[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8170]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         THANKING SENATE PAGES

  Mr. REID. Madam President, tomorrow there will be another class of 
pages who will graduate after serving the Senate so well. We expect a 
lot of our pages, who often work as hard as Senators and staff. Their 
contributions to make the Senate run smoothly day in and day out are 
greatly appreciated. I commend them for their hard work, thank them for 
their efforts, and wish them the best of luck in their next endeavor.
  Speaking from a personal perspective, my two oldest grandchildren 
served as pages. It really changed their lives. Even though their 
grandfather was heavily involved in politics--and that was all my adult 
life--they really were not in tune with what was going on or I guess 
they really didn't care that much. But after having served here as 
pages, they became avid readers of the press, listened to the news, and 
became interested in what goes on here.
  These jobs as pages are really life-changing. There are lots of 
examples of that. Senator Chris Dodd, who recently retired, was a 
longtime Member of Congress and Senator from Connecticut. His serving 
as a page really paved the way for him to be a Peace Corps volunteer, a 
Member of Congress, and a Member of the Senate. Each of these young men 
and women has a golden opportunity.
  I appreciate very much how hard they have worked. These young men and 
women have gone to school, and it has been hard. It is not easy to 
complete the semester of school that they do here--it is very hard. 
People who run that school cut them no slack. Whether it is English or 
math, they work them very hard. They go through a drill, living in the 
dorm. It is not easy. They are strictly supervised.
  I am proud of every one of them. I wish I had more time to spend with 
them individually because it is really important for this institution 
that the page program continue.

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