[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18595-18596]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JAY S. FISHMAN

  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize a distinguished 
and outstanding business leader, Mr. Jay S. Fishman, as he steps down 
as chief executive officer of The Travelers Companies on December 1, 
2015.
  I met Jay during my first term as chairman of the Senate Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. Jay reached out to the committee 
in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. After handling claims and helping 
people rebuild their homes and businesses, Jay was interested in 
shaping public policy for how this country handles natural 
catastrophes. He proposed many innovative and thoughtful ideas on how 
to protect policyholders and taxpayers from what he called ``the next 
big one.'' I then watched as Jay deftly managed his company during the 
financial crisis, not merely weathering the storm, but thriving while 
many of his competitors were seeking help from the government in the 
form of taxpayer bailouts. Jay never asked what the government could do 
to help Travelers; he always asked how Travelers could help us to 
develop better public policy based on the expertise that he and his 
colleagues could provide.
  Jay will continue to serve Travelers as executive chairman as he 
contends

[[Page 18596]]

with the challenges that come with the diagnosis of ALS. He has handled 
the diagnosis with great dignity and a steadfast resolve to engage, 
which will surprise no one who knows him. I know he will work 
relentlessly to promote research that will extend and eventually save 
lives of people who are stricken with this terrible disease.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to this exceptional 
man, a man who passionately engaged in business and public policy, who 
has led a truly remarkable career and left an indelible impact on those 
people who were lucky enough to work for him and with him during his 
long career.

                          ____________________