[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 28, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S2437]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ANDREW H. CARD, JR.

  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I rise to praise and thank Secretary Card 
who, for the last 5\1/2\ years, served as Chief of Staff for the 
President of the United States. Those of us from New Hampshire, such as 
the Senator in the Chair, know Andy Card well. Long before he became 
Chief of Staff, before he became Secretary of Transportation, before he 
even went into the White House with the first President Bush, he was an 
individual who had a fair amount of presence in New Hampshire. He 
started out in Massachusetts in the State legislature. There, with a 
small band of Republican members of that body in the 1970s, those of us 
who were in government in New Hampshire had a chance to meet him on 
occasion as a neighbor and fellow legislator and member of the 
government.
  Then, in 1987, I believe it was, he came to New Hampshire and 
basically took up residence on a cot in a rundown building that we used 
as the headquarters for the George H. Bush campaign for President. He 
was the field director, the campaign manager under Governor Sununu and 
under my father, Governor Gregg. He, at that time, created a tremendous 
amount of goodwill amongst those who had a chance to work with him. He 
was an extraordinarily highly capable individual who got his job done, 
did it without ego but did it very effectively.
  That approach, which grew with experience both as a Deputy Chief of 
Staff with the first President Bush and then as Transportation 
Secretary, and now as Chief of Staff since the beginning of this 
administration--that approach of a quiet, confident, unassuming but 
extraordinarily effective individual has been really his modus 
operandi. He has really set a standard, I believe, to which Chiefs of 
Staff will be held as we go forward from administration to 
administration.
  The job of Chief of Staff is one of the most difficult jobs there is 
in Washington, obviously. It is a high-intensity position requiring 
workdays that often run into 20 hours. It requires that you know all 
the issues, that you know who the players are, that you put out the 
fires, that you communicate effectively, that you be courteous to 
people who may not be so courteous to you, and that you deal 
effectively with getting the President of the United States the 
information he needs in order to do his job. Andy Card, as I said, set 
a standard which will be one which I think Chiefs of Staff to come will 
try to equal.
  He is always fair. He is always open. He is low key, unassuming, 
extraordinarily effective but firm when he had to be on issues and with 
people relative to carrying out the policy of the President. As he said 
today at the ceremony at the White House, he always recognized the fact 
that he was a staffer. He was not an elected official as a Chief of 
Staff, but he was a staffer who worked for the President of the United 
States and that his job was to carry forward the policies of the 
President. He did that extraordinarily well.
  His wife, of course, has been with him all these years and put up 
with the thousands of hours he has not been at home since he has done 
this job--his wife Kathleene. As she has ministered to people who 
attend their church and others, she has certainly been a soulmate and 
person of strength for Andy Card.

  We bid him a sort of a bittersweet farewell in that I know he will be 
missed in that position, but he has certainly earned the right to move 
on to take some time for himself and his family, to be able to get up 
in the morning and be able to enjoy the day without having to know that 
he will be rushing off for a 20-hour day at the White House.
  I suspect he will be returning to New England. We look forward to 
having him back. I know he will spend a fair amount of time in 
Massachusetts and a fair amount of time in Maine, and I am sure he is 
going to stop on his way between Massachusetts and Maine to take 
advantage of New Hampshire's ``no sales tax'' climate. He is a special 
person, and the country has been well served by having him.
  His successor, Josh Bolten, I have had the good fortune of dealing 
with also for a number of years but especially in the last few years as 
Director of OMB. In my role as chairman of the Budget Committee, he is 
obviously the person I have had the most contact with in the 
administration. Interestingly enough, he brings a lot of the same 
characteristics to the job Andy Card does. He is low key, he is bright, 
has a great sense of humor, and he understands that his job is to carry 
forward the mission of and purposes of the President.
  He is a person you can talk to, who enjoys listening, will reach out, 
and does reach out for and has reached out as Director of OMB to 
Members of the Senate to hear their thoughts and ideas as to how we 
should proceed.
  He has tremendous respect, I believe, on both sides of the aisle in 
the way he has led the OMB, and he will create a seamless transition in 
the White House as he moves over to the chief of staff job.
  We are fortunate to have people such as this--people such as Andy 
Card and Josh Bolten who are willing to take on the obligation of 
public service and serve in positions such as Chief of Staff for the 
President, jobs which are extraordinarily intense and involve 
tremendous sacrifice relative to family. But without good people such 
as this willing to do them, the Nation would be much less.
  We thank Andy Card for his service. We wish him and Kathleene good 
luck and good fortune as they move forward, and we welcome Josh Bolten 
to the job.
  I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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