[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 8, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7257-S7261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Farewell to the Senate

  Mr. GARDNER. Madam President, thank you to the people of Colorado for 
this incredible honor that you have lent to me these last 6 years to 
serve you in the U.S. Senate.

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  Thank you to my family--Jaime, Alyson, Caitlyn, Thatcher, to Mom and 
Dad and Lisa--who supported me in this last decade of service with your 
love and sacrifice, through missed ball games and lost teeth, school 
concerts and junior high dances, sore throats and first moments.
  Thank you to my incredible staff, many in the Chamber today, who are 
in Colorado and Washington, who made so many great things happen and 
whose difference will be felt for generations to come. You leave a mark 
on the country far beyond the etching of a signature on a desk on the 
floor.
  Thank you to my colleagues and to Senator Bennet for the honor of 
serving along your side and for your commitment to our Nation--and to 
the Capitol Police, the staff, to the support staff in the Senate who 
make it all possible.
  But above all, and most importantly, thank you to this great and 
extraordinary Nation for all that it means and represents--the hope and 
optimism that for over two centuries has led people around the globe to 
give up everything they have just to be here; to be a part of this 
Nation, to then turn around and fight for it through political strife 
and pandemics; to go to war to save the Union; to know how lucky and 
blessed that we are that out of all of the billions of people through 
the thousands of years of human history, we have had the privilege of 
being here in this place at this point to be a part of it.
  There has been a lot of coverage in the news lately about how the 
pollsters got it wrong. But one thing they seem to get right--and it 
won't come as a shock to my colleagues on the floor: Congress is about 
as popular as a Rocky Mountain oyster in a bullpen.
  We have been, together, able to do many good things, and I hope that 
we can use those successes to drive even more successes and show the 
American people that faith in this institution is actually well 
deserved.
  Over the last 6 years I have worked hard to pass the first-ever 
mandatory sanctions on Kim Jong Un and North Korea to denuclearize that 
regime. It was an honor to work with Senator Menendez throughout this 
process.
  Senator Markey and I led the passage of the first-ever comprehensive 
strategy for a free and open Indo-Pacific, the Asia Reassurance 
Initiative.
  Gary Peters, along with Lamar Alexander and me, led the 
reauthorization of the America Competes legislation to keep the United 
States competitive in science and engineering, to get more women and 
minorities into the STEM fields, and to advance our scientific research 
and discoveries.
  The 988 suicide prevention bill that Tammy Baldwin and I were able to 
pass into law represents the first bill in American history to pass the 
Senate and House unanimously with LGBTQ-specific language. This bill 
will save lives.
  I was honored to help move the Bureau of Land Management headquarters 
to Colorado and to finally get funding for the construction of the 
Arkansas Valley Conduit, and I helped lead the passage of legislation 
to complete our VA hospital in Colorado, to advance our cybersecurity, 
and to foster our relationships with Taiwan, South Korea, and beyond.
  And it was an honor of my time in the Senate to work with Lamar and 
Senators Manchin, Cantwell, Heinrich, Warner, King, Portman, Daines, 
and Burr on the Great American Outdoors Act, the holy grail of 
conservation legislation.
  In my first remarks on the Senate floor, I spoke about how no matter 
where across Colorado's four corners that you live--or across this 
great Nation--we all hope for the same thing for our children: to live 
in a loving home that values every citizen; that they learn the value 
of hard work and perseverance; where hard work is met with merited 
reward; that they find a nation of liberty and freedom that they help 
make a little bit more free and a little bit more perfect. All of us 
here in the Senate, the American people--all of us--are responsible for 
the starting point that we hand off to the next generation, and we have 
a moral obligation to make it the best starting point possible.
  The accomplishments that we have had together truly have helped 
create more opportunity for the next generation, and the work that we 
continue to do to get through this pandemic together will ensure that 
the next generation can indeed take advantage of those accomplishments 
and that the starting point for them is better than the generation past 
despite the struggles of today. You know, in Sunday school we learned 
an important lesson about this--that struggles and tribulation produce 
perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
  And since that very first speech that I gave on the Senate floor, I 
have come to recognize something that all of us--that everyone here--
has undoubtedly experienced--that our service to country is filled with 
moment after moment that gives us that lump in the throat, that brings 
a tear to our eyes, that fills our hearts with wonder for this Nation.
  Perhaps it happened to you when seeing the majesty of the United 
States Capitol brightly shining in all its glory on a crisp State of 
the Union Address night or maybe when we hear the passion in the voices 
of our colleagues as they tell the story of life and struggle and hope 
for the future. For me, these moments happen every day, and I am sure 
they do for you as well--just part of the wonder of this Nation and its 
Capitol.
  It was late at night for me nearly 10 years ago when I was leaving 
the Capitol building. I had walked through the Hall of Columns, and I 
heard some voices ahead near the door that I was heading toward. When I 
turned into the corridor, I saw a Capitol tour guide pointing at a 
phrase that was painted on the wall. I looked at it and read it too. It 
was William Jennings Bryan, and painted on the wall were these words: 
``Our government, conceived in freedom and purchased with blood, can be 
preserved only by constant vigilance.''
  I looked at the group reading it, and there in the center of them all 
was a young veteran in a wheelchair with bandages around his knees 
where his legs used to be. The gravity of this place, that moment, and 
the duty that we owe to this Nation struck hard.
  As I walked home, I kept thinking about it--about those words, about 
that moment, about that veteran, about this Nation and our 
responsibility. I thought about how that wall was painted with that 
phrase, but there are others that are blank and empty, spaces that have 
been left empty so that future generations can fill them in with their 
history--with new portraits and new phrases and new moments. But no 
matter the moment in time or the point in history, it is the same 
patriotic responsibility that we owe to this Chamber--to defend and 
serve our Nation, her Constitution, and the American people.
  George Washington in his Farewell Address said that the name 
``American'' must always exalt the just pride of patriotism. He spoke 
of our Constitution and how it must be sacredly maintained and that 
virtue and wisdom must stamp every act. And despite the differences 
over policy and politics, it is our Union that ought to be considered 
as a main prop of our liberty, and that love of the one ought to endear 
us to the preservation of the other.
  I believe that is what Lamar Alexander very eloquently spoke about on 
this very floor in his farewell just days ago. It is our country and 
the unity of nation that, despite our differences, will help preserve 
and will preserve our liberty.
  Washington offered his advice in his farewell as an old and 
affectionate friend--a friend who recognized our obligation to create a 
better starting point for every new generation
  But how do we heed this advice in a world of viral social media, 
click bait, and sound bites?
  Colorado Senator Bill Armstrong once said that while he was firm in 
his principles, he was flexible on the details. We all come to this 
place because of our core values and beliefs about this Nation. Those 
principles make us who we are. They drive our actions. They drive our 
debates. But, today, it seems as though we live in a world where 
tactics are elevated to the same status and importance as principles, 
and staying true to principle means that the tactics used to achieve 
that principle are elevated to the same importance as the principle 
itself. It is always my way or the highway. Senator Armstrong's 
flexible details would now be derided as violations of principle.

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  We cannot govern when every tactic and detail is elevated to the 
level of principle. There is no compromise with this approach. We 
cannot find ways to bring people together for that unity of nation of 
which Washington spoke when the test for principles becomes so 
impossible to pass that only the very factions that he warned against 
can prevail.
  To my staff I often talk about this challenge as being one of the 
pillar and the paint. The pillars in a building are more than just 
ornamental. They are structurally necessary to the building itself. The 
pillars are our principles. They make us who we are. But the paint 
color--the details--we can figure that out together.
  We can respect the pillar and find agreement on the paint. We can 
hold people's principles in place, respecting those core beliefs that 
make you who you are, while finding ways to work together to find 
solutions to common challenges. That is how we pass the test of unity 
that brings people together, respecting principles while achieving 
solutions, because not every detail is a principle, and not every 
principle is a detail, and we need a legislative body that can 
recognize this. By doing so, we will follow through on the advice of 
Washington and preserve our liberty with unity of nation.
  Too many people have given up on the institutions of their 
government, and it is my hope that the American people will find this 
pillar-and-paint approach to be one that can make a difference because 
if they believe it--they believe that it will--then the American people 
will make sure their values are reflected in the representatives they 
elect.
  Several years ago, I had the honor of meeting a man named Donald 
Stratton. He came to my office accompanied by his family and the family 
of a sailor named Loren Bruner and the family of another sailor, Joe 
George.
  They were looking forward to yet another commemoration of the attack 
on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941--79 years ago yesterday. Both Donald 
Stratton and Loren Bruno were on the USS Arizona when it was attacked. 
Donald Stratton was on one of the ship's towers. He was surrounded by 
flame and surely believed that he would perish, when out of the chaos 
of that morning came a rope thrown by a yet-unknown-to-him sailor by 
the name of Joe George, who was aboard the USS Vestal, which was moored 
next to the USS Arizona. This rope saved Donald Stratton's life and 
several other shipmates.
  No one knew their lifeline was thrown to them by Joe George until 
years later. Once they learned who it was, they spent the rest of their 
lives fighting to get Joe George honored and recognized by the Navy.
  I was honored to be a part of that effort, and, finally, on December 
7, 2017, led by Donald Stratton and the Arizona's remaining few, Joe 
George received the Bronze Star with ``V'' device for valor aboard the 
USS Arizona Memorial, with Donald Stratton attending one last time. He 
was fighting for this country and his countrymen to the very end.
  When I asked him how he did it, how he survived the attack and those 
flames and got back into the fight for this Nation, he chuckled, he 
laughed, and he gave me an answer that I truly didn't see coming at 
all. He said: ``Well, Cory, everybody has to be somewhere.''
  Everybody has to be somewhere. He is right. We are here in the U.S. 
Senate. Most of you will still be here next Congress. Don't waste this 
opportunity to be who this Nation needs you to be at this moment of 
great challenge, to recognize the difference between the paint and the 
pillar, to know the difference between a principle and a tactic, where 
to take a stand and where to stand together, to bring a nation together 
in unity for the preservation of liberty, to recognize that to be 
American carries with it the greatness of a nation forged by fight and 
fire, tempered by wisdom, and made great by men, like Donald Stratton, 
who recognized that their duty and their time didn't just end with the 
last calling of the roll. Everybody has to be somewhere. Make it count 
for this Nation that you are here.
  If you go into any of my offices, you will see on the wall my mission 
statement, and it ends with this:

       We represent a State where the words to ``America the 
     Beautiful'' were written--we will always look up to the Rocky 
     Mountain horizon in the work that we do and remind ourselves 
     that only through our actions will God continue to shed his 
     grace on our great nation.

  Ours is a Nation founded on the optimism that no generation waits for 
the next to be told where to go. It is the great American horizon that 
compels us to continue to reach ahead, to rise, to achieve, and to 
believe in America.
  Ten years ago I sat on the floor of the United States House of 
Representatives as we prepared--some of my colleagues here with me--to 
be sworn into the 112th Congress. I watched with our daughter Alyson 
patiently sitting by my side as the peaceful transition of power took 
place--the hallmark of our Republic. As the most powerful 
constitutionally prescribed Member of the Congress, the Speaker of the 
House gave the gavel to a newly elected Speaker without gunshot or war, 
peacefully transitioning to a new majority.

  Today, I speak on the Senate floor with a heart of gratitude. As I 
leave, with a new Congress set to begin, I go home not because of or 
due to the threat of violence or revolution but because of the same 
constitutional governance that has given this country over two 
centuries of strength and certainty--a jewel among nations, 
exceptionally blessed by God.
  It has been a privilege to serve with you for this country. We owe 
every man, woman, and child that lives here our commitment to them to 
not pass on to the next generation a nation that is in decline or 
retreat but a nation that rises, a nation that reminds itself that ours 
is a country worth fighting for, a nation that believes in itself, 
because when you believe in America, when you believe in this country, 
the world has not seen anything yet.
  Thank you to my colleagues. Thank you for the honor of serving with 
you.
  And, Madam President, this kid from Yuma yields the floor.
  (Applause, Senators rising.)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.
  Mr. BENNET. Madam President, I want to take just a few minutes to 
speak about my colleague from Colorado, Senator Cory Gardner--a kid 
from Yuma, as he described himself a minute ago--and to recognize the 
work that we have done for our State together in a bipartisan way.
  Over the past 6 years, one of the most common and sometimes 
surprising questions I have gotten from reporters and constituents was: 
How is your relationship with Senator Gardner? Can you work together 
with Senator Gardner?
  It is really an innocent question, but I have come to think about it 
as a reflection of the sad state of our politics and the Senate for the 
moment, in particular. Behind the question is the assumption that 
because Cory is a Republican and I am a Democrat we, somehow, can't 
work together for the benefit of our State. That hasn't been the case, 
far from it.
  Sometimes he would say and sometimes I would say that we felt like 
there were times when we were working together better than States that 
were represented by two people from the same political party.
  In this Congress, Colorado is 1 of just 10 States that isn't 
represented by Senators from the same party. Think about that--just 1 
of 10 States with a split caucus in this body, just 10 out of 50. You 
would think it would be a lot higher, given how evenly divided we are 
as a country.
  A lot has been written about the divide in our country today, and one 
of the divides is the rural-urban divide in America, which reporters 
like to talk about. In our delegation, Cory and I have tried to bridge 
that and, I have to say, it has helped a lot that Cory was born and 
raised in Yuma, CO, a town on the Eastern Plains with a population of 
3,500 people, roughly. It is the place where Cory grew up, working in 
his parents' implement dealership--the red tractors, not the green 
tractors--where community tradition and ties to the land, like a lot of 
places in our State, run very, very deep; a place where rush hour means 
getting behind a tractor.
  It is a beautiful place, and Cory was kind enough to invite me to 
Yuma after he was elected. During that visit we made a commitment to 
work together despite our political differences,

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which we certainly have, and that is exactly what we have tried to do 
over the past 6 years. We worked together on legislation to ban Members 
of Congress from becoming lobbyists. I tell my colleagues today that I 
think there would be no bill we could pass that would do more to lift 
the reputation of this body than that one. Over half the people who 
leave here don't retire but become lobbyists. It was hard to find 
somebody to cosponsor that legislation. Cory saw the benefit of it, and 
we have been fighting for it ever since.
  We wrote bipartisan legislation to prevent government shutdowns; to 
make our energy grid more resilient; to secure funding, as Cory 
mentioned, for the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a critical water project 
that Washington has been promising Colorado since John F. Kennedy came 
to Pueblo, when he was President.
  We fought to hold the VA accountable to care for our veterans across 
the Rocky Mountain region. With Cory's leadership, we fought to keep 
the U.S. Space Command in Colorado. We partnered to fund critical 
improvements to our infrastructure, from I-25 along the Front Range to 
the Southwest Chief.
  And just last week, Senator Collins, 127 years after Colorado became 
the first State to grant women the vote by popular referendum and 100 
years after ratification of the 19th Amendment, the Senate passed our 
bill to install America's first outdoor monument honoring the women's 
suffrage movement here in Washington, DC.
  That was typical of the legislation that we carried together, because 
the idea actually came from Fort Collins, CO. It didn't come from 
Washington, DC. So many of the best ideas that we worked on together 
came from Colorado. Cory is a student of Colorado history and the 
country's history, and he understands the significance of a bill like 
that.

  Over the years we have worked together late into the night to help 
communities across our State get back on their feet after devastating 
floods, wildfires, the Gold King Mine spill of 2015, and now the COVID-
19 pandemic, where Cory's leadership was absolutely essential.
  I could go on all afternoon.
  The point is, even though Cory and I have had plenty of differences 
over the years, there is a real record of bipartisan accomplishment for 
our State, and one of the reasons for that is because, whatever our 
differences on policy, I have never for a moment doubted Cory's 
commitment to serving the interests of Colorado and his genuine 
appreciation for what makes us the best State in America.
  In a lot of ways, Cory has embodied many of our State's best 
qualities. We are a young and restless State, and Cory has represented 
it always with energy and with drive. Agree with him or not, you can't 
say he hasn't worked hard every single second that he has been here.
  You have probably also heard that Colorado has 300 days of sunshine a 
year. As it turns out, so does Cory Gardner. It is probably why my 
staff always told me to smile more at our events together. He has been 
a consistent source of warmth and optimism in a body desperate for 
both. He has brought a lot more of that to the Chamber than I have, and 
I have been trying to make up for it now that he won't be here this 
year.
  All of that is to say that I have been extremely grateful for the 
opportunity to work with Senator Gardner over the past 6 years to do a 
lot of work together for our State.
  On a personal level, I would like to say to his family that I also 
want to say how much I appreciated the consistent kindness Cory and 
Jaime have shown to me and my family, even at moments that have been 
difficult ones for them.
  My staff are also deeply grateful for the close collaboration with 
Cory's team over the years, and I want to thank them for their 
extraordinary work.
  I know there are a lot of folks today who have things to say about my 
colleague from Colorado. So let me just end with this. Serving in this 
body, as he said, is an enormous privilege, but as everyone here knows, 
it does not come without a cost, especially for a parent with young 
children. I have watched Cory, as his kids have begun to grow up, put 
his family first at all times and our State a close second behind them. 
To watch him get on a plane, as I did this week, with his family and 
the care and attention he paid them is a reminder to me--and has been 
over the last 10 years--of what is really most important.
  I will miss our work together, but I suspect Senator Gardner is not 
done with his contribution to the country, to the State of Colorado, 
and to his community, and I look forward to continuing our work 
together in whatever capacity he ends up choosing to serve.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, Cory Gardner and I first met in 2011, 
when he became the first alumnus of the United States Senate Youth 
Program to be sworn into the House of Representatives. As the first 
Senate Youth Program delegate elected to the U.S. Senate, I felt an 
immediate connection to this new Member of Congress from Colorado. One 
year, both of us had the privilege of addressing the student delegates 
to this wonderful program that had made such a difference in the lives 
of both of us.
  Since he joined the Senate 6 years ago, Cory has demonstrated his 
leadership on many issues which we have heard described today. His 
upbeat personality and his commitment to compromise, to solutions, and 
to bipartisanship have had a positive influence on this Chamber. As the 
renowned columnist George Will once called Cory, he is ``a human beam 
of sunshine.'' I am sure that is the phrase that was going through the 
mind of his colleague from Colorado.
  His approach to legislating has indeed been enlightening, but it has 
been his positive approach to every problem that we encounter, his 
upbeat personality, his wonderful smiles, and his problem-solving 
devotion to America and to his State that have distinguished him.
  Cory's landmark achievement, which he discussed today, is the Great 
American Outdoors Act. I was proud to cosponsor his legislation. This 
historic bill, at long last, fully and permanently funds the Land and 
Water Conservation Fund and provides funding to address significant 
parts of the multibillion-dollar national parks maintenance backlog. 
The Great American Outdoors Act will help to ensure that both current 
and future generations can enjoy the pristine beauty of our natural 
treasures in Colorado, in the great State of Maine, and throughout our 
country. Cory's hard work to bridge the partisan divide and secure 
support from both sides of the aisle leave a lasting legacy that the 
American people will cherish. I would note that he never gave up in his 
pursuit of seeing this landmark legislation signed into law.

  That is typical of the approach that Cory takes. He doesn't give up. 
He persists. But he does so in such a delightful way--always in search 
of a solution--that it is very difficult for his colleagues to ever say 
no to him.
  Cory's commitment to environmental stewardship extends from the great 
outdoors to the frontier of technology to advance the development and 
deployment of energy from renewable, sustainable, and clean energy 
sources.
  Cory, as was mentioned by Senator Bennet, has also been a champion 
for those who have served our Nation in uniform. In 2017, a troubling 
GAO report revealed an unacceptable trend of VA facilities failing to 
report healthcare providers who made major medical errors to the boards 
responsible for tracking dangerous practitioners, or, in some cases, 
revoking or suspending their licenses. As a result, these practitioners 
can go into private practice from their work at the VA or simply move 
across State lines without disclosing prior performance problems to 
either patients or State regulators.
  To solve this serious problem, Cory introduced the Department of 
Veterans Affairs Provider Accountability Act. His bill, which passed 
the Senate unanimously, helps to protect patients by requiring the VA 
to disclose major errors committed by its medical providers.
  Time and again, I have seen Cory put into practice the values that 
the Senate Youth Program imparts to high school students--a deep 
respect for our enduring system of government, a dedication to public 
service, and a willingness to work in a bipartisan spirit to get the 
job done.

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  It has been such an honor and a great joy to serve with Cory in the 
U.S. Senate. I am certain he will continue to serve his State and his 
country, and I wish him and his family all the best. Thank you, Cory, 
for all you have done.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
  Mr. BLUNT. Madam President, well, some farewell speeches are 
different than others. I think this farewell speech should very much be 
just a momentary pause for us to think about what comes next.
  Cory Gardner is incredibly accomplished. He has been good for the 
Senate. He has been great with his colleagues, and he has been, beyond 
that, even more constantly focused on Colorado.
  He has become, for me, a valued personal friend. Our families, for 
whatever reason, from almost the first time we spent any time together, 
sort of gravitated toward each other and continued to do things 
together. And why not? Jaime is great. Cory is that beam of sunshine 
that Senator Bennet and Senator Collins both have talked about, 365 
days a year. He is optimistic. He is determined. He is realistic. Those 
are all three pretty doggone good characteristics for a successful 
legislator. He also continues to figure out, OK, that didn't work and 
what can we do that makes that work in some other way, to be determined 
to get the job done, to be realistic about how an obstacle can be in 
the way and understand how to come together and make all those things 
work.
  Now, Senator Collins, particularly, mentioned that long list of truly 
great legislative fights that Cory has successfully led in. One of them 
we worked together on has been the effort to be sure that people who 
weren't able to get broadband--people in rural areas and people in 
urban areas who maybe had broadband but couldn't afford it. By the way, 
I think that is the next big fight about broadband. It is not just 
accessibility but also, even though it may be running right by where 
you live, how do we work in ways that assure you are part of it.
  In little towns like I grew up in or Cory grew up in, it is the 
difference in whether you can compete or not. We have seen that so 
dramatically in the last few months, where kids going to school without 
the ability to have that access were dramatically hampered by that. 
People who couldn't use broadband for mental health or telehealth and 
people who just couldn't live where they prefer to live because they 
didn't have the connectedness they need to have are hampered by that. 
That is a fight that Cory has been in the middle of, and he understood 
it only maybe as you would understand it if half of your State is 
vertical and the other half is horizontal. You have got to figure out 
how to get the connectedness you would like to have.
  The second century of the National Park System, one of the truly 
great American miracles, will be dramatically different than it would 
have been otherwise because of the legislation that Cory led on. In 
thinking about the future of that system and thinking about the future 
of the country, I remember one of the first stories I heard Cory tell, 
after he got here, in a small group of people. I think his son Thatcher 
was headed out the door that he wasn't supposed to be going out, and 
Cory said: That reminds me of one of my speeches late in the campaign. 
I was done. I thought we were all done. I look around, and Thatcher's 
shoes are still on the platform, even though Thatcher shouldn't have 
ever been on the platform.
  And as Cory goes back to pick up Thatcher's shoes, he holds them up 
and says: This is why I am running. This is why I am running--for this 
little pair of shoes and all the other pairs of shoes that represent 
the future.
  I think Cory has done an incredible job here focusing on not just the 
present but the future. Frankly, as Senator Bennet said, I am 
personally interested in seeing what comes next in the future of a 
person and a family who have so much to offer and are willing to offer 
it in service to others.
  This is a day that I am ready to look and see what the next chapter 
of the Gardner story looks like and I think it is going to be 
optimistic and I think Cory will be smiling all the way through it.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. BENNET. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Blackburn). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.