[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 21706]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       THANKING THE SENATE STAFF

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield. I know I speak 
for both of us in expressing our appreciation to our Senate staff. It 
is 2:30 in the morning, and they have been here long, long hours. We 
get a lot of things done here, but it is not on our own. We have a 
wonderful staff that does so much.
  We have the pages, some of whom are still here, and they are juniors 
in high school. We have the doorkeepers, the Capitol Police, the 
official reporters, and the fine floor staff that makes it possible to 
get all this complicated stuff done. It could not be done without them. 
They get very little recognition.
  To them, I say thank you very much to all of you who do such 
wonderful things for us personally, and it all winds up being for our 
country.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I second that as well. It is interesting, 
when you are around here at 2:30 in the morning--or, as I said at my 
retirement dinner, when you are here early in the morning and are among 
the first people who come in and usually one of the last people 
leaving, because generally Senator Reid and I are here to close, you 
get to see a side of this place that a lot of people don't see--the 
people who keep it clean, who sweep the floors, make sure light bulbs 
are in place, who make sure there is always clean paint on the walls. 
It is pretty amazing. It reminds me of a hospital a lot because people 
get sick 24 hours a day. This is very similar in that the hours are 
unpredictable, and it is a living democracy in which we have the 
opportunity to participate. It is one big, huge team that makes it 
possible. We very rarely pause and say that. It is very important as we 
all work together to make the country a safer, healthier, and stronger 
place.

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