[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13861]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        SENATOR LAMAR ALEXANDER

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I see on the floor today my friend Lamar 
Alexander from the great State of Tennessee. I just received a news 
flash that he was going to relinquish his leadership position and stay 
in the Senate and run for reelection. I do not know all the reasons for 
his doing this, but I want the record to be spread with the fact that I 
have found Lamar Alexander to be one of the most thoughtful people I 
have ever served with in the Senate. There are many issues he gets no 
credit for that were resolved because of his ability to see the big 
picture.
  We had this big issue dealing with the so-called nuclear option, as 
to what would happen in the Senate with some of our rules changes. He 
stepped in, completely out of the limelight, and because of his idea we 
resolved that issue.
  There are many other examples such as that. He is a unique person in 
this body. He accomplishes a great deal and gets credit for not a lot, 
and that is unfortunate. But that is who he is and who he has always 
been. I know he will continue being a stalwart in the Senate. I look 
forward to working with him, but I look forward mostly to his sense of 
fairness, which he has been so very exemplary during my time with him 
in the Senate.

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