[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 194 (Wednesday, December 14, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7163-S7166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Farewell to the Senate

  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I rise today in the time-honored tradition 
of giving my farewell remarks to the United States Senate. This is an 
opportunity to thank my friends, my colleagues, and the voters of North 
Carolina who have supported me for 28 years, through 8 elections, for 
the opportunity to serve and the ability to make a difference for my 
State and my country.
  Thirty years ago, I was a businessman with a happy family in Winston-
Salem, NC, who decided things in Washington, DC, weren't working 
exactly right. So I decided to run for Congress in an effort to help 
make that change for the better. My reason for

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running was a concern of the future for my two young sons and others of 
their generation.
  I lost that first race for the House in 1992, and I took it in stride 
thinking, I have done my best shot. It was meant to be. I am not a 
politician. I had never run for office before or been involved in 
politics except to vote. But by 1994, as Congress was still raising 
taxes and increasing the deficit at the same time, I decided I had to 
try again to bring some common sense to how things were being decided 
in our Nation's Capital. So I threw my hat in the ring again, and I was 
elected to the House of Representatives. I was surrounded by 73 other 
new Members, with a new majority, and an opportunity to make new 
friends.
  I met three people who are now some of my closest friends: John 
Boehner, Saxby Chambliss, and Tom Latham. Brooke and I are blessed with 
their friendship. Every year since they have left, along with their 
wives, Debbie Boehner, Julianne Chambliss, and the late Kathy Latham, 
we have traveled and deepened those bonds of friendship. I am grateful 
and proud we are so incredibly close, and I thank all of them today.
  Do you suppose Boehner is crying by now?
  While we have all made new friends in Congress, not a day goes by--
not a day--that I don't miss my good friend Tom Coburn. I have his name 
plate in my office from the Intel Committee to remind me of the lessons 
that Tom gave all of us and for the example he set as a Member of the 
Senate. Now, from that class of 1994, there are only three of us left--
Roger, Lindsey, and me--and my time is short.
  The Contract with America created a new majority. Newt Gingrich and 
Frank Luntz crafted our unifying message to the American people. We 
came with a commitment not to leave for a hundred days until we started 
to change the course of American government. Then, this seemed like a 
small sacrifice for a transformation I saw as imminent and important. 
We worked day and night before we ever found the bathroom or permanent 
housing.
  Every Member had a different story and a different reason for 
running, but we were elected for a common cause: to fix Congress and a 
government that was broken and out of touch.
  Being one of 435 Representatives in an institution driven by 
seniority has a sobering impact. For many, our new committee 
assignments taught us that we weren't quite as smart as we thought. 
Winning elections was hard; thoughtful policymaking was even harder. I 
decided early on that the Energy and Commerce Committee was where I 
would spend the majority of my time and focus.
  Much can be said for the value of institutional knowledge, but there 
weren't any Republicans who knew what to do in the majority since none 
of us had ever served in a majority.
  John Dingell was the outgoing chair of the committee, and quite 
honestly, John could have ignored the new Republicans and been upset 
about the election taking his gavel away. Instead, he took me under his 
wing. John taught me many lessons about hearings, about oversight, how 
to focus on important topics, and more importantly, how the work in 
Washington really gets done. He advised me to spend my time listening, 
so I did. I came to the committee hearings, and I learned from the 
experts.
  I was doing so much at one time, I realized that family time was too 
often ignored. I cannot express how much I appreciate the love and the 
support of my family to let me have this incredible experience. Brooke 
and I have lived apart for 28 years. Outside of congressional recesses 
or a few trips, every Monday, I have had to wake up, just like you, and 
know I had to fly back to Washington to cast a vote. I look forward to 
being home with the love of my life when I am done with this.
  During the decade I served in the House, our country went through 
some major events, including 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, 
which still ripple through our foreign policy, our defense policy, and 
our domestic policy today; the anthrax attacks, which opened my eyes as 
to how unprepared our country was for the threat of bioterrorism and 
inspired my work to create the national preparedness and response 
framework; and the impeachment of President Clinton--only the second 
time a President had been impeached in the history of our country in 
the House.

  I had the opportunity to work on a lot of legislation, but issues I 
am most proud of are bipartisan legislation to end the tobacco quota; 
the start of my biodefense work with the National Disaster Medical 
System and the Smallpox Vaccine Program when we created the Department 
of Homeland Security; and especially the Food and Drug Modernization 
Act, or FDAMA, as many of us know.
  I came to Congress 6 years before the horrible attacks of 9/11, and 
guarding our Nation's freedoms was as important then as it remains 
today. Standing at Ground Zero just a few days after those awful 
attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania made it clear to me 
that we could never let down our guard against those who hate our 
country and hate our freedoms. Serving on the House and Senate 
Intelligence Committees has made me more committed to remaining 
vigilant in the goal of protecting the lives of all Americans.
  When I decided to run for the Senate, little did I know how grueling 
the campaign would be. Running a statewide race against Erskine Bowles 
was never going to be easy. Erskine had experience, money, and a built-
in network. I had a lot of energy and a determination to win.
  Our campaign was downright civil compared to what we have seen in 
recent years, and after the election, Erskine and I became lifetime, 
longtime friends. We remain that way today. I appreciate Erskine Bowles 
for his continued service to our State of North Carolina and to the 
country.
  In my 18 years in the Senate, we have lived through some major events 
as well: the financial crisis of 2009, the Ebola outbreak of 2014, a 
global pandemic, and I might say the third and fourth impeachments of a 
President of the United States, the illegal and immoral invasion of 
Ukraine.
  In the Senate, any Senator can work on any legislation they want, but 
in particular, I would like to mention just a few: the Pandemic and 
All-Hazards bill, or PAHPA; the ABLE Act to help families with children 
with disabilities save for the future; the child care and development 
block grant reauthorization to help families afford quality childcare; 
the Veterans Choice Act to help veterans get the healthcare they 
deserve; making permanent the funding for the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund; the Ryan White CARE Act to make this successful 
program more equitable for Americans living with HIV/AIDS; the Emmett 
Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes bill, which helps investigators work 
to discover the truth and seek justice for families of the victims of 
civil rights-era cold cases; and years' worth of annual intelligence 
authorization bills.
  Usually, the most bipartisan bills that move through this body are 
often misunderstood and mischaracterized. Far from being a 
congressional blank check to the intelligence community, they represent 
an annual congressional exercise to guide and direct the intelligence 
community. These bills are the most bipartisan products of ongoing, 
rigorous oversight. Those who block or obstruct or otherwise delay 
these bills are not empowering the people they think they are.
  While I am proud of all these bills and more, I want to highlight the 
work I have done to build the architecture of the Nation's pandemic and 
biological preparedness systems--in particular, the creation of the 
Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, BARDA.
  Developing a collaboration between the Federal Government and private 
sector companies to accelerate the development of medical 
countermeasures helps us all meet the oath we swore to protect the 
safety and security of the American people.
  Without BARDA, we wouldn't have had the tools to deal with anthrax, 
smallpox, and radiological or nuclear threats. We wouldn't have 
developed the COVID vaccines as rapidly. We wouldn't be on the leading 
edge of science, and we would instead be falling further and further 
behind.
  This infrastructure works because we made it flexible. We made it 
adaptable. So whatever the current threat may be, my greatest 
frustration is that administration after administration

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seems to think they need to reinvent the wheel instead of picking up 
the tools that Congress has already laid on the table and built to 
handle emergencies.
  I hope one lesson we have learned from COVID is exactly how valuable 
BARDA is.
  I have been especially fortunate to serve on three of the most 
consequential committees in the United States Senate: Intelligence, 
where I continued my service from the House in the Senate, eventually 
becoming chair; Finance, which governs our Tax Code and much of our 
healthcare programs; and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 
Committee, where I currently serve as the ranking Republican and have 
focused on our public health threat preparedness and response 
infrastructure and modernizing the FDA, CDC, and NIH, and I thank my 
chairman, Senator Murray.
  While serving on the Intelligence Committee, I have developed a deep 
friendship with Mark Warner and so many of my colleagues. We were great 
partners during our investigation of Russia's efforts to interfere in 
the 2016 election, and our shared passion for oversight of the 
intelligence community has made them better, more responsive, and our 
country safer.
  Mark, I am going to miss that work with you.
  I would also like to offer my deepest thanks and proud affection for 
the men and women of the intelligence community. From junior analysts 
to the station chiefs, in DC and around the world, the thing that has 
always stood out is their love of country, their commitment to mission, 
to keep the American people safe and our country secure. It is easy to 
focus on their so-called intelligence failures, which are more, 
actually, policy failures, and we don't get to talk about their 
successes, but that is what enables them to keep doing the work they do 
successfully to keep us safe.
  It is a rare opportunity to praise them for a job well-done. So to 
all of them: Thank you. It has been an honor, and it has been a 
privilege to serve in that capacity.
  Committees are where you roll up your sleeves and you get to work. I 
learned that from John Dingell in the House and from my friends Ted 
Kennedy and Orrin Hatch in the Senate. It is where friendships are made 
and where we work together to get results for the people who sent us 
here.
  If I have any regrets about the operation of the Senate in recent 
years, it is how much leadership ignored the work of the committees 
and, in many cases, ignored the expertise of our staff.
  The Senate needs more committee consideration of bills and serious 
issues, less consolidation of decision-making in the hands of a few.
  Thomas Jefferson once said:

       I like the dreams of the future better than the history of 
     the past.

  So let me look forward in my remaining time rather than just 
reminisce the past. I have never been more optimistic about America's 
future.
  During the next two decades, we will see technology and innovation at 
a speed that none of us can envision today. Technology platforms will 
emerge that change the global economy; and at a pace that will be hard 
for this institution to keep up with.
  Breakthroughs will transform healthcare, agriculture, and 
manufacturing. Then it will hit a wall called the Federal Government, 
with an architecture designed in the 1950s.
  The work you have got is huge. It is time for Congress to be the 
visionary body our Founders envisioned when they created us.
  We are now 22 years into this new century. What are we waiting for? 
We need to unleash Americans to solve today's problems with the 
intellectual power of our great country. America is full of bright and 
intelligent men and women of all ages who are creative at finding 
solutions and forging new paths. We need these folks in the U.S. 
Senate, and I am glad that I have had the chance to serve with some who 
will now continue to carry on the great efforts for years to come.
  We need more statesman and fewer politicians. As Harry Truman said 
while serving in this great body:

       Regardless of [your] politics . . . [our] fate is tied up 
     in what [happens] in this room.

  What happens in this room.
  The tradition of a farewell speech usually includes some words to 
your colleagues about the importance of the U.S. Senate, John Dingell's 
complaint about us being the enemy of the House notwithstanding.
  So here are some lessons about what I have learned and what I 
recommend to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, both to the 
newcomers and to those in term 1 or 5.
  One: Thank your family. They put up with more than you will ever 
know.
  To my wife Brooke, thank you, thank you, thank you.
  While I am sure she is happy to see me retire, she also reminded me 
she doesn't make lunch, so I had better get a job.
  To my sons and their families, Tyler, Meg, Rooney, William, Tyler--
yeah, a boy Tyler and a daughter-in-law Tyler--Mary Lyde, Virginia, and 
Henry: Thank you. I am proud of the lives you are building and the 
grandchildren you have blessed Brooke and I with. I love you. I look 
forward to spending more time with you instead of these guys.
  Two: Thank your staff. They are actually the reason you are here; it 
is not you.
  In my time in the House and the Senate, during my leadership of the 
Intelligence Committee, the HELP Committee, I have worked with roughly 
200 of the smartest, hardest working staff who sacrifice time and 
higher pay to work behind the scenes to make so many things happen.
  I have been blessed with a staff in North Carolina. My constituents 
couldn't be better served by their tireless efforts.
  I have had the best constituent service folks in North Carolina as 
North Carolina has ever seen.
  It would be impossible to name all of you, and I will put the names 
in the Record, but, particularly, I want to thank Dean Myers and Chris 
Joyner for their years of friendship and service to North Carolina, our 
country, and to me. I thank both of you.
  There are so many names, but from my House terms, I would like to 
especially thank Jenny Hansen Ware, John Versaggi, Brian Vanderbloemen, 
and A.T.
  From my Senate terms: Natasha Hickman, Chris Toppings, Polly Walker, 
Michael Sorensen, Caitlin Carroll, Rebecca Glover, and Josh Bowlen.
  From the Intel Committee, Christian Cook, Emily Harding, Vanessa Le, 
Tommy Nguyen, the entire bipartisan Russian team, and all of those who 
serve the committee under my chairmanship.
  And my HELP Committee, Angela Wiles, Rachel Portman, Anna Abrams, Dr. 
Bob Kadlec, Margaret Barton and David Cleary.
  Finally, I would also like to say a few words about Alicia Peterson 
Clark. She helped me in my first election. She became my House chief, 
and she got me to the Senate.
  She helped build the operation and establish the culture that runs 
through my office today. Today, even if you never met her, if you have 
worked for me, you have been influenced by her leadership. She passed 
away a few years ago, heartbreakingly young, and she is deeply missed.
  Three: Consistently remind yourself why you came to serve.
  The American people expect us to get things done. Like it or not, 
they may not send you home, but you will leave feeling that you played 
in the game and have very little to show for it.
  Four: Only do things that have meaningful purpose. My staff knows my 
rule for the introduction of legislation. You have got to show me the 
human face behind the issue if you want me to introduce it and be 
passionate about it.
  Five: Remember, our Founders expected Congress to be visionary.
  When we complain about regulation we don't like, it is usually our 
fault because we either delegated that authority away or remained 
silent when an out-of-control President just takes authority we never 
granted.
  Our system is designed so that Congress would do things to fix 
problems, including problems that didn't exist.
  The creation of BARDA proved to me the importance of being visionary. 
We would not have been prepared for H1N1, Ebola, Zika, coronavirus. My 
advice is to look ahead to what you think future problems might be and 
build an architecture to solve them.
  Six: Nobody wins in impeachment. Let me say that again. Nobody wins 
in

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impeachments. I have lived through 3--75 percent of all impeachments in 
the history of the United States of America.
  Congress should resist the temptation to treat impeachment as just 
the newest form of political opposition.
  Seven: Principle is important, but flexibility is essential.
  While we all have areas of interest that we are most comfortable 
with, they may not be the greatest need of our time.
  When the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened, we all had to shift our 
focus. When the financial markets collapsed in 2008 and 2009, it was 
all-hands-on-deck. And when COVID became a pandemic, we had to scramble 
to become health, education, and financial experts to shore up our 
economy and save lives.
  I wish we had done more to keep schools open so that children 
wouldn't have suffered quite so much.
  But I know that in the future we will have learned from these 
mistakes and we won't make them again.
  That is seven lessons on how to be an effective U.S. Senator. I hope 
some of my colleagues find these to be helpful.
  America has always been a great country, where dreams can come true. 
Let's keep it that way. Our citizens and elected officials alike should 
dream big and then work hard to make them a reality.

  The job of being a U.S. Senator means making tough decisions. Please 
remember that good judgment in making those decisions often involves 
finding some balance between two parties as much as it means standing 
firm on your personal convictions and on the platform on which you were 
elected.
  I hope we are all committed to supporting the ingenuity of our 
citizens so that they can match the likes of Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, 
George Washington Carver, Beulah Louise Henry, and so many others.
  Government should not be a roadblock to innovation and new ideas. 
Rather, it should encourage new ideas, new innovation, and new 
possibilities to realize the untapped potential of our citizens.
  I have often expressed my belief that America's best days are still 
ahead, and lately I have been chided for thinking that that is true. 
But my optimism is rooted in reality.
  Our country and our citizens have an unlocked potential and an 
unbound determination to overcome any division, any problem.
  Yes, there is much work to be done, but Americans have never been 
afraid to roll up their sleeves and work hard to succeed.
  Think of the challenges that we have overcome since our country was 
founded--the Civil War, the Great Depression, two world wars, racial 
division, the Cold War, terrorist attacks, Presidential impeachments, 
disputed elections, an international pandemic, and more.
  Yet none of these have destroyed the fabric of our Nation or its 
people, and I refuse to believe that any challenge is too great to 
tackle when we come together.
  I stand here today in awe of the history made in the Capitol complex, 
the people's House, the U.S. Senate, the old House Chamber, the old 
Senate Chamber, and even the old Supreme Court Chamber.
  Our Nation's history is crystalized here in this building. Our flaws, 
our triumphs, our humbling errors, and our breathtaking successes.
  If you listen closely at night, when all around is quiet, you can 
hear the echoing voices of the ordinary men and women who became giants 
in our Nation's history--Sam Rayburn, Margaret Chase Smith, Everett 
Dirksen, Barbara Jordan, John Dingell, Tom Coburn, Barbara Mikulski, 
John Lewis, and so many more.
  They served here with dignity and honor, and they shaped the course 
of a nation's destiny. They shared my optimism about our country and 
our future. Even in the darkest days, I know that optimism is not 
misplaced looking ahead.
  It is hard for me to imagine that I have had the great honor and 
extraordinary privilege to follow in their footsteps.
  I hope that my time here has had purpose and meaning. I know I have 
done my best to contribute and to help build a more perfect union.
  I will miss you, my colleagues, and I will miss the tremendous staff 
in Congress who are unknown by the public, but behind the scenes, they 
keep everything running smoothly.
  I will, especially, miss the hardworking, dedicated, and fearless men 
and women of the U.S. Capitol Police for the job they do to keep us 
safe. When trouble rears its head, they stand up. We must all remain 
thankful for the job they do on our behalf.
  As I conclude, I want to thank my wife and my family again, as well 
as my colleagues and my staff.
  I also want to thank the people of North Carolina for honoring me 
with the trust and respect. I am humbled that they sent me here to 
Congress eight different times, and I appreciate their support.
  I yield the floor.
  (Applause.)
  (Ms. ROSEN assumed the Chair.)