[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 180 (Tuesday, November 12, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6505]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         REMEMBERING KAY HAGAN

  Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, today I would like to remember in the 
Record former U.S. Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina.
  Senator Hagan and I served together on the Senate Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, where she served both North 
Carolina and the United States well during her years in the Senate. We 
also worked together closely on housing issues affecting Americans as a 
result of the 2008 economic downturn and housing crisis.
  Kay and I served as Senate coleaders of the annual Congressional 
Civil Rights Pilgrimage to historic sites of the civil rights movement 
in Alabama in 2013. I was honored to have her by my side along with 
U.S. Representative John Lewis of Georgia during this moving event, 
which culminated with an emotional crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge 
in Selma, where Congressman Lewis was beaten during the 1965 march he 
led there. Upon return, Senator Hagan wrote about the moment Montgomery 
chief of police Kevin Murphy personally apologized to Congressman Lewis 
on behalf of the Montgomery Police Department for the department's 
failure to protect the Freedom Riders while removing his police badge 
and presenting it to Congressman Lewis. She shared how this experience 
served as an emotional reminder to her of the oath she took to protect 
and serve the people of North Carolina.
  That was how Kay worked. That trip, along with our legislative 
efforts together in Washington, cemented the high respect I have had 
for her and her work on many issues affecting the Southeast.
  I honor of Kay Hagan, I was proud to cosponsor a Senate resolution 
saluting her life and service.
  I also hope she would have appreciated our vote to advance the Kay 
Hagan Tick Act in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. 
My older sister died at a very young age from the fatal results of a 
tick bite, and it was tragic to see Senator Hagan succumb to 
complications of the tickborne Powassan virus. This legislation was 
named for her to improve research, prevention, diagnostics and 
treatment for tick-borne diseases.
  I appreciate her service to the country, and my prayers are with 
Chip, her family and all those who loved her. Her legacy will live on.

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