[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17357]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO MARK PRYOR

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, today we honor the dedicated public 
service of my dear friend and colleague, Senator Mark Pryor from 
Arkansas.
  For Mark Pryor, public service is a calling--one that goes to the 
roots of who he is. Mark Pryor is the fifth generation in his family to 
serve in public office.
  Beholden to no party, no special interests, Senator Pryor's singular 
objective in Washington has been to make lives better for the people of 
the State his family calls home. The sign on his desk says ``Arkansas 
comes first.'' It was his father's campaign slogan a generation ago, 
and that's the priority that guided Mark Pryor from the day he arrived 
in the Senate.
  When Senator Pryor learned that a widow in Greenwood, AR, was being 
deprived death benefits because her husband died at home, instead of in 
combat, Senator Pryor crafted an amendment to change that Pentagon 
rule, restoring the full death benefit for the widow--and fixing it 
permanently so it would be available to other surviving spouses.
  A deeply patriotic man, with a profound respect for those who serve, 
Senator Pryor is the author of the HIRE At Home Act, which encourages 
companies to consider military experience for servicemembers reentering 
the workforce.
  But he has also fought to bring down the costs of Arkansans' 
prescriptions and to protect the social safety net. When FEMA demanded 
back pay for Federal disaster aid it provided to Arkansas, Senator 
Pryor made sure the rule got changed.
  And I was honored this past year to partner with Senator Pryor on the 
Bring Jobs Home Act, to prevent companies from being rewarded for 
shipping jobs overseas and giving them an incentive to bring those jobs 
that have left our borders back home again.
  Of course, Senator Pryor served as chairman of the Senate 
Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
Drug Administration and Related Agencies. So as author of the 2014 Farm 
Bill, I relied on Senator Pryor as a partner. He introduced the Forest 
Products Fairness Act, which helps timber farmers in Arkansas and 
across the Nation qualify for USDA's BioPreferred Program.
  During an age of partisan strife, Senator Pryor has provided 
sanctuary for those who seek compromise. I share the sentiment he 
expressed in his farewell address--it is imperative that we come to 
work not wearing jerseys of red or blue but ones that have red, white 
and blue.
  It saddens me that my dear friend, Senator Pryor, cannot join us in 
this enterprise, because he has truly been a voice of civility and 
reason. But I have no doubt he will find new ways to serve the country 
and the State that he loves.
  I wish him Godspeed in his future efforts.

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