[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 159 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4800-S4801]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING DIANNE FEINSTEIN

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, yesterday, the senior Senator from 
California came onto the floor through those doors to do her job. She 
voted. She voted to make sure that our country would continue to move 
forward and not shut down. That was Dianne. She did her job every day. 
She cared about her country. She cared about her State. She cared about 
doing a job, no matter how tough it is, for the future of America, and 
she did it with dignity and respect every single minute.
  Today, you will hear accolades from across the country, lists of 
legislative accomplishments from her early days, all the way through 
her career. What I just want to say today: It is a true loss to 
America. It is a loss to her family.
  My heart is with you.
  It is a loss to her colleagues from California who have served with 
her and know her as I do--as a tower of strength--to our colleagues on 
the floor who have worked with her on a laundry list of legislation 
that you will hear about and is way too long to list today.
  But, to her constituents, you need to know we depended on her just as 
you did, and she was here every day to fight for you, no matter what. 
She fought for women. She fought for those who were victims of gun 
violence. She fought for foreign policy that was remote to most people, 
but she knew every detail. And when Dianne spoke, the rest of us 
stopped and we listened.
  Mr. President, she was a friend. I was sworn into office just a few 
weeks after she was, and she was always there for us, in matters big 
and small, in matters of our country, in matters of policy, and always 
as a friend.
  To those of you who don't know, she was the most generous Senator I 
have ever known. I remember one time when I noticed that her purse was 
really nice, and I said: Dianne, that purse is beautiful.
  Two days later, I got one delivered to my door. That was Dianne. She 
saw people. She knew people. She saw that she could be someone whom we 
all needed, and she saw that she could be there when she was needed--
and she was there.
  I will have more to say about my friend of more than 30 years over 
the next few days, and I am sure we will hear so much today. But I am 
so sorry I didn't hug her when she went back out that door yesterday.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Maine.

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