[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 15 (Monday, January 22, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S439-S440]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       REMEMBERING SHAWN BRIMLEY

 Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to my friend, 
Shawn Brimley. Earlier this month, Shawn was stolen from this world at 
the tender age of 40, after being diagnosed with colon cancer in early 
December. What Shawn Brimley accomplished in 40 years was simply 
breathtaking, and the story of the life he lived, brimming with passion 
for his family, his friends, his vocation, and his country, is one that 
this U.S. Senate should hear.
  Shawn was eulogized correctly as one of the leading American national 
security intellectuals, but he didn't start off as an American. He was 
born outside of Toronto, Canada, and served for 5 years in the Canadian 
Army before attending Queen's University in Ontario. After college, he 
traveled to Tokyo to teach English, and there met the love of his life, 
Marjorie Clark. They relocated to Washington, where Shawn quickly 
became one of the founding members of the Center for New American 
Security, CNAS, a defense and foreign policy think tank that gave rise 
to many of the top security staffers of the Obama administration.
  At CNAS, and then during two stints in the Obama administration, 
first as a special adviser at the Pentagon and then as director of 
strategic planning at the National Security Council, Shawn helped 
develop the Pentagon's ``third-offset strategy,'' which foresaw a 
future military conflict with Russia or China that would heavily depend 
on technology and robotics. Shawn's out-of-the-box focus on the future 
of military conflicts pushed our national security leadership to 
innovate and adapt. America is safer for his contributions. Shawn's 
enthusiasm for this work was driven by a sense that America could be a 
true force for good and order in the world. His boss at the White 
House, Derek Chollet, said: ``Maybe because he was an immigrant, he 
really believed in the power of American leadership and America's 
unique role in the world. There was that idealism about him.''
  Both in the Obama administration and at CNAS, Shawn was renowned for 
his mentorship of younger national security professionals. The day 
after his passing, staffers who had worked under Shawn remarked on 
social media how Shawn often went out of his way to befriend and guide 
newer entrants to the field. So many young national security 
professionals in Washington attended his funeral, a testament to the 
reach of his influence and generosity during his short 20 years in the 
field.
  But as his wife remarked during her beautiful eulogy, Shawn knew that 
``work was work.'' Home, for Shawn, was his center of gravity. This is 
the setting in which I came to know Shawn over the past few years. Our 
home in Washington is just a few blocks from the Brimleys in northwest 
Washington. Our children are schoolmates, and I got to see up close 
over the past several years how utterly devoted Shawn was to his family 
and friends. My son regularly reports that his oldest daughter is the 
nicest, most generous student in his class. His sons are spirited, 
precocious, and kind-hearted. They were, and are, their father's 
children.
  His generosity extended to his friends. Every weekend, I return to 
Connecticut, and one night, when I was away, the basement of our 
Washington house flooded. My wife sent out a text to our neighbors 
asking for advice, and literally, within minutes, Shawn was knocking on 
our door. Having dealt with a similar problem at their house, Shawn, 
constantly the oversharer, was eager to dispense all the knowledge he 
had gained regarding flood remediation. After an exhaustive 
consultation, he went home and looked up every part and device he 
recommended my wife buy and sent her a comprehensive email with the 
links to the websites where she could get the best deal. I imagine most 
of Shawn's other friends have similar stories. To his coworkers, his 
family, and his friends, Shawn was a superman.
  In preparing for his 40th birthday, Shawn decided to get in shape. He 
became a fanatical crossfit enthusiast and, upon his diagnosis, was in 
arguably the best condition of his life. It is

[[Page S440]]

part of the reason why his death is so unfathomable. A young man who 
had done everything right--built an amazing family, gave so much to his 
country, kept himself physically strong--was stolen from us, in an 
instant. It gives us all cause to take stock of our own lives, knowing 
that our time on this Earth can be so cruelly fleeting.
  What I know about Shawn Brimley is that he lived 80 years of life in 
half the time. He didn't want to leave this Earth, but as he told his 
friends in an email sent just days before he passed, he wouldn't have 
changed a single thing about his life if he could. That is a standard 
by which we would all be wise to measure ourselves.

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