[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 5 (Thursday, January 9, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S114-S115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Tribute to Lauren Oppenheimer

  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I want to take a few moments to recognize 
an individual, Lauren Oppenheimer, who, after nearly 5 years as an 
invaluable member of my team, has recently moved on to begin the next 
chapter of her career. We all on Team Merkley are very sad to see her 
go, but we do feel extraordinarily fortunate that she hasn't gone far--
just over to Senator Jones' office on the other side of the Hart 
building. So Oregon's loss has been Alabama's gain.
  Lauren joined my team in 2015, back when I was a member of the 
Banking Committee, to handle that important portfolio. It was a 
position that she was extremely qualified for, having a wealth of 
experience working on those issues in both the House and at the Center 
for American Progress. But then a seat opened on the Foreign Relations 
Committee, and I had to turn in my credentials for Banking in order to 
take that Foreign Relations position.
  Well, we knew that that really kind of undermined the vision of why 
Lauren had come to our team, to really take on that set of banking 
issues. It would not be an understatement to say it was not a 
completely thrilling day when I shared this news with her.
  But being the dedicated team member that she is, she willingly and 
graciously took on a new role within the team and a whole new portfolio 
of issues to work on--issues like election reform and telecom, judicial 
nominations, rules reform. It might not have been the job that she 
signed up for, but she excelled at it nonetheless. She excelled because 
she is extremely smart and talented and because she is passionate about 
her work, and she threw herself into this new set of issues.
  I mean it when I say she is passionate. A quick conversation about 
Fintech can last for hours, as she excitedly informs you about all of 
the recent developments in that emerging industry--an industry, by the 
way, that I had hardly heard of before Lauren came to my team.
  Martin Luther King, Jr., once said: ``Human progress is neither 
automatic nor inevitable.'' It requires ``the tireless exertions and 
passionate concern of dedicated individuals.'' Well, Lauren is 
certainly one of those dedicated and passionate individuals, and 
throughout her time on Team Merkley, she has helped move our country 
forward in ways large and small.
  For years she has worked on ensuring the implementation of the 
Volcker rule, a key part of the Dodd-Frank Act, which closed the Wall 
Street casino by separating old-fashioned banking from high-risk, high-
leverage bets on the future prices of stocks and exchange rates and 
interest rates and commodities--bets that placed our entire banking 
system and economy at risk.
  Lauren wrote the bipartisan SAFE Banking Act, which had its hearing 
in the Banking Committee just a couple of months ago, to ensure that 
legal

[[Page S115]]

cannabis and hemp businesses have access to the same banking services 
as any other business. She established the Senate Cannabis Working 
Group to coordinate the Senate's efforts around this issue.
  She has worked to ensure the integrity of our judicial system by 
vetting the nominations for judgeships and, in one case, produced 
significant insights and records that resulted in the Senate rejecting 
the nomination of Ryan Bounds for the 9th Circuit.
  In her spare time, Lauren has been fighting to save our democracy. 
Earlier this year she created my ``Blueprint For Democracy'' to 
introduce six specific bills, and she was the point person on my team 
for finalizing the Senate version of the For the People Act, a 
comprehensive election reform bill which takes on anti-democratic 
practices such as gerrymandering, voter suppression, and dark money.
  But beyond those accomplishments and many others that I haven't 
mentioned, she made one contribution that I will always remember and 
deeply appreciate. As many are aware, I spent a significant amount of 
time over the last year and a half shining a light on the Trump 
administration's policy of cruelty toward immigrants, refugees, and 
asylum seekers on our southern border.
  Even though immigration issues are not in her portfolio, it was 
Lauren who inspired me to get involved. I was reading the speech by 
former Attorney General Jeff Sessions--a speech labeled his ``zero 
tolerance'' speech--and the name didn't strike me as unexpected. But 
when I read the details, it sounded as if the plan was to discourage 
refugees from coming to our border by deliberately traumatizing 
children, to rip them out of their parents' arms.
  I refused to believe that any American administration would ever 
actually do this, and, as I was expressing the belief that no American 
administration would ever resort to hurting children as a strategy to 
deter immigration and would not resort to a strategy of hurting 
children to do anything that is not acceptable under any moral code or 
set of ethics or religious standards, it was Lauren who said: There is 
one way to find out, and that is to go down to the border.
  So I went that next weekend, that next Sunday, and became the first 
Member of Congress to see the children being sorted into cages after 
being separated from their parents and to be turned away from any 
conversation in front of a former Walmart where I had heard that 
hundreds of separated boys were being held.
  The video of that really sent a message to the entire Nation of what 
this administration was hiding, but the fact that I was there at that 
processing center and the fact that I was there at that former Walmart, 
seeking to find out what was going on with those hundreds of boys who 
had been taken from their parents, was because Lauren Oppenheimer said: 
The best way to find out is to go down to the border yourself.
  Thank you, Lauren, for playing such a critical role in all of these 
efforts. You are such a valued member of our team, and you are still 
valued as a member of our team. You will always be a member of our 
team, even as you go on to work for our colleague from Alabama.
  Our office notices your absence, without the energy and enthusiasm 
emanating from your desk and your unceasing willingness to take on new 
challenges and your very valuable work to mentor other team members.
  Know that all of us on the team wish you the very best as you 
continue to fight for a better world in this new chapter of your 
career.
  I am excited that you are returning to your world of expertise, the 
world of banking. I may be calling you now and then to get your 
insights on that set of issues that you know so well.
  All of us look forward to seeing the insights and understanding you 
will help us gain from your perspective when you are fully immersed in 
the banking world. It will be valuable to all of us in the Senate and 
valuable to our Nation.
  I thank you for your service.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.