[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17051]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             THANKING STAFF

  Mr. REID. This morning, I talked about the Energy bill and the work 
of Democrats and Republicans to get it passed. I failed--and I 
apologize--to mention two of the most important people for getting that 
passed, two staff members.
  Chris Miller, who works in my office, is such a wonderful, hard-
working public servant. Chris is originally from Detroit. He has worked 
in Congress for 20 years, 18 years with the Senate. He worked for 
Senator Jeffords and for me on the Environment and Public Works 
Committee. His work ethic is unsurpassed. He has become a resource for 
the entire Senate, Democrats and Republicans. During the Energy bill, 
staff members came to him and some Members themselves came to him, 
asked where we were. He gave them information as to where we were, 
where we were going. Chris has a master's degree from the University of 
Michigan. That is in natural resource management. He has a bachelor's 
also from the same institution in political science. I told him 
personally last night, after the bill passed, how much I appreciated 
his hard work. I want the record spread with the fact that he is an 
exemplary employee.
  I also want to talk about someone I have worked with over the years 
because he has been in the Senate for a long time, and that is Bob 
Simon. Bob has a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from MIT in 1982. He is a 
person with a wide range of knowledge. Before coming to the Senate 
about 14 years ago or so, he worked at the Department of Energy and the 
National Research Council for the National Academies of Science and 
Engineering. He has served in a variety of science- and technology-
related positions in the Senate since 1993. He became a staff director 
for the overall committee the month the Democrats won the majority. He 
works very well with Senator Domenici, the ranking member and until 
recently the chairman of that committee.
  He is really a good person, works so hard--another example of people 
we have here on Capitol Hill who are here because they believe in 
public service. That is why he is here. He is a person who works 
extremely hard, and his work on this bill was instrumental to its 
passage.
  I ask if the distinguished Republican leader has anything to say?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I thank the majority leader. Let me 
just make the point that we have recently adopted S. Res. 250, which 
condemns the military junta in Burma and calls for the immediate and 
unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi. The State Peace and 
Development Council, which rules Burma, is a truly outrageous, pariah 
regime that deserves universal condemnation. I only wish there were 
more countries that would join us in publicly criticizing the regime 
and in taking action to help bring about positive change in this 
troubled nation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

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