[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 14, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S380-S381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Tribute to Trudy Perkins

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Trudy Perkins, my 
communications director and the former acting chief of staff of my 
office, as she moves on to a new, well-deserved chapter--retirement.
  Trudy's career has been unparalleled to say the least. She has spent 
20 years working in Congress. Her service has made a difference for her 
colleagues and for so many Americans.
  She grew up in Albany. If you take Route 90 just about 150 miles 
west--well, about 200 miles west, you will hit Cleveland. If you drive 
about 110 miles west, you will hit my wife's hometown of Ashtabula, OH. 
It is fitting that her final role in the Senate brought her back to a 
city on I-90.
  Trudy is a proud member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and is an 
alumna of the State University of New York at Oswego. She spent the 
early years of her career working in television news, first in Albany--
I know, in the Presiding Officer's State, you say ``All-ba-nee,'' but 
up north, we say ``All-buh-nee''--and then in Baltimore.
  In 2002, she started on Capitol Hill with one of the real superstars 
in the House, now the late Representative Elijah Cummings, where she 
worked her way up to communications director and deputy chief of staff 
during her almost 20 years with that office. She served as an 
invaluable adviser to Representative Cummings. He trusted her with 
anything and everything. He often gave her phone number out to 
constituents and told them ``Why don't you call Trudy'' because things 
always got done. You know how Members of Congress don't always get them 
done, but people like Trudy Perkins do. He knew, no matter what the 
task was, that Trudy wouldn't just deliver, but she would do it kindly; 
she would do it with a smile; and she would do it with a positive 
attitude. It was easy for anyone to see her dedication to public 
service and always, always, always to the constituents she served. She 
was dependable. She was hard-working. She was an integral member of 
their team and of the Cummings' office family.
  Trudy has been an integral and trusted leader in my office. We were 
so lucky to have inherited her, in a sense, after the death of 
Representative Cummings. In January 2020, she joined my staff as the 
communications director. At the time, she was the only Black 
communications director serving in a Senate personal office. She had a 
talent for communications and press and the experience to prove it. 
That was clear to me before we ever spoke.
  As I got to know her, I learned how much she cared about the issues 
that I care about and that Senator Wyden does and Senator Warnock, the 
Presiding Officer, does. I learned how much she cared about those 
issues that matter most: civil rights, labor rights. She understood 
this from the writings about Dr. King's speeches, when Dr. King spent a 
lot of time talking to labor unions. Dr. King, in his last weeks of 
life, went to Memphis because of a labor strike of sanitation workers, 
and she understood, as I do and as John Lewis did, how Dr. King wove 
workers' rights and civil rights and women's rights and human rights 
all together. Trudy gets that.
  From day one, she proved to be such an asset in our office by 
stepping in and leading a robust communications team during some of the 
most tumultuous years in the Senate that I have ever seen. In her first 
month, we faced domestic and foreign crises that she navigated with a 
steady hand. During her second month, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. 
It was an uncertain time. We all know that, and all of us in the 
country know that. We had never seen anything like it. Trudy stepped up 
and delivered for Ohioans and for her team in our office.
  She transitioned our press shop from an in-person operation to a 
virtual one. It was a transition nobody had ever tried before that 
brought challenges and technical difficulties but also new 
opportunities to connect with Ohioans and with the Ohio media. At every 
turn, Trudy Perkins led with grace. She made sure that Ohioans got the 
information they needed to navigate the pandemic. She made a difference 
for so many in our office and in our State.
  Her impact can't be measured just by her ability to meet challenge 
after challenge as her leadership also extended far beyond the 
technical aspects of a difficult job. She was a compassionate resource 
for everyone on her staff.

  She took time to get to know the team and understand how they 
operated as a unit and who they are as individuals. She listened. She 
truly cared. And for the communications team, Trudy Perkins was a rock. 
She was a smiling face on Zoom calls. She organized virtual game nights 
and made a

[[Page S381]]

difficult time a little easier as our office and world settled into a 
``new normal.''
  A couple of years later, when our chief of staff took a temporary 
leave from the office, it wasn't even a close call. We knew Trudy was 
the right choice to lead the entire office in the interim. It was a big 
job to take on. She stepped up. The transition was seamless. She led 
the office through a historic year that brought so many wins for 
Ohioans: the CHIPS Act, the PACT Act, the Inflation Reduction Act. She 
led our shift back to an in-person work.
  To say the least, it has been an eventful 3 years. Through it all, 
Trudy has been a dedicated member of this office. She has been a 
leader. This office wouldn't be the place it is today without her.
  As a communications director, she always had her team's back. She 
went to bat for them. She supported them in and out of the office, 
attending events on her personal time, like choir concerts, to cheer 
them on.
  As a manager, she gave junior staff the room they needed to grow. She 
listened. She recognized potential. She invested in every member of our 
team. She made sure everyone was set up for success so they would move 
forward even after she would leave.
  She is a trusted adviser, a talented brainstormer. She is an advocate 
for women, especially for women of color, across the Senate. She makes 
colleagues feel appreciated and seen.
  Most of all, Trudy believes in this office and this institution and 
the good that each of us can do for Ohioans and Americans.
  Every member of our staff--from the interns to the senior staff--have 
learned from Trudy Perkins, whether it is her communications expertise 
or how to stay calm in stressful situations or even just to show 
kindness and smile after a long day.
  We have certainly picked up a few of her sayings along the way, like 
``no ma'am pam'' and ``hot diggity dog.'' She doesn't always talk that 
way, but sometimes.
  We will miss her sense of humor. We will miss her laugh, which you 
can hear from any corner of the office. And if the microphones were 
loud enough, you could have just heard it then from this corner. I know 
every member of Team Brown will miss having her as part of this team.
  At the beginning of this Congress, I asked each member of my staff to 
share a meaningful memory from the 117th Congress--and this is where 
the Presiding Officer comes in. Trudy reminded me of the Letter from a 
Birmingham Jail reading that she organized after former Senator Jones 
asked me to continue the tradition. We chose three Republicans and 
three Democrats to read Dr. King's immortal words. Trudy asked that 
Senator Warnock read the final section, as Raphael is the first Black 
Senator from Georgia and serves as the senior pastor of Ebenezer 
Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. King attended and Dr. King's 
father was the pastor.
  It was a moment of immense symbolism and joy as he read his 
predecessor's words on the Senate floor. That letter also includes 
perhaps my favorite Dr. King quote:

       Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of 
     inevitability.

  I will say that again:

       Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of 
     inevitability.

  Progress rolls in because we make it so. It rolls in because we 
organize, we push, we work every angle for as long as it takes. 
Progress rolls in because of people like Trudy Perkins who dedicate 
their lives to fighting to make a difference in this world. Our country 
is a better place because of her service and because of her leadership.
  Trudy will be spending more time with her mother in Maryland. Her 
dedication to her family has always been unwavering.
  Trudy, you will be missed more than you know. We will continue to 
fight for the values that you hold dear and make a difference in the 
lives of all Ohioans.
  On behalf of everyone in our office, the staff on the Banking and 
Housing Committee, some of my colleagues who know Trudy, and all those 
who have had the honor of working with her, we congratulate Trudy 
Perkins on her career. We wish her well in retirement. We thank her 
from the bottom of our hearts for her terrific service to our Nation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, before he leaves the floor, I just want my 
colleague to know that what you just heard from Senator Brown is why, 
every single day, he gives public service a good name. He shows up, and 
he works for the people. It is thrilling to see that, as always, he 
recognizes that he can't do it by himself. He has got staff, and it is 
so appropriate to hear him and his gracious remarks about his colleague 
who is moving on.
  Mr. President, it is great to see you.
  For those who aren't familiar, those of us on the Senate Finance 
Committee have been so proud to work with our colleague Senator 
Warnock, particularly his championship of affordable medicine and 
affordable insulin, where he has been a leader for all of us on this 
side of the aisle. And had he had his way, all Americans--not just 
those who depend on Medicare--would already have the benefits of more 
affordable medicine.