[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 459-460]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        DEMOCRATIC STAFF CHANGES

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is good to be back in the Senate. The 
past 4\1/2\ weeks have been very pleasurable for me. Since I have been 
the Democratic leader--which has now been for 3 years--it was the 
longest period of time I have been able to spend at home, and it was a 
great experience for me. Every day I was able to spend it in my home in 
Searchlight.
  Searchlight, even though it is 60 miles from Las Vegas, is much 
different in temperature. It rains twice as much--not a lot but 8 
inches a year compared to 4 inches in Las Vegas--but it is much colder. 
It is 3,600 feet high. It has had a number of days in the recent past 
where the temperature has been 8 degrees. That is the lowest it has 
ever been, but it has hit that low degree on a number of occasions. 
This trip home, the lowest it got was 18 degrees, but that was on the 
same occasion when we had 40-mile-an-hour winds, so it was bitter cold.
  But that is one reason I so love Searchlight. The air is pristine and 
clean and pure. It is refreshing for me to be able to go home. Out my 
window, on one side of the house, I have set up two little ceramic 
water dishes, and water comes on there four times a day. Those little 
animals have it made.
  Even though it is wintertime, the quail still come and need a drink 
of water now and then. If you are lucky, you see a coyote--which I saw 
on a couple of occasions. As wily and as reclusive as they are, you 
still see them out wandering around--and all kinds of different birds 
of different hues and colors.
  It may not be very exciting to most people, but for me, one of the 
exciting events of my trip home was the opportunity to see an animal 
you rarely see. My wife and I were working in a little study I have 
there, and we heard three distinct knocks. We didn't know what it was. 
We got up and looked out the front door--nothing there; we looked out 
the back--nothing there. I went back to work and a minute or two later 
my wife says: Get down here. Hurry. So we go to these windows, some 
picture windows, two large rectangular windows that look out on the 
area where the ceramic dishes are, and there was a bobcat. For those of 
us who live in the desert, seeing a bobcat is really almost akin to 
seeing the Abominable Snowman. Rarely does anyone see a bobcat. They do 
most of their hunting at night. They are very secretive in everything 
they do. But this afternoon, this bobcat was there drinking water, very 
thirsty. I had never seen a bobcat before. Having been born there, 
raised there, I had never seen a bobcat before. This little animal 
finished its water, was walking around, saw me in the window and, boy, 
that little animal hit that window. It was after me and whatever it 
could see through that window. That was the knock on our window the 
four times. We have these shutters that when we are not there are down 
so you cannot see in the house. On this day, the shutters were up and 
he was looking around and saw inside and he wanted to nose around a 
little bit and he couldn't do that. Similar to all animals when they 
are frightened, they jump to protect themselves. Fortunately, even 
though the animal weighs about 30 pounds, he would have at least took a 
bite or two out of me. It was great to see. Finally, I got to see a 
bobcat, but enough of my travel log.
  The Senate is going to be forever different for me now. For more than 
a quarter of a century, part of my workplace has evolved around one of 
the Senate employees: Martin Paone. First, as I was a new Senator, he 
was always here to help me feel more comfortable and answer, I am sure 
as we look back, dumb questions we all ask as new Senators, but he was 
always a gentleman, always willing to give us the information. For the 
9 years I have been involved as Democratic leader, he has been 
available. During the 6 years I spent on the floor as Senator Daschle's 
assistant and whip, Marty was always there giving me guidance and 
advice. He was always so very helpful. It is important to have someone 
who understands these complicated rules we have in the Senate. He has 
been a terrific coworker and a good friend and I am going to miss him 
tremendously. As I have said, the Senate

[[Page 460]]

will never be the same with Marty not being here.
  So it is bittersweet news that Marty is going to be leaving--
retiring. He has served the Senate for 30 years. His story is a 
remarkable success story. He began his career in the House Post Office 
to help pay his way through graduate school at Georgetown. Later he 
moved to the Senate Parking Office before joining the Democratic 
cloakroom in 1979. With his tremendous intellect and vast knowledge of 
procedure, it was no surprise that he moved up the ranks to become 
Secretary for the minority in 1995. It is no exaggeration to say that 
every single Democrat and a number of Republicans rely upon Marty's 
expert advice. That has ended. I have been, as I have indicated, one of 
those who has depended on his expertise. Nothing has happened on the 
Senate floor, no legislation was considered, no parliamentary procedure 
enacted without his influence. Countless staff have come and gone over 
the years, but he has been a constant, steady presence. I am grateful 
beyond words and express gratitude for his exceptional service. Ruby is 
someone we see as we come to work every day. She has worked here for 
many years herself. Marty has three beautiful children: Alexander, 
Stephanie, and TJ. I have followed their high school athletic careers 
over the last several years. But he is moving on to new things, new 
challenges. We will all miss him. We wish him nothing but the best and 
know he will be a tremendous success.
  Although we are sad to say goodbye to Marty, I am pleased to announce 
we have chosen Lula Davis as our new Democratic Secretary. She is a 
long-time veteran of this Chamber. Lula has had more than 25 years of 
Senate service, which began in the office of the legendary Russell Long 
of Louisiana. Since 1993, she has been a member of the Democratic floor 
staff. In 1997, she was elected as the first woman ever to serve as 
Assistant Democratic Secretary. Much like Marty, Lula has risen to 
become indispensable for all of us. She has big shoes to fill, but I 
can't think of a more capable person to take on this crucial role.
  Replacing Lula as Assistant Democratic Secretary will be Tim 
Mitchell. Tim is quiet, always available, so important to me. I 
appreciate his attention to me on so many different occasions. He has 
served as floor assistant to the Democratic leader, where he has become 
a leading expert on floor procedure and legislative process. With 16 
years of Hill experience and as a policy adviser for the Democratic 
Policy Committee, research director for Senator Daschle, and a 
legislative assistant to the Senate Banking Committee, Tim could not be 
better prepared for some of these new responsibilities.
  Finally, I am pleased to announce that Jacques Purvis, a member of 
our floor staff, will take on Tim's role as floor assistant. A Howard 
University fellow, Jacques began his career in my personal office. He 
is a wonderful, fine young man. He has shown enormous skill and has a 
bright future ahead of him.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, will the majority leader yield for a 
moment?
  Mr. REID. I am happy to yield.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I would like to extend my appreciation for the service 
Marty has given your conference. I have found him invariably to be a 
straight shooter and somebody we could work with to try to make the 
Senate function. I think he and Dave have enjoyed a good working 
relationship. I, too, want to wish him well and thank him for his many 
years in the Senate and congratulate Lula on her appointment.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, will the majority leader yield?
  Mr. REID. I am happy to yield.
  Mr. DURBIN. I would like to join in this chorus. Prior to my election 
to the House of Representatives, I served as parliamentarian of the 
Illinois State Senate for 14 years. It is a very important role in that 
body, as Marty's role has been here. You don't spend much time before a 
microphone, but you spend a lot of time preparing the Members to say 
the right things before the microphone, and Marty has done that I think 
in the best possible tradition of the Senate.
  Time and again, Members on our side of the aisle, and I believe on 
the other side as well, knew they could trust his word, trust his 
judgment, that he understood this institution, not just the rules but 
the history and the tradition. He served this institution well, as his 
wife has, and I wish him the very best in his new endeavors.
  I am also happy to hear Lula Davis is going to replace Marty in his 
position. She has a tough act to follow, as has been said, but she is 
an extraordinary woman, who has served this Senate well for 25 years, 
and I am certain she will continue on in this fine tradition.
  Mr. President, I yield back to the majority leader.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.

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