.'' I said, ``What are 
             you talking about?'' He said, ``I can't. If you retire 
             from the Forest Service and have a military disability, 
             you can get your pension from the BLM, the Forest Service 
             or whatever it is, and also get your disability, but not 
             if it is both military.'' We changed that. Now, if you 
             have a disability and you have retired from the military, 
             you can draw both. It is called concurrent receipt. That 
             took a long time, but we got it done. It is not perfect, 
             but it is 80 percent complete.
               I talked earlier this morning about being a lawyer. I am 
             proud of the fact that I was a trial lawyer. I hear 
             Senators talk all the time about these judicial selection 
             committees. They have to help pick whom they will have on 
             the Federal bench. I am glad they do that because I also 
             have a judicial selection committee. You know who is on 
             that committee? Me. No one else is on it. I select all of 
             my judges. I am the committee, and I am very happy with 
             what I have been able to do.
               One of the things I did when I was in the House was name 
             a Federal building in Las Vegas after a very famous family 
             of lawyers, the Foley family. They had two Federal judges, 
             a district attorney, and a State court judge. They were a 
             wonderful family called the Foley family. I attended the 
             10th anniversary of that, and when I looked up there, I 
             saw nothing but White males. I thought to myself, ``Gee, I 
             hope someday I can change that,'' and as fortune would 
             have it, Lloyd George decided to take senior staff and I 
             had a chance to do something about that. I have sent names 
             to the President and selected far more judges myself in 
             the entire history of the State of Nevada. So what I did 
             with the first one, I said, well, I want to get a woman 
             judge, but we didn't have a Black judge on the court 
             either. I wanted to nominate a Black judge and a woman 
             judge, and that is what I did. Boy, was I criticized. They 
             said, ``She doesn't have enough experience. You could have 
             found somebody better.'' She was a dynamo. People loved 
             this woman. She was so good that she is now on the Ninth 
             Circuit, and she quickly went there. To make a long story 
             short, she has been part of the talk about who could get 
             appointed to the Supreme Court. She is a wonderful woman 
             named Johnnie Rawlinson.
               I put Roger Hunt, great trial lawyer; Kent Dawson, one 
             of my predecessors as city attorney; David Hagan, a 
             wonderful trial lawyer, and I put him on the bench. I 
             selected Brian Sandoval as a Federal judge, and he was a 
             good Federal judge. Things were going great until he ran 
             against my son for Governor, and I wish he hadn't because 
             my son would now be Governor. He is my friend, and our 
             family has accepted that. He was the first Hispanic on the 
             bench. I appointed another Hispanic, Gloria Navarro. Her 
             parents were born in Cuba, and she is now the chief judge. 
             Miranda Du, how about that, a woman who was born in 
             Vietnam is now on the bench in Nevada. How about that, 
             Miranda Du. She was born in Vietnam and came over when she 
             was 11 years old to Alabama. Jennifer Dorsey, a woman; 
             Andrew Gordon, a Harvard law graduate; Richard Boulware, 
             African-American. I changed that Nevada Federal bench 
             significantly. I had the pleasure of voting for and 
             against all eight members of the Supreme Court who now sit 
             there. I have had a chance to vote for every one of them 
             during my career.
               Education. I worked hard for education in Nevada, and I 
             have done OK. The Desert Research Institute is a unique 
             organization. It is not helped by the University of Nevada 
             at all. They all have Ph.D.s and they have been in 
             existence for 50 years. Some of the most significant 
             research in the world is done there. They have two 
             supercomputers. Our earthquake center is the best in the 
             world. They have more shake tables than anyplace in 
             America. People come from all over the world to study what 
             happens to earthquakes.
               Biodiversity study. For many years, I directed funding 
             to the biodiversity study. It was the best science going 
             on at the time on the environment and studying the Great 
             Basin.
               Native Americans in Nevada. We have 26 different tribal 
             organizations. I am really happy with what I have been 
             able to do to help Native Americans, and, believe me, they 
             haven't been treated well in Nevada or anyplace else. I 
             have led the legislative efforts to make sure they have 
             their water rights taken care of, settled longstanding 
             claims against the United States. We have the Fallon 
             Paiute Shoshone Tribe, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, 
             Shoshone-Paiute Tribes, and the Duck Valley Reservation 
             have all been able to develop their water rights and 
             economies. For example, Pyramid Lake will receive almost 
             $100 million and Fallon will receive $60 million. I worked 
             to get two new high schools built, and they were so long 
             overdue. It took decades to get the Shoshone Claims 
             Distribution Act done, and we finally got it done. Thanks 
             to President Clinton, we were able to get the Indians who 
             belonged up there, the Washoe Tribe, right on the lake.
               Working with the Obama administration for the last 8 
             years has been a dream job of mine, being the President's 
             point man here in the Senate.
               Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have an 
             extended speech on President Obama that I gave yesterday 
             printed in the Record.
               There being no objection, the material was ordered to be 
             printed in the Record, as follows:
                  [From the Congressional Record, December 7, 2016]
                          Tribute to President Barack Obama
                               (By Senator Harry Reid)
                It is hard to imagine today, but it wasn't that long 
             ago that Barack Obama was a little-known Illinois 
             legislator with a very unusual name. I still remember the 
             first time I heard that name. I was in the House gym, 
             where ex-Members congregated, and one of the people I 
             shared the room with was Abner Mikva, a longtime Illinois 
             Congressman, an appellate court judge, and President 
             Clinton's chief legal officer.
                I had known that Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald 
             decided not to run for reelection after one term. Judge 
             Mikva turned to me and said he knew the perfect person to 
             fill that open seat.
                I said, ``Who could that be?''
                He said, ``Barack Obama.''
                I said, ``What?''
                He said, ``Barack Obama.''
                I said, ``Who? What kind of a name is that?''
                He said, ``He is one of the most talented people I have 
             ever met in all my years.''
                That said a lot to me, even though at that time I 
             smiled and left the room.
                It didn't take long, though, before I understood what 
             Abner Mikva said to me. Barack Obama won that election to 
             the Senate. He came from nowhere, a man with an unusual 
             name, but once he was here, it was obvious he was the real 
             deal. His ability to communicate was, and is, stunning. I 
             can remember one of the first floor speeches he gave here 
             in the Senate on George Bush's policy regarding the Middle 
             East war. It was eloquent, thoughtful, powerful. I was so 
             impressed that following his speech--there had been a 
             quorum call--his seat was way back there, and I walked up 
             to him--he was sitting, I was standing looking over him, 
             and I said, ``Senator, that was really terrific. That was 
             really good.''
                I will never forget his response. Without hesitation, 
             without any braggadocio, no conceit, but with humility, he 
             looked up to me and said, ``I have a gift.''
                It wasn't a boast; it was a fact. I have never met 
             anyone with the ability to communicate as well as Barack 
             Obama. Whether it is in his writing, speaking to huge 
             crowds of tens of thousands of people or small crowds, or 
             someone on a one-on-one basis, he is without equal when it 
             comes to communicating.
                His reputation was well known even before he came to 
             the Senate. He had written a book, a bestseller called 
             ``Dreams from My Father,'' a decade before arriving here 
             in the Senate. Like his 2006 book, also a bestseller, 
             called ``The Audacity of Hope,'' this book was full of 
             lyrical and insightful writing.
                In ``Dreams from My Father,'' he outlined the 
             remarkable story of his life we have all come to know. 
             Born to a father from Kenya in faraway Africa. His mother 
             was from Kansas. He was raised by his grandparents in 
             Hawaii. His mother and grandparents set positive examples 
             for him. They pushed him to always do better, to be the 
             man he was born to be. That upbringing would serve him 
             well.
                Barack Obama went to some of the most elite schools in 
             the world. He was an undergraduate at Columbia, where, of 
             course, he was an honor student, then Harvard Law School. 
             He graduated with distinction. He made history as the 
             first African-American to be elected president of the 
             Harvard Law Review. Just to be a member of the Harvard Law 
             Review--having gone to law school myself--is significant, 
             but he was the No. 1 guy in that very prestigious law 
             school. Even then, his reputation for bringing people 
             together and his gift for communication were renowned.
                He continued to excel after law school. He became a 
             professor of constitutional law at one of America's great 
             law schools. He became a community organizer, as he has 
             spoken about a lot. He became an Illinois State senator 
             before giving one of the most dramatic convention speeches 
             in American history at the 2004 Democratic Convention in 
             Boston.
                Throughout it all, his ability to communicate and 
             connect with people fueled his ascendancy. Those skills 
             made Barack Obama a terrific Senator, and they have 
             greatly benefited our country over the past 8 years.
                In just a few weeks, Barack Obama will finish his term 
             as the 44th President of our great country. He will be 
             leaving office. I don't know if I am leaving with him or 
             if he is leaving with me. I guess I leave a few days 
             before he does, but we are leaving together. I cannot 
             think of a better person with whom to leave public service 
             than Barack Obama. For 8 years I was his point man, and it 
             has been an honor and an effort of pleasure.
                What this man accomplished, despite unprecedented 
             obstruction from the Republicans, is remarkable. History 
             will remember President Barack Obama's many 
             accomplishments. I don't want to get the Presiding Officer 
             [Ms. Collins] in trouble, but it was because of her and 
             two other Republican Senators that his first congressional 
             session was remarkably historic. We wanted to do more, but 
             this good woman presiding over the Senate today said, 
             ``Enough is enough.'' We had to retract some of the things 
             we wanted to do. It was hard, but I do say this: It would 
             not have happened but for the Presiding Officer.
                President Obama saved the country from economic 
             collapse, ushering in a new era of growth. Since 2010, the 
             economic recovery has added more than 16 million private 
             sector jobs. Median household incomes have risen 
             significantly. The unemployment rate is now 4.6 percent. 
             In some States, like the State of Nevada, it was as high 
             as 14 percent. President Obama brought the American auto 
             and manufacturing industries back from the brink of 
             collapse with unique programs--Cash for Clunkers--and more 
             than 800,000 new manufacturing jobs since 2010. The auto 
             industry has added almost 700,000 jobs since 2009. 
             Domestic production of automobiles doubled from below 6 
             million units per year to 12 million per year in 2015.
                President Obama brought health care to tens of millions 
             of Americans through the Affordable Care Act. Every day, 
             we learn how important this bill has been. We heard from 
             the very conservative American Hospital Association today 
             that doing away with Obamacare would bankrupt the hospital 
             industry. We would lose over the next few years almost 
             $200 billion. Through the Affordable Care Act, 21 million 
             more Americans now have affordable health care. The 
             uninsured rate is at an alltime low, and 92 percent of 
             Americans now have coverage. Insurance companies cannot 
             deny coverage or charge more to cover people with 
             preexisting conditions.
                How many of us have gone out to our home States and had 
             people with tears in their eyes say: You know, Debbie has 
             been sick since she was a little girl with diabetes, and 
             now, for the first time in her life, she can have health 
             insurance.
                Insurance companies can't discriminate anymore against 
             anyone because of their gender. All women were 
             discriminated against before. Every American with 
             insurance has access to preventive care without cost 
             sharing. That means no copays for immunizations, cancer 
             screenings, contraceptive coverage for women, diabetes 
             screenings, or blood pressure and cholesterol tests.
                President Obama held Wall Street accountable. He signed 
             into law the most comprehensive Wall Street and financial 
             reform legislation since the Great Depression. His 
             administration established a new watchdog to help protect 
             consumers from unfair financial practices. He signed 
             legislation into law that protects homeowners from 
             mortgage fraud.
                President Obama took more action to protect our planet 
             from a changing climate, including the historic Paris 
             Climate Agreement.
                I met yesterday with Native Alaskans. It was scary to 
             talk to a Native Alaskan woman. In her town of 800, people 
             are having trouble getting in and out of the town. She 
             told me the animals are confused because the seasons are 
             changing.
                The caribou have traveled for 20,000 years, we believe, 
             3,000 miles to migrate every year. They walk in single 
             file, not in large herds jammed together. She said they 
             are having such difficulty. They used to be able to walk 
             over the ice. They can't. There is no ice. They have to 
             swim.
                President Obama made the largest investment ever in 
             renewable energy. He tripled wind power and increased 
             solar power by 30 times, creating more than 200,000 jobs 
             in solar alone, with hundreds of thousands more jobs in 
             the next few years.
                President Obama protected more than 260 million acres 
             of public lands and waters. That includes more than 
             700,000 acres in Nevada with one order that he signed 
             called the Basin and Range National Monument, a place 
             where John Muir came looking around for special places in 
             America. He camped in hills in the Basin and Range. 
             Hopefully, some day every Senator can go to this 
             magnificent place in the desert. It has taken 40 years to 
             build. One man has done it, a famous artist by the name of 
             Michael Heizer. It is called the City. It is stunning. 
             When I talk about 40 years, it wasn't work done on 
             weekends. It was days, weekends, overtime, and large 
             contingencies of people he directed. This magnificent 
             thing in the middle of the desert is now protected 
             forever.
                President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have made 
             our Nation's children a top priority. In 2010, President 
             Obama signed a bill into law to fight child hunger and 
             improve school meals to ensure children receive the 
             nutrition they need to have healthy, successful futures.
                President Obama made strides on education. Our Nation's 
             high school graduation rate is the highest in the history 
             of our country. He reformed student loan programs, 
             increased Pell grants, made student loan repayment more 
             affordable, and expanded loan forgiveness for graduates 
             who enter public service professions.
                President Obama granted deferred action to immigrant 
             youth who would have qualified under the DREAM Act, 
             bringing nearly 800,000 young people out of the shadows.
                President Obama made our country more inclusive. He 
             signed the repeal of ``don't ask, don't tell.'' He signed 
             executive orders protecting LGBT workers. Americans are 
             now free to marry the person they love, regardless of 
             their gender.
                As Commander in Chief, President Obama brought Osama 
             bin Laden to justice.
                These are just a few aspects of President Obama's 
             storied legacy, and it is still growing--what a record. It 
             is a legacy of which he should be satisfied. America is 
             better because of this good man spending 8 years in the 
             White House.
                I am even more impressed by who he is as a person than 
             who he is as President. He is a man of integrity and 
             honesty. I have learned so much from him. I have never 
             heard Barack Obama denigrate anyone, ever. There have been 
             times he could have. Perhaps, I thought a negative word 
             should have been said and I suggested that to him, but he 
             would never take it. No, he wouldn't do that. That is 
             Barack Obama.
                Above all, I admire the attention he has given his 
             family. He may be President of the United States, but 
             nothing gets in the way of his family. He is a terrific 
             husband to Michelle and an outstanding father to Sasha and 
             Malia. He arrives home for dinner with his family 
             virtually every night he is in Washington. He goes to 
             their plays and games. President or not, he is a husband 
             and a father.
                His devotion extends to his staff as well, and he has 
             had a terrific staff working for him. I can't mention all 
             of them, but I will mention his present Chief of Staff, 
             Denis McDonough. He and I have a very close relationship. 
             Close relationships come with a lot of difficulty 
             sometimes. It has been tough, but we tried to work through 
             it together.
                Pete Rouse is one of the nicest people I have ever 
             known. He also worked with the President very closely. He 
             was his chief of staff as Senator, and, of course, a chief 
             adviser when he was in the White House.
                Rahm Emanuel, now the mayor of Chicago, IL, was former 
             Chief of Staff. He is a man known for his bluntness and 
             his productivity as a Member of Congress and as Chief of 
             Staff.
                Alyssa Mastromonaco was former Deputy Chief of Staff 
             and I hope that I had something to do with the romance 
             that wound up with her marrying my chief of staff, David 
             Krone.
                These are just a few of the incredible people I have 
             had the pleasure of working with. They are all wonderful.
                Then there is President Obama's Cabinet--a Cabinet of 
             quality. That includes my friend, Secretary of Interior 
             Ken Salazar, a wonderful man and a terrific public 
             servant, a man of substance like no other ever known.
                After 8 years leading the country, President Obama is 
             leaving office on a high point. When he first took office, 
             our country was in an economic free fall and hemorrhaging 
             jobs. Now the country is experiencing the longest streak 
             of private sector job growth ever. We have the lowest 
             unemployment rate in nearly a decade.
                After 8 years of President Obama, we are now as a 
             country on a sustainable path to fight climate change and 
             grow renewable energy sources. We are more respected 
             around the world. We reached international agreements to 
             curb climate change, stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear 
             weapon, and we are on the path to normalizing relations 
             with our neighbor Cuba.
                Our country has made significant strides in nearly 
             every way. There is no doubt that the United States is 
             better now than we were 8 years ago, and we have Barack 
             Obama to thank for that.
                Thank you, President Obama, for being the person you 
             are.

               Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
             lots and lots of stuff I have done be printed in the 
             Record.
               There being no objection, the material was ordered to be 
             printed in the Record, as follows:
               Reducing Tax Burdens for Nevada Residents and Businesses
               Taxpayers' Bill of Rights.--The ``Taxpayers' Bill of 
             Rights'' was the first bill Senator Reid introduced upon 
             entering the Senate. Several of the ideas in his bill were 
             later incorporated into the Internal Revenue Service 
             Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The ``Taxpayers' 
             Bill of Rights'' laid out the rights of taxpayers during 
             an audit, procedures for appealing a decision or filing 
             complaints, the procedures the IRS may use to enforce 
             laws, and placed the burden of proof on all issues upon 
             the IRS.
               Ended the Source Tax.--Senator Reid and the Nevada 
             delegation were successful in protecting Nevada retirees 
             from taxes imposed by other States. This legislation ended 
             taxation without representation by prohibiting States from 
             taxing the retirement benefits of nonresidents.
               Sales Tax Deduction.--Senator Reid reinstated the 
             deduction for sales taxes to level the playingfield for 
             residents of States with no income taxes and he has been 
             successful in extending it.
               Mortgage Tax Relief/Debt Cancellation for Homeowners.--
             Eliminates the income tax penalty for homeowners who are 
             successful in negotiating a lower mortgage with their 
             lender.
               Tip Tax Agreements.--These are agreements between the 
             IRS, the employer, and tipped employees that make it 
             easier for employees to report and pay the tax due on 
             tipped income. Senator Reid was instrumental in making 
             sure that these agreements are fair for Nevada's tipped 
             employees.
               Tax Incentives for Solar and Geothermal Energy.--Senator 
             Reid was instrumental in securing the long-term extension 
             of tax incentives to promote the development of 
             electricity generated by solar and geothermal sources in 
             Nevada.
               Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and Secure Rural 
             Schools.--Senator Reid led a bipartisan coalition of 
             Western Senators to fully fund PILT and reauthorize Secure 
             Rural Schools the first time since 1994 and provides $130 
             million over 5 years to rural counties in Nevada.
               Cancellation of Indebtedness.--Businesses needing to 
             restructure their debts in order to survive the economic 
             downturn found themselves facing a significant tax penalty 
             as a result of that process. As part of the American 
             Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Senator Reid was 
             instrumental in pushing through relief from this tax 
             penalty, helping Nevada companies to improve their balance 
             sheets and save thousands of jobs.
               Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension.--Instrumental in 
             securing an extension of the $8,000 tax credit for first-
             time homebuyers and offering a reduced credit of up to 
             $6,500 for repeat buyers who have owned their current home 
             for at least 5 years.
                           Nevada Jobs, Economy, and Labor
               Congressional Review Act.--Worked with Senator Don 
             Nickles to lead passage of the Congressional Review Act, 
             making it easier for Congress to overturn burdensome 
             regulations imposed by executive branch agencies.
               CityCenter.--Worked with stakeholders of CityCenter to 
             ensure construction of project continued and advanced to 
             opening in 2009, saving almost 10,000 jobs.
               Housing Loan-to-Value Ratio.--Requested the 
             administration raise the loan-to-value requirement for its 
             mortgage modification program, and the administration 
             responded by raising it 125 percent.
               American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).--
             Shepherded the stimulus legislation through the Senate and 
             conference, which will provide Nevada with $3 billion in 
             economic recovery funding, which is expected to create or 
             save 34,000 jobs, 90 percent of which are in the private 
             sector. Each worker is eligible for up to $400 in tax 
             relief and families could receive up to $800. A tax credit 
             of $8,000 for first-time homebuyers will help Nevadans 
             invest in a home and move the excess supply of houses off 
             the market. The ARRA provides a temporary deduction for 
             nonitemizers for sales tax paid on the purchase of a car 
             or truck. The HOPE education credit for higher education 
             is increased to $2,500. Every SSI recipient, Social 
             Security beneficiary, railroad retirement beneficiary and 
             disabled veteran receiving VA benefits will receive a one-
             time economic recovery payment of $250. Federal and State 
             pensioners who are not participants in Social Security 
             will be eligible for a $250 tax credit.
               Travel Promotion Act.--Using the Las Vegas Convention 
             and Visitors Authority's model for Las Vegas, the bill 
             will create a Corporation for Travel Promotion which will 
             be responsible for marketing the United States around the 
             world as a tourist destination. Senators Reid and his 
             colleagues from both sides of the aisle believe that 
             efforts through this bill to make the United States more 
             attractive abroad and easy to visit will directly increase 
             the number of visitors to Nevada and create tens of 
             thousands of sorely needed jobs. A study by Oxford 
             Economics estimates that this plan would attract 1.6 
             million new international visitors annually and projects 
             TPA could create $4 billion a year in new economic 
             activity.
               Minimum Wage Increase.--In 2007, Senator Reid worked 
             with a bipartisan coalition of Senators to increase the 
             minimum wage for the first time in 10 years. Signed into 
             law by President Bush, this legislation helped some of the 
             hardest working Nevadans make ends meet.
               Nevada Test Site Workers EEOICPA.--Senator Reid was 
             instrumental in the passage of the Energy Employees 
             Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) of 
             2000, which provides monetary compensation and medical 
             coverage to NTS workers with radiation-induced cancer, 
             beryllium disease, or silicosis.
               Nevada Test Site Workers 1951-1962.--Senator Reid was 
             instrumental in establishing the atmospheric testing years 
             at NTS in an expedited eligibility category.
               Nevada Test Site Workers 1963-1992.--Senator Reid was 
             instrumental in the writing and submission of a regulatory 
             petition to include more Nevada Test Site workers in an 
             expedited eligibility category. According to a recent 
             position paper by the agency responsible for establishing 
             membership in the expedited eligibility category, it 
             appears the underground testing years are on their way to 
             being granted the expedited status.
               Nevada Test Site Workers Area 51.--In 2008, Senator Reid 
             successfully fought for the Federal agencies to allow 
             Department of Energy workers at Area 51 to be eligible for 
             the EEOICPA, thereby reversing a Republican Bush 
             administration policy.
               Unemployment Insurance Extension.--Instrumental in 
             passage of an extension of unemployment insurance benefits 
             in 2009 and 2010 for States that have been hit the 
             hardest, like Nevada, and out-of-work Americans across the 
             country.
                                Nevada Transportation
               McCarran Airport Funding.--Senator Reid has secured tens 
             of millions for McCarran Airport. Among the projects this 
             money has funded include: new air traffic control tower; 
             increased customs and border control protections; wind 
             hazard detection equipment; fiber optic telecommunications 
             systems; and apron rehabilitation and reconstruction.
               Reducing Flight Delays Act.--Led passage of legislation 
             that provided the Secretary of Transportation with 
             flexibility to transfer funds to reduced FAA traffic 
             control operations, which had been reduced as a result of 
             sequestration.
               Reno Airports Funding.--Senator Reid obtained more than 
             $55.8 million for the needed improvements to the Reno-
             Tahoe International and Reno-Stead Airports. These funds 
             have paid for new approach lighting systems, new control 
             towers, runway/taxiway reconstruction and lighting to name 
             but a few projects.
               McCarran Airport: Tax Relief for Growth and 
             Construction.--Senator Reid was able to save the Clark 
             County Department of Aviation tens of millions of dollars 
             by passing relief for the department's alternative minimum 
             tax (AMT) for bonds which refinanced the Terminal 3 
             project at McCarran Airport. This provision will lower 
             financing costs for this important project by at least 
             $72.4 million.
               Last Highway Reauthorization (SAFETEA-LU).--Increased 
             Nevada's highway funding by 30 percent and transit funding 
             by 152 percent. Senator Reid was instrumental in getting 
             over $1.3 billion for Nevada transportation projects 
             included in the 2005 national highway bill.
               Some Additional Major Transportation Projects:

              North

              Interstate 580 Extension Between Reno and Carson City--
               $29 million
              Reno Transportation Rail Access Corridor Cover 
               (ReTRAC)--$15.25 million
              Virginia and Truckee Railway from Virginia City to 
               Carson City--$10 million
              Reno Bus Rapid Transit--$12 million
              Lake Tahoe Passenger Ferry Service--$8 million
              Carson City Bypass Enhancement--$2 million
              Meadowood Interchange--$3.75 million

              South

              Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge--$50 million
              Boulder City Bypass--$28.6 million
              Interstate 15 Widening Project from Primm to Apex--$27 
               million
              Boulder Highway Bus Rapid Transit System--$12 million
              UNLV Transportation Research Center--$2.5 million
              Lake Mead Parkway, Henderson--$2 million
                 Affordable and Quality Health Care For All Nevadans
               Affordable Care Act.--Led passage of the Affordable Care 
             Act, commonly referred to as the health reform law, which 
             is helping thousands of Nevadans and millions of Americans 
             gain access to the affordable health care that they need 
             and deserve. The law has resulted in 21 million more 
             Americans being covered by health insurance, and an 
             alltime high insured rate of 92 percent.
               Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Creation and 
             Reauthorization.--This long overdue reauthorization 
             ensures health care for thousands of children across 
             Nevada whose parents earn too much for Medicaid, but not 
             enough to afford private insurance. Thanks to the recent 
             expansion, an additional 4.1 million low-income children 
             across the country will now have access to quality health 
             coverage.
               Strengthening Medicare.--Seniors and people with 
             disabilities know the value of the Medicare Program. In 
             the last Congress, Senator Reid led the way to overriding 
             a Presidential veto of improvements to the program. This 
             legislation ensured that physicians did not experience 
             severe cuts to reimbursement that could have jeopardized 
             access to care for Nevada's seniors.
               Suicide Prevention.--Senator Reid is responsible for the 
             creation of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention 
             and has helped enact a number of laws that will help 
             reduce the rate of suicide, including the Garrett Lee 
             Smith Memorial Act targeting youth suicide, legislation 
             that will lower the Medicare coinsurance for outpatient 
             mental health and the Mental Health Parity Act.
               Mental Health Parity.--The bipartisan legislation which 
             Senator Reid helped pass ensures that plans covering 
             mental health services cannot provide different financial 
             requirements or treatment limitations than they would for 
             medical or surgical benefits.
               Drug Quality and Security Act.--Provided the FDA with 
             more authority to regulate and monitor the manufacturing 
             of compounded pharmaceutical drugs.
               Interstitial Cystitis Research.--Senator Reid earmarked 
             millions of dollars for the National Institutes of Health 
             (NIH) to research IC, a disease which affects women, and 
             has funded programs at the Centers for Disease Control and 
             Prevention (CDC) to support public and health provider 
             education and outreach about the illness.
               Nevada Cancer Institute.--Senator Reid has secured tens 
             of millions of dollars to support the infrastructure costs 
             to create a cancer institute in Nevada. This has helped to 
             attract world-class cancer researchers to Nevada and will 
             help to ensure that Nevadans will have access to clinic 
             trials. In 2009, Senator Reid worked on a bipartisan basis 
             with the Nevada congressional delegation to secure 80 
             acres of Federal land for the Institute to construct a new 
             facility devoted to developing new treatments for Nevadans 
             afflicted with cancer.
               Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research.--Senator Reid has a 
             long history of supporting efforts related to chronic 
             fatigue syndrome since he first became aware of this 
             devastating disease in 1987 when the first known outbreak 
             of CFS cases was documented in Incline Village, NV. In 
             1999, he uncovered a scandal at the CDC and forced CDC 
             officials to acknowledge that they had misappropriated the 
             majority of the $22.7 million he had earmarked for CFS 
             research at the CDC in 1995.
               Contraceptive Equity.--Passed legislation ensuring that 
             Federal employees have access to prescription 
             contraception.
               Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act.--Sponsored 
             by Senator Reid, this law will help to establish a 
             national strategy to study the potential links between the 
             environment and breast cancer and would authorize funding 
             for such research. The resulting discoveries could be 
             critical to improving our knowledge of this complex 
             illness, which could lead to new treatments and perhaps, 
             one day, a cure.
               Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Registry Act.--Sponsored 
             by Senator Reid, this law will create an ALS registry at 
             the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and 
             will aid in the search for a cure for this devastating 
             disease.
               Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act.--Senator 
             Reid was instrumental in passing legislation that 
             establishes strong protections against discrimination on 
             the basis of genetic information by health insurance 
             companies and employers.
               Affordable Birth Control.--Senator Reid was instrumental 
             in passing a provision that would restore the practice of 
             allowing safety net providers to have access to nominally 
             priced drugs. Historically pharmaceutical companies have 
             been permitted to offer low, or ``nominally priced,'' 
             drugs to safety net providers to help ensure that low-
             income populations have access to affordable medication. 
             In 2005, Congress passed legislation which tightened 
             regulations about who was eligible for nominally priced 
             drugs. In doing so, Congress inadvertently cut off every 
             safety net provider from obtaining birth control at a low 
             cost, and passing on those savings to their patients. 
             Women who once paid $5-$10 each month had to pay $50 or 
             more for basic birth control.
               Pandemic Flu Funding.--Senator Reid has worked to secure 
             billions of dollars to ensure we are prepared to minimize 
             the impact of the H1N1 flu or any potential flu pandemic.
               Medical Research Funding.--Senator Reid has a long 
             history of directing funding to the National Institutes of 
             Health for funding biomedical research in areas such as 
             cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease, diabetes, and stem 
             cells. Last year alone, he supported directing over $40 
             billion to the National Institutes of Health through ARRA 
             and the omnibus. These investments could lead to new cures 
             and treatments, and will address debilitating health 
             conditions that prevent our workforce from reaching 
             optimal productivity.
               FDA Reauthorization Including Drug Safety 
             Requirements.--In September 2007, Senator Reid worked to 
             enact the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act 
             (Public Law 110-85), which extends the legal authority for 
             the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) programs for 
             approving prescription drugs and medical devices. While 
             this new law will improve prescription drug and food 
             safety for all Americans, it also will improve programs 
             focused just on our children. These improvements represent 
             a victory for consumers and patients who depend on our 
             Nation's system for ensuring that life-saving drugs and 
             devices come to market in a timely and safe way.
               Federal Medical Assistance Program (FMAP) Increase.--
             Senator Reid worked very hard to increase temporarily the 
             Federal Medical Assistance Program as included in the 
             American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-
             5). The goal was to enable States to maintain their 
             Medicaid services, while also targeting additional funds 
             to the States most in need like ours. Nevada will receive 
             more than $450 million in additional funding as a result, 
             which is the largest percentage increase of any State in 
             the Federal Medical Assistance Program.
               Cobra Expansion.--The Consolidated Omnibus Budget 
             Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) requires most employers 
             with group health plans to offer employees the opportunity 
             to continue their coverage under their employer's plan if 
             their coverage is cut off or suspended due to a layoff, or 
             other qualifying change in their employment status. Many 
             Nevadans who have recently become unemployed are troubled 
             by the steeply rising premiums for their COBRA insurance 
             coverage. Senator Reid was instrumental in obtaining a 
             premium subsidy for COBRA recipients in the American 
             Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This provision 
             created a 65 percent subsidy for health insurance premiums 
             under COBRA for up to 9 months for workers and their 
             families who have been involuntarily terminated between 
             September 1, 2009, and December 31, 2009.
                       Nevada's Environment, Energy, and Lands
               Yucca Mountain.--Slashed funding for Yucca to record 
             lows during the pro-Yucca Republican Bush administration, 
             and worked with President Obama to terminate the project 
             and launch a blue ribbon commission to develop 
             alternatives.
               Renewable Energy and Efficiency Tax Incentives.--Since 
             2000, Senator Reid has secured over $100 million for 
             Nevada-based projects to research and advance our Nation's 
             renewable energy and energy efficiency capabilities. 
             Additionally, the Recovery Act provided over $500 million 
             for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and 
             weatherization projects in Nevada. Nevada's institutions 
             of higher education, schools, counties, and others are 
             working to make Nevada the Nation's renewable energy 
             leader
               Renewable Energy Transmission.--Delivered $3.25 billion 
             in financing for developing transmission for renewable 
             energy in the West (Recovery Act), as well as $4.4 billion 
             to build a national smart grid to accelerate renewable 
             energy development in Nevada and across the country.
               Solar Energy.--Worked with Department of Interior to 
             designate seven solar energy study areas in Nevada and to 
             institute fast track environmental reviews for key 
             renewable energy projects (three solar and two wind energy 
             projects).
               Hosted Eight National Clean Energy Summits and 
             Established the Blue Ribbon Panel on Energy in Nevada.--
             Senator Reid has hosted the National Clean Energy Summit 
             in Nevada since 2008. These events have helped build a 
             dialog among the Nation's most distinguished leaders in 
             clean energy policy on how to build the infrastructure and 
             create jobs to achieve energy security using renewables, 
             other forms of clean energy, and efficiency. Speakers have 
             included President Barack Obama, President Bill Clinton, 
             Secretary Hillary Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Energy 
             Secretary Steven Chu, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, 
             Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, 
             along with many other leaders from government, business, 
             labor, and the nonprofit communities from Nevada and 
             beyond.
               Geothermal Energy.--Prevented the Republican Bush 
             administration from closing down the geothermal energy R&D 
             program.
               Mormon Crickets.--Was successful in getting over $20 
             million appropriated for Nevada.
               BLM California Trail Center in Elko.--Passed authorizing 
             legislation and secured more than $10 million to build the 
             center.
               Clark County Heliport.--Conveyed 230 acres to create a 
             new, dedicated facility. As a result, 100,000 people are 
             safer.
               Ivanpah Airport.--Authored and passed legislation that 
             designates 6,500 acres for a new long-haul airport.
               Clark County Land Bill.--In 2002, led Nevada delegation 
             to pass a comprehensive public lands management plan for 
             Clark County. This strong bipartisan legislation released 
             wilderness study areas to enhance economic opportunities 
             in Clark County while also adding 440,000 acres to the 
             national wilderness system.
               Lincoln County Land Bill.--Led Nevada delegation to pass 
             the largest wilderness bill in the history of Nevada. This 
             legislation designated over 768,000 acres in new 
             wilderness areas, including over 150,000 acres of the 
             Mormon Mountains. This legislation also provided new 
             authority for land sales to increase Lincoln County's tax 
             base.
               White Pine County Land Bill.--Senator Reid led the 
             Nevada delegation to pass legislation protecting 559,000 
             acres of incredible wilderness lands and provided a timely 
             economic boost to White Pine County. The bill also added 
             important protections to the land surrounding Great Basin 
             National Park, enlarged two State parks and a State 
             wildlife management area, and provided lands for the 
             future growth of the Ely Shoshone Tribe.
               Carson City Land Bill.--This legislation increases open 
             space opportunities and helps the city pursue its smart 
             growth plans. The bill includes a land exchange between 
             the city and the Forest Service, giving each entity land 
             that is more suited to its mission and management 
             abilities. The legislation also conveys the Silver Saddle 
             Ranch and Prison Hill to Carson City for continued public 
             use, with a conservation easement retained by the Bureau 
             of Land Management.
               Ely Native Seed Warehouse.--Currently under 
             construction, the Ely Native Seed Warehouse will hold 1 
             million pounds of native seed used to help reseed habitat 
             after fires.
               Fallon Plant Materials Center.--Secured funding for the 
             Center which will help develop resilient crops for the 
             Great Basin.
               Nevada Hunting Bill.--Restored each State's ability to 
             differentiate between in-state and out-of-state hunters 
             when selling game tags.
               Drop 2 Reservoir.--Passed legislation allowing 
             construction of a major water-saving reservoir east of San 
             Diego, which will allow southern Nevada to take 
             significant additional water from the Colorado River.
                   Rebuilt/Reconstructed Seven Bridges in Jarbidge
               Sloan Canyon.--In the Clark County land bill, created 
             the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area to preserve 
             the beautiful areas that bless southern Nevada.
               Clark County Shooting Park.--Conveyed 3,000 acres and 
             provided $60 million to develop the world's finest 
             shooting range.
               Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.--Protected 
             southern Nevada's most notable and beloved outdoor and 
             scenic area.
               Great Basin National Park.--Championed legislation that 
             created Nevada's first national park in 1986; secured 
             funding for and dedicated a new visitor's center in 2005; 
             and stopped two coal plants that would have wrecked the 
             park's incredible clean air.
               Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument.--In 2012, 
             Senator Reid authored and introduced legislation to 
             establish Nevada's only current national monument in the 
             north Las Vegas Valley. The legislation was passed in 2014 
             and created a 22,600 acre national monument that protects 
             the best collection of ice age mammal fossils in the 
             United States. The legislation also provided economic 
             development, and educational and recreation opportunities 
             throughout Clark County.
               Basin and Range National Monument.--President Obama used 
             his authority under the Antiquities Act on July 10, 2015, 
             to permanently protect more than 700,000 acres of land in 
             eastern Nevada as the Basin and Range National Monument. 
             Senator Reid advocated for years to protect this truly 
             special area where the Mojave Desert meets the Great 
             Basin, and Joshua trees and cactus give way to a sea of 
             sagebrush. It is home to desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, 
             elk, and pronghorn antelope. It is an area that provided 
             food and shelter for Native Americans, and one can see 
             their history today in incredible rock art panels there. 
             The Basin and Range Monument will also protect the 
             cultural integrity of world-renowned artist Michael 
             Heizer's expansive sculpture, ``City.''
               Lake Tahoe.--Hosted the first Tahoe Summit to help 
             preserve the lake's clarity; passed the original Lake 
             Tahoe Restoration Act; sent over $300 million in Federal 
             funds to help the lake.
               Fallon Water Treatment Plant.--Senator Reid secured 
             funding for the construction of the Fallon Water Treatment 
             Plant which opened in April 2004. The residents of Fallon 
             and the neighboring Naval Air Station had been subjected 
             to high levels of arsenic in their drinking water that 
             were 10 times greater than the national standard set by 
             the EPA.
               Walker Lake.--In line with Senator Reid's commitment to 
             protecting the environment and Nevada's natural resources, 
             saving Walker Lake is one of his top priorities. In 
             response, Senator Reid has secured more than $375 million 
             in Federal funds for efforts to preserve the lake.
               Truckee River Operating Agreement.--Senator Reid helped 
             negotiate the settlement for Truckee and Carson Rivers.
               Sparks Marina.--Senator Reid worked with the residents 
             and community leaders of Sparks and used his position in 
             the Senate to clean up the once-contaminated gravel pit 
             into the Sparks Marina. Now the Sparks Marina is a popular 
             recreational area used by thousands each year for boating, 
             fishing, and other outdoor activities.
               Two Million Acres of Wilderness Land.--Beginning with 
             the Nevada Wilderness Act of 1989, which designated 
             740,000 acres of land as protected wilderness, Senator 
             Reid has been devoted to protecting Nevada's wilderness. 
             To this date, he has continued working hard to turn more 
             than 2 million acres into protected wilderness. One of the 
             highlights of the Senator's efforts includes the Black 
             Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails Act of 2000 
             which provided 750,000 acres of wilderness in Nevada.
               Rural Water.--Secured more than $100 million to rural 
             water systems across Nevada to improve drinking water 
             quality and treatment systems.
               Water Security.--Enhanced Nevada's water security by 
             directly authorizing development of the All American 
             Canal, a critical piece in implementing the lower Colorado 
             River Basin multistate shortage agreement.
                            National Security and Veterans
               Secured Vital Funding for All of Nevada's Military 
             Installations.--Over the course of his tenure, Senator 
             Reid has secured millions for Nevada's troops, veterans, 
             military families, and installations. In fiscal year 2017, 
             Senator Reid worked to obtain over $204 million in Federal 
             funding for projects at the Nellis Air Force Base, Naval 
             Air Station Fallon, and Reno VA Medical Center. In 
             addition, $90 million was allocated nationwide for 
             construction of State veteran extended care facilities, 
             including one to eventually be built in Reno.
               Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC).--
             Successfully fought to keep Hawthorne Army Depot open 
             through the BRAC process and prevented the Nevada Air 
             National Guard from losing their C-130 aircraft. Senator 
             Reid's leadership position in the Senate was pivotal in 
             allowing him to appoint a Nevadan to the Commission.
               Nellis Air Force Base.--Secured more than $350 million 
             in funding for base infrastructure.
               Creech Air Force Base (Indian Springs).--Secured $128.8 
             million in funding for base infrastructure and for a new 
             Center of Excellence for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 
             (UAVs).
               Hawthorne Army Depot.--Secured over $59 million in 
             funding for base infrastructure and modernized 
             demilitarization facilities. Senator Reid also helped 
             protect the depot from closure during the BRAC process 
             saving hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in impact 
             for the community.
               Nevada National Guard (Army and Air).--Secured over $195 
             million in funding for base infrastructure and equipment.
               Cold War Heroes.--As part of the Omnibus Public Land 
             Management Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-11), Senator Reid secured 
             passage of the Cold War Historical Sites Study Act which 
             requires the Department of the Interior to evaluate sites 
             and resources for commemorating and interpreting the cold 
             war, including the Mount Charleston Plane Crash Memorial.
               Concurrent Receipt for Nevada's Veterans.--Senator Reid 
             was instrumental in getting concurrent receipt legislation 
             passed in 2004 that enabled our veterans with 100 percent 
             service-related disability to collect both disability and 
             military pay. The following year, Senator Reid won passage 
             of his amendment that expanded concurrent receipt to cover 
             America's disabled veterans rated as unemployable. This 
             issue has been a top priority of Nevada's 250,000 
             veterans, as well as veterans across the country.
               New Las Vegas Veterans Hospital.--Senator Reid has 
             secured more than $600 million for the construction of the 
             Veterans Administration's new Las Vegas Hospital and 
             Community Living Center on Pecos Road in north Las Vegas. 
             Additionally, the $75 million Mike O'Callaghan Federal 
             Hospital at Nellis Air Force Base opened its doors in 1994 
             due to Senator Reid's leadership.
               New VA Clinic in Laughlin, NV.--In January 2015, Senator 
             Reid announced the opening of a VA outreach clinic in 
             Laughlin, which will allow veterans in the southeast area 
             to more easily access high quality care. The Laughlin 
             Clinic will provide primary care for eligible veterans who 
             are appropriate for care at an outreach clinic as well as 
             some mental health and social work care.
               Nevada Test Site.--Maintained the Nevada Test Site as 
             part of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, and 
             provided appropriations of over $20 million annually.
               Urban Area Security Initiative.--Reinstated Las Vegas 
             onto the UASI (Urban Area Security Initiative) city list, 
             thereby securing millions in funding to help prepare and 
             protect the city from attack.
               Implemented the 9/11 Commission Recommendations.--As 
             majority leader, Senator Reid pushed to have the 
             recommendations of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission written 
             into law. This law made Nevadans and all Americans more 
             secure by: giving first responders the tools they need to 
             keep us safe; making it more difficult for potential 
             terrorists to travel into our country; advancing efforts 
             to secure our rail, air, and mass transit systems; and 
             improving intelligence and information sharing between 
             State, local, and Federal law enforcement agencies.
                                  Nevada's Judiciary
               Nevada Federal Courthouses and Buildings.--Senator Reid 
             secured more than $83 million in funding for construction 
             of a new Federal building for southern Nevada, the Lloyd 
             D. George Courthouse and Federal Building in Las Vegas. 
             Senator Reid was also instrumental in securing funding for 
             the Bruce R. Thompson Courthouse and Federal Building in 
             Reno.
               Mills B. Lane Justice Complex Security Upgrades.--
             Secured nearly $1 million for the Reno Municipal Court and 
             the Washoe County district attorney's security following 
             the 2006 sniper shooting.
                              Ethics and Lobbying Reform
               Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK 
             Act).--Senator Reid led the way in creating new reporting 
             requirement for Members of Congress and staff regarding 
             stock and commodity transactions.
               Honest Leadership and Open Government Act.--Senator Reid 
             authored the ``Honest Leadership and Open Government Act 
             of 2007,'' which passed on a bipartisan basis and was 
             signed into law by President George W. Bush. Senator 
             Reid's measure was recognized as one of the toughest and 
             most sweeping ethics reforms in a generation. Among the 
             many accomplishments of this law include:
              Closing the ``revolving door'' between government and 
               lobbyists by former Senators and staff
              Reforming and increasing transparency for earmarks and 
               conference reports
              Prohibiting pensions for Members of Congress convicted 
               of certain crimes
              Expanding the lobbying disclosure requirements
              Toughening limits on gifts and travel
                            Nevada Education and Research
               Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act.--Changed the 
             Federal student loan program from fixed interest rates to 
             rates based on the Treasury note plus a percentage for 
             undergraduate, graduate, or parent loans.
               GI Bill of Rights.--Under Senator Reid's leadership, the 
             post 9/11 GI bill of rights--the largest expansion of 
             educational benefits since the original GI bill of 
             rights--was passed.
               Teach for America.--Harry Reid worked to bring Teach for 
             America to Nevada, which has resulted in the hiring of 
             several hundred highly qualified teachers in the Clark 
             County School District.
               America COMPETES Act.--Harry Reid led passage of the 
             America COMPETES Act, bipartisan legislation to improve 
             math and science education and increase the Federal 
             commitment to research.
               UNR Fire Science Academy.--The Fire Science Academy 
             located in Carlin opened its doors in 1999. In cooperation 
             with the University of Nevada, Reno, Senator Reid 
             succeeded in getting the Department of Energy to award the 
             facility with $8 million in grant and appropriations 
             support.
               Nevada State College Campus.--In 2002, Senator Reid 
             successfully pushed through a land transfer in southern 
             Nevada that provided campus land for the newly created 
             Nevada State College.
               Desert Research Institute (DRI).--Secured more than $70 
             million in appropriations for projects.
               UNLV Super Computers.--Secured $2.7 million.
               UNR Earthquake Center and Biodiversity Study.--Secured 
             $2.5 and $7.5 million respectively.
               UNLV Research Park.--Conveyed 122 acres of Federal land 
             to UNLV Research Foundation for construction of a research 
             center and provided special authority to allow the 
             foundation to keep and reinvest 100 percent of any lease 
             revenues from the land.
               Dandini Research Park Conveyance Act.--Passed 
             legislation signed into law by President Bush transferring 
             a 467-acre parcel north of downtown Reno from the Bureau 
             of Land Management to the Board of Regents of the 
             University and Community College System of Nevada for use 
             by Truckee Meadows Community College and the Desert 
             Research Institute.
                                   Native Americans
               Indian Water Settlements.--Senator Reid has led the 
             legislative effort to quantify Indian water rights and 
             settle longstanding claims against the United States. The 
             Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe (1990), the Pyramid Lake 
             Paiute Tribe (1990), and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the 
             Duck Valley Reservation (2009) have been able to develop 
             their water rights and their economies because of these 
             settlements.
               Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Act.--Senator Reid 
             led efforts to enact a law ordering the United States to 
             distribute settlement funds resulting in the resolution of 
             the western Shoshone land and accounting claims against 
             the United States. The settlement funds, now totaling 
             nearly $160 million, will be distributed to an estimated 
             6,000 eligible Shoshones. They and their descendants will 
             be eligible for benefits from a $1.5 million educational 
             trust fund.
               Washoe Tribe: Additional Land for Residential and 
             Commercial Development.--As part of the Omnibus Public 
             Land Act of 2009, Senator Reid passed a measure to address 
             the Washoe Tribe's need for more land for residential and 
             commercial development. Under the bill, about 300 acres of 
             Forest Service and BLM land near the Carson and Stewart 
             Colonies will be conveyed to the Washoe Tribe, with nearly 
             half of those acres available for development.
               Ely Shoshone Tribe Land Transfer.--Senator Reid, working 
             with his Nevada colleagues in Congress passed the White 
             Pine County lands bill as part of a broad tax package in 
             2006. The bill transferred 3,526 acres to the Ely Shoshone 
             Tribe for traditional, ceremonial, commercial, and 
             residential purposes.
               Las Vegas Paiute Tribe Land.--In 1983, Senator Reid 
             (then in the U.S. House of Representatives) passed a 
             measure--which was signed into law by President Reagan--to 
             declare 3,850 acres of land held in trust by the Federal 
             Government would thereby be ``declared to be part of the 
             Las Vegas Paiute Reservation.''
                            Ensuring Equality for Nevadans
               ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell.''--As majority leader, Senator 
             Reid led passage of the repeal of ``don't ask, don't 
             tell.''

               Mr. REID. I am winding down, everybody. I know you are 
             glad, but it has been 34 years. I served with 281 
             different Senators during the time I have been here. I 
             have such fond memories of so many. There was the 
             hilarious and confident Fritz Hollings. I have never known 
             a better joke teller than Frank Lautenberg. I asked him to 
             tell the same story so many times, I could have told it. 
             He had one about two wrestlers, but I am not going to 
             repeat it. He was very funny. I am not going to go through 
             the whole Ted Kennedy list and all of that, but I have had 
             wonderful experiences with my Senate friends.
               When I came here as a Democratic Senator, there was only 
             one woman, Barbara Mikulski, and that was it. I am very 
             happy now that we have 17 Democratic women, and we have 4 
             Republican women. I want to make the record very clear 
             that the Senate is a better place because of women being 
             here. There is no question about that, for many different 
             reasons, but they have added so much to the Senate. The 
             only problem we have now is that there aren't enough of 
             them, but we did our best this go-round. We have four new 
             Democratic Senators.
               Leaders. I have already talked about Senator McConnell. 
             It has been my good fortune to have served with such good 
             leaders like Robert Byrd. I don't know if it is true. I 
             accept it because that is what I want to believe, but a 
             number of people told me I was his pet. As I said, I don't 
             know if I was or not, but he sure was good to me.
               George Mitchell, what a wonderful extemporaneous 
             speaker. He was the best. He was a Federal judge, U.S. 
             attorney, and a good man.
               I was a junior Senator and didn't have a lot of 
             interchange with Bob Dole when he was the leader, but I 
             have had a lot lately. He calls me to talk about some 
             issues he is working on now. One of the most moving times 
             of my life was when Dan Inouye was lying in state in the 
             Rotunda. Bob Dole called me and asked if I would go over 
             there with him, and I said of course I would. He was in a 
             wheelchair and somebody pushed him over there, and he 
             said, ``Stop.'' There was a little alcove there, and Bob 
             Dole, as hard as it was for him, walked over to the crypt 
             where Danny was and he climbed up on the bier and said, 
             ``Danny, I love you.'' If that doesn't bring a tear to 
             your eye, nothing will. I will always remember that.
               Trent Lott was a really good leader. He was extremely 
             conservative but extremely pragmatic. We got lots of stuff 
             done. I was Senator Daschle's point person to get 
             legislation out of this body, and we did some really good 
             things.
               Tom Daschle always gave me lots of room to do things. I 
             can remember one occasion when I was the whip, I thought 
             he had been too generous with one of the other Senators 
             and I complained. He said, ``Look, you are going to make 
             this whip job whatever you want it to be.'' I took him at 
             his word, and I did. I never left the floor. When the 
             Senate opened, I was here, and when it was closed, I was 
             here.
               Bill Frist is a fine human being. I really cared for him 
             a lot. He wasn't an experienced legislator, but that is 
             OK. He is an experienced human being, and I liked him a 
             lot. I already talked about Mitch.
               Diversity. We don't have enough diversity in the Senate, 
             but I do take credit for creating a diversity office here 
             with Democrats. Senator Schumer has indicated he will 
             continue that, and I am very happy he will do that. I 
             repeat, we don't have enough diversity.
               I want to tell everyone here I am grateful to all of my 
             Democratic Senators. They have been so good to me during 
             my time as leader, but I have to mention Dick Durbin. He 
             and I came here together 34 years ago. He has been so 
             supportive of me. He has been my ``Cousin Jeff.'' Can I 
             tell the story? Here I go.
               My brother still lives in Searchlight, and he is an 
             interesting man. He had a girlfriend there who was married 
             and brought her home one night.
               Her husband or boyfriend, whatever it was, jumped out of 
             the tree on my brother's back, and they had a fight. My 
             brother won. So a couple of weeks later, he is at the 49er 
             Club, a bar, a little place in Searchlight. He is having a 
             beer, whatever he drinks.
               He looks around, and he sees the guy he beat up, but the 
             guy has a couple of people with him. He knew why they were 
             there. They were there to work him over. He said, ``What 
             am I going to do?'' Just about then a miracle happened. 
             Our Cousin Jeff walked in. He hadn't been to Searchlight 
             for a couple of years. But Cousin Jeff was known as being 
             a really tough guy.
               So Larry said, ``Here's the deal.''
               Cousin Jeff looked them over and went over to the 
             biggest one, grabbed his nose, twisted it as hard as he 
             could. He said, ``Do you guys want any part of me or my 
             cousin Larry?''
               They said, ``No.'' They left.
               The reason I mention that--the reason I say Dick Durbin 
             is my Cousin Jeff--I was in my office watching the floor, 
             and Mitch McConnell was up there. I was so damn mad. He 
             was talking about stuff. I was mad. I called my office: 
             ``Why don't we have somebody out there saying something?''
               They said, ``Senator, that was recorded earlier today. 
             We are out of session.''
               So Dick Durbin has been my man, my Cousin Jeff. Whenever 
             I have a problem, I call Dick Durbin, and he can come. 
             Dick Durbin can talk about anything, and it sounds good. 
             OK.
               Chuck Schumer. My kids said, ``Make sure you tell 
             everybody about how smart you think he is.'' OK. I am 
             going to do it. One day I said to Chuck Schumer--we have 
             known each other for a long time. But I said, ``How the 
             hell did you ever get into Harvard?''
               He said, ``It helped that I got a perfect SAT and a 
             perfect LSAT.''
               That is true. He did. He is a brilliant man. He has a 
             big heart. He works extremely hard. He has been so good to 
             me. We have worked together. He took a job he did not 
             want, the chair of the DSCC twice, but it worked out 
             great. We were able to get the majority. So I will always 
             have great affection for him, and I wish him well in being 
             my replacement. I am confident he will do a good job. He 
             will not be me, but he will go a good job.
               My staff. We checked yesterday--my staff did. It is hard 
             to comprehend how many people I have had work for me over 
             34 years--almost 3,000, everybody. I feel so strongly 
             about my staff. They are my family. I really do believe 
             that. I feel they are my family. Chiefs of staff--I 
             haven't had that many, surprisingly, over 34 years. Claude 
             Zobell, Ray Martinez, Susan McCue, Gary Myrick, David 
             Krone, Drew Willison, and, of course, Dave McCallum, who 
             has done so much to make sure I did not overspin things, 
             and my utility man, Bill Dauster. He can catch, pitch, 
             play any position on the field. He has been great for me. 
             I appreciate Bill's work very much.
               Thank you, Adelle, because I would be so embarrassed if 
             I did not say something about Patty Murray. She has been 
             part of this little leadership team I have had. We have 
             never had anything like this before in the Senate. The 
             leaders prior to me did it all on their own. But I have 
             had these three wonderful human beings helping me for all 
             these years.
               We meet every Monday night and get set up for the caucus 
             on Tuesday, leadership meetings on Tuesday. So, Patty, you 
             and Rob, I just care so much about. I want you to know how 
             I appreciate your loyalty, your hard work. You have taken 
             some jobs that you did not want to take: a budget job, 
             that super--whatever the hell it was called. That was 
             awful. I don't know how long she is going to live, but 
             that took a few years off her life. You and Rob have been 
             great. Loretta is my friend. Iris I love. So thank you 
             very much, you guys.
               I have told everyone on my staff, with rare exception: 
             You represent me. If you are on the phone, when you answer 
             that phone, you are representing me. You are as if you are 
             Harry Reid on the phone. I say the same to those who 
             speak, write, and advocate for me. They represent me. They 
             have done so well. They have helped me in good times and 
             bad times.
               What is the future of the Senate? I hope that everyone 
             will do everything they can to protect the Senate as an 
             institution. As part of our Constitution, it should be 
             given the dignity it deserves. I love the Senate. I don't 
             need to dwell on that. I love the Senate. I care about it 
             so very much. I have enjoyed Congress for 34 years. As the 
             leader of the Senate, I have had such joy and times of 
             awe. Wow. What are we going to do now?
               That is what these jobs are like. They are so 
             exhilarating, until, oh, man, something happens, and I 
             think all of you have done as I have just said: Wow. What 
             are we going to do now?
               The Senate has changed, some for the good, some for the 
             bad. I want to say this, though. It is not the same as 
             when I first came here. There is change in everything. The 
             biggest change has been the use of the filibuster. I do 
             hope my colleagues are able to temper their use of the 
             filibuster; otherwise it will be gone. It will be gone 
             first on nominations, then it will be gone on legislation. 
             This is something that you have to work on together 
             because if you continue to use it the way it has been used 
             recently, it is really going to affect this institution a 
             lot.
               Something has to be done about the outrageous amount of 
             money from sources that are dark, unknown, and now 
             involved in our Federal elections. The Citizens United 
             case in January 2010--if this does not change and if we 
             don't do something about this vast money coming into our 
             elections, in a couple of more election cycles, we are 
             going to be just like Russia. We are going to have a 
             plutocracy--a few rich guys telling our leader what to do.
               Leonard Cohen, who recently died, was one of America's 
             great music geniuses. He recently died, as I said. In one 
             of his songs called ``Anthem,'' he says it all:

               There is a crack in everything (there is a crack in 
             everything)
               That's how the light gets in

               That is what he said. I believe there are cracks in what 
             is happening with the huge amount of money currently in 
             Federal elections and excessive partisanship. The cracks 
             are that the American people don't like it. They don't 
             like this money. They don't like the partisanship. So 
             there are cracks--cracks, I repeat--because the American 
             people are complaining big time about excessive use of 
             money and objecting to the partisanship. That is the 
             crack. That is how the light is going to get in. That is 
             how America has an opportunity to become a better place, 
             where money will not control our political system over 
             partisanship.
               So just a little bit of advice to my colleagues: It has 
             worked OK for me. It does not matter if I am in Elko, 
             really a conservative place in Nevada, 400 miles from Las 
             Vegas. If a question is asked of me in Elko, I give the 
             same answer there as I give in Las Vegas. We should all do 
             that.
               People in Nevada have never had to weigh how I stand on 
             an issue. I tell them how I feel. That is why I have never 
             had any big-bang elections. People at least know how I 
             stand. People don't necessarily like how I vote, what I 
             talk about, but at least they know how I feel. I think 
             that is good advice for everybody. At least that has 
             worked well for me.
               What is your formula for success? What do you recommend? 
             I tell them the same thing about working hard. Of course 
             that is important. Of course it is important, but also 
             stay true to who you are--your roots.
               Now my social life. My time in Washington has been 
             different than that of many. I am not saying it is better, 
             but it has been different. Every year there are galas: 
             White House Correspondents' Dinner, the Gridiron Club 
             Dinner, Radio and Correspondents' Dinner, Alfalfa Club. So 
             during my 34 years in Congress, I had approximately 135-
             136 of these. I have attended one of them. For me, that 
             was enough.
               I have attended one congressional picnic in 34 years. 
             That was because my son Key had a girlfriend named Maile 
             and he wanted to impress her. I guess he did because they 
             are married. But one was enough for me.
               I have attended one State dinner. That is because I had 
             a son who spent 2 years in Argentina. I wanted him to meet 
             the President of Argentina. I did that for my son Rory. 
             But one was enough. I have not been to another one. I have 
             never been to a White House Congressional Ball. That is 
             going to be held tonight. I guess I am inquisitive of how 
             it would be, but I don't want to go.
               I have seen one World Series. That was enough. I have 
             been to one Super Bowl. That was plenty. I have flown once 
             in an F-18. That was enough. Over the years, I have gone 
             to hundreds of fundraisers for my friends and colleagues, 
             but everyone has to acknowledge, I can get in and out of 
             those pretty quick.
               Let me talk about the press a little bit and their 
             responsibility, as I see it. We are entering a new gilded 
             age, and it has never been more important to be able to 
             distinguish between what is real and what is fake. We have 
             lawmakers pushing for tax cuts for billionaires and 
             calling it populism. We have media outlets pushing 
             conspiracy theories disguised as news.
               Separating real from fake has never been more important. 
             I have met him, but I wish I could sit down and talk to 
             him sometime because I so admire Pope Francis. Here is 
             what he said yesterday: ``The media that focuses on 
             scandals and spreads fake news to smear politicians risks 
             becoming like people who have a morbid fascination with 
             excrement.''
               That is what Pope Francis said. He added that using 
             communications for this rather than to educate the public 
             amounted to a sin.
               Well, he can categorize sin; I can't. But I agree with 
             him on what he said. I acknowledge the importance of the 
             press. I admire what you do and understand the challenges 
             ahead of you. But be vigilant, because you have as much to 
             do with our democracy as any branch of government. This is 
             best understood by listening to what George Orwell had to 
             say a long time ago: ``Freedom of the press, if it means 
             anything at all, means the freedom to criticize and 
             oppose.''
               So, press, criticize and oppose. Please do that.
               This really is the end of my speech. I have five 
             children: Lana, Rory, Leif, Josh, and Key. They have been 
             role models for me and for Landra. They were role models. 
             We learned from them when we were young, and we are still 
             learning from them. We appreciate the exemplary lives they 
             have lived. I am confident, hopeful, and determined to 
             make sure that they understand how much affection and 
             admiration I have for each of them, for their wonderful 
             spouses, and our 19 grandchildren.
               OK. Here goes. Whatever success I had in my educational 
             life, my life as a lawyer, and my life as a politician, 
             including my time in Congress, is directly attributable to 
             my Landra, my wife. We met when Landra was a sophomore in 
             high school and I was a junior. That was more than six 
             decades ago. We married at the age of 19. As I have said, 
             we have 5 children, and we have 19 wonderful 
             grandchildren.
               She has been the being of my existence in my personal 
             life and my public life. Disraeli, the great prime 
             minister said in 1837--listen to what he said: ``The magic 
             of first love is that it never ends.'' I believe that. She 
             is my first love. It will never end. Landra and I have 
             talked. We understand we are going to have a different 
             life. We have said and we believe that we are not going to 
             dwell on the past. We will be involved in the past any way 
             we need to be, but we are going to look to the future.
               I wish everyone the best. I am sorry I have talked so 
             long. I usually don't do that. I thank everyone for 
             listening to my speech. I appreciate my wonderful family 
             being here, my friends, my staff, and each of you. Thank 
             you for your friendships over the years.
               (Applause, Senators rising.)
?

                                           

                                      TRIBUTES

                                         TO

                                     HARRY REID
                              Proceedings in the Senate
                                           Wednesday, November 30, 2016
               Mrs. BOXER. Senator Reid, my leader, I can't tell you 
             how humble I feel to hear you talk about my career and to 
             put it, in many ways, in a historic place.
               I am going to have a lot to say about your career, what 
             you have meant to me. Today I won't get into it, but you 
             are a man--you just don't throw words around. I know how 
             humble you are because every time I try to praise you, 
             even in a situation with just a few people around you, you 
             look down like you are doing now. It makes you 
             uncomfortable. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. So 
             here is what I am going to say today. I am going to make 
             you uncomfortable in the near future when I talk about 
             your career and what it has meant to me. But today, 
             hearing you talk about what you just said, weaving our 
             friendship, our work together, and our family friendship 
             has meant a lot to me.
               Obviously, I am going to miss you, but I will say this. 
             As we enter into uncharted territories in terms of 
             politics, I know you and I are not going to lose our 
             voices. We will have a platform. We are not leaving 
             because we are tired of the fight. We are not leaving 
             because we have nothing more to say, we are leaving 
             because we think it is time for the next generation. I 
             look forward to working with you in the future--and I mean 
             that sincerely--just fighting for the things we care 
             about, whether it is Lake Tahoe or whether it is clean 
             air, whether it is fighting against the ravages of climate 
             change, whether it is fighting for the right of the 
             American people, from children to seniors, to have 
             affordable health care. We are not going into the 
             wilderness. That I was able to protect more than a million 
             acres--I am so proud you mentioned that.
               Today you have humbled me with your words. I will always 
             be your sister. Thank you very much.
               I yield the floor.
                                              Tuesday, December 6, 2016
                Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, in the interest of time, I 
             will limit my remarks.
                I rise this afternoon to commend and salute three 
             Senators from the Democratic caucus who are leaving the 
             Senate this year. I will have longer written statements 
             for the Record to appropriately pay tribute to their 
             service. In alphabetical order, Senator Boxer of 
             California, Senator Mikulski of Maryland, and Senator Reid 
             of Nevada.
                I will offer some specific remarks about Leader Reid, 
             in the interest of time, but I do want to commend and 
             salute Senator Boxer for her service to the people of 
             California and to our Nation, as well Senator Mikulski for 
             her great work--two great advocates, two individuals whom 
             we are going to miss terribly here in the Senate. As I 
             said, I will put longer statements in the Record.
                With regard to Senator Reid, I can't help taking the 
             time to say a few words about him in the remaining minutes 
             we have before we break for the caucus lunches.
                Mr. President, as many people know, Senator Harry Reid 
             is a son of Searchlight, a small community in the State of 
             Nevada, and he comes from humble beginnings. It is 
             probably best to read his words about his beginnings 
             rather than trying to describe or encapsulate them. Among 
             many things he said about his background and his family, 
             he said this, in short fashion, about his background: ``My 
             dad was a hard rock miner. My mom took in wash. I grew up 
             around people of strong values.''
                That is a direct quotation from Harry Reid about his 
             background. I think those values have helped him his whole 
             life. Those values, that work ethic, and that strength of 
             character allowed him to go from Searchlight to rise up to 
             become a leader in his home State of Nevada in many 
             positions in State government, to be a Member of the U.S. 
             House of Representatives, later to be elected to the U.S. 
             Senate in 1986, and then, of course, to become the 
             Democratic leader--and he remains so until the end of this 
             Congress--but, of course, the pinnacle was his service as 
             majority leader, one of the longest serving majority 
             leaders in our history. That is kind of a summary of his 
             positions in government, important though they are, 
             leading a large and diverse caucus. It is a difficult job 
             whether you are leading that caucus in the majority or 
             leading it as the minority party. So we salute and commend 
             his service to his home State of Nevada and to the people 
             of the United States.
                But maybe more important than just talking about 
             positions he held is to talk for just a minute about who 
             he is--a fighter. No person has fought harder for workers 
             and for their families than Harry Reid. No Senator, no 
             person I know in public life, has made that such a central 
             part of who they are and a central part of their 
             priorities, also, at the same time, being a fighter for 
             those who often don't have a voice here--people who don't 
             have power ever in their lives or often don't have power 
             on a regular basis. They always had a friend in Harry 
             Reid--someone who would go to the end of the Earth 
             fighting on behalf of them.
                Over and over in our caucus, he would say: ``We have to 
             work on this issue,'' or we have to get this or that done 
             for people who are hurting. There are so many different 
             examples of that, which we don't have time to enumerate 
             them today.
                I am recalling today a great line from a great 
             Democratic leader, William Jennings Bryan, who talked 
             about the power of one individual to make a difference and 
             the power of an issue or set of issues to drive that 
             person's success in public life or even beyond public 
             life, as a citizen. William Jennings Bryan once said: 
             ``The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the 
             armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts 
             of error.'' So said William Jennings Bryan about one 
             citizen clad in the armor of a righteous cause.
                Harry Reid is a Senator and he has been a leader, but 
             he is also a very humble man at his core. His righteous 
             cause wasn't just one issue, but if you had to encapsulate 
             it or summarize it, the righteous cause for Harry Reid was 
             fighting on behalf of those workers, fighting on behalf of 
             those people who did not ever have power in their lives.
                His ability to not just articulate their concerns and 
             their struggles but literally their hopes and their dreams 
             was one of the reasons why so many of us have such a high 
             regard for him. We commend and salute his service. We 
             appreciate his commitment to strong values, but we 
             especially appreciate his steadfast support for those who 
             needed his voice, who needed his work, who needed his 
             votes, and needed his leadership.
                To Senator Reid, we say thank you for your service, 
             thank you for what you did for your home State of Nevada, 
             and thank you for what you did for the United States of 
             America.
                                            Wednesday, December 7, 2016
                Mrs. BOXER. ... Having a leader who has your back is 
             essential. A good leader knows and understands each member 
             of his caucus and where they draw the line. Harry is so 
             humble. Whenever you talk about him, he puts his head 
             down.
                Harry, could you just look at me for a second?
                A good leader knows when to speak up and when to 
             listen. A good leader knows when to pick up the gloves and 
             fight like hell. That is what Harry Reid has done. He is 
             not a show horse; he is a workhorse.
                He is a soft-spoken man. How many of us have to say: 
             ``Harry, could you speak up?'' He is a soft-spoken man of 
             a few words, but he chooses his words wisely, and he 
             chooses his fights wisely. He doesn't seek the spotlight. 
             When it comes to standing up for what is right, he is 
             right there when others try to slip out of the room.
                Harry has not only been an extraordinary leader and 
             colleague, he and his wife, Landra, have been close and 
             treasured friends of me and my husband, Stewart. I call 
             him the brother I never had, and he calls me the sister he 
             never had. He treats me like a sister; he always hangs up 
             on me when I call him. He never calls on me when I madly 
             wave my hand at caucus. You know, I am like a sister. You 
             don't have to worry, the love will be there. I am forever 
             grateful for his leadership and his friendship.
                Another quality of Harry Reid is that he encouraged 
             women to run for the Senate. Once we got here, he made 
             sure we had major responsibilities. Harry, you will go 
             down in history for that.

               Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I wish to honor our 
             colleagues who are leaving us at the end of this Congress, 
             six individuals who have done a lot to shape how the 
             Senate operates today.
               First I would like to thank my three Republican 
             colleagues who are departing. Thank you not only for your 
             service to our country but your willingness to work with 
             me and other members of my party on a number of issues. 
             ...
               I would also like to speak to three of my closest 
             colleagues on our side of the aisle.
               Over the past 24 years, I have had the pleasure of 
             serving in the Senate with Harry Reid, Barbara Mikulski, 
             and Barbara Boxer, and I am grateful not just for our 
             working relationships but for the close friendships I have 
             formed with each of them.
               Mr. President, Senator Reid has served in Congress since 
             1983, and he has been our party's leader for the past 
             decade. Despite more than three decades in Washington, 
             Senator Reid still retains the values instilled in him 
             while growing up in Searchlight, NV. Often described as a 
             tough fighter, he has respect from both sides of the aisle 
             for being a consensus builder who is willing to constantly 
             work to find a deal.
               One issue on which Senator Reid and I share a passion is 
             Lake Tahoe, the High Sierra lake that straddles the 
             California-Nevada border.
               Twenty years ago, Harry invited President Bill Clinton 
             to announce a major commitment to restoring the health of 
             Lake Tahoe. That first summit launched a public-private 
             partnership that has now invested $1.2 billion in 
             conservation and restoration projects around the lake.
               This year, Senator Reid told me he wanted to turn the 
             annual summit into a celebration by inviting President 
             Obama to speak. The event was a huge success, with more 
             than 7,000 people attending.
               I will miss Harry's passion and leadership, but if 
             anyone deserves a break, it is him. ...
                                             Thursday, December 8, 2016
               Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, it seems like any speech 
             about the Democratic leader requires a mention of 
             Searchlight, NV. There is a reason why that is. You cannot 
             begin to understand the man until you understand where it 
             all began, and here is where it began--a tiny mining town 
             at the southern tip of Nevada. One teacher. Zero indoor 
             plumbing. Miles of desert. That is Searchlight, at least 
             the Searchlight Harry Reid knew when he was growing up. It 
             is the kind of place where you might learn to drive at 13 
             or spend your summer roping cattle with a cowboy named 
             ``Sharky.'' In fact, if your name is ``Harry Reid,'' that 
             is exactly what you did.
               Harry grew up in a tiny wooden shack with a tin roof. He 
             hitchhiked more than 40 miles to school and had a father 
             who toiled in the hard rock mines. It goes without saying 
             this was not an easy life. It taught some tough lessons, 
             but Harry had his escapes. He found one in the snap and 
             crackle of his radio.
               Searchlight didn't exactly have a radio station of its 
             own, but every now and then, Harry could pick up a faint 
             signal from California. During the regular season, it 
             carried his favorite baseball team, the Indians. He can 
             still rattle off Cleveland's 1948 roster. Just ask him.
               Harry himself played some baseball. He was the catcher 
             in high school, and during his sophomore year, Harry's 
             team was crowned Nevada State champions. Later, after a 
             close game on the California coast, his team won the 
             Nevada-Arizona-California tristate playoffs as well. Harry 
             still treasures the big white jackets each member of the 
             team received, not because, understand, he was the best 
             player on the team--Harry says he wasn't--but because of 
             what that jacket represented: his hard work, his 
             contributions, his worth.
               Like many young men, Harry once dreamed of a life in the 
             majors, of cheering crowds and commissioner's trophies. So 
             did I. I wanted to throw fastballs for the Dodgers. Harry 
             wanted to play center field at Fenway. We wound up as 
             managers of two unruly franchises instead.
               As the leaders of our parties, we are charged with 
             picking the batting order, controlling the pitch 
             selection, and trying our best to manage 100 opening-day 
             starters. It isn't always easy. As Harry has often pointed 
             out, baseball represents a nice reprieve from the serious 
             work of the Senate. So no matter how contentious the issue 
             before us, we try to put politics aside--at least 
             briefly--to trade our views on the Nats and Bryce Harper. 
             Harry is probably looking forward to having even more time 
             to dedicate as a fan of the sport and never having to miss 
             another game because of votes.
               If there is one thing Harry loves more than baseball, it 
             is his wife Landra and the family they built together. 
             When Harry first met Landra Gould, the two of them were in 
             high school, and Harry was hardly conflicted about his 
             feelings for her. He recalled: ``She looked like she 
             belonged in the movies. She was smart [too]. And she'd 
             been places. Out of my league, that's for sure.''
               But if there is one thing we know about Harry, he 
             doesn't give up easily. It wasn't long before the two of 
             them were heading off on their first date. As many dates 
             do, it started with a movie and ended--as no dates do--
             with Landra push-starting his car. Harry worried, as many 
             of us might, that this could well be their first date and 
             their last date. But then he looked over at Landra. She 
             smiled as she pushed along beside him. He said it was the 
             kind of smile that said: Who cares about the car? I am 
             with you. It was a smile that has stayed with him ever 
             since. Harry said: ``There are moments that turn a life 
             ... that stay with you until the last breath, [and] this 
             was one of those moments for me.''
               The Reids have never been strangers to pushing through 
             challenges. They have confronted a lot over nearly six 
             decades in marriage. But hand in hand, sweat on the brow, 
             they have always moved forward together. Through it all, 
             Landra has never stopped smiling and Harry has never 
             stopped counting every lucky star for Landra. His idea of 
             the perfect night out is still a quiet night in with her. 
             Landra is his confidant, his high school sweetheart, and 
             his best friend. She is his everything. For a guy who grew 
             up with nothing, that is something.
               Harry Reid didn't have an easy childhood. He faced 
             tragedy from a young age. There were times when he just 
             wanted to leave Searchlight and never look back, but these 
             experiences helped shape him too. This is a guy who has 
             seen it all. He has been on the wrong side of electoral 
             nail biters, and he has been on the other side of them 
             too. He even won a primary against somebody named ``God 
             Almighty.''
               Harry will now retire as the longest serving U.S. 
             Senator from his State with some three decades of Senate 
             service behind him. It is clear that Harry and I have two 
             very different world views, two different ways of doing 
             things, and two different sets of legislative priorities, 
             but through the years we have come to understand some 
             things about one another, and we have endeavored to keep 
             our disagreements professional rather than personal. We 
             have also found some common ground through baseball.
               I hardly know what it is like to serve here without 
             Harry--he came into office just a couple short years after 
             I did--but I do know this: Come next month, you will know 
             where to find him. He will be right next to Landra, 
             writing new chapters, making new memories, and continuing 
             a love story that began with a smile more than 50 years 
             ago.
               Today the Senate recognizes the Democratic leader for 
             his many years of service to Nevada, to the country, and 
             to his party. We wish him and Landra the best as they set 
             off on their next journey.

               Mr. REID. Mitch, thank you very much for those nice 
             remarks.
               Mr. President, I have heard for years--especially from 
             the press and others--how do you get along with Mitch 
             McConnell? It is obvious it is not very good.
               It is simple, everybody. He and I understand our 
             relationship. We are both lawyers. I have been to court 
             lots of times, over 100 jury trials, and when I would go 
             to those trials, I would really fix on my opponent. How 
             could he feel that way about an issue? He is wrong on the 
             law, he is wrong on the facts, and we are going to take 
             care of this in court.
               Fortunately, I was fairly blessed with my trials; it 
             turned out OK most of the time. But Mitch and I understand 
             that is what we do here. When the trial was over--I have 
             walked out of a courtroom with Neil Galatz or whoever it 
             was--it was over with. It was gone. We were friends. We 
             were there, each doing our thing to effect our cause, and 
             that is what we do here.
               McConnell and Reid don't need to be hugging out here 
             every day. That is not what we do. We are advocates for 
             our cause. I do the very best I can; he does the very best 
             he can. He laid that out just fine a few minutes ago.
               So this is not a love session for Reid and McConnell, 
             although I want everyone here to know that Mitch McConnell 
             is my friend. He and his wonderful wife have been kind and 
             thoughtful to us. I have said that before; let me repeat 
             it. When Landra was in that very dreadful accident, they 
             were there--letters, flowers. They took care of us. When 
             Landra had the devastating breast cancer, they were there. 
             When I hurt myself, Mitch called me.
               So everybody go ahead and make up all the stories you 
             want about how we hate each other. Go ahead. But we don't. 
             If it makes a better story, go ahead and do it, but maybe 
             somebody should write this.
               Thank you very much, Mitch.
               OK, everybody, now my final speech. [See farewell 
             address, p. ix.]

                Mr. HELLER. Mr. President, I stand in front of you to 
             commemorate the long life and service of a fellow Nevadan 
             who has given his all to serve our State and this country.
                It has been said it is better to be feared than loved 
             if you cannot be both. My colleagues in the Senate and 
             those in the gallery probably agree with me, no individual 
             in politics embodies that sentiment today more than my 
             colleague from Nevada, Harry Mason Reid.
                Today I am on the floor to pay respect to Senate 
             Minority Leader Harry Reid, after 30 years of service in 
             this Chamber, in addition to the years of public service 
             before entering into the Senate.
                I know Harry is notorious for his short conversations--
             minus today--for hanging up the phone before our 
             conversations end, and sometimes even midsentence, so I 
             will try to keep my comments respectfully short.
                Before I truly get into the speech, I must first 
             recognize Harry's family. As a public official, very often 
             it is time with your family that is most often sacrificed 
             the most, and it is very true, as stated by a leader in 
             our shared faith when he said, ``Nothing compensates for 
             failure in the home.''
                Harry has been keenly aware of this fact and he shows 
             his adoration. He has shown it for his wife Landra and his 
             five children: Lana, Rory, Leif, Josh, and Key. He has 
             made sure to keep a very close bond with his wife, his 
             children, and grandchildren. That is something we all 
             respect and something I wish to emulate.
                So what can I say? It is an end of an era for my home 
             State of Nevada. Harry has devoted his entire adult life 
             to one cause, the State of Nevada and serving it.
                Trust me, though we have had our differences when it 
             came to our State, I can attest to one thing; that is, 
             there is no stronger partner to serve the people of Nevada 
             than Harry Reid.
                It has been said victorious leaders feel the 
             alternative to winning is totally unacceptable so they 
             figure out what must be done to achieve victory, and then 
             they go after it with everything at their disposal. I 
             believe that describes Harry Reid in a nutshell.
                Another measure of success, something Harry and I have 
             found amusing in the past, is being blamed for all 
             things--all that is good, all that is bad, and all that is 
             ugly. Let me assure you, Harry has been blamed for a lot, 
             some fairly and some unfairly.
                Senator Reid has served in every level of government, 
             from city attorney, the State assembly, Lieutenant 
             Governor, U.S. Congressman, and Senator. As a Senator, he 
             is one of only three to serve at least 8 years as majority 
             leader. Even in retirement, due to his far-reaching 
             influence in just about every facet of State, local, and 
             Federal Government, I totally expect he will operate as 
             Nevada's third Senator.
                After 26 elections, Harry knows a thing or two about 
             representing his constituency. He is one of the sharpest 
             tactical minds ever to enter the political arena. Having 
             worked together over the years, my hope is that we have 
             sent a message, not only to all Nevadans but to everyone 
             across this country, that two people who you can tell 
             differ on many opinions can work well together, get things 
             done for their constituents when both are willing.
                That is why it is fitting this week that the Lake Tahoe 
             Restoration Act will pass the Senate and will be sent to 
             the President's desk to be signed into law. After fighting 
             for years to refocus Federal policy on the 21st century 
             threats to the lake, we teamed up to ensure important work 
             that preserves the ``Jewel of the Sierra'' for future 
             generations and that it will advance.
                One of Harry's lasting legacies will be that he and I 
             worked to improve water clarity, reduce wildfire threats, 
             jump start transportation and infrastructure projects, and 
             combat invasive species at Lake Tahoe. Because of this 
             work, Lake Tahoe has once again been made a national 
             priority.
                Another policy initiative that we worked together on 
             was the fight against Yucca Mountain. Harry, rest assured, 
             I will continue to fight Yucca. My mantra is borrowed from 
             one of your late friends, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, 
             when he said: ``The work goes on, the cause endures. ...''
                We will not allow Nevada to turn into America's nuclear 
             dump against the will of its own people.
                Harry, you share the Nevada values such as faith in 
             God, hard work, and commitment to family. I know, because 
             you displayed these values at home, at work, and at 
             church. In fact, actually, that is how we first met Harry. 
             It was during his tenure as Lieutenant Governor when he 
             spent time in Carson City. Our families were able to meet 
             each other and become friends. Eventually, I became very 
             good friends with his son Leif. Harry, your dedication to 
             family is extraordinary and it serves as a model to all of 
             us.
                I would be remiss if I didn't share a couple of my 
             favorite Harry Reid stories. There are a lot of them. 
             There are a few I cannot share, there are a few I can so I 
             will share with you the ones I can.
                Before serving in the Senate, I was elected to the 
             House of Representatives in 2007, until my appointment to 
             the Senate in 2011. Late one evening, I was sitting in my 
             office with my chief of staff, Mac Abrams, discussing a 
             few last-minute details before leaving for the day. It 
             must have been near the end of the week because staffers 
             in the House offices were milling around the hall 
             celebrating a birthday party, enjoying each other's 
             company, playing loud music, and taking a few moments to 
             relax. I was having a hard time keeping the noise from the 
             halls out of my office because of the thin walls. All of a 
             sudden, it was as if it all stopped immediately. A quiet 
             hush came over the crowd. It became so quiet, to the point 
             I could hear a small echoing--tap, tap, tap. The taps were 
             magnified. The hallway, which was previously full of life, 
             just immediately died. I began to walk toward the hall to 
             see what it was. I could tell the tapping noise was the 
             sound of footsteps. As they grew louder and closer, I 
             barely heard a peep in that hallway. Sure enough, the next 
             sound I heard was the doorknob to my office turning, and 
             in walks Harry: ``Hi, Dean. Do you have a few minutes?'' 
             To me, that story illustrates how much presence Harry has 
             and the respect he commands no matter where he is. He 
             quieted an entire hallway full of lively staffers by just 
             passing through and walking down that hallway.
                The second story occurred more recently. We were in 
             Harry's office on a January morning soon after I was 
             elected to my first full term. During that campaign, Harry 
             and his special friends gave me 12 million reasons why I 
             shouldn't be standing there in his office that day, but, 
             hey, this is the Senate and collegiality reigns supreme so 
             I was at that breakfast because our constituents were 
             there.
                Harry and I have known each other for many years, and 
             he made it a point to tell those in attendance how close 
             we were. We were having a good breakfast. He gets up to 
             tell everyone how long he had known me, some of my 
             background--but he kept highlighting how close we were.
                So after his short speech--a little shorter than 
             today--Harry looks at me, offers for me to say a few of my 
             own words. So I just got up in the front of the room and 
             made sure that everybody knew I could attest that at least 
             one Reid voted for me--Harry's son Leif. The look on 
             Harry's face was priceless. Seeing Harry process the fact 
             that there was a Reid who voted for me is a memory seared 
             in my brain forever.
                For me, this speech is not a goodbye because I know we 
             will be seeing you back home in our great State. Harry, 
             people, like me, may disagree with you at times, but we 
             will always respect you for three things: your devotion to 
             your family, your service to our State and Nation, and 
             your commitment to fighting for what you believe in.
                This Chamber has been blessed with some of the greatest 
             men and women who have ever served our Republic. Today I 
             recognize and rise to recognize your place among these 
             figures and hope your career will give inspiration to a 
             young child from Carson City or Searchlight or anywhere 
             else in Nevada to follow in your footsteps.
                Again, congratulations on your career. We, the people 
             of Nevada, thank you for your service. Lynne and I wish 
             you and Landra all the best in the years ahead--and as 
             your new senior Senator, I hope I can count on your vote.
                I yield the floor.

                The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Rubio). The assistant 
             Democratic leader.

                Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I wish to say a few words 
             about Harry Reid, our departing, retiring, Democratic 
             leader. It is appropriate he is not on the floor because 
             it is painful for him to sit and hear anybody say anything 
             nice about him. I am sure he is going to be happy not 
             hearing these words, but I want the rest of the folks 
             following the proceedings in the Senate to hear them.
                I was first elected to the House of Representatives the 
             same year as Harry, 1982. A friend of mine, who is an 
             attorney in Chicago named Ed Joyce, said, ``Be sure and 
             look up this Harry Reid from Nevada because he is a great 
             fellow and a great lawyer.'' So I did. We came in with a 
             large class of over 50 Members. I went up to Harry and 
             said, ``Hi. I am Dick Durbin from Illinois. We have a 
             mutual friend in Chicago.''
                He said, ``Well, great. I am looking forward to working 
             with you.''
                I said, ``So are you headed up to Harvard for the 
             orientation? I will see you up there.''
                He said, ``No, I am headed to Kansas City. We have a 
             settlement conference in a personal injury lawsuit that I 
             couldn't miss.''
                I thought to myself, this is some lawyer. Up to the 
             bitter end of his legal career, he was still devoted to 
             the cause of representing clients and representing them 
             effectively. When Harry makes a commitment, he keeps it. I 
             knew at that moment and I have known it ever since.
                Four years later, he was in the Senate, I was still in 
             the House, but the day came when I finally got elected to 
             the Senate and joined Harry Reid.
                I know we had a good friendship to start because we 
             came to the House together, but I remember the day and I 
             remember the moment when that friendship became something 
             special. It was right there in the well of the Senate.
                The most important bill in Harry's political career was 
             up for a vote. It was on Yucca Mountain.
                He came before the rollcall was being announced and he 
             said, ``How are you going to vote?''
                I said, ``Well, Harry, I have kind of mixed feelings on 
             this.''
                He said, ``Stop. I need you. I think I have enough 
             votes, but I may need you. So can you promise that if I 
             need your vote you will be there?''
                I said, ``Well, all right.''
                He said, ``But I don't think I will need your vote.''
                You know what happened next. They called the roll, and 
             at the very end, one of the Democratic Senators he counted 
             on voted the other way. He turned to me and said, 
             ``Well?''
                I said, ``I am giving you my word.''
                I voted with Harry Reid on Yucca Mountain.
                That was the moment when our friendship became solid. 
             In this business, your word is your bond. When you promise 
             somebody you are going to stick with them come heck or 
             high water, that is when it is tested.
                Our friendship grew from that point. I didn't know the 
             time would come, but it did, amazingly, when Tom Daschle 
             lost in the Senate race in South Dakota. The next day, I 
             got a call from Harry Reid. He said, ``I hope you will 
             consider running for whip. You ought to call every Member 
             of the caucus,'' and I did.
                I quickly learned that many of them had called him and 
             said, ``Whom do you want to be your whip?'' He said, 
             ``Well, I think Senator Durbin would be a good choice.''
                That is why I am sitting here today.
                Twelve years later, I am still serving as Harry Reid's 
             whip and still counting the votes on key issues, and 
             during those 12 years, I probably spent more time talking 
             to Harry Reid, my colleague in the Senate, than to any 
             other Member of this body. It is a close, personal 
             friendship and relationship, and we have gone through a 
             lot together.
                I listened to his stories. He told some of them today. 
             He returns to his youth, growing up in Searchlight, which 
             we heard about today in just wonderful detail, but he also 
             returns to all of those friendships that were made during 
             those years with people he grew up with in Searchlight and 
             in Henderson, where he went to school. I have come to know 
             these people as if they were my own classmates because I 
             have heard these stories so many times. It is part of who 
             he is, and it is part of his value system. It explains 
             some important decisions in his life.
                When he talks about the Affordable Care Act, we 
             understand that he still remembers that his mother needed 
             dentures, and he saved up money to buy his mother a set of 
             teeth. He thought about the fact that there was no medical 
             care for his family when they needed it the most. He 
             thought about the depression that took his father's life 
             and how that might have been averted with the right 
             medical care. That is what has inspired him to public 
             life.
                The one thing that has inspired him the most is Landra. 
             Over and over, I have heard these stories about this 
             courtship. Now, by most standards, getting married when 
             you are 19 is not recommended but, clearly, in this case, 
             it worked out beautifully. When he tells the story of how 
             he finally got Landra to marry him, it appears there was a 
             little bit of tension between Landra's family and this 
             young Harry Reid, to the point where Landra's dad 
             basically said to him: ``Stay away; I don't want you 
             dating my daughter.'' Well, they had words and other 
             things, and Harry insisted. He dated Landra, and they were 
             married. The interesting thing about that is that despite 
             that tension with her father in those early years, Harry 
             wears a ring that her father used to wear, and he carries 
             it around with pride in memory of her father and her 
             family. He manages to keep those memories as part of his 
             life and his inspiration.
                Another thing my colleagues may or may not know is that 
             Harry is a voracious reader. He reads books constantly. 
             Even after he lost the sight in his right eye, he has 
             continued to read. I love to read as well. It has been one 
             of my real joys in life, exchanging books with Harry. He 
             reads everything under the sun. One time he told me he was 
             reading the Koran cover to cover. I thought: Man, that is 
             something I am not sure I could even do. He has this 
             curiosity, this interest in learning. Even at this point 
             in his life, as he nears the end of his public career, he 
             wants to continue to learn about people and history and 
             important things.
                I look back on experiences we have had together. It was 
             9/11 when Harry and I were in a room just a few feet away 
             from here when there was an attack in New York, and in 
             Virginia, and we thought the Capitol would be the next 
             target. We had to race out of this building and stand 
             outside, not knowing which way to turn as we were afraid 
             that we were the next target here at the U.S. Capitol. 
             Those were moments we spent together that I won't forget.
                I remember as well that he was one of the first to say 
             to my junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, that he 
             should seriously consider running for President. President 
             Obama the other night said that was one of the most 
             important pieces of advice he received in making his 
             decision to be a candidate for President of the United 
             States. It is an indication of Harry's credibility--how 
             much people trust him, and how when he gives his word, you 
             know he is going to be there.
                When President Obama was elected, he needed a person--
             more than one, but he certainly needed a leader in the 
             Senate whom he could count on. He couldn't have had a 
             better ally than Harry Reid. When I look back on the 
             battles over the last 8 years that were waged on behalf of 
             America and Harry's leadership role with the President, 
             there wasn't another person in this Chamber who could 
             really take as much credit. He would be the last person in 
             the world to do so.
                When it came to the stimulus package to turn this 
             economy around, it was Harry Reid counting the votes. It 
             was Harry Reid working every single day holding the hands 
             of those Members of the Senate who weren't quite sure they 
             could be there when he needed them.
                It was Harry Reid who was counting up to 60 votes to 
             pass the Affordable Care Act. It took every single 
             Democrat. Not a single Republican would join us in that 
             effort. Harry Reid had to do it. What was he up against? 
             He was up against Ted Kennedy, who sadly was giving his 
             life up to cancer at that moment and fighting to stay 
             alive until he could vote for that important bill. It was 
             Harry Reid working with other Members of the Senate who 
             would get cold feet on the issue and had to be brought 
             back in. He did it time and again, day after day. In the 
             end, 20 million Americans have health insurance because of 
             Harry Reid's determination that what he went through as a 
             kid growing up in Searchlight would not be repeated for 
             families across the United States.
                When it came to Wall Street reform and the Dodd-Frank 
             bill that passed through the Senate, Harry stuck with it 
             and made sure we passed it, hoping to avoid the kind of 
             recession we have been through and the damage that was 
             done to businesses and families and individuals all across 
             the United States.
                I knew he was a fighter because I knew his record when 
             it came to being a lawyer. There are so many stories about 
             his clients that I have heard over and over. I feel like 
             they were my clients because I have heard those stories so 
             often.
                One of the things I remember and read about in his book 
             I want to share with you. There was a woman named Joyce 
             Martinez who was working in Las Vegas, and the police came 
             in to the casino where she was working and arrested her 
             for writing bad checks at the local grocery store. Joyce 
             tried going to several lawyers and kept insisting they 
             were wrong. She had never done anything like that, but 
             none of these lawyers would take the case. Then she met 
             Harry Reid. Harry believed her. Harry said she reminded 
             him of the people he had grown up with--real people who 
             had nothing but hard work as their life. Like many of the 
             cases Harry decided to take, his colleagues said, ``What 
             are you doing wasting your time on this case? Spend your 
             time on worthwhile cases.'' But every step of the way, 
             despite the ridicule, Harry decided to stand up for this 
             cocktail waitress. Harry was determined to keep at it and 
             to make sure that she had a strong voice in court. 
             Ultimately, Joyce won her case, and Harry Reid ended up 
             with a victory that he still counted many years later as 
             one of his great successes as a lawyer.
                He also made sure the store that brought the charges 
             against her had to follow the law in the future. So he 
             didn't just help Joyce, he helped a lot of other people as 
             well.
                For Harry, this is what the law was all about as a 
             lawyer and what it was all about as a Senator--making life 
             better for people and families across the United States.
                He has fought for so many important causes, and there 
             is one that I want to give special thanks for. It was his 
             commitment to the DREAM Act. I introduced this legislation 
             16 years ago when I discovered a young woman in Chicago, 
             undocumented, who sadly couldn't go on with her life and 
             go to college because of her legal status. I introduced 
             the DREAM Act to say those young people brought to the 
             United States as kids deserve a second chance. Harry Reid 
             heard my speeches and then met his own DREAMer in Nevada: 
             Astrid Silva, a DREAMer who would often write to Harry 
             with updates on her life. On December 8, 2010, Harry Reid 
             kept his promise to me and a promise to Astrid and to 
             other DREAMers by allowing the DREAM Act to be brought to 
             the floor for a vote. The Senate gallery was filled with 
             DREAMers wearing their graduation gowns and caps to remind 
             people they were students who wanted to use their 
             education and talents for the future of America. Fifty-
             five Senators voted for the DREAM Act that day. Harry had 
             given us our chance. But it wasn't enough to pass because 
             we needed 60 votes under the Senate rules.
                Harry Reid joined me and 22 other Senators in sending a 
             letter to the President of the United States asking that 
             he do everything he can to protect these DREAMers, and he 
             did, with an executive order known as DACA. To date, 
             744,000 of these young people have been protected with 
             President Obama's executive order, because Harry Reid 
             believed, as I believe, that these young people deserve 
             the chance.
                Let me tell my colleagues one last story that I think 
             really defines Harry--his courage, as well as Landra's 
             courage. It goes back to his days as chairman of the 
             Nevada Gaming Commission. Being a Mormon, not gambling, 
             not drinking, he was the perfect choice for gaming 
             commissioner. It was hard to consider bribing him. In the 
             1970s, Harry wore a wire for the FBI to catch a bribery 
             attempt. The tape that was transcribed from that wire ends 
             with Harry jumping out of his seat and shouting, ``You 
             SOB, you tried to bribe me.'' Harry couldn't tolerate that 
             somebody thought he could be bought.
                In an effort to retaliate, the mob was mad at Harry, 
             and they planted a bomb in his family car. Thank goodness, 
             a watchful Landra spotted it and told Harry, ``Don't start 
             the car.'' They are alive today because of Landra's 
             vigilance, but they suffered that indignity because of 
             their courage in standing up for ethics and integrity. 
             Today, when we hear people talking about how rough 
             politics can be, it certainly doesn't lead to a bomb, in 
             most circumstances. In this case, Harry proved then and 
             today that he is up to that kind of challenge.
                Let me conclude with this. In Harry's childhood home in 
             Searchlight, there were words embroidered on a pillowcase 
             that his mom hung on the wall. As we have heard, it was a 
             simple and barren little shack that they lived in, but 
             this pillowcase had the following words: ``we can ... we 
             will ... we must! ... Franklin D. Roosevelt.''
                Harry never forgot those words. They are engrained in 
             his spirit. I want to thank him for what he has done for 
             the Senate, for the State of Nevada, for me, and for his 
             decades of service to the United States. I want to thank 
             Landra and their five kids and their wonderful family for 
             sharing her husband and their father with us for all of 
             these years.
                Harry is leaving the Senate, but I am sure he is not 
             going to quit. He is going to be fighting for Nevada to 
             the end, and he will be fighting for the causes he 
             believes in. He will continue to be a fearless advocate. I 
             wish him and his family all the best.
                I yield the floor.

                Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, Senator Harry Reid and I 
             were both elected to the House in 1982, and over the last 
             34 years, Harry has become more than a colleague to me. He 
             is like family.
                I call him the ``brother I never had,'' and he calls me 
             the ``sister he never had.''
                Only a brother can hang up on you like Harry does.
                Because a sister's job is to embarrass her brother, I 
             want to talk today about Harry's incredible, extraordinary 
             career and how much he means to me.
                Harry, his wife, Landra, my husband, Stewart, and I 
             have all grown to be dear friends and enjoy quiet dinners 
             together. Stew and I even invited them to stay with us in 
             our California desert home once--where I cooked, much to 
             Harry's disbelief.
                Theirs is a truly beautiful love story. They met in 
             high school and have been together ever since.
                There was one incident early on that could have 
             derailed them. When Harry went to pick Landra up for a 
             date, her father, a Jewish immigrant, was opposed to his 
             daughter dating a man with no religion.
                But that wasn't going to stop Harry. He actually got 
             into a fistfight with his future father-in-law and punched 
             him in the face.
                As Harry simply said, ``It wasn't the greatest 
             beginning.''
                But love always prevails. Harry and Landra eloped 
             during college, and Landra's parents eventually came 
             around to supporting them.
                Throughout Harry's career--throughout every campaign, 
             every election, every bump in the road--Landra has been by 
             Harry's side, and he by hers.
                Though he has risen to the highest levels of success, 
             Harry has never forgotten where he came from and has 
             always fought like hell for his State. He was born in what 
             he calls a ``flyspeck on the map''--Searchlight, NV, in 
             1939, a year before me.
                To say he grew up poor is an understatement. His 
             childhood home had no toilet or running water, and in 
             order to attend high school, he had to move in with 
             relatives 40 miles away.
                Nothing came easy for Harry, but he never let that 
             deter him. In high school, he wanted to buy a car, so he 
             took a job at a bakery that required him to wake up at 4 
             a.m. during the week--3 a.m. on weekends. In his spare 
             time, he took up boxing, which earned him a college 
             scholarship.
                His very humble beginnings taught him the value of hard 
             work. We have all heard Harry tell the story of working 6 
             days a week as a U.S. Capitol Police Officer while putting 
             himself through law school full time at George Washington 
             University. For years, he proudly displayed his badge here 
             in his DC office. Upon graduation from law school, he 
             returned to Nevada as an attorney specializing in what he 
             called, ``the cases nobody would take,'' before starting 
             his career in elected office: First, as the Henderson city 
             attorney, then as an assemblyman, Lieutenant Governor, and 
             chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, before winning 
             election to the House of Representatives.
                After two terms in the House, Harry won a seat in the 
             Senate, where he gained a reputation for integrity and 
             fairness. He was elected as our leader in 2004, and I 
             believe he will go down in history as one of the best.
                Harry is a workhorse, not a show horse.
                He is soft spoken and a wonderful listener, but is not 
             afraid to speak up.
                He doesn't seek the spotlight--in fact, he often avoids 
             it at all costs--but he also knows how to use it to fight 
             for those without a voice.
                He takes the time to know every member of his caucus--
             what makes us tick, what our core issues are, and where we 
             each draw the line.
                I want to relate one particular story that truly 
             exemplifies the leader Harry is.
                One December night in 2009, I got a call from Harry and 
             Senator Chuck Schumer. They were trying to negotiate the 
             final issue on the Affordable Care Act, and this was our 
             last chance to get the bill passed.
                We needed every single Democrat in order to end the 
             Republican filibuster, but we had reached a stumbling 
             block: Senator Ben Nelson believed the Federal subsidy in 
             the ACA should not go toward abortion.
                If he voted against the bill, Obamacare would be gone. 
             So Harry trusted Senator Patty Murray and me with the 
             crucial responsibility of finding a solution.
                For 13 grueling hours, my team and I would come up with 
             an idea, Senator Schumer would run it over to Senator 
             Nelson, and we would volley back and forth until we 
             finally landed on a compromise.
                The bill was saved, and today, more than 20 million 
             Americans have health care--many for the first time ever--
             thanks, in large part, to Harry Reid. He never gave up, 
             and he trusted members of his caucus to help get this 
             bill--one of the most important health care bills in a 
             generation--across the finish line.
                Harry has perfected the art of strategy and 
             negotiation. He knows when to compromise and when to stand 
             up and fight--especially when it comes to his beloved 
             Nevada.
                He has accomplished far too many things to mention, but 
             I want to quickly talk about a few issues.
                No one fought harder against the plan to dump nuclear 
             waste at Yucca Mountain, which would have threatened the 
             health and safety of Nevadans. Since he was first elected 
             to Congress 34 years ago, Harry fought proposal after 
             proposal until the plan was finally scrapped--almost 
             entirely because of him.
                He has been instrumental in the fight to protect and 
             restore Lake Tahoe--which is shared between our two 
             States. Harry created the Lake Tahoe Summit and worked 
             across party lines to help keep Tahoe blue.
                He has protected more than 3 million acres of 
             wilderness, established Great Basin National Park, and has 
             fought to protect our landmark environmental laws.
                When we were in the throes of the worst economic crisis 
             in a generation, Harry fought tooth and nail to stop the 
             hemorrhaging of jobs and help Americans keep their homes--
             especially in Nevada, which was one of the hardest hit 
             States.
                Harry worked tirelessly to shepherd the Recovery Act 
             through Congress--a monumental task in our political 
             environment. At every turn, the rightwing threw everything 
             they had at us, but Harry took it all on the chin with his 
             strength, stamina, and fortitude.
                He stepped up and helped us avoid Armageddon, and I 
             give a great deal of credit to Senator Reid and President 
             Obama for that.
                At his core, that is who Harry Reid is: When he 
             believes something to be right, he doesn't think twice 
             about putting the gloves on, hopping in the ring and 
             fighting for what he believes in. He just does it.
                For this, and for so many other reasons, Harry has made 
             the Democratic Party better. He has made Nevada better. He 
             has made our country better. On a personal level, Harry 
             has made me better. I will forever be grateful for his 
             leadership, his mentorship, and most of all, his 
             friendship.
                In closing, I would like to read the words I wrote 
             about him.

              Harry ... thank you for the strength you give to us.
              Harry ... thank you for the way you make them cuss.
              So you're not a TV star,
              We just take you as you are.
              Harry, blue and true,
              No one like you.
              Harry ... working from the day until the night.
              Harry ... never turns away when there's a fight.
              Good thing there are no Senate duels!
              Harry, blue and true,
              No one like you.

                Mr. REED. Mr. President, I want to take an opportunity 
             to salute and thank and commend my colleagues who are 
             departing. ...
                We also have other colleagues departing: Senator Ayotte 
             from New Hampshire; Senator Boxer of California, Senator 
             Coats of Indiana; as I mentioned, Senator Kirk of 
             Illinois; Senator Mikulski of Maryland; Senator Reid of 
             Nevada; and Senator Vitter of Louisiana. Each has brought 
             passion in their work to best serve their constituents, 
             and the institution of the Senate and the Nation are 
             better for this service. I am better for knowing them, 
             working with them, and having the opportunity to share 
             with them, and I want to thank them for their service. Let 
             me mention a few words with respect to all of these 
             distinguished Senators. ...
                Mr. President, finally, there is our leader, Harry 
             Reid. Much has been said about Harry today. I will not go 
             over the extraordinary tale of a young man from 
             Searchlight, NV. He was a boxer and a Capitol Police 
             Officer while he was working his way through law school. 
             He has always been a fighter--and a fighter for those who 
             need help, not for the powerful but for the people without 
             power. For those without a voice, he has given a voice.
                I have always appreciated his counsel, his guidance, 
             and his support, which were important to my constituents 
             and important to all Americans. We have worked on numerous 
             pieces of legislation together to address the housing 
             crisis, to extend unemployment insurance, to make college 
             more affordable, and to improve mental health services, to 
             name just a few.
                As he said today in his remarks, one of his 
             achievements is to be able to give health care protection 
             to millions of Americans who didn't have it and if it is 
             taken away will not have it. He did that because it was 
             the right thing to do, because he understood from his own 
             personal experience how traumatizing and how debilitating 
             and, ultimately, how destructive the lack of access to 
             good health care--both physical health care and mental 
             health care--is to America, and, also, how it does make us 
             productive. Simply having health care is not just a good 
             thing to do, it is a smart economic thing to do. He led 
             that fight for us.
                It has been an honor to serve alongside Harry Reid and 
             to see this extraordinary legislator work his way quietly 
             sometimes--many times--but persistently. There is no one 
             more persistent than Harry. His steady, unselfish 
             leadership will continue to guide us and his example will 
             continue to guide us.
                I have been very fortunate. I have had the privilege to 
             serve with these ladies and gentlemen, and I want to thank 
             them for their service.

               Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, earlier today we heard a 
             moving speech by the Democratic leader and my longtime 
             friend, Harry Reid. He spoke of his life and his time 
             here.
               An amateur boxer turned police officer, turned lawyer, 
             turned majority leader, that is the supercondensed outline 
             of the life of Harry Reid. When the book closes on this 
             114th Congress, so too will it close on the congressional 
             career of Senator Reid. He is a fighter and a champion. 
             That is an understatement.
               He is a fellow country boy, but he had a much tougher 
             upbringing in the isolated hamlet of Searchlight, NV. You 
             can read about that in his book. That upbringing has bred 
             traits that I have admired since he arrived in the Senate 
             in 1987. His humble upbringing, raised in a shack with no 
             indoor bathroom or hot water, sowed the seeds of a life in 
             public service and of the perspective that has infused and 
             driven that service. He first came to Capitol Hill as a 
             police officer, working nights to pay his way through 
             George Washington University Law School. Little did he 
             know he would end up being one of the longest serving 
             majority leaders in the history of the U.S. Senate.
               He can point to so many of the things he has done, 
             including steering the Affordable Care Act to Senate 
             passage. But I want to thank Senator Reid for his strong 
             support of justice bills that I have championed. An 
             original cosponsor of the Violence Against Women Act 
             Reauthorization that I introduced in recent years--to 
             strengthen and renew the transformative and life-saving 
             work that is made possible under VAWA--he has always 
             worked to combat the scourge of domestic violence, helping 
             to shepherd the reauthorization of this vital legislation 
             across the finish line. He has also supported vital grant 
             programs to put more cops on the street in communities 
             small and large and to keep them safe. His commitment to 
             advancing our comprehensive immigration reform bill, we 
             got it through the Senate by a large bipartisan majority. 
             When the history books are written, one of the huge 
             mistakes made was when the House of Representatives did 
             not take up that bill, even though they had the votes to 
             pass it. These are all examples of how true leadership 
             takes action--not merely talking points--no matter how 
             difficult, to make a difference.
               Harry Reid was at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 2015, 
             commemorating the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. I 
             looked at him there with Congressman John Lewis and 
             President Barack Obama--the first African-American elected 
             as President--as one of the towering figures in America. 
             But the true measure of a man is revealed not when he 
             pauses to remember past injustices, he works to prevent 
             them from happening. From pay equity to restoring the 
             Voting Rights Act, from the repeal of ``don't ask, don't 
             tell,'' to the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Hate 
             Crimes Prevention Act, there can be no doubt that Senator 
             Reid fights for every American, every day.
               Yet, no matter how large a national leader Senator Reid 
             has become, he has never forgotten the people of Nevada. 
             In him they have a tireless and effective champion of the 
             highest caliber. Senator Reid's work on behalf of Nevada 
             has been relentless.
               He has been our fighter. He has been our champion. He 
             has been a friend. He has faced and risen above personal 
             adversity. He is a truly American story. His presence here 
             in the Senate will be missed next year. When Marcelle and 
             I leave Washington for the last time, we will think of the 
             special friends we have had. Harry Reid, Landra Reid--we 
             will think of them. We wish them all the best as they 
             begin their next chapter together.

               Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I wish to take a moment to 
             express my appreciation to the Democratic leader, Senator 
             Harry Reid, who spoke earlier on the floor.
               I was here with many of my colleagues and listened to 
             his incredible story about his background from 
             Searchlight, NV, to his ascension to the Senate and 
             becoming the Democratic leader.
               When I first came to the Senate, Senator Reid asked to 
             meet with me. I thought he was going to talk about my 
             philosophy on different issues or what my interests would 
             be or how I was going to try to move forward on particular 
             bills, but what he really wanted to talk about was my 
             family, what I thought was important in life. He was very 
             interested in my family traditions and how that would be 
             impacted by my life in the Senate.
               I must tell you, it was very personal. I think many of 
             us have seen many sides of Harry Reid, but one side of him 
             is clear. He treats the Senate as his family, and he 
             treats each one of us as his family.
               I wish to express my appreciation for his service in the 
             U.S. Senate and for his public service over so many years.
               Myrna and I are friends of Landra and Harry. We wish 
             them only the best as he moves forward from his career in 
             the Senate.
               It has really been a pleasure to serve with him in the 
             Senate. This is an incredible place to serve. Senator Reid 
             has certainly made this Senator's life in the Senate much 
             more enjoyable and productive.
               Mr. President, part of American culture is to celebrate 
             our small towns. There are few American towns smaller than 
             Searchlight in Clark County, NV. That is the hometown of 
             our beloved Democratic leader, Senator Harry Reid.
               Senator Reid epitomizes the American dream. He grew up 
             without indoor plumbing, in a small cabin built out of 
             scavenged railroad ties, and attended a two-room 
             elementary school. His father was a hard rock miner. As a 
             young boy, Senator Reid would go deep into the mines with 
             his father. Searchlight didn't have its own high school so 
             Senator Reid had to hitchhike each week to Henderson, 40 
             miles away, where he attended Basic High School and 
             boarded with relatives and other families.
               Local businessmen saw his potential and helped him 
             attend Utah State University, a debt he repaid. He earned 
             his law degree from George Washington University and 
             supported his young family by working as a U.S. Capitol 
             Police Officer.
               Senator Reid started his career in public service as 
             Henderson's city attorney. He revised the city charter and 
             extended the city's boundaries by acquiring Federal land. 
             In 1968, when he was just 28, he was elected to the Nevada 
             State Assembly. As an assemblyman, he introduced the first 
             air pollution legislation in Nevada's history. Two years 
             later, Senator Reid became the youngest Lieutenant 
             Governor in Nevada history, winning election as Governor 
             Mike O'Callaghan's running mate. Mike O'Callaghan had been 
             Senator Reid's mentor in high school as a teacher, boxing 
             coach, and friend.
               In 1977, Senator Reid was appointed chairman of the 
             Nevada Gaming Commission. For 5 years, he was engaged in 
             an unrelenting fight with organized crime syndicates to 
             clean up Nevada's gaming industry. In 1981, his wife--high 
             school sweetheart Landra--found a bomb attached to the 
             family station wagon.
               In 1982, Senator Reid won the first of two elections to 
             serve in the House of Representatives and then he was 
             elected to the Senate in 1986. In 2005 he became the 
             Democratic leader, 2 years later, he became the majority 
             leader, a post he held until the Republicans gained 
             control of the Senate last year. As the Las Vegas Sun put 
             it, he went from being the underdog to the top dog.
               I have talked about Senator Reid's hardscrabble 
             upbringing because it has made him one of the toughest 
             people I have ever known. Yet he is also one of the 
             kindest, and most compassionate.
               Senator Reid may be the top dog, but he has always 
             fought for the underdog. I think that quality is best 
             exemplified by his advocacy on behalf of Native Americans, 
             which includes helping to build the Nation's first 
             utility-scale solar project on tribal land in Nevada. I 
             know how much he is respected in Indian country.
               Senator Reid was instrumental in passing the Affordable 
             Care Act, ACA, which--along with the Medicaid expansion--
             has provided health care to more than 20 million 
             Americans.
               Senator Reid's efforts to choose qualified Federal 
             jurists for the U.S. District Court for the District of 
             Nevada will be felt for decades after he leaves office. 
             Senator Reid has recommended and helped confirm five of 
             the six judges currently serving on the court. As a result 
             of Senator Reid's commitment to diversity, there have been 
             numerous ``firsts'' for the court.
               In 1998, Senator Reid recommended Johnnie Rawlinson to 
             be the first woman to serve as a judge on the Nevada 
             District Court. At his request, she was elevated to the 
             Ninth Circuit in 2000.
               In 2010, Gloria Navarro became the first Hispanic woman 
             to serve as a judge on the Nevada District Court.
               In 2012, Miranda Du became the first Asian-Pacific 
             American to serve as a judge on the Nevada District Court.
               In 2014, Richard Boulware became the first African-
             American man to serve as a judge on the Nevada District 
             Court.
               The Senate still has the opportunity to confirm Anne 
             Traum, who would be the first Jewish person to serve on 
             the Nevada District Court.
               Senator Reid has fought hard on behalf of his fellow 
             Nevadans. He has prevented the Federal Government from 
             building a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. He 
             authored and passed legislation establishing Nevada's 
             first national park, Great Basin National Park. He has led 
             the fight to protect and restore Lake Tahoe. He prevented 
             the removal of the Nevada Air National Guard's C-130 
             aircraft and the closure of the Hawthorne Army Depot, and 
             he secured over $600 million for the Southern Nevada 
             Veterans Administration Medical Complex.
               When it comes to combating climate change and promoting 
             the development and adoption of clean, sustainable, 
             renewable energy, Senator Reid has been a visionary. He 
             has incentivized $5.5 billion in investments in Nevada's 
             clean energy resources through tax credits, grants, and 
             loan guarantees. He helped to create a new fast-track 
             permitting process for clean energy development on public 
             lands. He facilitated the public-private partnership 
             needed for the One Nevada Transmission Line, which 
             connects northern and southern Nevada's electricity grids 
             for the first time, helping to unlock the State's vast 
             clean energy potential. While his interest in promoting 
             clean energy--especially solar--may have a local origin, 
             the benefits will accrue to all humanity for generations 
             to come as we transition from our reliance on fossil 
             fuels.
               Serving as the leader, whether in the majority or the 
             minority, is a tough job. The leader has to fight the most 
             intense partisan battles. The leader has to say ``no'' on 
             many occasions. The leader has to stand up for other 
             members of the party. Senator Reid has been tough enough 
             to be an extraordinary leader. If I were in a foxhole, I 
             would want Harry Reid by my side. I know every other 
             Democratic Senator feels the same way--and surely most 
             Republicans. We are going to miss Harry Reid. I wish him, 
             his wife Landra, their 5 children, and 19 grandchildren 
             all the best.

                Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, at the end of each Congress, 
             the Senate tradition is to pause for a moment to share our 
             thoughts about those Senators who will be retiring when 
             the final gavel brings the session to a close. One of 
             those Senators who will be leaving the Senate is Harry 
             Reid. Senator Reid is quite a remarkable individual, and 
             his story should be read and considered by students of 
             government and history--of all ages.
                Over the years, I have spent some time with Harry at 
             Prayer Breakfasts and listened to his reflections on his 
             life--personally and politically. He has lived a life that 
             few would ever believe to be possible.
                Harry makes for a great example of how to take your 
             life and make the most of it. He was born in a small cabin 
             that offered few of life's comforts, but he didn't 
             complain about it. He took what he was given in life and 
             worked to make things better.
                As a young man, he served as the student body president 
             of his high school and drew the notice of his teachers and 
             his boxing coach. He attended Utah State University, and 
             his next stop was George Washington University--my alma 
             mater--where he worked to earn a law degree. To make that 
             possible, Harry needed a job, and so he worked as a U.S. 
             Capitol Police Officer. Harry then returned home to Nevada 
             and took up what would be his lifelong ambition, serving 
             the people of his home State.
                It wasn't long before Harry had served in Nevada's 
             State legislature and on the Nevada Gaming Commission. 
             When the opportunity presented itself, he served in the 
             House and then moved on to the Senate.
                He didn't win every election, but each disappointment 
             only served to make him more determined to make a 
             difference for the people of his State. His statistics are 
             impressive--more than 30 years in Congress, serving under 
             five Presidents, and being a part of both the minority and 
             majority. And all the time, Harry has found ways to pursue 
             and support agendas to benefit the people of Nevada.
                One of my favorite memories will always be the work 
             Harry and I did to enable the LDS Church to purchase a 
             site that has a great deal of historic significance to 
             them. The legislation had already passed the House, but 
             was stuck in the Senate as some concerns were raised. 
             Harry knew what he needed to do to make it possible for 
             the bill to clear the Senate, and together we figured out 
             a way to make it happen. Today Martin's Cove is a popular 
             site that draws large crowds every year.
                This is one of those moments most of us thought would 
             never happen. It seemed like Harry Reid would always be in 
             the Senate. He has not only left a remarkable record, he 
             also seems to be the last of an era. I have no doubt those 
             who will take up his position in the years to come will do 
             a good job and get results, but they will never do it 
             ``like Harry did.'' He will forever stand as a unique mix 
             of personality, character, history, and background.
                Diana joins in sending our best wishes to Harry and his 
             wife, Landra. Together they have been quite a team and 
             have accomplished a great deal. We didn't always agree on 
             the issues, but one thing can be said: If you had a tough 
             battle before you and you needed someone by your side who 
             wouldn't give up until the battle was won, Harry was the 
             kind of guy you would want in the fight. If you were on 
             the other side of an issue, you would always prefer 
             someone like Harry would not be opposing you.
                Thank you for your service, Harry. You have left an 
             example that will inspire and encourage others in the 
             years to come. Whenever faced with an impossible task, 
             people will remember you and realize that with some 
             creativity, determination, and an understanding of the 
             rules of the Senate, much can be done.

               Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, as a young man growing up in 
             Searchlight, NV, Harry Reid was an accomplished amateur 
             boxer. During his 30 years of service in this Chamber, 
             Senator Reid has demonstrated time and again the qualities 
             of skill, hard work, and determination, that he learned in 
             the ring all those years ago.
               Prior to joining the Senate in 1987, Senator Reid 
             established a deep commitment to public service in the 
             House of Representatives and in State and local offices. 
             Before that, he served Congress and supported his young 
             family working nights as a Capitol Police Officer while 
             attending law school at George Washington University. As a 
             Senate leader, serving as Democratic whip, majority 
             leader, and, currently, Democratic leader, he has been a 
             formidable advocate for his caucus.
               In the Senate, Senator Reid has been a passionate voice 
             for education, environmental protection, health care, and 
             renewable energy. His commitment to those who serve our 
             Nation in uniform is evident through his support for 
             military readiness and for our veterans.
               The great Jack Dempsey defined a champion as ``someone 
             who gets up when he can't.'' In his many years of service 
             to the people of Nevada and to our Nation, Senator Harry 
             Reid has proven himself to be a fighter who always answers 
             the bell. I wish him and his wife, Landra, health and 
             happiness for many more years to come.

               Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I have had the honor and 
             privilege of serving with Harry Reid for all of my 16 
             years in the Senate. He has been a resolute leader for our 
             caucus, a fearless legislator who has brought landmark 
             legislation to the floor and a tireless advocate for 
             Nevadans and all Americans. More important, I am proud to 
             call Harry a friend.
               We all know the story of Harry's journey to elected 
             office from that small mining town in Nevada. The humble 
             way he grew up inspired him to help others who faced 
             similar hardships his family had faced. He carried that 
             perspective with him from Searchlight, NV, to the Halls of 
             the Capitol, where he became a champion for causes meant 
             to improve the lives of all Americans.
               Harry is a fighter. That has been said by so many of his 
             friends and colleagues over the years, and it is truer of 
             him than almost anyone I have ever worked with. That 
             title, of course, has more than one meaning for Harry. His 
             years of amateur boxing taught him strategy and relentless 
             willpower in the face of his opponents. His years in the 
             Senate have been no different. He has had to fight for 
             historical legislation in an increasingly vitriolic 
             political climate, things like the Affordable Care Act and 
             the stimulus bill, legislation that gave millions of 
             Americans hope for their futures.
               Harry has also been a very powerful ally for me and my 
             fellow Floridians, specifically in the fight to protect 
             the State's fragile environment. He has always been right 
             there with me in pushing for Everglades funding and 
             vigorously defended our coastline from drilling proposals 
             that threatened Florida's economy and unique environment.
               His leadership has been a source of guidance and great 
             strength for me during my time in the Senate. I am honored 
             to have served with him and wish him and his family well 
             in his retirement.

               Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I wish to recognize the many 
             accomplishments of my friend, Senator Harry Reid, my 
             colleague from Nevada, during his storied career in the 
             U.S. Senate.
               Growing up in a modest household without an indoor 
             bathroom, hot water, or a telephone, Harry learned the 
             values of family, faith, and education. Harry understood 
             that it is the most vulnerable in society that need the 
             strongest champions, someone to fight for them.
               Harry's service to the people of Nevada began long 
             before he came to Congress. After attending law school at 
             George Washington University, Leader Reid returned home 
             and served as Henderson's city attorney. At the age of 28, 
             he was elected to the Nevada State Assembly. Two years 
             later, Leader Reid became the youngest Lieutenant Governor 
             in Nevada history. Harry experienced political losses 
             early in his career, but he never let that hold him back. 
             After 5 years as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, 
             Harry won election to the U.S. House in 1982. He served 
             two terms before winning his first U.S. Senate race in 
             1986.
               Harry's stint as an amateur boxer taught him to never 
             back down from a fight, no matter how big. Throughout his 
             Senate career, the people of Nevada have been able to 
             count on Harry to fight for them.
               He has spearheaded investments in clean energy, 
             established Nevada's first national park, Great Basin 
             National Park, and led passage of the post-9/11 GI bill of 
             rights.
               As majority leader, he shepherded landmark legislation 
             through the Senate--the Affordable Care Act, Wall Street 
             reform, the Recovery Act, and many more. Despite the 
             powerful interests lining up to defeat these efforts, 
             Harry didn't back down. He worked hard and got things 
             done. As a result, millions of Americans have health care.
               We have fought our way back from the great recession of 
             2008. Consumers now have more protection against powerful 
             companies. It is fair to say, Harry's leadership has 
             improved our country and our families' lives.
               Today I want to focus on a few issues where I was 
             particularly proud to have worked with him. Leader Reid 
             has been a longtime champion for the Filipino World War II 
             veterans. This group of over 260,000 Filipino veterans 
             answered President Roosevelt's call during World War II 
             and fought heroically under the U.S. flag. Unfortunately, 
             they have had to endure another fight over the course of 
             seven decades--the fight for the recognition and benefits 
             they were promised. Leader Reid has been at the forefront 
             of this fight. He has helped secure compensation from the 
             Department of Veterans Affairs. We have worked together to 
             reunify the remaining veterans with their children. Just 
             last week, the House passed and sent the President my 
             legislation awarding Filipino World War II veterans the 
             Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor 
             Congress can bestow. Leader Reid was instrumental in 
             getting this bill through the Senate, and I deeply 
             appreciate his support.
               Nevada is home to a vibrant Filipino-American community. 
             Leader Reid is deeply familiar with the experiences and 
             struggles of Filipino veterans and their families. He 
             worked with Hawaii's late Senator Dan Inouye to create the 
             Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund within the VA 
             in 2009. The fund's creation was a significant step 
             forward in recognizing the dedicated service and sacrifice 
             of these veterans. I was proud to have Leader Reid join me 
             in our successful effort to secure appropriations language 
             prohibiting any attempts to direct these funds to other 
             programs.
               This past May, the Obama administration finalized a 
             parole program that would allow family members of Filipino 
             World War II veterans to come to the United States to be 
             reunited with their aging parents and siblings. These 
             veterans had already waited decades to be reunited with 
             their children in the Philippines.
               Speaking at my press conference announcing the program, 
             Harry honored the veterans' sacrifice saying, ``in those 
             islands where MacArthur left, the Filipinos were left 
             there with some of our troops and they fought valiantly 
             and were not recognized.''
               Finally, I want to highlight Leader Reid's work on 
             immigration. In 2009, while campaigning in Nevada, a young 
             woman named Astrid Silva slipped a note to Harry. Astrid 
             was brought to the United States when she was 4 years old. 
             Unable to work legally, Astrid babysat to earn money. She 
             excelled at school but feared deportation if she applied 
             to college. In the following years, Astrid and Harry 
             corresponded, and he learned of the hopes, dreams, and 
             struggles of the DREAMers.
               In a 2013 interview hours before the Senate passed 
             comprehensive immigration reform, Harry said, ``This is 
             why I did this ... because of some things she said.''
               Later, when speaking on the floor before the vote, Harry 
             said, ``I appreciate every one of those letters she sent 
             me, because each was a reminder of what is at stake in 
             this debate.'' A testament to Harry's character, even 
             while serving in one of the most powerful roles in 
             Washington, Harry never forgot who he was fighting for.
               Aloha, Harry. As we say in Hawaii, a hui hou, ``until we 
             meet again.''
                                               Friday, December 9, 2016
                                        PRAYER
                The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the following 
             prayer:
                Let us pray.
                Great and eternal God, we refuse to forget Your 
             generous blessings that bring joy to our lives. You 
             satisfy us with good things in every season. We 
             particularly thank You for the laudable life of former 
             Senator John Glenn.
                Lord, You have not dealt with us according to our sins. 
             Continue to sustain our lawmakers. Remind them that their 
             days are like grass, which flourishes and then disappears. 
             May they find sustenance in Your steadfast love, striving 
             to please You in all they do. Give them the wisdom of a 
             reverential awe that will trust the unfolding of Your 
             majestic providence even when they do not understand Your 
             movements.
                Lord, we thank You for the faithful service through the 
             decades of Your servant, Senator Harry Reid. As he 
             prepares to transition from the legislative branch, give 
             to him and his beloved Landra fair winds and following 
             seas.
                We pray in Your great Name. Amen.

                Ms. KLOBUCHAR. ... Madam President, I will close my 
             remarks by turning to some of our retiring Senators and 
             speaking briefly on each one of them.
                We had a beautiful portrait unveiling for Leader Reid 
             yesterday. He has been a leader who takes all ideas into 
             consideration, even those of newer Members.
                In January 2007, I began working on ethics reform, and, 
             in fact, I asked him if that would be an important 
             priority when he took over as leader. It was S. 1, and one 
             of the first bills we passed.
                Senator Reid didn't give new Members the opportunity to 
             lead just on big bills. When a little girl in Minnesota 
             named Abbey Taylor was maimed while swimming in a pool 
             with a defective drain, Leader Reid stood by my side and 
             helped me work with Republicans to get a bill passed in 
             honor of Abbey's memory and final wish.
                I met this little girl in the hospital. She went on to 
             live for a year. She had been swimming in a kiddie pool 
             when her intestines were pulled out by a defective drain 
             due to the way it was installed.
                Her parents never gave up. Scott Taylor, her dad, 
             called me every single week to see what was happening with 
             the bill. Honestly, again, the bill was moving around and 
             hadn't had any action for years. Ted Stevens, who at the 
             time was a Senator from Alaska, helped me. In the end, it 
             was Senator Reid, working with others, including Senator 
             Lott, and we were able to get that bill on another bill, 
             and we were able to pass it.
                To this day my proudest moment in the U.S. Senate was 
             calling Scott Taylor and telling him that bill had passed, 
             and then last year hearing from the head of the Consumer 
             Product Safety Commission in the Commerce Committee that 
             not one child has died because of a defective drain since 
             that bill passed. That bill, by the way, was named after 
             James Baker's granddaughter, who had also perished in a 
             pool incident. That is an example. I don't think it would 
             have happened if Harry Reid hadn't been one of our 
             leaders.
                Another example is when we were trying to build a 
             bridge to Wisconsin, Senator Johnson and I were working on 
             that issue along with House Representative Bachmann, 
             Representative Duffy, and Senator Franken, and we had to 
             get everyone signed off on an exemption to the Scenic 
             Rivers Act. It was a Saturday, and no one was left in the 
             Senate except two or three Members, and I had one Member I 
             couldn't reach who had gotten on a plane, but we thought 
             we could still reach him so I could get the last signoff 
             to get the bill done. Harry Reid had just found out his 
             wife had breast cancer and was waiting at home, but he 
             wouldn't go home. He insisted on presiding for me. The 
             leader of the Senate sat in the Presiding Officer's chair 
             so I could be back in the Republican Cloakroom trying to 
             reach the Senator. That happened.
                We didn't get the bill done that day, but the minute we 
             got back in January, Senator Reid worked with Senator 
             McConnell, and we were able to get that on the agenda and 
             get that exemption. That bridge is going up as we speak. 
             It is a massive bridge that had to be built because the 
             other bridge was so bad it closed down all the time. 
             People would literally cross their fingers when they went 
             over it. That is Senator Reid.
                A lot has happened since he first came to work in 
             Congress as a police officer in the Halls of the Capitol. 
             But one thing has stayed the same about Leader Reid--the 
             true spirit of him. It is the considerate leader who will 
             sit up at the presiding desk just to help a freshman pass 
             a bill that is important to her and her constituents. It 
             is the kind of person who takes the time to talk to a 
             little boy with leukemia and show him his favorite 
             pictures right in the middle of the budget debate. That 
             happened to me with a kid I brought in his office from 
             Minnesota. It is the humble Senator who never forgets that 
             he came from Searchlight, NV, and always serves with his 
             home in mind.
                Thank you, Senator Reid, for your service. You will be 
             missed. ...
                So we are going to miss Senator Reid, Senator Mikulski, 
             and, also, Senator Boxer.

                Mr. McCONNELL. ... It goes without saying that keeping 
             the Capitol running is a vast undertaking. It requires a 
             passion for service, round-the-clock work, and great 
             sacrifice by everyone employed. The legislative process 
             simply wouldn't be possible without the dedicated work of 
             so many. On behalf of the Senate, I would like to 
             acknowledge their efforts and say thank you to the 
             following:
                To my leadership team for their wise counsel; to our 
             committee chairs and ranking members for so much great 
             work over the past 2 years; to the many colleagues in both 
             parties for working so hard to make this Senate a success; 
             and, to those we are saying farewell to--Senators Coats, 
             Boxer, Mikulski, Reid, Vitter, Kirk, and Ayotte--for your 
             service to our country, I say thank you. ...
                Let me also again recognize the Democratic leader for 
             his more than three decades of service. As I said 
             yesterday, Harry and I clearly have had some different 
             views on many things throughout the years, but we have 
             shared similar responsibilities as the leaders of our 
             respective parties, and I think we can both agree that 
             none of this would have been possible without the support 
             of our staff. I want to recognize Harry's team, past and 
             present, and thank them for many years of partnership with 
             my office.

               Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, today I wish to pray tribute 
             to a selfless public servant, a committed leader, and a 
             dear friend: Senator Harry Reid.
               Growing up in the small town of Searchlight, NV, Senator 
             Reid was no stranger to hardship. His father suffered from 
             severe depression and his mother worked long hours as a 
             laundress to help support their struggling family. The 
             Reids lived in a tiny tin shack with no toilet or 
             telephone. They had limited access to schools, health 
             care, and the basic comforts of modern life.
               From his hardscrabble youth, Harry developed a fighting 
             spirit that would later define his career in public 
             service. That spirit was cultivated by his high school 
             boxing coach, Mike O'Callaghan, who would later become 
             Nevada's 23d Governor. More than a coach, O'Callaghan was 
             a mentor. He taught Senator Reid his first lessons in 
             civics and raised Harry's vision of what he could 
             accomplish, encouraging him to pursue higher education and 
             a life in politics.
               Senator Reid graduated with a bachelor's degree in 
             political science from Utah State University and would 
             later earn a law degree from George Washington University. 
             While still a law student, Senator Reid worked nights as a 
             U.S. Capitol Police Officer to pay his way through school. 
             Shortly after finishing his law degree, he returned to 
             Nevada where he began climbing the ladder of State 
             politics. Senator Reid served as a city attorney, a State 
             assemblyman, a Lieutenant Governor, a gaming commissioner, 
             and a Congressman before being elected to the Senate in 
             1986.
               Here in the Senate, Harry distinguished himself as a no-
             nonsense legislator whose unmatched work ethic and fiery 
             commitment to principle stood out among his peers. As a 
             young boxer, Harry was renowned for being tough and 
             tenacious in the ring; as a rising Senator, he was equally 
             steadfast and determined.
               Having spearheaded the passage of several high profile 
             pieces of legislation, Harry quickly won the respect of 
             his colleagues and earned a spot on the Democratic 
             leadership team. He served for many years as the Senate 
             Democratic leader. Regardless of the ranks he has 
             achieved, Harry's first and foremost commitment has always 
             been to the people of Nevada.
               Despite his years in Washington, Harry never actually 
             left Searchlight; he simply carries it with him wherever 
             he goes. He holds close to his heart the painful memory of 
             growing up in a dusty mining town with little hope and 
             limited opportunity. He embraces the harsh experiences of 
             a childhood spent living in poverty and draws upon them to 
             fuel his work in the Senate today. In his decades-long 
             effort to empower society's most vulnerable, he has never 
             forgotten where he came from or whom he fights for. He has 
             never forgotten Searchlight.
               Perhaps this is why he eschews the trappings of public 
             office and frequently skips the galas, gaudy dinners, and 
             other extravagant affairs that are part and parcel of the 
             Washington social scene. Perhaps this is why he avoids TV 
             interviews and rarely ever spends more than 10 minutes at 
             a political fundraiser--because, at the end of the day, no 
             matter the titles he receives or the awards he is given, 
             he will always be that little boy from Searchlight.
               Senator Reid is among the most grounded of legislators. 
             I have always had the deepest admiration for his humility, 
             kindness, and compassion. Although he and I have often 
             disagreed on the issues, we have always agreed on the 
             values that make life worth living: namely, God, family, 
             and service to country. Over many decades in the Senate, 
             he has served our Nation exceptionally well. Although he 
             will be missed in this Chamber, he has earned well-
             deserved golden years in his beloved home State of Nevada. 
             I wish Harry, his wonderful wife, Landra, and all the Reid 
             family the very best.

               Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the 
             service of my friend, the Senator from Nevada, and the 
             Democratic leader, Harry Reid. Senator Reid's career on 
             Capitol Hill began long before any of us.
               Back in 1961, Senator Reid came to work at the U.S. 
             Capitol for the first time, though not as a Member.
               While Senator Reid was working his way through law 
             school, he spent his nights as an officer for the U.S. 
             Capitol Police, the force that protects the U.S. Congress, 
             in order to support his family.
               Senator Reid is an inspiration to us all and an 
             incredible fighter.
               By the way, I do mean that literally. We all know about 
             his early career as a boxer.
               In fact, two champion ``Boxers'' in the Senate are 
             retiring at the end of this session, and we are going to 
             miss both of them.
               I also mean that Harry Reid never gives up.
               When he was in high school, he hitchhiked 40 miles twice 
             a week so he could get an education.
               When he and his wife Landra fell in love--he was told by 
             her family that they could never be together. They have 
             had a lifelong love affair and are so proud of their five 
             children and now their grandchildren.
               From the beginning in public service, Senator Reid has 
             fought for the best interests of the people of Nevada and 
             the American people.
               In the Nevada State Assembly, he wrote Nevada's first 
             air pollution legislation and worked on issues like 
             consumer protection and public land usage.
               As chair of the Nevada Gaming Commission, he ignored 
             threats and cleaned up the gaming industry.
               Since being elected to the Senate in 1987, Senator 
             Reid's accomplishments are almost too numerous to count. 
             The list goes on and on. Through it all, he has never ever 
             given up. He has fought to defend the environment of his 
             beautiful home State.
               He made strides in combating ALS--writing legislation 
             creating a registry that provides researchers with the 
             critical knowledge they need to combat that terrible 
             disease.
               He has shepherded some of the most critical legislative 
             accomplishments in the past 8 years through the Senate.
               He led the effort to create and pass the American 
             Recovery and Reinvestment Act, saving millions of jobs. He 
             helped our economy begin to recover.
               He was responsible for making sure the ACA passed in 
             2010. So many people have gotten the care they have 
             needed, their lives have been saved, by the work that he 
             has done.
               As leader of the caucus, he has been responsible for 
             bringing so many of us into this Chamber.
               He said it himself: ``You have to stand up, even when 
             you think you're not gonna win, if you think something's 
             right.''
               He stood up. He fought the good fight. He fought for all 
             of us. I know that he still has so much to give.
               Senator, thank you for your incredible service. Thank 
             you for being such a generous and wonderful friend to me 
             and to my family. I wish you, Landra, and your family many 
             more years of happiness and good work. We will all miss 
             you dearly.

               Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, as this eventful 114th 
             Congress draws to a close, today I wish to honor a number 
             of our colleagues who will be ending their service in the 
             Senate. I was a newcomer to the Senate at the beginning of 
             this Congress and the only Democrat in the freshman Senate 
             class of 2014. I am eternally grateful for the guidance 
             and wisdom of my fellow Senators, particularly those with 
             decades of experience fighting for the American people. 
             Constituents, colleagues, and historians will recount 
             their accomplishments for years to come, but I will take a 
             few minutes now to convey some brief words of praise and 
             gratitude.
               Mr. President, it has been a great honor to serve in the 
             Senate under the leadership of Senate Democratic Leader 
             Harry Reid. Senator Reid has taught us all what it means 
             to represent one's State in the U.S. Senate, doing 
             everything one can to fight hard for the people back home. 
             In his nearly 30 years in the Senate, Harry Reid has 
             mastered the rules and traditions of this institution and 
             used them to deliver victories for the people of his State 
             and the Nation.
               Senator Reid is always ready to lend an ear and a 
             helping hand to his Democratic colleagues; yet he listens 
             most intently to his constituents. He never stops thinking 
             about how to ensure that they have access to well-paying 
             jobs, health care, education, and a better future for 
             their children. Senator Reid has supported economic 
             development and infrastructure investments that have 
             created jobs throughout the country.
               After the 2008 financial crisis, when millions of homes 
             were under water and the existence of the American auto 
             industry hung in the balance, Senator Reid helped craft a 
             compromise to begin our economic recovery. I am grateful 
             for his strong support of the American auto industry 
             during this crisis, which helped us pass essential 
             legislation to restructure Michigan's automotive 
             manufacturers and rebuild our communities. I was also 
             proud to work with him and other leaders on the Dodd-Frank 
             Act, which holds big banks accountable and helps safeguard 
             American families to prevent another crisis and build a 
             healthier economy. Senator Reid's contributions are too 
             many to name, from advancing affordable health care 
             coverage for millions of Americans, to defending labor 
             protections and our social safety net. Through it all, 
             Senator Reid has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to 
             the details of policymaking and to his constituents.
               Senator Reid's legacy and the memory of his tireless 
             work ethic will continue to inspire us to keep working 
             hard, like our constituents do every day, to make their 
             lives better. Senator Reid understands and reminds us all 
             that hard work, faith in each other, and faith in our 
             country are what allow us to endure and improve as a 
             nation. I thank Senator Reid for his great service, his 
             guidance, and the conviction with which he leaves us as 
             our country continues to move forward. ...
               It has been a privilege to work with such talented and 
             committed colleagues. I wish them all the best in this 
             next chapter of their lives and thank them for their work. 
             Thank you.
                       ORDER FOR PRINTING OF SENATE DOCUMENTS
               Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
             there be printed as a Senate document a compilation of 
             materials from the Congressional Record in tribute to 
             retiring Members of the 114th Congress, and an additional 
             Senate document a compilation of materials from the 
             Congressional Record in tribute to the President of the 
             Senate, Joe Biden, and that Members have until Tuesday, 
             December 20, to submit such tributes.

               The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so 
             ordered.
                                  ORDER FOR PRINTING
               Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
             any tributes submitted by December 20, 2016, as authorized 
             by the order of December 10, 2016, be printed in the 
             January 3, 2017, Congressional Record of the 114th 
             Congress.

               The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so 
             ordered.


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