[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 184 (Wednesday, December 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6951-S6952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Tribute to Mike Braun

  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, it is my distinct opportunity 
to talk about my good friend Senator Mike Braun from Indiana.
  Senator Braun and I came up here at the exact same time. He was 99th 
in seniority and I was 100th in seniority 6 years ago. We both have 
very similar backgrounds. Both of us had built businesses. Both of us 
have very similar backgrounds in how we got started. Neither of us 
started with any money. We got to build successful businesses. We had 
to figure out how to control our costs because, you know, you are not 
going to succeed if you don't figure out how to control your costs. He 
had a very similar experience as I did on how you control healthcare 
costs: You make your employees consumers of healthcare. You make them 
be the ones that make the decision on how they are going to spend 
healthcare dollars.
  He also is very focused on the problems of Federal debt, the problems 
of Federal spending. From the time he got up here, he was a champion of 
fiscal sanity.
  With our wives, we had the opportunity to travel to Israel--I think 
our first summer here; I think it was our first summer--and spend a 
week there just learning everything we could about Israel. Senator 
Braun has a wonderful family, a wonderful wife--also an entrepreneur 
like he is. So I am going to miss him a lot.
  He talked about the fact that we were so naive when we first came up 
here. They were supposed to have lunch from 12:30 to 2 o'clock, and the 
business guys would show up on time, and there were only two of us 
there. The food wasn't out. So we were told that it doesn't really--
they say it starts on time, but it never did.
  We both saw the difficulty in trying to get things accomplished here 
and the difficulty in trying to control spending here. But his voice 
has been very important on the fight for fiscal sanity here, and his 
voice has been very important on the ability to try to figure out how 
we get our healthcare costs in line so people can afford it--not just 
government affording it but individuals can afford it.
  So I am going to miss him. We both have--we had the worst times 
together. I think he had the 3 to 6 and I had the 6 to whenever we 
finished on Thursday. Every Thursday, we were here. So he was very--he 
was smart. He put it together so that at least every Thursday, one of 
us could go home a little bit earlier, which was smart.
  He did talk to Dan Sullivan, who does a great job with--if you 
haven't had the opportunity to listen to Dan's Alaskan of the Week, 
talking about an Alaskan, he does a great job with that. He got him to 
move it up so we could get out of here earlier.
  He is just a great person. We served on the Aging Committee together 
and the Budget Committee. He is just a wonderful person to serve with.
  He is going to love being Governor. I had the opportunity to be 
Governor from 2011 to 2019. It is a great job. If you care about 
families, if you want to help people get a job, if you want to help 
people get a better education, if you want to keep people safe, that is 
exactly what you get to do.
  I think Senator Braun is going to be the best Governor in the country 
soon. He is going to make sure that Indiana is a State where people can 
get a great-paying job, their kids get a great education, and people 
feel safe. It is still a little cold for me. Florida is a little bit 
warmer than Indiana.
  I just want to say I am very appreciative of Mike's friendship. I am 
very appreciative of his hard work. I appreciate his tenacity.
  I can tell you that they are always going to live within their means 
because Mike will not waste a dime. Indiana will have probably the best 
budget in the country, and all their debt, if they have any, will be 
paid off quickly.
  I just wanted to say to Mike, thank you for your friendship. I look 
forward to working with you, and I am going to miss you up here.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I just wanted to note first that I 
really appreciate Senator Mike Braun's support on our effort to protect 
American's privacy and take on the rapid expansion of TSA use of facial 
surveillance. Stopping the establishment of a national surveillance 
system is very important to freedom and privacy in America, and I much 
appreciate his partnership in undertaking this topic

[[Page S6952]]

and wish him all the best in his return to be Governor of Indiana.

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