[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 62 (Monday, April 12, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1871-S1872]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Tribute To Matt Keyes

  Mr. President, I would like to honor a longtime member of my Ohio 
staff, Matt Keyes. Matt's last day in our office is tomorrow before he 
moves on to a new opportunity--still in Ohio, still serving the people 
of my State, still serving the State that he and I both love.
  Matt has been with our office for 7 years, working with Ohio 
reporters to inform the public, traveling the State with me to hear 
from Ohioans.
  We have been to diners and drive-throughs. We have done press 
conferences in front of small businesses and schools and bridges. 
Before the pandemic, we spent hours in crowded union halls.
  Matt has earned the respect of so many Ohio reporters. He understands 
how important their work is to Ohio communities. He understands 
reporters and their contribution to democracy, something we wouldn't 
even have had to have bothered saying 5 years ago.
  He knows every news source in Ohio. He has built relations with the 
principled, dedicated journalists who run them.
  He has a deep understanding of our State. Matt knows Ohio as well as 
anyone. He went to college here. He stayed in Ohio. He dedicates his 
life to making our State a place where other young people will want to 
stay too.
  Some of the most memorable events Matt and I have been to together 
have been rallies and meetings with workers and retirees around my 
State, fighting to save their pensions.
  It is fitting that Matt ends his time in our office with a huge 
victory for Ohio workers--literally, tens and tens and tens of 
thousands of Ohio families benefiting from the work we all did together 
as activists, that Matt did, that my staff did, the rest of my staff 
that we did together in the American Rescue Plan to save the pensions 
that Ohioans earned over a lifetime of work.
  Matt got to know these leaders and these activists over the years, 
people like Rita Lewis and Mike Walden and Dana Vargo.
  He didn't just listen to their stories about what it would mean to 
their families to lose their retirement security; he lifted up their 
voices. That is what somebody like Matt--that is what Matt Keyes does. 
That is what good journalists do. That is what good communications 
people do. They listen to their stories about what this situation means 
to their families. Then they lift up their voices; they share those 
stories with the media and with the country. It is how we got Congress 
to listen. It is how we finally got that done. That is the lesson of 
Matt Keyes for young reporters, for young journalists, for young 
communications directors, for young people who want to make a living 
doing this.
  I will miss Matt on the road in Ohio. I know he will continue to 
serve our State. I know he will continue to fight for the dignity of 
work in everything that he does.
  Matt, we will miss you.

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