[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 218 (Monday, December 21, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7936-S7938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO SENATOR DOUG JONES' STAFF

  Mr. JONES. Mr. President, as I mentioned in my farewell speech last 
week, I also wanted to spend a few final moments here on the Senate 
floor honoring my incredible staff. As the first Democrat elected to 
the Senate from Alabama in two decades, I had no idea how many 
brilliant young folks would want to come work in my offices, but we 
were absolutely overwhelmed with the talent my election attracted--and 
not just from Alabama--we had applicants from all over the country. We 
of course tried to give priority to folks from Alabama, but we did have 
a few from other States who brought special expertise and who, after 
just a short time with us, became honorary Alabamians.
  Some of my staff came from other Senate or House offices where they 
had been biding their time, hoping 1 day to work for an Alabama 
Democratic Senator. Their experience was critical. Some staff members 
brought no legislative experience at all, but they were quick and eager 
learners and got up to speed unbelievably fast. What they all

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had in common was a deep and sincere commitment to doing the right 
thing for the right reasons.
  There were very few shortcuts and very few easy decisions, but we all 
worked hard to understand the issues backwards and forwards and to do 
our best for the people of Alabama and for our country. Although each 
member of the staff was acutely aware that I would have to stand for 
reelection in just 3 short years, they were as committed as I was to 
not let political considerations enter into our deliberations. Instead 
we focused on the needs of our constituents, big and small, and doing 
all we could to make sure those needs were met.
  Over the past 3 years, we have become a family, and we have had some 
fun to boot. Equally important, we have gotten things done. We led or 
coled over 20 bipartisan bills that were signed into law. We mustered 
enough support to finally repeal the Widow's Tax. We secured permanent 
Federal funding for HBCUs and minority-serving institutions. We made 
things easier for folks applying for Federal student loans. We secured 
authorizations and appropriations for hundreds of millions of dollars 
in funding for defense-related projects in Alabama. We set up a process 
to collect and make available to the public the Federal records from 
unsolved civil rights crimes. We completed 2,094 requests for casework 
help and responded to hundreds of thousands of calls, letters, and 
emails from Alabama constituents. We submitted 624 letters in support 
of Alabamians' grant applications, resulting in $270,973,411 in awards 
for municipalities, nonprofits, colleges and universities, rural fire 
departments, health centers, and others. Out of the outstanding high 
school seniors who I nominated to our military service academies, 44 
have received appointments, and that is in just our first 2 years 
alone; we won't know the results for 2020 until next spring. We did 
more than 1,000 interviews, speeches, townhalls, and events across the 
State of Alabama and in DC. None of these things, absolutely none of 
them, would have been possible without the hard work and unflagging 
dedication of my staff.
  My time in the U.S. Senate was enhanced immeasurably by the tangible 
and intangible contributions of my staff. As I said earlier, we knew we 
only had 3 years guaranteed, and we made the most of it. From our 
amazing record of legislative accomplishments, to our warm and 
welcoming office culture, to our emphasis on bipartisanship and 
collegiality, we made a positive difference, and I am immensely proud 
to have served with each of them.
  Although it is impossible to go through the contributions of each I 
do want to single out a few who really made the office click or were 
responsible in some way for a major accomplishment.
  First is my chief of staff Dana Gresham. Dana came to me by way of 
the House and then the Department of Transportation. He has always been 
a leader, and for me, I was so proud to have him as the first African-
American chief of staff for a Democratic Senator. He was instrumental 
in building the staff and guiding the delicate nature of Beltway and 
Alabama politics.
  My legislative director Mark Libell brought a level of experience and 
direction to our legislative team that I think is unmatched in the 
Senate. He brought a level of skill to the legislative process that is 
largely responsible for the many successes we had.
  Katie Campbell doubled as the deputy legislative director and 
legislative assistant on our healthcare related matters. She brought a 
tremendous amount of knowledge and was thus a tremendous resource for 
our healthcare agenda, which was always one of my top priorities.
  On the Banking Committee, I was fortunate to have Mike Berman for a 
couple of years before he moved into the private sector. Mike began the 
painstaking process of revising the country's money laundering laws 
which his successor on the staff, Lauren Oppenheimer, picked up. Thanks 
to their combined efforts and working with colleagues and various 
stakeholders and regulators, Congress passed as part of the NDAA an 
update to our money laundering laws for the first time in decades.
  My friend of 20 years Cissy Jackson came to Washington after 
practicing law with me in Birmingham. She had no legislative experience 
but soon became a rockstar among the Senate staff on both sides of the 
aisle, first with the Homeland Security Committee and then as my MLA on 
the Armed Services Committee. So much of what we were able to secure 
for the people of Alabama in the NDAA is a direct result of Cissy's 
tireless and persistent efforts.
  Rebecca Howard handled education policy for me. Through her efforts, 
we secured additional and permanent funding for HBCUs, as well as the 
success in simplifying the FAFSA form, which will allow so many kids in 
Alabama to receive a college education. She also coordinated the annual 
HBCU symposiums that we conducted each year.
  The director of my State staff was Brantley Fry. Brantley made sure 
that I stayed incredibly busy when I was at home. We traveled from one 
end of the State to the other. We visited businesses, military 
installations, schools, and farms. She coordinated the townhalls and 
roundtables, all with an eye to the important issues facing the State.
  Heather Fluit was my communications director and she did tremendous 
work keeping the people of Alabama up to speed on all the good work 
that we were doing in Washington and around the State. This could be a 
difficult job at times on weedy issues like money laundering, but 
Heather excelled.
  I could not conclude these remarks, however, without once again 
noting what was one of my proudest moments in the Senate when we 
successfully eliminated the Military Widow's Tax. It took a tremendous 
amount of effort and persistence in making that legislation a reality, 
and so much of the credit goes to Sarah Kate Sullivan in my office. 
Like me and my colleague Senator Collins, Sarah Kate never gave up, and 
today, so many military families will benefit from her efforts.
  My wife Louise and I thank each of these individuals listed below 
from the bottom of our hearts. We love them all like family, and we 
wish them all the very best in their future careers:

       Katie Campbell, Deputy Legislative Director.
       Olivia Chartier, Deputy Scheduler.
       Sam Coleman, Press Secretary.
       Jordan Cozby, Staff Assistant.
       Gregory Early, Military Fellow.
       Elise Fink, Fellow.
       Mike Flint, Fellow.
       Heather Fluit, Communications Director.
       Jasmine Goodman, Staff Assistant.
       Dana Gresham, Chief of Staff.
       Rebecca Howard, Legislative Assistant.
       Cissy Jackson, Counsel and National Security Advisor.
       Roger Johnson, Staff Assistant.
       Darren Kinnaird, Systems Administrator.
       Smriti Krishnan, Heflin Fellow.
       Mark Libell, Deputy Chief of Staff / Legislative Director.
       Leila Mohaideen, Digital Director / Deputy Press Secretary.
       Becca Murdoch, Legislative Correspondent.
       Lacy Nelson, Digital Assistant / Deputy Press Secretary.
       Kobye Noel, Mailroom Director.
       Lauren Oppenheimer, Senior Economic Policy Advisor.
       Avery Phillip, Press Assistant.
       Judy Rainey, Administrative Director.
       Zoe Scott, Staff Assistant.
       Abby Selden, Counsel.
       Laura Sherrod, Legislative Aide.
       Jack Spalding, Research Director.
       Jessica Spence, Legislative Correspondent.
       Garrett Stephens, Legislative Correspondent.
       Caroline Stonecipher, Press Secretary.
       Brenda Strickland, Director of Scheduling.
       Sarah Kate Sullivan, Projects Director.
       Ted Trippi, Legislative Correspondent.
       Emma Turner, Scheduling Assistant.
       Calvin Wilborn, Special Assistant.
       Kern Williams, Legislative Correspondent.
       Michael Williams, Legislative Correspondent.


                                ALABAMA

       Anna Bern, Field Representative.
       Bonnie Beviacqua, Staff Assistant.
       Beau Bowden, Field Representative.
       Ricky Chapman, Staff Assistant.
       Eden Cockrell, Staff Assistant.
       Paula Cox, Staff Assistant.
       Donald Dees, Field Representative.
       Sam Duff, Staff Assistant.
       Jason Fisher, Field Representative.
       Brantley Fry, State Director.
       April Hodges, Field Representative.
       Sandra Jackson, Regional Director.
       Shanderla McMillian, Caseworker.
       Kate Messervy, Field Representative.
       Jim Perdue, Regional Director.
       Jose Perry Jr, Regional Director.
       June Reeves-Weir, Caseworker.
       Liz Rutledge, Field Representative.
       Amber Selman-Lynn, Field Representative.
       Ron Sparks, Senior Advisor.

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       Al Stokes, Regional Director.
       Rick Tate, Staff Assistant.
       Susan Thompson, Caseworker and Grants Coordinator.
       Zandra Wilson, Caseworker.
       Violeta Yanez, Community Outreach Coordinator.

  Thank you.

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