[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 214 (Thursday, December 17, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7576-S7578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO BRIAN HUGHES

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, speaking of moving, I wanted to take a 
few minutes on the floor this afternoon to recognize a couple of 
individuals who are moving on.
  We have heard some floor speeches in these past several weeks from 
colleagues who have been with us, some for decades, like Senator 
Alexander, Senator Enzi, and some who were with us for not quite as 
long, Senator Jones. We have had an opportunity to hear from them and 
to share our thanks, but I think we all know that as Members of 
Congress, Members here in the Senate, we are as good as our staffs--the 
staff who help guide us, who help give us the information, who work 
with us as we not only help to build policy but just kind of probe and 
develop and encourage us. The work that our teams do for us is 
considerable, and it is appreciated, and we need to show that thanks 
and appreciation.

[[Page S7577]]

  I want to talk about two gentlemen today, and I want to start first 
with a longtime friend and a longtime member of the Senate, a gentleman 
who has provided absolutely outstanding service to the Senate and to 
the State of Alaska, and that is Brian Hughes, an Alaskan who has 
worked tirelessly for our State. He has served as my staff director on 
the Energy and Natural Resources Committee for the past several years.
  Brian has been here a long time. In my view, he has been kind of a 
fixture on energy issues, and many of you know him.
  But Brian is going to be leaving on a well-deserved sabbatical when 
this Congress adjourns. He says he is going to spend some time with his 
sister and brother-in-law. They have 4-year-old twins out in 
California, and I know he dotes on them.
  I am excited for his next steps. He is going to figure out where he 
is going to be going next, taking a breather right now, which is 
important. But Brian is one of those types of individuals who are very 
humble. He is always giving the credit to others. I did not want 
Brian's Senate service to conclude without giving it and Brian himself 
the recognition that he has assiduously avoided for years.
  Brian first came to the Senate during his college years at Washington 
State. His previous summer jobs were working up on Alaska's North Slope 
and on commercial fishing boats.
  In 2004, he qualified for Senator Ted Stevens' intern program. I am 
very familiar with Senator Ted's intern program because I, too, was an 
intern for Ted Stevens. Brian was pretty much a standout, though. He 
was there not only once, but he participated in two successful intern 
summers. Even before he finished his studies in finance, Senator 
Stevens said: Why don't you just come back? And Brian, in his 
characteristic generosity, skipped the fun of his final semester and 
returned instead to Washington, DC, to work full time here in the 
Senate while finishing his degree remotely. It was true to form for 
Brian because he is an extraordinarily hard worker.
  It wasn't only the Alaskans, though, who recognized Brian's talent. 
Less than a year and a half after he had come back and with the 
blessing of Senator Stevens, Senator Domenici ``poached'' Brian to work 
on the Energy Committee staff. I had the opportunity to work with 
Senator Domenici when I first came to the Senate, and so I first met 
Brian at that time. Brian came over to the Energy Committee with 
Senator Domenici. He pretty much has gone through just about every job 
on the committee. He took a brief timeout in 2012 to serve as a 
speechwriter for Senator Romney's Presidential campaign, but other than 
that, he has been there throughout. Every step of the way, Brian has 
distinguished himself as an original thinker and a voracious reader. I 
don't know where he finds the time to do all of the reading that he 
does on top of all the work he does. I think he doesn't sleep. He is an 
eloquent writer and a versatile high-achiever. So when I had the 
opportunity in 2017, it was pretty much a natural and obvious pick to 
appoint Brian as staff director for the Energy and Natural Resources 
Committee.
  During Brian's tenure, we have had some pretty considerable and 
notable successes and victories that I will look back on for a long, 
long time, the efforts that he led relating to development and 
conservation of our natural resources and modernizing America's energy 
laws. Brian oversaw the staff work leading to enactment of the Dingell 
Act. He helped ensure that a talented group of nominees were confirmed 
to their posts in the executive branch. He was also very key, very 
central to the small ENR team that drafted the legislation to open up 
Alaska's 1002 Area to responsible oil and gas development.
  As we are working to conclude the business here in the Congress--
knock on wood--Brian will be able to add the Energy bill to his list of 
accomplishments as we seek to close that out. This is something we have 
been working on in the committee now for over a dozen years to update 
and to modernize our Nation's energy policies, and I am pleased to be 
at this point and to know that it will be Brian who will be bringing it 
home for this Energy bill.
  Although Brian has a list of legislative and administrative wins that 
speak for itself, his true gift, his talent is writing and 
storytelling. For years now, when anybody on the Energy staff is 
writing a particular document, they take their best work, but they 
won't just end it there; they go to Brian. Every time, without fail, he 
will take their work, and he will move it to the next level by adding 
what they call ``the Brian gloss,'' usually driving home the point more 
effectively when he throws in an anecdote, a funny story, or a joke or 
whatever, but it is just ``the Brian gloss.''
  Brian has a little bit of a sense of humor. As I say, he works very 
hard, but he doesn't let the seriousness of the work take over. We were 
working on an energy bill back in 2016, and we had been on the floor 
for a couple of weeks. There was an amendment that was pending for a 
voice vote, and it had to do with wild horses. Just prior to the vote, 
Brian and I were talking in the cloakroom, and he jokingly said to me: 
You know, when the ayes and the nays are called, you should say ``nay'' 
like a horse. Of course, I am not going to say that on the floor of the 
Senate.
  So then it came down, and the yeas and nays were requested, and I 
don't know where it came from, but I literally blurted out ``neighhh'' 
without realizing that my microphone was on. I was leading the bill 
there. The whole Chamber heard it. I turned beet red. I looked straight 
back at Brian, who was sitting on the bench with several of his staff, 
just laughing.
  Yeah, Brian, thank you for that one.
  I know that I am going to be looking back very fondly on the time 
Brian spent on my team. In part, that will be because Brian exemplifies 
three principles to which congressional staff who excel consistently 
adhere.
  The first is that staff must be well prepared, honest, and 
straightforward. I have always, always been able to count on Brian to 
just be straight with me, ``shoot me straight.'' He knows the facts, 
good and bad, and he shares them no matter what.
  Second is that you have to work hard and treat everyone on both sides 
of the aisle with respect and fairness. I think Brian's successes are 
the direct result of the many strong relationships that he has forged 
even as he has relentlessly pursued his long list of to-do's. Everyone 
recognizes that Brian is one of those guys who is a workhorse. He is 
not a show horse.

  Finally, the best staff discharge their delegated authority wisely 
and to good effect, and Brian really takes that to heart. He constantly 
reminds those around him that only Senators are Senators, even if 
sometimes people would have it otherwise.
  I have been fortunate enough to have been on the Energy and Natural 
Resources Committee since I came to the Senate 18 years ago. It is the 
best committee out there. I have been privileged now to chair the 
committee for 6 years, and prior to that, I was privileged to be the 
ranking member on that committee for 6 years. Everybody--everybody--on 
the ENR Committee works their tail off. They are hard workers. They are 
an extraordinary team. But I think that work ethic is set by our staff 
directors. I have been so blessed to have staff directors who show and 
model that work ethic, and Brian has done that over the years.
  Whether on a late night or an early morning call on pending 
legislation or a trip to check up on our volcano monitoring systems, 
Brian has been there at my side as an indispensable aide and an 
inspiration to all of my colleagues. He really is one of those 
extraordinary staff who helped me refine my thinking, hone my voice, 
multiply my strengths, overcome my weaknesses, and really helped serve 
the people of Alaska and our country.
  So, Brian, I want to say a very genuine and sincere thank-you for the 
years you have devoted, not just to me but the years you have devoted 
to the Senate and the years you have devoted to our home State of 
Alaska and to the Nation. I hope that rather than being up at 2 a.m. 
trying to resolve a scoring issue, the only things that will be keeping 
you up at night will be the Yellowstone supervolcano and your little 
niece and nephew. I will miss your leadership, your wit, and your 
friendship. Brian, I speak for so many here in the Senate when I wish 
you a well-

[[Page S7578]]

earned break and a confident and bright future.
  I have been blessed to have extraordinary leadership on the Energy 
and Natural Resources Committee, and I am going to miss Brian and so 
many of the team.
  I am not leaving the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, but I 
have maxed out, termed-out in terms of chairmanship or ranking member. 
So it is a different place for me, but I am still going to be involved 
with so many who continue to do good, strong things on the energy 
front.

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