[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 198 (Wednesday, December 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Tribute to Leighton Grant

  Mr. President, I also want to take a moment today to recognize 
Leighton Grant, for whom I asked earlier to have floor privileges for 
the rest of this Congress.
  Leighton Grant has really been critical both to my work in 
appropriations and in our work on foreign policy in our office. He has 
handled many of our national defense matters in the 116th Congress.
  Leighton's 15 years of service to our country, both in Active Duty 
and as a civilian in the U.S. Air Force, have allowed him to cultivate 
a deep understanding of national security issues that affect the State 
of Missouri and affect our country. His prior experience at the 
Pentagon, where he worked extensively on generating the Air Force's 
budget and strategy documents, has been particularly valuable in my 
work as a defense appropriator.
  The air defense of the country is critical. The appropriations 
decisions we make are critical. The order we keep them in is critical--
keeping defense lines active so that we are not stopping and starting 
to meet our future needs--so doing that in a reasonable way matters.
  Leighton certainly understands that, and he should. He joined the Air 
Force in 2004 as a command and control battle management operator. He 
served four deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the global 
War on Terror. He also deployed to Qatar and Jordan, as well as to 
Latin America.
  He holds a bachelor's degree in aeronautics, as well as a master's 
degree in project management. While working as our military fellow, he 
completed work at the Air War College and obtained a certificate of 
legislative studies at Georgetown University.
  He has contributed greatly. He has helped support us in veteran 
casework, Defense appropriations, and military construction projects 
that will impact our State.
  On Sunday night, I ran into a mom who said: I just want to thank you 
for all you did to get my son out of Syria. This was a young man who 
got caught up while hiking in Syria. She knew Leighton Grant's name 
because Leighton Grant took that seriously and, after several weeks of 
working, helped to get him out of Syria. That is the kind of thing he 
has helped us do. He has worked on matters that relate to Iran, 
Colombia, Australia, China, and other areas. I am glad to have him.
  I want to thank his wife Jennifer, his daughter Marleigh, and his son 
Cyrus for supporting his career as he serves the Nation. I wish him and 
his family well as they embark on a new chapter. I hope this year of 
working with the Senate and Congress, with the vast breadth of issues 
he has helped us with, turns out to be as valuable to him as his help 
has been to us.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Daines). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.