[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 213 (Wednesday, December 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7511-S7513]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO PAT ROBERTS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now on a completely different matter, 
it is both my honor and unhappy duty to offer one more parting tribute 
to a distinguished Senator who will leave us at the end of the 116th 
Congress.
  My good friend the senior Senator from Kansas, Pat Roberts, is 
preparing to close out the longest congressional tenure the Sunflower 
State has ever seen.
  When Pat arrived in Washington as a freshman House Member, he was a 
young man among giants--Byrd, Stevens, Dole. But over the past four 
decades, the name ``Roberts'' has come to define its own iconic brand 
of heartland statesmanship.
  Pat is the first to admit he didn't establish that name all on his 
own. He inherited it from another great Kansan. Charles Wesley Roberts 
was a marine, a journalist, and a leader in Republican politics.
  So get ready to experience some deja vu, because at age 16, our 
future colleague got to attend the 1952 convention that nominated 
Kansas's own General Eisenhower. That early taste of politics planted a 
seed.
  Pat earned his own Marine Corps commission. In fact, he served with 
the first contingent to return to Iwo Jima, where his father had fought 
15 years earlier.

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  Then he decided to ply another family trade. Like generations of 
Roberts men, including an abolitionist newspaperman three generations 
back, he took up journalism.
  Only then did Pat bring his talents here to Washington, to Senator 
Frank Carlson's office. He impressed, and by the next time his next 
boss, Keith Sebelius, announced his retirement, Pat was running out of 
excuses not to go on and run himself.
  Campaigning in Kansas's ``Big First'' district required countless 
road trips across nearly half the State. But listening to neighbors, 
building relationships, and earning trust came naturally. Pat's 
district elected him no fewer than eight times, and the whole State 
sent him here to the Senate another four.
  Before long, every small-time diner in Western Kansas was filled with 
people who saw Pat not just as an elected official but as a trusted 
friend. The way I hear it, you walk into a restaurant or a coffee shop 
with Pat, and you budget about 15 minutes of conversation before you 
even make it to your table. Many of those conversations revolve around 
one particular line of work. There is a reason why no less an authority 
than Bob Dole would later dub this man ``Mr. Agriculture.''
  When Republicans retook the House majority in 1994, they knew who had 
to chair the Ag Committee. The rest is history for our colleague, for 
his State, and for farmers and growers all across America.
  The 1996 farm bill that Pat shepherded included ``Freedom to Farm,'' 
landmark legislation that set a new tone for the way American farmers 
would compete in a global market.
  Now, today, we know that Pat would later become the only American 
ever to chair the Ag Committee in both the Senate and the House. But on 
this side of the dome, he tackled a few other assignments first.
  Pat had already helped clean up some ethics messes in the House, and 
so his discretion and integrity landed him on the Senate Ethics 
Committee. In short order, he was chairing it.
  Then came the Intelligence Committee gavel and, with it, more 
sensitive challenges. Our trusted marine had to conduct oversight and 
ask hard questions in the wake of September 11 and the Iraq invasion. 
He oversaw essential reports and helped shape reform.
  But we couldn't keep the Kansan away from his top passion for long. 
So it wasn't long before Mr. Agriculture was chairing the committee 
with the most importance of all to his constituents back in Kansas.
  Chairman Roberts has been a constant voice and a consistent champion 
for the men and women of this country who get their hands dirty, grow 
crops, raise livestock, and, as our colleague likes to say, ``feed a 
troubled and hungry world.''
  Even in polarized times, the Ag Committee has largely remained a 
haven for bipartisan work. That is partly the nature of an issue set 
where divisions tend to be more regional than ideological, but it is 
also because of the skilled, thoughtful, and genial consensus-builder 
we have had at the center of the dais.
  Two years ago, because of the chairman, the farm bill conference 
report passed by an overwhelming margin of 87 to 13--87 votes for our 
farm bill. By my count, that was the eighth farm bill our colleague had 
a hand in. It turns out that experience actually matters, or, as our 
colleague likes to say, ``it takes a long time to do big things''--``a 
long time to do big things.''
  That is true of multiyear farm bills. It is true of the advances Pat 
has pushed forward on geopolitical issues like food security. It is 
true of other important projects that our friend has taken under his 
wing, like the crusade to make certain that President Eisenhower 
receives the monument he deserved here in Washington. This pandemic may 
have changed the unveiling ceremonies this year, but it is only fitting 
that Ike persevered. That is thanks to a quarter century of work from 
Pat Roberts.
  There is a reason the people of Kansas have rehired our colleague 
time after time, and it is not just for his entertaining wit, although 
I will have more on that subject in just a moment. It is because, when 
their Senator sees a way to strengthen his home State or his country, 
he keeps at it until he gets it done.
  In short, Pat has spent decades making sure that it is not just 
places like Manhattan, NY, but also Manhattan, KS, that get the 
attention and support they deserve.
  In fact, thanks to Pat, Manhattan, KS, is the home for our Nation's 
historic new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. He played the long 
game and spent years getting his State ready to make the pitch. This 
state-of-the-art research facility will come online at K-State, next to 
another important research facility that happens to be named Pat 
Roberts Hall.
  He has looked out for Fort Riley and its essential missions. He has 
helped devastated communities like Greensburg rebuild after disaster. 
In every way imaginable, Kansas has had its champion.
  Pat's voice has been a powerful presence in these halls. But in rare 
moments when he hasn't been getting results, the voice has, of course, 
been making us laugh. Pat is one of the best humored Senators in a long 
time--not funny, humorous.
  It is not just Pat's quick wit or his punch lines themselves that 
take the cake. The best part is just the unpretentious fearlessness 
with which he will go after a good laugh in almost any situation.
  It is a daunting task to try to convey Pat's winsome humor as a third 
party. It is a package deal. The words, the voice, the expression all 
work together. But I will share just one example.
  Several years back, Pat and I were both attending a formal dinner 
honoring Bob Dole and Howard Baker. Pat had been asked to offer some 
remarks in Bob's honor. Apparently, he decided a conventional toast 
would just simply not cut it; the fancy evening would need shaking up.
  It so happened that Pat had recently attended Kennedy Center Honors 
that honored Neil Diamond. So when Pat took the podium at that dinner, 
with that famous tune ``Sweet Caroline'' stuck in his head, he wound up 
leading the audience in the world premiere sing-along of the new 
original song ``Sweet Robert Dole . . . Bob, Bob, Bob.'' A little 
unusual, sure, but somehow it was the perfect contribution. It 
literally brought the house down.
  So we have here a senior Senator from a State that expects greatness 
from its representatives. They gave America a young man from Abilene 
who led the fight against tyranny in Europe and became President. They 
gave us another son from Russell who fought in that fight, came home, 
became Senate majority leader, and ran for President.
  But let's add one more name to that distinguished company. Historians 
certainly will. There is a third Kansas statesman from Holton who 
belongs on that list: Eisenhower, Dole, and Roberts.
  In his own farewell speech, Pat quoted his first boss in Washington, 
Senator Carlson. He said:

       There are no self-made men or women in public office. It is 
     your friends and family who make you what you are.

  Well, more than all the bills he has passed, above all the outcomes 
he willed into reality, Pat says his family is his ``crowning 
achievement.'' So I must conclude by thanking Pat's ``magnolia 
blossom,'' Franki, for her generosity in lending Pat to us all these 
years and everything she has done to make it possible. And the Senate 
thanks his three kids and their eight grandchildren for making do with 
less of our colleague's time than they deserve.
  So Pat, we know we are going to laugh less without you. I am afraid 
we are not going to get as much done without you.
  But you have made us better for knowing you, the Senate better for 
having you, and Kansas and your country so much better for your devoted 
service.
  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.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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