[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 189 (Tuesday, December 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6973-S6974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Tribute to Roy Blunt

  Mr. President, now, on another matter, my friend and our 
distinguished colleague Roy Blunt is one of us whose political careers 
began at the most local level. As a 20-something-year-old county clerk, 
Roy's career in government required real hands-on public service right 
from the beginning. Fortunately, hard work and rolled-up sleeves 
weren't foreign concepts for Roy. After all, before our friend became 
the first in his family to finish college, he grew up on a dairy farm.
  And for decades now, that doggedness and persistence have served 
Roy's neighbors exceptionally well. Green County's young clerk, a 
former high school history teacher, fell short in his first campaign 
for higher statewide office. But a few years later, he handily became 
the first Republican Secretary of State Missouri had seen in half a 
century. After 8 years there and then 4 as a university president, Roy 
was already a seasoned veteran, firing on all cylinders, when he 
arrives in the House of Representatives in 1997.
  Little wonder that, after just three terms, Roy became the newest 
representative to be voted House majority whip in 80 years. So, 
clearly, Roy had a big-time reputation for getting things done before 
he moved across the rotunda here to the Senate. When he won his 
election in 2010, all his colleagues knew our team was getting an all-
star.
  And, sure enough, in 6 years from freshman status to House 
leadership, he set a modern land speed record on that side of the 
Capitol. Then over here, Roy broke the sound barrier. He joined our 
conference's leadership team 1 year after he became a Senator.
  The record of accomplishments Roy has racked up reflects the fusion 
of focus, detail-mindedness, and a rare knack for broader strategy and 
management. Time after time, Senator Blunt has thrown himself into the 
weeds of policy, achieved total fluency in the details, and then 
climbed back up to 30,000 feet to make a strategic decision that would 
actually move the ball down the field.
  Case in point: I believe Roy is the only Rules Committee chair in 
history to have actually served as his State's top elections official. 
He knows the ins and outs of voting issues as well as anyone. He knows 
that the Federal role in our elections is both important but also very 
limited. He understands the big picture, the fine details, and 
everything in between.
  The leaders of Rules also have huge ceremonial duties as the Capitol 
organizes the Presidential Inauguration every 4 years.
  I have it on good authority that in both 2017 and 2021, when Roy 
headed up the ceremonies, our resident history buff handwrote every 
word of his speeches himself, longhand--names, dates, historical 
references, quotations, all straight from his pen, and it all passed 
his team's careful fact-checking without a drop of red ink.
  Now, those ceremonial duties bear mentioning, in part because taking 
center stage is such a departure from the way Roy normally tackles his 
business. Working methodically and diligently, building consensus 
behind the scenes, Missouri's senior Senator has steered hundreds of 
millions of dollars toward improving transportation infrastructure at 
the crossroads of the American heartland.
  He has reached across the aisle repeatedly to improve workforce 
development for American veterans. He has worked tirelessly to protect 
the integrity of our election systems. And perhaps most important of 
all, Roy has had a direct, generational impact on the future of 
cutting-edge American medicine. He spent years--years--building the 
transformational new consensus that became the Excellence in Mental 
Health Act.
  His work to equip researchers to tackle rare diseases helped pour the 
foundation for the 21st Century Cures Act. At the National Institutes 
of Health, Roy Blunt's name is literally on the door of the signature 
initiative he championed to help the millions of Americans affected by 
dementia.
  Time and time again, our capable and trusted colleague has wound up 
in the middle of high-stakes, high-profile work; yet Roy remains the 
same humble and approachable Show-Me Stater who first got into this 
business to help his neighbors.
  These are qualities Roy shares with fellow distinguished Missourians 
who preceded him. Ever the historian, our colleague has regaled guests 
with the history of his Senate office suite, which once belonged to 
Harry Truman both as a Senator and even including Truman's brief spell 
as Vice President.
  Apparently, Truman came back personally to collect his things and 
finish moving out after he had already become the Commander in Chief.
  But history isn't the only subject where this former teacher still 
administers pop quizzes. Roy's staff tell fondly how their boss is 
liable to walk into their offices at any time and simply inquire: So, 
what do you know? That one signature query captures Roy so well: the 
high standards, the curiosity, the restless energy to find the next big 
project that will make a difference. These qualities have made Roy one 
of the best the Senate has ever had at sniffing out common ground and 
delivering outcomes.
  But legislation isn't the only area where our friend's nose-to-the-
grindstone spirit pays dividends. For example, I am not sure what Roy 
has planned for his next chapter, but given his penchant for spending 
Saturdays walking the aisles at Home Depot and knocking out home 
improvement projects, I give him about 2 weeks before there won't be 
one leaky faucet or rusted hinge within a three-mile radius of Roy and 
Abby's place.
  We know our friend much too well to predict that he will follow 14 
general election victories by kicking back and taking it easy.
  But, I suspect, Roy sure won't mind the extra time with Abby and 
seeing more of Matt, Amy, Andrew, Charlie, and his grandkids as well.
  So on behalf of all his friends here in the Senate and on behalf of 
the country, I thank my friend, the senior Senator from Missouri, for 
his years of outstanding service.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I want to thank my good friend Senator 
McConnell for his comments this morning, and I have reserved some time 
this afternoon for what would be my official farewell address in the 
Senate.
  But as it relates to our leader, Mr. McConnell, he and I were whips--
when I was a whip in the House, he was a whip in the Senate. We met 
every week. We have had a long and close relationship. I am grateful 
for his advice, his friendship, and his comments today. Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican whip.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we will be losing several members to 
retirement at the end of this year, including my friend Roy Blunt.
  Roy and I have served together for the majority of my time in the 
Senate, and I also served with him for several years in the House of 
Representatives.
  We started in the House at the same time, and we became friends right 
away. Our wives have become friends as well through the years, and it 
has been a joy over the years to host Roy and Abby in South Dakota, 
along with their son Charlie, and to visit them in Missouri. On a 
personal level, I am going to miss Roy a lot, and the Senate

[[Page S6974]]

as an institution is going to miss Roy as well.
  Roy is someone who aspires to be involved in doing the hard things. 
And throughout his congressional career, he has put himself forward for 
positions where he can make a difference.
  He became chief deputy whip just 2 years after becoming a member of 
the House, and he was elected majority whip just 4 years later, winning 
the position earlier in his career than any member in Congress in eight 
decades.
  It has been a similar story in the Senate where Roy was elected vice 
chairman of the Republican Conference in his first year. In 2019, he 
became chairman of the Republican policy committee which plays an 
important role in providing members and staff with the resources they 
need on the issues. And he has done that while serving as the top 
Republican on the Senate Rules Committee.

  Roy has always been committed to doing the big things, but he is also 
very solutions-oriented and very clear-eyed and practical about what is 
achievable in a place where it is hard to get things done.
  He has a saying: Never announce publicly what you won't vote for. 
What he means by that is that you shouldn't back yourself into a 
position where you can't support a good compromise. While it is not 
always possible to get everything you want, you shouldn't let that stop 
you from doing as much good as you can.
  Roy has done a lot of good during his time in Congress, and one of 
his lasting legacies will be the bipartisan achievements in the 
healthcare space, including his efforts to help create and expand the 
certified community behavioral health clinics program to improve access 
to mental health care and championing medical research. The facility 
housing the NIH's Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias is 
actually named after Roy in honor of his longtime work to support 
dementia research. And, of course, no mention of Roy's legacy would be 
complete without mentioning his stalwart advocacy for the people of 
Missouri.
  I am going to miss Roy, and the Senate will miss Roy, but I am 
grateful to have had the opportunity to serve together, and I am happy 
he will have more time to spend with Abby and his children and 
grandchildren.
  Roy has made a lasting impact here in the Senate, and I look forward 
to seeing his next chapter.