[Senate Document 114-24]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




 
                     TRIBUTES TO HON. DAVID VITTER


                                           

                             David Vitter

                      U.S. SENATOR FROM LOUISIANA

                                TRIBUTES

                           IN THE CONGRESS OF

                           THE UNITED STATES

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                                                S. Doc. 114-24
                                                
                                                
                                                
                                                
                                      Tributes

                                Delivered in Congress

                                    David Vitter

                              United States Congressman

                                      1999-2005

                                United States Senator

                                      2005-2017


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                   U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                            
                         WASHINGTON : 2017
                         
                         
                         
                         
                         
                         
                         
                         


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                                      CONTENTS
             Biography.............................................
                                                                      v
             Farewell Address......................................
                                                                    vii
             Proceedings in the Senate:
                Tributes by Senators:
                    Boozman, John, of Arkansas.....................
                                                                     15
                    Cardin, Benjamin L., of Maryland...............
                                                                     12
                    Cassidy, Bill, of Louisiana....................
                                                                      5
                    Cornyn, John, of Texas.........................
                                                                      8
                    Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming...................
                                                                     10
                    Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah.......................
                                                                     11
                    Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont..................
                                                                      8
                    McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky 
                     ...............................................

                                                               3, 5, 11
                    Peters, Gary C., of Michigan...................
                                                                     14
                    Portman, Rob, of Ohio..........................
                                                                     15
                    Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island....................
                                                                      7
                    Vitter, David, of Louisiana....................
                                                                   5, 7






















































                                      BIOGRAPHY

               U.S. Senator David Vitter was a bold, conservative 
             reformer who worked to solve the most significant problems 
             facing our State and our Nation with Louisiana common 
             sense.
               Senator Vitter believed that the Federal Government was 
             too big, too bloated, and too involved in Louisianians' 
             daily lives, and he focused on taking practical, 
             mainstream steps to cut spending, reduce the deficit, and 
             put government back in its proper role.
               He was a champion for Louisiana jobs that depended on 
             oil and gas drilling, the leader of a Congressional 
             coalition to secure our borders and stop illegal 
             immigration, and an outspoken fighter for reforming the 
             Army Corps of Engineers to ensure better hurricane and 
             flood protection.
               Senator Vitter fought against Washington bureaucracies 
             that placed themselves between patients and their doctors, 
             and against government agencies that destroyed jobs by 
             piling burdensome regulations on small businesses. He 
             believed that Washington needs the same commonsense 
             approach that is found around Louisiana kitchen tables.
               Senator Vitter was first elected to the U.S. House of 
             Representatives in 1999. He was elected to his first term 
             in the Senate in 2004, and overwhelmingly reelected in 
             2010.
               David and his wife, Wendy, have four children and live 
             in Metairie.
                               Farewell to the Senate
                              Monday, December 5, 2016

                Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the 
             Senate floor for the last time. I am not generally big on 
             nostalgic reminiscences, but I would like to briefly 
             reflect on what is clearly the greatest honor of my 
             professional life--my 12 years in the U.S. Senate and 5\1/
             2\ years in the U.S. House of Representatives and the 
             enormous honor of serving the people of Louisiana to whom 
             I will always be so deeply indebted.
                In some ways it seems like just yesterday that I was on 
             the floor of the U.S. House being sworn in, surrounded by 
             our very young children, except for Jack, who wasn't born 
             yet. I said then: ``I am honored, humbled, awestruck to 
             stand before you today.'' I stated my simple goal: to 
             become at ease and comfortable as I learn the ways of 
             Congress, as I hopefully become an effective 
             Representative and respected colleague and friend, but 
             never to become so at ease and comfortable that I lose 
             these feelings of honor, of humility, of awe, and, believe 
             me, I haven't.
                My very first year in the Senate was a very memorable 
             one. That year Louisiana was struck by Hurricanes Rita and 
             Katrina. After the initial shock of those cataclysmic 
             events, I realized that for quite some time, my priorities 
             as Louisiana Senator would be dominated by the desperate 
             need to rebuild our State, including dramatically 
             improving our hurricane and flood protection and restoring 
             our coastline.
                Katrina's devastation was hard to imagine, destroying 
             much of southeast Louisiana and coastal Mississippi. Less 
             than 1 month later, Hurricane Rita slammed into southwest 
             Louisiana as another one of the most intense hurricanes in 
             history. I immediately went to work with Senator Landrieu 
             and the rest of our Louisiana delegation as well as my 
             good friends Thad Cochran, Trent Lott, and others to 
             secure the necessary disaster recovery assistance and also 
             to make reforms to the Army Corps of Engineers to better 
             protect our families and communities from future natural 
             disasters.
                Louisiana has continued to face and survive other major 
             disasters, including Hurricane Gustav in August and 
             September 2008, Hurricane Ike in September of that same 
             year, Hurricane Isaac in 2012, the Red River flooding in 
             northern and central Louisiana, and the 1,000-year-flood 
             event in greater Baton Rouge and Acadiana this past 
             August.
                As if all of that weren't enough, in April 2010, the 
             Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the coast of 
             Louisiana, killing 11 men and devastating our coastline. 
             The disaster, followed by the horribly misguided offshore 
             drilling moratorium President Obama put in place, caused 
             economic and environmental chaos in Louisiana.
                Once again, I immediately went to work with so many 
             others to increase and improve safety measures and reopen 
             the Gulf of Mexico to energy exploration and put people 
             back to work. We introduced legislation to dedicate a 
             majority of the BP penalties toward restoring coastal 
             ecosystems and economies damaged by the spill. It was an 
             uphill battle to ensure Louisiana was fairly compensated, 
             but we did, and we achieved substantial wins, including 
             passage of that critical RESTORE Act that I described.
                During the recovery fight following each of these 
             disasters, I found that the most effective leadership 
             involved communicating clearly and employing solutions 
             based on Louisiana common sense, and what always inspired 
             me and kept me going was the unbelievable resilience, 
             faith, and determination of my fellow Louisianans. Their 
             strength and optimism have been oh so powerful reminders 
             of how blessed I have been to serve them.
                On a host of other important issues, I always sought to 
             further two sets of political values, really modeled after 
             my two favorite Presidents, Ronald Reagan and Teddy 
             Roosevelt. I always strove to further the Central American 
             tradition of limited government and individual freedom, 
             and I was never afraid to shake things up, to demand 
             needed reforms to ensure that leaders in Washington served 
             the American people and not the other way around.
                I have had the honor of protecting Louisiana's 
             traditions and proud heritage while here in the Senate. 
             Louisianans love the outdoors and want strong 
             environmental conservation and sportsmen's policies to 
             maintain that culture, and that certainly includes 
             securing the rights afforded to each American by the 
             Second Amendment, which I have fought to do.
                Louisianans respect the sanctity of life, which has 
             been one of my top priorities while serving in Congress. I 
             have introduced many bills that end taxpayer funding of 
             abortion and abortion mills and have proudly stood in the 
             defense of life.
                When it comes to our Nation's immigration policies, I 
             have been an advocate for targeted reforms that fix the 
             immigration crisis, starting with border security and 
             enforcing the immigration laws already on the books. I 
             fought President Obama's unconstitutional attempts to 
             implement executive amnesty, which only encourages more 
             immigrants to come here illegally and insults the millions 
             of fine immigrants who do follow U.S. law.
                I was also the first to introduce legislation in 2007 
             to end dangerous sanctuary city policies and have 
             continued to do so each Congress since. I have also been 
             critical of too big to fail in the banking sector and have 
             found banking reform to be an area in which Republicans 
             can absolutely find common ground with Democrats. That is 
             where I found success in passing into law specific 
             measures that restrict too-big-to-fail and tax-funded 
             bailouts. Also during my time in Congress, I have 
             introduced several important government reform bills so we 
             can get back to the best traditions of our democracy, 
             which includes electing citizen legislators, making sure 
             they don't make themselves into a separate ruling class, 
             and advocating for term limits so individuals don't remain 
             in office for an eternity.
                Americans of all backgrounds think Washington is on a 
             different planet and Members of Congress just don't get 
             it. That is why I fought to end Congress' automatic pay 
             raises each year. I first introduced that language in 
             2009, and the raises have been successfully blocked each 
             year since. Congress can be an effective representative 
             body only when it lives under the same laws it imposes on 
             the rest of the country, and one major way to support that 
             is through term limits. When I was a member of the 
             Louisiana State legislature, I was successful in 
             establishing legislative term limits there, and I have 
             offered the leading term limits measure for Congress here, 
             as well as imposing it on myself.
                I fought for commonsense legislation that helps all 
             Americans have access to high-quality and affordable 
             health care. That includes the work to dismantle Obamacare 
             and replace it with patient-centered health care reform, 
             which I am very hopeful the incoming Trump administration 
             will achieve. In the meantime, I have been fighting to end 
             Washington's exemption from Obamacare, an illegal Obama 
             administration executive order that allows Washington 
             elites to avoid the most inconvenient, expensive aspects 
             of the Affordable Care Act by giving themselves taxpayer 
             subsidized health care through an exchange meant solely 
             for small businesses. Also in the health care arena, I was 
             able to pass into law the bipartisan Steve Gleason Act of 
             2015. It provided immediate relief for patients who have 
             been denied access to life-saving and life-altering 
             medical equipment. It was about a 2014 Medicare policy 
             change that we had to reverse. Our bill allowed these 
             patients to have access to medical equipment that truly 
             empowers them, that is a true lifeline, and it changes 
             their lives absolutely for the better.
                I have also fought against large drug manufacturing 
             lobbies to allow for reimportation of safe and approved 
             prescription medicine from other countries, which gives 
             patients, especially our seniors, relief from rising 
             health care costs.
                I have been honored to serve in the Senate in 
             additional ways as well, including as a top Republican on 
             the Environment and Public Works Committee and most 
             recently as chair of the Senate Committee on Small 
             Business and Entrepreneurship. I am very proud to say that 
             we have accomplished so many of our goals in those two 
             roles.
                We worked in a bipartisan fashion on EPW to pass 
             several major pieces of legislation, including the Water 
             Resources and Development Act of 2007 and the even more 
             significant WRDA of 2014, several reauthorizations of the 
             highway bill, the bipartisan and historic rewrite of the 
             40-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act, which began as 
             conversations between Senator Frank Lautenberg and myself, 
             a partnership which Senator Tom Udall continued after 
             Frank's unfortunate passing.
                We were also able to hold the administration 
             accountable by conducting investigations into some 
             outright corruption within the Obama EPA, and we advanced 
             key transparency initiatives that shed light on 
             government's attempts to implement policies that were not 
             based on sound science or strategic needs.
                As chair of the Small Business Committee, I have been 
             advocating to make sure the voices and concerns of small 
             business owners across the country are heard in 
             Washington. We have held 23 hearings here, 18 field 
             hearings, numerous roundtable discussions. We have heard 
             testimony from over 175 witnesses, usually about the 
             disastrous negative effects of Obama policies like the new 
             waters of the United States rule, key and disastrous 
             effects on small businesses and job creators and their 
             employees.
                At the very same time, we found common ground with 
             Ranking Member Shaheen and other Democrats on the 
             committee. During my tenure as chair, we passed 32 
             bipartisan bills out of the committee, which is 22 more 
             than my predecessors did over a much longer period, and 8 
             of our bills have passed through the entire legislative 
             process and have been signed into law.
                These accomplishments are but a fraction of the years 
             of hard work my staff and I have dedicated to the people 
             of Louisiana and, indeed, the American people. I have 
             worked hard to be a champion for them because the 
             government should serve the taxpayer and not the other way 
             around, and that includes by working hard to stay in touch 
             through 398 townhall meetings, at least 5 in each parish 
             of Louisiana, through 231 telephone townhalls, and through 
             active, energetic casework and constituent service.
                Clearly what I will treasure most about my service here 
             is the people with whom I have been honored to serve; my 
             colleagues, including my fellow Louisianian Senator Bill 
             Cassidy, mentors like former Senator Rick Santorum and 
             Senator Jeff Sessions, and most especially each of the 
             dedicated people who have been part of Team Vitter. I have 
             come to the Senate floor several times this year to thank 
             key departing staff members.
                That is for a very simple reason. My staff has been the 
             key ingredient--the key--to every success we have enjoyed 
             together in public service. Wendy and I consider them a 
             part of the family. I truly thank my staff again for their 
             tireless, dedicated service to Louisiana. I am so very 
             grateful. Wendy joins me in that.
                I want to specifically recognize some of our leaders: 
             my chief of staff, Luke Bolar; my legislative director, 
             Chris Stanley; my wonderful finance director, Courtney 
             Guastela; our State director, Chip Layton; and committee 
             staff director, Meredith West; our grants coordinator, 
             Brenda Moore; my media head, John Brabender; senior 
             infrastructure policy advisor, Charles Brittingham; my 
             senior economic adviser, David Stokes; campaign treasurer 
             Will Vanderbrook; and communications director, Cheyenne 
             Klotz.
                I know a few of our other former senior staff members 
             are here or are watching, like Mac Abrams, Joel DiGrado, 
             Bryan Zumwalt, Travis Johnson, Kathryn Eden, and Michael 
             Wong. Last, and obviously not least, is my beloved family. 
             My five wonderful brothers and sisters, our children, 
             their children, the extended family, led by the ultimate 
             leader of Team Vitter, my wife Wendy.
                I can never thank them enough, and certainly I can 
             never ever thank Wendy enough. Through it all, Wendy has 
             been so enormously patient and supportive and 
             understanding, not to mention being the life of every Team 
             Vitter party, leading the rounds of Fireball shots. She 
             and our daughter Lise are in the gallery today. I thank 
             them and Sophie, Airey, and Jack for decades of love and 
             support. Lise, up there, was in my arms as a 2 year old 
             when I was first sworn into the House of Representatives 
             and made those previously quoted remarks: ``I am honored, 
             humbled, awestruck to stand before you.'' She has changed 
             some, but as I said at the beginning of my reflections, 
             those feelings certainly have not.
                I would like to close as I did that day in the House 
             over 17 years ago; that is, simply by recognizing the 
             wonderful, loving forces that have brought me here today: 
             God, family, led by my parents up above, and my wife 
             Wendy, staff and friends, and of course the wonderful 
             people of Louisiana. They are here with me today. They are 
             here with me always. I thank them from the depths of my 
             heart.
                For the last time, I yield the floor.
?

                                           

                                      TRIBUTES

                                         TO

                                    DAVID VITTER
                              Proceedings in the Senate
                                             Thursday, December 1, 2016
               Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, after two terms in the 
             Senate and more than two decades of public service, our 
             friend and colleague Senator David Vitter will be leaving 
             us at the end of his term. I would like to say a few words 
             before he does.
               Our friend from Louisiana is the first Republican 
             Senator popularly elected from his home State. It is an 
             impressive achievement that history will long record. 
             Senator Vitter had little opportunity to celebrate at the 
             time. Hurricane Katrina hit just a few months after he 
             took office. It was a catastrophic natural disaster that 
             presented massive and immediate challenges for Louisiana.
               Our colleague did not miss a beat. Back home, he and his 
             team worked tirelessly to set up mobile offices. Here in 
             the Senate he fought hard to bring aid to those in need. 
             It underlined something we have all come to know about 
             Senator Vitter: He is passionate about his home State. 
             That has been a constant throughout his career. He simply 
             loves Louisiana. He loves the richness of its history, 
             loves the richness of its culture, loves the richness of 
             its food, too--crawfish pie etouffee and several other 
             things I can't pronounce. Senator Vitter loves it all.
               He flies home just about every chance he gets. When he 
             was younger, he turned down offers from Harvard and Yale 
             to study law in the Pelican State. This is after he spent 
             some time in Cambridge, MA, and Oxford, as a Rhodes 
             scholar, by the way--pretty impressive--so perhaps it was 
             born of a simple lesson: You're just not going to find 
             alligator sauce piquante anywhere else.
               Nor are you likely to find many Saints fans, certainly 
             none as enthusiastic as our colleague. You will find 
             Senator Vitter glued to a television every football 
             Sunday. If the Senate is in session, he will watch between 
             votes in the Cloakroom behind me. He has been a diehard 
             fan of the Black and Gold for as long as he can remember. 
             It was not as though he had much choice, of course, 
             growing up in the Big Easy, but he has stuck by his team 
             through thick and thin--often thin. It is what made the 
             Saints' eventual Super Bowl win in 2010 that much sweeter. 
             He called it a dream come true.
               This tenacity and determination carries over to his 
             political career as well. Whatever the issue, Senator 
             Vitter's staff says he is always looking for solutions 
             that can improve the lives of Louisianans. They say he is 
             always ready to roll up his sleeves and stay the course on 
             legislation that will do just that.
               Senator Vitter has worked hard to protect his 
             constituents from the effects of hurricanes and floods 
             before they occur and to rebuild when they do. He has 
             taken the lead on important initiatives to reform the Army 
             Corps of Engineers and improve our Nation's waterways.
               Most recently, he helped to pass the first significant 
             reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act in nearly four 
             decades. Senator Vitter was a critical player throughout, 
             working across the aisle with our late colleague Senator 
             Lautenberg and then Senator Udall to steer this much 
             needed legislation to passage and eventually law.
               Senator Vitter says he believes his most important job 
             is to keep an open-door policy for constituents who need 
             help. I know he would tell you that, although it may not 
             be the most publicized part of the job, he considers it 
             the most fulfilling.
               He still remembers the woman in desperate need of a 
             liver transplant. With the help of his office, she got it. 
             He still remembers the veteran who needed an operation to 
             save his leg and his life. With the help of Team Vitter, 
             he received that too.
               Senator Vitter will never forget the countless families 
             in need of assistance following Hurricanes Katrina and 
             Rita, the oilspill, and recent flooding. He has seen first 
             hand the life-changing, even life-saving impacts 
             constituent casework can have. It is what inspired him to 
             compile these powerful stories and best practices into a 
             constituent service guidebook that will help guide his 
             successor from day one.
               Of course, none of this would have been possible without 
             a great staff, and Senator Vitter has built a strong team 
             that is as committed to the people of Louisiana as he is. 
             It is tight knit. It is loyal. It is a group of men and 
             women who know they have a boss who takes genuine interest 
             in their success, who trusts their judgment, and who is 
             always eager for their input.
               Senator Vitter awards a Reform Trophy each week to the 
             staffer with the best new policy idea. He truly believes 
             in a heavy dose of competition. That includes when his son 
             Jack is in town. Staffers can expect to be enlisted in an 
             entirely different competition then; it is called Office 
             Olympics. Team Vitter knows to bring their A game when 
             Jack is around. They also know to bring their sense of 
             humor. It turns out Jack is a bit of a prankster. I hear 
             you don't want Jack laying hands on a Post-it note or a 
             roll of aluminum foil when he is in the office, but 
             lifelong memories are often made when he does just that.
               It is these relationships and it is this capacity to 
             make a difference for the people of Louisiana through 
             constituent service and the legislative process that I am 
             sure our colleague will miss most when he leaves the 
             Senate.
               Senator Vitter may be retiring from his post in this 
             Chamber, but we know he will continue to look for ways to 
             serve the State he loves so much. Today we join with his 
             team and his family in recognizing his many years of 
             service. I know each of us is looking forward to seeing 
             what else our colleague is able to achieve on behalf of 
             Louisiana in the years to come.

               Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, if the majority leader will 
             yield for one moment, I want to thank the majority leader 
             for his very kind words. Serving in the Senate for two 
             terms has been the highest honor of my professional 
             career. I have enjoyed it so much and have been honored by 
             the relationship with all of my colleagues, certainly 
             including the majority leader. I will have a few more 
             reflections next Monday, but I sincerely thank him and 
             also congratulate him for getting the Senate, particularly 
             in the past 2 years, back to working order and some of its 
             best practices. Not as a Member but as a cheerleader on 
             the outside, I will be very much looking forward to even 
             greater successes this coming Congress.

               Mr. McCONNELL. I thank my colleague.
                                               Monday, December 5, 2016
                Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I have the honor to 
             recognize and thank my colleague and friend, the Honorable 
             Senator David Vitter, for his 25 years of service to 
             Louisiana. Our State has been fortunate to have him as its 
             voice and advocate in this Chamber for the past 12 years.
                On a personal note, when I arrived at the Senate, David 
             worked with me, sharing with me some of the privileges 
             that normally he, as a senior Senator, could have kept all 
             to himself. With great graciousness, he worked with me and 
             said, ``Listen, this is how I think the process should be 
             set up. I would like you to have some of this privilege as 
             well.'' I will do the same with whoever replaces David. He 
             has set a pattern that, again, by his graciousness and 
             magnanimity, deserves repetition.
                As a new Senator, I was fortunate to have him as a 
             resource for advice and knowledge that comes from time and 
             experience in this body. There are some things that happen 
             here that you have to kind of have experience to follow. 
             David had both the experience, the sharpness, and the 
             insight to recognize.
                I again look forward to sharing what he has taught me 
             with whoever takes his place. I will note, as David did, 
             he helped lead our State through some of our worst times. 
             From Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to the great flood of 2016, 
             all of the way in between, David has worked hard to make 
             sure Louisiana and the people of Louisiana have what they 
             need to recover.
                The hallmark of Senator Vitter's tenure is that he has 
             always cared deeply about our State, constantly looking 
             for what he could do that would benefit our State, not 
             just in the short term but doing that which is consistent 
             with his principles to help Louisiana and the United 
             States thrive in the long term.
                He has been on the side of that family whose father 
             goes for 2 weeks, works on an oil rig in the middle of the 
             Gulf of Mexico, working hard so his family has a better 
             future. David has been on the side of that mom juggling 
             two jobs to earn enough to make sure her children's needs 
             are met.
                A recent example--again for the short-term and long-
             term perspective David handled so well--he stayed 
             persistent for years working across the aisle, first with 
             Senator Frank Lautenberg, then Senator Udall, to pass the 
             much needed reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act, 
             the first reform of its kind in 40 years.
                This reform protects both the workers--those people on 
             that rig, perhaps, at least the people who would be 
             processing the products of that rig--but also gives the 
             manufacturers of Louisiana and across the country the 
             certainty they need to expand their businesses and create 
             more jobs.
                On a lighter note, David is a great Saints fan. We in 
             Louisiana kind of liked the fact that when the slogan 
             ``Who Dat'' came up spontaneously, and people started to 
             put it on their shirts and the NFL was going to go to 
             court to stop this from happening, David wrote a letter to 
             Roger Goddell. The letter started off by saying: ``Who 
             Dat.'' So speaking truth to power on behalf of the ``Who 
             Dat Nation'' is one credit of his.
                Similarly, David was tweeting before our President-
             elect made it perhaps as high profile. I remember during 
             the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans--and again the context 
             of this is, the Saints had just been punished--of course 
             Saints fans think unfairly--by Roger Goddell. So during 
             the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans, when the power went 
             out, David's tweet, without missing a beat said: ``Like 
             most Saints fans, I am immediately assuming Roger Goddell 
             is the chief suspect for the power outage.'' The quick-
             witted quip cut to the emotion of the ``Who Dat Nation.''
                As the 114th Congress comes to a close, the Senate will 
             be losing an important Member. David brings a sound, 
             strategic mind to this Chamber that will be missed. I wish 
             him, Wendy, their children, Lise, Sophie, Airey, and Jack, 
             the best of luck in their journey forward. On behalf of 
             all Louisiana, I say thank you.
                I yield the floor.

                The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.

                Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from 
             Louisiana for his very kind remarks. More important, I 
             want to thank him for years of great partnership, great 
             work on behalf of Louisiana. I know he will make an 
             outstanding senior Senator. Thank you.
                I yield the floor.
                                             Thursday, December 8, 2016
                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, David Vitter and I served together on 
             the Armed Services Committee, and we continue to serve 
             together on the Banking Committee. As a senior member of 
             the Environment and Public Works Committee, he has been 
             very critical in ensuring that we continue our commitment 
             to infrastructure. Infrastructure is a word now that is 
             getting a lot of attention. Years ago, David was 
             interested in that, not only interested but instrumental 
             in making sure we did our best to keep up with 
             infrastructure so that we could have a productive America, 
             so that people could enjoy the benefits, and so that we 
             could be competitive in a global economy.
                He has done a great deal. One area where we also shared 
             an interest is his Home Owner Flood Insurance 
             Affordability Act, which became law in 2014. This was 
             critical not just to Louisiana but to every coastal State, 
             including Rhode Island. His energy, his commitment, and 
             his dedication made it a success. I want to thank him for 
             that, and I wish him well as he goes forward. ...
                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, I would like to briefly 
             recognize the service of retiring Senator David Vitter. 
             Senator Vitter has served the people of Louisiana in 
             Congress since 1999, through the aftermath of Hurricane 
             Katrina, across three different administrations, and 
             through countless debates. As he retires from the Congress 
             after nearly two decades of service to Louisiana, I wish 
             him, his wife, Wendy, their four children and his entire 
             family all the best in the next chapter.

               Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I know it is always difficult 
             to come to the floor and talk about the departure of our 
             good friends and valued colleagues. The word I have heard 
             mentioned the most this week is ``bittersweet''--people 
             looking forward to the next chapter of their lives but 
             regretting the fact that good friends and valued 
             colleagues are moving on to the next chapter of their 
             lives. Every other December, we find ourselves bidding 
             farewell to some of our most admired and respected 
             Members. Today I wish to speak briefly about four of them, 
             starting with our good friend from New Hampshire, Senator 
             Ayotte. ...
               Mr. President, I would also like to say a few words 
             about the senior Senator from Louisiana, David Vitter. 
             Back in the 113th Congress, in 2013, I began my tenure as 
             the Republican whip, and at the same time I invited 
             Senator Vitter to serve the conference as a deputy whip. 
             One thing we always know about David Vitter, whether you 
             are a colleague, a staffer, or a constituent, is that no 
             matter what, he is going to have thought carefully about 
             the issue in ways that perhaps surprise many of us, and 
             when he has something to say about an issue, it is always 
             something worth listening to. I can't say that about all 
             of us, but certainly Senator Vitter adds to the value of 
             our deliberations every time he speaks.
               Of course, nothing is closer to his heart than the 
             people of Louisiana, and what he has done diligently and 
             faithfully here is serve the people of his State. I have 
             had the pleasure of working with him on issues we share in 
             common, like coastal protection issues that affect both of 
             our States with our gulf coast.
               Senator Vitter was sworn into office the same year 
             Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. As a matter of fact, 
             for a time, he and his family literally lived outside the 
             Houston area because of the devastation wrought by that 
             terrible hurricane--a storm that FEMA called the ``single 
             most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history.'' 
             Katrina did billions of dollars' worth of damage, killed 
             almost 2,000 people, left thousands without a roof over 
             their heads, and cut the population of New Orleans in 
             half. About 100,000 of those, I am told, made permanent 
             residence in Texas, having had their homes destroyed.
               I know Senator Vitter took this devastation as a 
             personal challenge. He hit the ground running. When the 
             people of Louisiana needed him most, he worked at every 
             level of government to bring them together and get the 
             help they needed. Of course, just a few years after 
             Katrina, Hurricane Ike pummeled its way through the gulf 
             coast of Mexico before making landfall on the Texas coast. 
             So I have had a number of opportunities to work with 
             Senator Vitter not only on recovery efforts for our States 
             but to make sure our communities along the coast stand 
             ready to help each other and particularly as we prepare 
             for future storms.
               I wish him and his wife Wendy and their entire family 
             well as they look to more adventures and more 
             opportunities to serve. I have no doubt he will continue 
             to take his passion for helping the people of Louisiana 
             with him wherever the future may lead. ...
               Let me close by saying thank you again to our friends 
             Senator Kirk, Senator Vitter, Senator Coats, and Senator 
             Ayotte for the indelible mark and contributions they made 
             to the Senate and my sincere appreciation for how they 
             have faithfully served our country. I am grateful for 
             their friendship and wish them and their families well as 
             they tackle new ventures ahead.

                Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, each year at the end of the 
             Congress, it has been a tradition for the Senate to pause 
             for a moment to express our appreciation for the service 
             of those Members who will be retiring. One of those who 
             will be leaving this year is David Vitter.
                David will be a loss for my party's membership in the 
             next Congress because he was a hard worker and we could 
             always count on him for his support of our conservative 
             positions. Simply put, he made the most of the terms he 
             served and made an important difference on a number of 
             issues.
                Over the years, David would study each bill in 
             committee and on the floor carefully to determine how 
             those who would fall under its provisions would be 
             affected. He had a good sense of what needed to be 
             strengthened or tweaked to make legislation more effective 
             and less costly. The people of Louisiana and the Nation 
             have had a friend in him, and they greatly appreciated how 
             well he looked out for them.
                One issue that drew David's and my attention was 
             Obamacare. We both had a lot of concerns about how it 
             would work and whether or not it would provide the kind of 
             care its supporters promised. That is one of the reasons 
             why I hate to see him leave. We have a lot of work to do 
             on health care, and David would have been someone who 
             could help with the heavy lifting.
                David also chaired the Small Business Committee in this 
             Congress and was able to put forward some ideas to 
             preserve jobs and businesses. I have been proud to work 
             with him in that effort.
                In short, Senator Vitter has had a remarkable career 
             and has done his best to serve the people of his State and 
             champion the issues that were of importance to them.
                Now David has decided to end his Senate career and take 
             on some new challenges. I have no doubt that his skills 
             and his background will lead him down a new path to help 
             the people of Louisiana. I wish him well and look forward 
             to seeing what he will do.
                David, Diana joins me in sending our best wishes and 
             our appreciation for your service, as well as that of your 
             family. Together with Wendy, you were able to make a 
             difference that will last for a long time in the Senate 
             and in Louisiana. It is good to know you won't be far away 
             and we can get in touch with you whenever we need your 
             advice.
                                               Friday, December 9, 2016
                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. ...

               Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, today I pay tribute to the 
             senior Senator from Louisiana, my friend David Vitter. 
             Over more than a decade, I have had the privilege to get 
             to know David as a colleague and a friend. When he retires 
             in January, he will be greatly missed.
               David is a New Orleans man, born and raised. In his 
             younger years, he achieved impressive academic feats, 
             graduating from Harvard and earning a Rhodes scholarship 
             to study at Oxford. As he is fond of telling, after his 
             time in England, he applied to three law schools--Harvard, 
             Yale, and Tulane--and chose to attend the best of the 
             three: Tulane.
               Just a few years later, he won a seat in the Louisiana 
             House of Representatives. There, he earned a reputation as 
             an ethics crusader--a reputation that has stuck with him 
             throughout his career. Many observers credit him in no 
             small part with the transformation of his home State's 
             politics--once famously dominated by colorful but 
             ethically questionable characters--and he should be 
             rightfully pleased at the fruits his efforts bore for the 
             State he loves. In Washington, his work to strengthen 
             ethics laws at the Federal level may not have always made 
             him the most popular among his colleagues, but they 
             reflect the same spirit of reform and willingness to stand 
             up for what he believes in that have been the hallmarks of 
             David's career.
               On the legislative front, David has been a champion for 
             his conservative values and his beloved Louisiana. Taking 
             office in 2005, he almost immediately was faced with one 
             of the greatest crises any Senator in my tenure has had to 
             confront: Hurricane Katrina. As his State has faced 
             Katrina's devastation and other natural disasters, 
             Louisianans could always count on David to deliver for 
             them, no matter what. Throughout, David mastered the skill 
             of fighting as hard as anyone when the situation called 
             for it--as he did as the top Republican on the Environment 
             and Public Works Committee, pushing back against the 
             overreach of the EPA--and then turning right around and 
             making partners of those who were his most entrenched 
             opponents--as he did by working with liberal Democrats to 
             update the Nation's water infrastructure and pass a once-
             in-a-generation reform of the Nation's toxic chemical 
             laws.
               David's work in the Senate has produced an impressive 
             legacy for him and for Louisiana. As he embarks on his 
             next chapter, I send my best wishes to him, his 
             accomplished and lovely wife, Wendy, and his four 
             children.

               Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, much of the time here in the 
             Senate, we are engaged in pretty fierce partisan battles. 
             I would like to take a break from that for a moment and 
             talk about the four Republican Senators who will not be 
             back when the 115th Congress convenes next month. While we 
             may have different political philosophies and policy 
             prescriptions, I respect and admire each of them, and I 
             will miss working with all of them. ...
               Mr. President, Senator Vitter is probably one of the 
             most conservative Senators and yet has a long record of 
             bipartisan accomplishments on behalf of his home State and 
             the Nation. I have enjoyed serving on the Small Business 
             and Entrepreneurship Committee, which he has chaired for 
             the past 2 years. During that time, the committee has 
             reported nearly 30 bills, 8 of which have been signed into 
             law so far. One of those bills, Senator Vitter's Recovery 
             Improvements for Small Entities After Disaster Act--the 
             RISE After Disaster Act--will help small businesses 
             recover from disasters more rapidly. Considering that 
             small businesses are major employers and the linchpins of 
             their communities, helping them to recover is crucial.
               Senator Vitter is a Louisiana native, born in New 
             Orleans. He was an excellent student and went on to earn 
             his A.B. from Harvard. He attended Oxford University as a 
             Rhodes scholar, earning a B.A., and then he earned his law 
             degree from Tulane. He was elected to the Louisiana House 
             of Representatives in 1992; in 1999, he won a special 
             election to succeed then-Representative Bob Livingston to 
             represent the State's First Congressional District. He was 
             reelected in 2000 and 2002 with more than 80 percent of 
             the vote in each instance. In 2004, he won the Senate seat 
             being vacated by John Breaux. That election was historic; 
             he became the first Republican in Louisiana to be 
             popularly elected as a U.S. Senator. The State's last 
             Republican Senator, William Pitt Kellogg, was chosen by 
             the State's legislature in 1876, back before the 17th 
             Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted. Senator 
             Vitter was reelected in 2010 with 57 percent of the vote.
               Senator Vitter has had a productive career as a 
             legislator. On June 22, 2016, President Obama signed into 
             law the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st 
             Century Act, which amends the Toxic Substances Control 
             Act, TSCA, the Nation's primary chemicals management law. 
             Senator Vitter was the lead Republican sponsor of this 
             measure, working first with our beloved former colleague, 
             Senator Lautenberg, and then with Senator Udall. The new 
             law, which received bipartisan support in both the U.S. 
             House of Representatives and the Senate, will make it 
             easier for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, 
             to review the safety of chemicals already on the market 
             and the new ones being developed, and it provides a stable 
             source of funding for EPA to meet the law's requirements, 
             a huge step forward with respect to chemical safety.
               Senator Vitter has been instrumental in developing and 
             passing important public works bills, including the 
             current Water Resources Development Act, WRDA, 
             reauthorization. While he has been an architect of our 
             Nation's infrastructure policies, he has also been 
             sensitive to the concerns of his home State. Thanks to his 
             involvement in the past several surface transportation 
             bills, Louisiana is no longer a ``donor'' State with 
             respect to the highway trust fund; the State receives 
             $1.06 in spending for every $1 it sends to Washington in 
             gasoline taxes. Senator Vitter was stalwart when one of 
             the Nation's worst natural disasters--Hurricane Katrina--
             devastated Louisiana and the rest of the gulf coast in 
             2005 and again in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon 
             oilspill in 2010. He coauthored the RESTORE Act, which 
             directs 80 percent of the Clean Water Act fines levied 
             against BP--$5.5 billion--to the States whose fisheries, 
             shorelines, and economies were decimated by the spill.
               Senator Vitter has numerous other legislative 
             accomplishments. To mention just a few, he authored the 
             Steve Gleason Act, which helps people afflicted with 
             diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, by 
             making it easier for them to acquire speech-generating 
             devices. He reformed the Federal Reserve Board by putting 
             in place the requirement that at least one sitting board 
             member must have community banking experience. He 
             successfully elevated Barksdale Air Force Base's Global 
             Strike Command to four-star general status.
               I mentioned a moment ago that Senator Vitter is a 
             conservative. He and I have vast differences of opinion on 
             many issues. But that is OK; that is the nature of the 
             Senate. The genius of our system of government is that it 
             allows--and encourages--people with different points of 
             view to come together and agree on legislation that moves 
             our country forward, and that is something Senator Vitter 
             has been able to do over his career. I send my best wishes 
             to Senator Vitter, his wife, Wendy, and their children 
             Sophie, Lise, Airey, and Jack.

               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, in a Congress where bipartisanship is all 
             too rare, I have been honored to work with many Republican 
             colleagues on commonsense, bipartisan solutions. Senator 
             David Vitter has served as chairman of the Senate Small 
             Business Committee, of which I am a member, and has been a 
             consummate partner on issues affecting Michigan's small 
             businesses. On the Small Business Committee, we have been 
             able to pass significant legislation to ensure that small 
             businesses have the resources they need to compete, 
             expand, and give back to their communities. We extended 
             the SBA 7(a) Federal loan program to provide thousands of 
             small businesses with financing at no cost to American 
             taxpayers. Together, we introduced legislation that will 
             provide patent education to small businesses. We also 
             introduced legislation that will help small businesses 
             plan for and protect against cybersecurity attacks. I am 
             glad to have colleagues like Senator Vitter who believe 
             that no issue is too small when it comes to supporting job 
             creation and economic growth. ...
               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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