[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 9, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S90-S91]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Tribute to Preston Rutledge

  Finally, Mr. President, I want to say a few words about Preston 
Rutledge, my former tax counsel who was recently nominated and 
confirmed to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee 
Benefits Security Administration.
  Preston began his career in public service as a teenager when he 
worked in the national forests. Later, he served honorably as an 
officer in the U.S. Navy. After graduating from law school, he was a 
law clerk on the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals and spent 
more than a decade working at the IRS, focusing on tax-exempt 
organizations and employee benefits.
  He came to the Finance Committee about 7 years ago. During that time, 
he worked on a number of issues that many people, quite frankly, 
consider to be tedious or mundane, but Preston is an expert on these 
issues, and he has always taken great pleasure in the issues and work 
before him.
  As a staffer, Preston was, more than anything, committed to advancing 
reforms to our Nation's pension and savings programs in order to ensure 
a stable and reliable retirement savings system. Toward that end, he 
was a lead

[[Page S91]]

staffer in the drafting and passage of key pieces of pension and 
savings legislation, including the Retirement Enhancement and Savings 
Act, which provided a number of key reforms to our Nation's retirement 
savings system, and the ABLE Act, which provided savings enhancements 
for children with disabilities and their families.
  Preston's knowledge of tax policy and ERISA issues is unsurpassed. I 
was not the only one to benefit from and rely upon his expertise. 
Indeed, the entire Finance Committee relied on Preston whenever these 
types of issues came up because, once again, there just aren't many 
people in Washington with that particular focus and expertise.
  I wish Preston good luck in his new position at the Labor Department 
and thank him for the work he performed on the committee. I am 
confident his expertise, as well as his open-minded and inclusive 
approach, will help improve the situations of workers and families 
across the country. I can think of no one more capable to serve in this 
important capacity.
  As you can see, I have been fortunate to have worked with some 
excellent staffers in recent years--well, really throughout my whole 
service in the Senate. That has been true of my entire time at the 
Senate.
  Of course, I have many great staffers still working in the Senate, 
both in the Finance Committee and in my personal office. I am grateful 
for each of them as well. I am very fortunate to have them with me as 
we have some important work ahead of us.
  The Finance Committee's current workload is, quite honestly, mind-
boggling. There is much to do over the next several months. I will have 
more to say on that in the coming days. For now, I will simply say, I 
look forward to working with my colleagues and staff on the vitally 
important tasks that lie ahead.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Flake). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.