[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 102 (Tuesday, July 10, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4816-S4817]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO TOM MAHR

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a truly 
exceptional member of my staff who recently departed after 22 years of 
service in the Senate. Tom Mahr is one of the longest-serving members 
of my staff, and he has made invaluable contributions to important 
debates and the drafting of key pieces of legislation in the Senate 
over the past 2 decades. He will be missed.
  Like many staff members, Tom began his career on Capitol Hill as an 
intern. I tapped him to join my staff in January 1988 as a legislative 
correspondent. Tom excelled from the start, and it was not long after 
that he began a steady path to increasing levels of responsibility. His 
first major effort as a banking legislative assistant was during the 
Savings and Loan bailout. He provided me with sound advice, and I was 
one of only 8 Senators to vote against the bailout.
  Tom left briefly to complete graduate school at Princeton; he 
rejoined my staff in 1991, working on a number of important issues, 
including what to do to help the economy. When I joined the Finance 
Committee in 1993, Tom was assigned to work on trade issues. For North 
Dakota, with its significant agricultural interests, ensuring fair 
trade agreements and opening new markets for our products was vital. In 
those days, the rapid rise in imports of wheat and barley from Canada 
was negatively affecting farmers in North Dakota. Addressing this was a 
top priority for me, and Tom was a key part of the effort. With his 
guidance and strategic advice, I was successful in getting the U.S. 
Trade Representative to negotiate an agreement under which the 
Canadians agreed not to flood our markets.
  In the mid-1990s, Tom took over the health care portfolio in my 
office. Health care was an integral part of the major budget battles 
that took place then, when the Speaker of the House was proposing to 
slash Medicare spending to pay for tax cuts. Tom was deeply involved 
and assisted in staffing me on the Chafee-Breaux bipartisan group, 
which ultimately produced a bipartisan budget proposal in 1996 that 
garnered 46 votes over the opposition of both leaders. Tom spearheaded 
Medicare and Medicaid changes, including improvements to rural Medicare 
programs and securing reimbursement for telehealth services, that 
became part of the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. During that time I worked 
with others to prevent budget legislation from block-granting nutrition 
programs. Winning that amendment during consideration of the 1996 
welfare reform bill was an incredibly important legislative 
accomplishment, in terms of helping to protect the most vulnerable in 
our society, a priority that Tom has always had with his work on health 
and other issues.
  In the summer of 1997, I was tasked by Leader Daschle to lead a 
Democratic Senate task force to develop legislation to implement the 
proposed tobacco settlement between the State attorneys general and a 
number of private tobacco plaintiffs. Tom played an integral role in 
developing that bill and negotiating improvements as it moved through 
the Senate. That bill was seen as the gold standard for public health 
and it won key support from the White House.
  In 1998, Tom became my legislative director, a position he held until 
July 6, 2012. I have relied on Tom's advice, counsel, and strategic 
thinking on so many key initiatives that I have advanced for both North 
Dakota and the country. You name it, Tom was a part of it. He has been 
a trusted advisor during key debates from the resolution authorizing 
the war in Iraq that I voted against to budget and tax issues to 
Medicare prescription drugs and health reform. And he has led 
negotiations on many critical bills that I have introduced or played a 
role in developing.
  Tom has proven himself as a strategic thinker when it comes to 
putting together the farm bill compromises necessary to achieve 
legislative success in the Senate. He has worked tirelessly with other 
Senate offices during the critical stages of the last three farm bills 
to ensure the best possible outcomes for North Dakota, while also 
addressing the needs and concerns of other States.
  On energy, Tom has a deep understanding of the challenges and 
opportunities our Nation faces. He was instrumental in my efforts with 
the bipartisan energy group, the Gang of 10. It grew to 20, 10 
Democrats and 10 Republicans. Through our efforts, we were able to come 
together on a bipartisan, comprehensive energy package to reduce fuel 
prices, lessen our dependence on foreign energy, and strengthen our 
economy. The New Energy Reform Act

[[Page S4817]]

legislation produced by the group represented a true compromise, 
incorporating commonsense ideas, and it was fully offset. Tom could 
always be counted on to think ahead, anticipate obstacles, and develop 
solutions that were critical to reaching an agreement.
  Tom is one of the smartest people I have ever had working for me, and 
he has brought that knowledge and his sound judgment to so many 
successful efforts. He is enormously talented, hard-working, dedicated, 
and incredibly loyal. And he has earned the greatest respect of other 
Senators, staff, and many constituents he has worked with through the 
years.
  Tom will be leaving my office to serve as policy director for 
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer in the U.S. House of Representatives. We are 
fortunate that he will continue using his incredible talent to serve 
the public good. While I will miss him terribly, I am so pleased that 
he has chosen to continue in service to Congress and our great Nation.
  I am so grateful for the leadership Tom has provided in my office 
these past 22 years. The country is very fortunate to have someone of 
his caliber in public service. It is with deepest gratitude for his 
years of service to me, the State of North Dakota, the Senate, and the 
Nation that I wish him all the best in the next stage of his career.

                          ____________________