[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 197 (Monday, December 19, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7272-S7273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Tribute to Richard C. Shelby

  Madam President, I saved my tribute to the most senior retiring 
Republican Member for late in the year. But even with mere days 
remaining until the end of his term, our colleague's calendar has been 
quite packed, not with fancy farewell parties but with a final chapter 
of high-stakes negotiations and tireless legislative work on behalf of 
his State, our Nation, and, in particular, our Armed Forces. It is no 
surprise that Senator Richard Shelby's final days in the Senate see him 
running through the tape and burning the literal midnight oil.
  The State of Alabama has sent some prolific and powerful Senators to 
this Chamber over its history, but Richard Shelby has surpassed them 
all. He is not just the longest serving Senator from Alabama. He is the 
most influential. Our friend is one of the most effective legislators 
the U.S. Senate has ever seen.
  Growing up outside Depression-era Birmingham, Richard Shelby was not 
automatically predestined for the halls of power. But even before our 
friend had grown into the fullness of his commanding stature, I 
understand that young Richard Shelby was never afraid to throw his 
weight around, whether he was fighting for his team on the football 
field or putting himself between a classmate and a bully on a 
streetcar.
  As a young man, there was hardly any academic or athletic test that 
Richard didn't pass with flying colors. But the way I hear it, the most 
important test was ensuring that a pretty girl named Annette was 
delivered back home in time for curfew after their first date.
  Annette was intrigued by this handsome young man, but she also loved 
and respected her own family. So she declared that if Richard was late 
dropping her off, the first date would be the last. Thus, a partnership 
for the ages was born.
  And ever since the Shelbys' first campaign victory in 1970, the 
people of Alabama have had a natural campaigner, a trailblazing 
problem-solver, and an intellectual giant looking out for their 
interests. And, in addition to Annette Shelby, they have also gotten 
Richard in the package deal.
  Dr. Annette Shelby has charted a historic course of her own here in 
Washington, including becoming the first woman to hold a tenured 
professorship at Georgetown's Business School.

[[Page S7273]]

  Meanwhile, across the city, the other half of the Shelby partnership 
was developing a reputation for visionary leadership here in Congress. 
Where Richard is concerned, the word ``visionary'' is neither throwaway 
praise nor exaggeration. It is simply accurate. People around the 
Senate like to say that Richard Shelby doesn't just see down the road; 
he sees down the road and also around the corner.

  Our colleague has not just known how to fight for Alabama and the 
individual issues and debates that each day has brought. He has also 
invented creative, new, forward-looking visions and missions that 
nobody else had dreamed of and then, methodically, set about turning 
them into reality.
  Richard has trained his efforts on a small number of core priorities 
at one time, the places he is most convinced he can make an outsized 
difference. And once one of those big priorities is identified, he has 
been like a dog after a bone.
  Take the city of Huntsville. As the story goes, a few decades ago it 
was a sleepy town by the Tennessee border. Today, it is a booming 
technological hub for cutting-edge industries like space exploration 
and missile defense.
  Or take the Port of Mobile. The way I understand it, the spark was an 
overseas trip where Richard saw firsthand the latest international 
shipping infrastructure that was rapidly taking shape out in Asia. I 
think the sentiment was more or less this: If Singapore can do this, 
why not Mobile?
  So today, what used to be a small inlet on the gulf coast is now a 
booming hub for shipping, a transformation that is sending ripples of 
prosperity across the entire region.
  But even our visionary colleague's prolific foresight occasionally 
hit its limits. Richard's good friend, our former colleague Phil Gramm, 
had the good judgment to switch to the Republican Party way back in 
1983. He immediately started working on his good buddy to follow suit. 
But even after a charm offensive that I am told involved multiple White 
House lunches with President Reagan, even after Robert Byrd had 
skeptically accused Senator Shelby of harboring ``definite Republican 
tendencies,'' it still took our friend until after the Republicans' 
landslide victories in 1994 to finally cross the threshold and join our 
team.
  Well, the rest is history.
  The iconic phrase ``Chairman Shelby'' could refer to our colleague's 
time steering sensitive oversight at the helm of the Intelligence 
Committee, or his mastery of the most complex matters as head of the 
Banking Committee, or his time lending a steady hand to institutional 
priorities as Rules Committee chair, or, more recently, the years our 
colleague has spent in the No. 1 or No. 2 slots on top of the 
Appropriations Committee, directing the American people's money into 
key national priorities, most especially our constitutional duty to 
provide for the common defense.
  But Richard's Washington expertise never came at the expense of his 
home-State roots--just the opposite. The national renown that Richard 
Shelby accrued was just a pathway by which his beloved Alabama came to 
punch more and more above its weight.
  A long line of Shelby staffers have learned that there is no need for 
a road map or a GPS when they have got the Senator himself in the car. 
Our friend knows every single backroad and highway exit. He knows every 
good ``meat and three.'' And if there is ever time to stop in for lunch 
or coffee, just pick a spot, and Richard will know a handful of the 
folks inside.
  How exactly has our colleague sustained this level of sharpness and 
influence over such a historic career?
  Well, for one thing, I understand the seasoned chairman is a frequent 
visitor to the ``Health Committee.'' That is his moniker for the Senate 
gym.
  Likewise, I have it on good authority that, at one point, our friend 
held the distinction of having more books checked out in his name from 
the Library of Congress than any other Member in either Chamber.
  Occasionally, having such a voracious reader for a colleague can lead 
to trouble. Years ago, shortly after the passing of President Reagan, I 
was wrapping up a meeting with my Banking Committee colleague when I 
half-wondered whether we could find a way to honor the Gipper with a 
place on our currency. With no particular malice toward Alexander 
Hamilton in mind, I loosely suggested: What about, perhaps, the $10 
bill?
  But, alas, little did I know that I was sitting across from the most 
recent person in America to finish Ron Chernow's gigantic, newly 
released biography of Hamilton. This was the book that would go on to 
inspire the hit musical and spark a big revival of interest in 
Hamilton. Richard Shelby had spent weeks eating up every single page, 
admiring Hamilton's genius more and more with every chapter.
  So let's just say, a few minutes later I was back at the drawing 
board.
  It is difficult to imagine the Senate without Richard Shelby, but I 
am not too concerned that the opposite will hold true. As much as 
Richard has loved this institution and excelled in it, we know our 
colleague can imagine life beyond the Senate just fine. There will be 
even more time to stay a student of history, even more time for duck 
hunting with good friends. The visionary brainstorming for Alabama and 
our Nation won't stop--oh, no. But our friend will get to balance it 
out with a whole lot more time with his beloved Annette, their two 
sons, and their grandkids--more time to enjoy the home State that has 
been literally transformed by Richard's passion and vision.
  Richard, thank you very much for an outstanding career.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I came to the floor to speak on another 
topic, but I want to join in the comments of the Republican leader 
about Richard Shelby of Alabama.
  We became friends under different political circumstances when he 
served in the House of Representatives. It has been my honor to count 
him as a friend and to have the occasion to travel with him and 
Annette, his wife, in the past. I am going to miss my friend.
  I wish you well, and I am sure you have got some football to watch in 
Alabama when you get home.