[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 31, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S175-S176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RETIREMENT OF ALAN FRUMIN

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, for a few weeks in March 2010, Alan Frumin 
was one of the most talked about men in the entire city of Washington. 
The Senate was poised to send a historic health care reform bill to 
President Obama's desk for him to sign, but the usual procedural 
hurdles stood in the way.
  Health care policy staffers were camped out in Alan Frumin's office 
studying Senate procedure and precedent. But despite the pressure, 
despite the national spotlight, Mr. Frumin remained calm and 
professional through what must have been one of the most intense 
moments of his career. For a very few weeks, every Capitol Hill 
reporter knew his name for sure. His respectable face was on every 
political news blog. Every political science professor talked about 
him. Even a few folks outside the beltway learned what on Earth was a 
Senate Parliamentarian. What do they do? He was briefly a Washington 
celebrity. But for those of us who work in the Senate, Alan Frumin has 
always been a star, even when very few of us knew who he was or what 
job he did. But it did not take us long after coming to the Senate to 
learn that quickly.
  Alan has served in the Office of the Secretary of the Senate since 
1977. In his 18 years as chief Parliamentarian, he has made countless 
difficult decisions with composure. He has a knowledge of complex rules 
that certainly would be deemed to be extraordinary. These are rules 
that are convoluted, and procedures are somewhat unique. But he 
understands every one of them.
  He is, above all, impartial to a fault. I have been upset at Alan a 
few times when I wished he were not so impartial, but he has always 
been impartial. That is why he is the only Parliamentarian ever to be 
hired by both Democratic and Republican leaders to serve in this 
crucial role. In fact, he was retained in his position despite a change

[[Page S176]]

of Senate control four times by five different majority leaders.
  One cannot be an effective Parliamentarian without being fairminded 
and judicious, but Alan Frumin also brings to the job a willingness to 
hear both sides of an argument and consider every side of the issue. He 
has patience. I have never heard him raise his voice. I never saw him 
to be agitated. He is always calm and cool. What a wonderful example he 
is for all of us.
  The truth is, Senate Parliamentarians aren't simply appointed, they 
grow into the job. So I am pleased that the talented Elizabeth 
MacDonough, who has worked for Alan for a decade, will succeed him. 
Elizabeth will be the sixth person to hold the job of Parliamentarian 
since it was created in 1935, and the first woman. She steps into very 
large shoes.
  I will miss Alan's experience and guidance greatly, but I wish him 
all of the best in his retirement. But he is really not going to 
retire; he is going to continue to edit Riddick's Senate Procedure, the 
official book of Senate procedure, and no one is more qualified than 
Alan to do this.
  Congratulations, Alan. Thank you very much for your service.

                          ____________________