[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17207]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    ADMINISTRATION OF OATH OF OFFICE

  The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator will present himself at the desk. The 
Chair will administer the oath of office as required by the 
Constitution and prescribed by law.
  The Senator, escorted by Mr. Enzi and Mr. Wallop, respectively, 
advanced to the desk of the Vice President; the oath prescribed by law 
was administered to him by the Vice President; and he subscribed to the 
oath in the official oath book.
  The VICE PRESIDENT. Congratulations.
  [Applause, Senators rising.]
  The VICE PRESIDENT. The minority leader is recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, let me say briefly a warm welcome to 
the new Senator from Wyoming, Senator Barrasso. He has big shoes to 
fill with our departed colleague Craig Thomas. I am sure he is up to 
it. Given the average age of this institution, it is certainly good to 
have another physician in the Senate. An orthopedic surgeon may be 
particularly useful. I had a chance to meet with the new Senator this 
morning. He is a bright, capable person. I commend the Governor of 
Wyoming for an outstanding choice and look forward to serving with the 
Senator for many years.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Pryor). The majority leader is recognized.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, the last physician we had, Senator Bill 
Frist, was a great public servant. I worked very closely with him over 
the years I was Democratic leader. The one thing I learned from Bill 
Frist is that a physician is always a physician. Everything Bill Frist 
did was through the eyes of someone trying to heal people. I am 
confident our new Senator, the esteemed Dr. Barrasso from Wyoming, will 
be the same. As everyone knows, my personal relationship with Bill 
Frist was a very warm, close one. I believe like most of us who served 
with Bill Frist, whenever there was a medical problem in their life, 
whether it was family or a friend, Bill Frist was the first person they 
went to. I am confident we will now have another physician to go to. I 
was in a little trouble after Bill Frist left because all I had was my 
veterinary friend John Ensign to go to. Now we are better off. I wish 
him the very best, and we are happy to have him with us.

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