[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16835-16836]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JOHN BOEHNER

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, allow me to say a few words about the 
Speaker of the House. There is a lot you can say about John Boehner. He 
loves his breakfast every morning at Pete's Diner. He is a fan of the 
tie dimple. He is one of the most genuine guys you will ever, ever 
meet. I know because we have fought many battles together in the 
trenches. He never breaks his word. He never buckles in a storm.
  What is amazing is how we have had such a frictionless relationship, 
especially when you consider that old House saying: The other party--
that is just the opposition. But the Senate--that is the enemy.
  That may have been true of past House and Senate leaders, but it 
wasn't true for us. Though you might not expect it, I am a little more 
Bourbon and John is a little more Merlot. I lecture on Henry Clay. John 
sings ``Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.'' But I have always considered John an ally. 
I have always considered John a friend. It is hard not to like him, and 
it is hard not to admire what John has accomplished in his career.
  As a concerned Ohioan, he took on a scandal-plagued incumbent in a 
primary and won. As a freshman Congressman, he took on money laundering 
schemes and banking scandals involving powerful Members and prevailed. 
As an engineer of the Contract with America, he took on Democrats' 
decades-long power lock and triumphed.
  As an ex-member of leadership once considered politically dead, he 
knew he had more to offer and convinced his colleagues that he did. As 
the inheritor of a diminished and dispirited House minority, he dared 
to believe conservatives could rise again and help grow the largest 
Republican majority since bob-haired flappers were dancing the 
Charleston back in the 1920s.
  John Boehner has wandered the valley. John Boehner has also been to 
the mountaintop. John Boehner has slid right back into the valley, and 
then ascended to great heights yet again. He does it all with hard 
work. He does it with an earnestness and an honesty I have always 
admired.
  When John talks about struggling to make it, it is not some 
platitude. When John gets choked up about Americans reaching for their 
dreams, it is not some act. This is a guy who had to share a bathroom 
with 11 brothers and sisters. Imagine that. This is a guy whose parents 
slept on the pullout sofa. This is a guy who worked hard behind the bar 
and eventually found his way atop the rostrum. Maybe that is why he is 
so humble. Maybe that is why when he orders breakfast at Pete's, they 
don't call him Mr. Speaker; they call him ``John-John.''
  Here is what I know about Speaker John Boehner. He says the code he 
lives by is a simple one: Do the right thing for the right reasons, and 
the right things will happen. I have always found that to be true. I 
found it to be true in our battles fighting side by side for 
conservative reform, sometimes from a position deep in the minority. We 
had our share of Maalox moments. That is for sure. But he always 
strived to push forward.
  As I said about John Boehner the day he announced his retirement, 
grace under pressure, country and institution before self--these are 
the things that come to mind when I think of him. I wish Speaker 
Boehner the very best in retirement. I thank him for always working 
hard to do the right thing--for his family, for his district, for his

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party, and for his country. Farewell, my friend.

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