[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 14 (Monday, January 25, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S121-S122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Tribute to David Mills

  Madam President, now let me speak of David Mills, a Louisiana native 
and a man of tremendous character and deep faith who has served for 5 
years on my staff. He came to Washington because he felt called to give 
back to his State and Nation through public service. He was working in 
Congress for the right reasons, and his work reflected that.
  David handled pro-life issues and other legal issues for my office. 
He was key in last year's impeachment trial as an attorney providing 
quick, reliable research to supplement my understanding of the 
testimony that we heard.
  David also has the ability just to note something others don't notice 
and then very gently suggest some modification of how I would handle a 
situation, and that modification, although nuanced, could be so 
important, and I really learned to trust those insights.
  David also handled privacy issues and has laid the foundation for 
work that

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will continue after he has left us. As society becomes more 
technologically centered, we must ensure that data privacy laws keep 
up. David was on the forefront of that, thinking, how do we protect the 
privacy of consumers?
  As I mentioned, this will be an important issue in this upcoming 
Congress, and just let me be specific. David developed legislation on 
questions regarding the data that is collected from a wearable, a 
smartwatch, a contact tracing app, and other information that provides 
personal health information but which is not covered by current 
personal health information laws. Our office will continue to build on 
David's work in those areas, and I thank David for all he has done.
  Sometimes people say: Oh my gosh, those folks who are younger than 
those of us in the Senate--is there something lacking? I can promise 
you, among these, there is nothing lacking. They are the leaders who 
will take your place and my place as we pass the baton to the next 
generation, and, in turn, they shall pass to another to leave our 
future brighter than it has been in the past