[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 53 (Monday, March 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1662-S1663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              WELCOMING KAREN H. GIBSON, SERGEANT AT ARMS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, this is a great and historic day. A few 
weeks ago, I announced that LTG Karen Gibson would assume the 
responsibility as Senate Sergeant at Arms, becoming only the 42nd 
Sergeant at Arms in Senate history. I am very pleased this afternoon to 
make her appointment official, with her family watching on--her father 
David, her mother Rebecca, her sister Kathleen, her brother-in-law 
Daniel, her nephew Bennett, and her cousin Aaron.
  Lieutenant General Gibson is taking on a really big job, and I know 
that her family could not be more proud of her.
  The Senate Sergeant at Arms was established more than two centuries 
ago, when the U.S. Senate was still in its infancy. Back then, the 
primary duty of the Sergeant at Arms was essentially senatorial 
babysitting; recalcitrant Senators made finding a quorum a routine 
challenge. Today, the Sergeant at Arms is the Senate's chief 
administrative officer and chief law enforcement officer. They have 
enormous responsibility of keeping the trains running on time while, at 
the same time, keeping everyone, everyone in the Capitol safe.

[[Page S1663]]

  Suffice it to say, Lieutenant General Gibson has a tall order, but I 
have every confidence that she will perform her duties at the same 
exemplary standards she set over the course of her three-decade 
military career.
  As Senior Intelligence Officer in the Office of the Director of 
National Intelligence, Lieutenant General Gibson supported U.S. 
national security objectives in Iraq, Afghanistan, East Africa, Korea, 
the Pacific, and across the Middle East. Since January 6, she has been 
working with retired Army LTG Russel Honore on a comprehensive review 
of the Capitol's security.
  So given her background and given what she has done recently, I know 
she is ready to hit the ground running. Lieutenant General Gibson is 
ready to go, and her responsibility to ensure a safe working 
environment for Senators, visitors, Capitol employees, staff, and 
reporters she will take with the utmost of gravity and competence.
  Joining her in the Office of Sergeant at Arms will be Kelly Fado, as 
Deputy Sergeant, and Jennifer Hemingway, as chief of staff, two trusted 
members of the Senate family.
  This is a historic day in a second way. This will be the first time 
in the history of the Senate that the leadership of the Sergeant at 
Arms will be comprised entirely of women--another crack in the glass 
ceiling. And I cannot think of a better team than the one we have put 
together.
  Congratulations to all three of them on officially starting their new 
roles today. And I know, Madam President, you are proud of that as 
well.
  It is really a good day.

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