[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 200 (Thursday, December 22, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10087-S10088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO RETIRING SENATORS

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, as the 117th Congress winds down, I would 
like to offer some reflections on some of our departing colleagues: Roy 
Blunt, Richard Burr, Rob Portman, Ben Sasse, Richard Shelby, and 
Patrick Toomey. Too often, the Senate is viewed through a partisan 
lens, but the truth is that we all work together to serve the American 
people. We all swore the same oath to uphold and defend the 
Constitution. Although we may have differing views, we certainly have 
common values.
  It has been my honor to serve with these outstanding senators, as 
well as my good friends, Senator Jim Inhofe and Senator Patrick Leahy, 
whose service I spoke about earlier.


                          Tribute to Roy Blunt

  Roy Blunt knows how to get things done. Because of his efforts as the 
top Republican on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and 
Human Services, and Education, we have been able to make extraordinary 
investments in healthcare research at the National Institutes of Health 
and the Centers for Disease Control. I am grateful for the role he has 
played in helping to raise funding for key programs like the Pell 
grant, adult education, the Library Services and Technology Act, and 
the Childhood Cancer STAR Act. Additionally, I have had the privilege 
of teaming up with Senator Blunt for many years on legislation to 
increase our healthcare workforce with the Building a Health Care 
Workforce for the Future Act, which would help incentivize people to go 
into the primary care field.
  He has been a champion for children. We have worked together on the 
Ensuring Children's Access to Specialty Care Act, to improve access to 
pediatric subspecialists, including children's mental health workers.
  I greatly admire his advocacy and success when it comes to 
strengthening mental health services and access to care. That was 
reflected in the nationwide expansion of the Certified Community 
Behavioral Health Clinics program, which he worked so hard to 
accomplish.
  Finally, as the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee 
on Rules, Senator Blunt has worked to safeguard the Senate community, 
and in partnership with Senator Klobuchar, he has worked to craft the 
bipartisan Electoral Count Act to eliminate any doubts about the 
process for tabulating electoral votes in Congress. This legislation 
will help eliminate the perceived ambiguities in current law that 
President Trump sought to exploit on January 6, 2021. And it is yet 
another example of Senator Blunt's principled, bipartisan leadership.
  We will miss him in the Senate and wish his wife Abigail and their 
children and grandchildren all the best.


                        Tribute to Richard Burr

  I thought I drove the most beat up car in the Senate until I saw 
Senator Burr's 1973 Volkswagen Thing, which I can't believe didn't 
fully retire before he did.
  As a Member of the House and the Senate, Richard Burr has become an 
expert on healthcare policy, helping shepherd countless public health 
and research bills into law. This includes important reauthorizations 
of the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug 
Administration. I have appreciated his help in clearing important 
legislation I have introduced, including measures to address childhood 
cancer, mental health, and suicide prevention.
  In the Senate, Senator Burr became an ardent and outspoken leader in 
preserving our public lands, parks, refuges, and recreational areas. 
His quest to permanently reauthorize and fund the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund--LWCF--ultimately led to the passage of the Great 
American Outdoors Act, which permanently funds the LWCF at $900 million 
per year and provides dedicated funding to address maintenance backlogs 
at our major land management agencies. This was a huge accomplishment 
that will benefit future generations of Americans.
  Finally, as the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, 
Senator Burr was unflappable and even-handed in investigating and 
assessing the threats against this country posed by Russia and other 
malicious actors.
  After a career of landmark legislative achievements, I wish Richard 
well as he drives his signature Volkswagen Thing back home to North 
Carolina.


                         Tribute to Rob Portman

  Senator Rob Portman is one of the most prolific public servants in 
the Republican party, serving in the Senate, the House, and senior 
posts as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and as the 
U.S. Trade Representative. He certainly has had a varied and 
distinguished career.
  Early in his Senate tenure, as the U.S. economy struggled in the wake 
of the Great Recession, Senator Portman and I teamed up to try to 
extend enhanced unemployment benefits for the millions of Americans who 
had been forced out of work. We made great progress in the Senate, 
bringing together a core group of 10 Senators to shape a package of 
assistance. While that package passed the Senate with a strong 
bipartisan vote, we could not overcome opposition in the House. 
Nonetheless, that pattern of working with bipartisan groups of like-
minded Senators became the hallmark of Senator Portman's legislative 
career, paying off in this Congress with the enactment of the 
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, 
and the Respect for Marriage Act.

[[Page S10088]]

  On issues like addiction treatment, retirement security, and marriage 
equality, he became the maestro of orchestrating bipartisan agreement.
  Senator Portman has also become a leading voice in supporting U.S. 
efforts to assist Ukraine, helping to ensure that we bring the 
resources that President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people need in 
order to secure their freedom.
  While Senator Portman will be leaving this Chamber, I expect he will 
remain engaged in policy debates and serving the community. And I hope 
that his bipartisan leadership and efforts to bring people together to 
find common ground will endure.


                      Tribute to Richard C. Shelby

  Richard Shelby has been at the center of addressing some of the most 
consequential events that have faced the country during his tenure. He 
was the top Republican on the Select Committee on Intelligence in the 
immediate aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001. He served as 
the chairman and later ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee 
during the Wall Street financial collapse and Great Recession. And as 
chair and vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, he helped guide 
us through the challenges of the Budget Control Act and the COVID-19 
pandemic.
  Always faithful to his conservative views, Richard has never been a 
partisan firebrand. He has been a person committed to getting things 
done on behalf of all Americans and particularly the people of Alabama. 
When I was ranking member of the Banking Subcommittee on Housing, 
Transportation, and Community Development, I was privileged to work 
closely with Chairman Shelby to reauthorize our Nation's transit 
programs under the SAFETEA Act. In the midst of the Great Recession, we 
worked together on the Banking Committee to pass the Housing and 
Economic Recovery Act, which helped homeowners with subprime mortgages 
avoid foreclosure. Important for today's supply constrained housing 
market, that law created the Housing Trust Fund to increase and 
preserve the supply of housing for people with the lowest incomes, 
including families experiencing homelessness.
  And during his tenure at the top of the Appropriations Committee and 
the Subcommittee on Defense, Richard has worked with Chairman Leahy and 
Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski to fund our national defense, invest wisely 
in public infrastructure, and address the challenges of the COVID-19 
pandemic. It is fitting that Senator Shelby, working with Senator 
Leahy, is capping his career by passing an omnibus appropriations bill, 
which bears the mark of his work.
  Finally, let me add this, Richard, in a very understated way, has 
been a true champion in promoting women to positions of authority in 
the Senate, including naming the first woman to serve as staff director 
of the Senate Appropriations Committee. And it is fitting now that his 
former chief of staff, Senator-elect Katie Britt, will be his successor 
in the Senate.
  In wishing him well in his retirement, I also want to pay tribute to 
his wife Annette, who has been a partner in his service to the country.


                          Tribute to Ben Sasse

  During his tenure in the Senate, Ben Sasse has been a leader in 
addressing the threat of cyber attacks. With my House colleague, 
Congressman  Jim Langevin, Senator Sasse worked to create the 
Cybersecurity Solarium Commission in 2019. The goal of the commission 
was to develop a strategic approach to defending the United States 
against cyber attacks of significant consequences. As a member of the 
commission, Senator Sasse helped craft a thoughtful report and 
important legislative recommendations that will guide our policy on 
cybersecurity for years to come.


                      Tribute to Patrick J. Toomey

  Most States have two Senators, but for the last 12 years, there have 
been three Rhode Islanders serving in the Senate: Senator Whitehouse, 
myself, and Senator Pat Toomey--Republican from East Providence.
  Growing up in a large working-class family with parents of Irish and 
Portuguese ancestry, Senator Toomey's background is familiar and shared 
by many Rhode Islanders, but his success has been uncommon and evident 
almost from the start. In fact, Senator Toomey and I went to the same 
high school--the legendary LaSalle Academy. We were a few years--
actually several years--apart. I was a good student. Pat was the 
valedictorian. He went on to Harvard and Wall Street and served in the 
House before coming to the Senate.
  As a member of the Senate Banking Committee and eventually serving as 
the top Republican on the panel, he was well-versed and well-prepared 
to debate the issues. As we worked to craft the CARES Act and other 
COVID-19 pandemic legislation, Pat was rigorous and relentless in 
asking tough questions as we worked to develop this legislation to keep 
the economy moving.
  Closer to home and his Portuguese roots, Pat was a champion for 
improving U.S. relations with Portugal. Working with my colleagues 
Sheldon Whitehouse and   David Cicilline, he pushed for the passage of 
the AMIGOS Act--a bill to improve trade and investment ties between the 
U.S. and Portugal. I am pleased that thanks to Pat's efforts we were 
able to include this legislation in this year's National Defense 
Authorization Act.
  With Pat's retirement, Rhode Island will have to make do with just 
two Senators, but I hope that we will continue to see him and his wife 
Kris and their children from time to time both in Washington and in the 
Ocean State.
  Again I want to thank these extraordinary colleagues for their hard 
work over the years and for their service to the American people and 
the people of their States.

                          ____________________