[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 21554-21555]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          OMNIBUS LEGISLATION

  Mr. REID. Madam President, the accomplishments of the first session 
of this Senate has been a demonstration of what can happen when the 
minority is not trying to block everything. There has been no need this 
last year for scores and scores of cloture petitions being filed 
because we didn't block things; we rarely did that. In the past, of 
course, it was done all the time. So we have demonstrated that it is 
important to have a minority that is responsible.
  Of course, we know the issues that have passed this year are issues 
that we worked on for a number of years and that had been blocked by 
Republicans. We are glad to have been part of this Congress and able to 
move forward on a number of issues that have been languishing for a 
long time.
  Of course, next year we need to do more for the middle class. There 
are lots of things that we haven't been able to do and should do--
minimum wage, making sure that my daughter and my granddaughter are 
paid the same as a man who does the same work.
  We also have to understand that the lack of college affordability is 
crushing our country. It is often said it is a larger debt than credit 
cards, and we have to do something to relieve that pressure on the 
American people.
  It is often said that legislation is the art of compromise, and I 
know that is true. Crafting bipartisan legislation is hard, tedious 
work. It requires a complex calibration of competing interests, needs, 
and realities. The legislation that will soon be before this body, the 
combined omnibus spending bill and tax extenders package, is a perfect 
example of a bipartisan compromise wrought in good faith.
  It wasn't easy. In fact, coming to an agreement on this package was a 
painstaking endeavor by Senate and House leaders and by House and 
Senate Members, but it was especially hard for our staffs. I am so 
appreciative of their exceptionally good work. I know it meant long 
hours, late nights and weekends spent here in the Capitol. Without 
their diligent efforts, we wouldn't be here voting on this legislation 
today.
  On my leadership staff, no one worked harder than my chief of staff, 
Drew Willison. He was my lead negotiator, and he did an admirable job--
a tremendous job. He worked very, very hard. I won't go into all the 
hard work that he did, but I remember one night I was having trouble 
dozing off. I called him at midnight, and he responded on the phone. 
For the next three hours I still didn't do too well sleeping, so I 
called him at 3 a.m. He still responded. He was here at the Capitol 
working--working to make this agreement a reality. In all his years 
here, I have found that Drew, a congressional fellow who came in from 
the Environmental Protection Agency, was so good that I wouldn't let 
him leave, and he has been a Senate person since then. He was selected 
by me to be the Deputy Sergeant at Arms and then, later, to be the 
Sergeant at Arms. In everything he has been asked to do, he has done a 
remarkably good job. So I wasn't surprised at all that he was able to 
do the work he did on these bills with tremendously difficult 
legislative issues that will be before this body shortly.
  I want to speak for just a minute about Gary Myrick, Secretary for 
the minority. He has been my floor general and my chief of staff. I 
depend on his expertise on the issues now before us, which soon will be 
before us, and on everything we do here in the Senate. He is an expert 
on Senate rules, and I appreciate very much his good work.
  Bill Dauster, my deputy chief of staff--nobody on Capitol Hill better 
understands policy or legislation than Bill. Anytime legislative 
staff--not just mine, but anyone's staff in the Senate--has an issue 
dealing with legislation, they know Bill will be available. I admire 
him. He is a fine man. I so appreciate the example he sets in being 
good to everybody.
  Kate Leone is my senior health counsel. To say she does an 
exceptional job is an understatement. Kate is probably the world's 
leading expert on ObamaCare, and she is an absolute expert on all 
health policy issues. She brought her expertise to this agreement in 
full force with the able assistance of McKenzie Bennett, who also works 
on health care issues for me. Again, I appreciate very much her hard 
work.
  Ellen Doneski, my chief tax policy adviser, deserves praise. Tax 
policy is difficult. I took a couple of courses in law school on tax 
policy. To be honest with you, it didn't interest me very much, but for 
my lack of interest, Ellen has been stupendous. Even while not feeling 
well, she has worked her way through the last few weeks exhausted, 
working with Democrats, Republican counterparts, and making intricate 
tax decisions and putting intricate tax provisions in the agreement 
that is before this body.
  Alex McDonough, my senior policy adviser, handles my energy and 
environmental problems. This legislation is one of the greatest 
investments in renewable energy in American history. It is amazing what 
we have done in this legislation. The writing of this legislation was 
done by Alex. This work that has been done on this bill dealing with 
renewable energy--picture 65 coal-fired powerplants with an average 
megawatt production, let's say, of 800 megawatts. Sixty-five coal-fired 
plants would be gone, and they will be gone. That is how much pollution 
from fossil fuel will be saved as a result of the work done here. If 
you don't like that example, try 50 million automobiles will be taken 
off the roads--not 5 million, 50 million.
  Alex, I appreciate your good work very much. This legislation 
wouldn't be what it is today without Alex.
  Gavin Parke, my senior policy adviser and counsel was here working 
hard on banking and financial in this legislation. He worked like 
everyone: long, hard hours on very complicated banking issues, housing 
issues. I appreciate and admire his good work and his pleasant 
personality. He was assisted by Sammi Swing, who worked with him on 
some housing issues that were extremely difficult in this bill.
  My brilliant chief counsel, Ayesha Khanna, oversaw cyber security, 
surveillance, and all kinds of things when I needed a good legal mind 
to help me work my way through understanding these issues. I appreciate 
her tireless efforts.
  My senior adviser, Tyler Moran, I don't think there is anyone in 
Washington who understands immigration issues more than Tyler. She 
worked in the White House. I was able to coax her into coming from the 
White House to work with us, and she has done an outstanding job on 
everything dealing with immigration--whether it is the DREAMers, 
whether it is litigation that followed the President doing an Executive 
order, helping the DREAMers' parents, whatever it is, children coming 
across the border, all related issues, including refugees and visas.
  Jessica Lewis is one of the most pleasant, nicest people I have ever 
known. She is my national security advisor. I so appreciate her 
demeanor, her intellect, and her hard work. Late yesterday, when we 
finished work here, we went to one of the secure rooms in the Capitol, 
and we spent time with her telling me what is going on around the 
world. A lot of it is not very pleasant, but that is her job. I 
appreciate her work on foreign policy and intelligence issues. She is 
assisted by my deputy national security advisor, Julie Klein, who is 
also a good person and knows foreign policy.

[[Page 21555]]

  Sara Moffat worked on interior-related issues and many other 
environmental issues but especially wild horses, sage grouse, and many 
other environmental issues that kept popping up on this bill.
  George Holman helped me to fend off attacks on campaign finance 
reform and other issues as they arose.
  Caren Street spent weeks on the EB-5 visa issue. I found her to be 
someone who is very intelligent and always available. I appreciate her 
good work and her wonderful smile.
  Bruce King is stunningly smart. He is a Stanford person. He is my 
adviser, my confidant on issues relating to budget and finance. He is 
formerly staff director of the Budget Committee. He worked on all 
budget components of this bill and there were lots of them. I admire 
his soft speaking and his directness. I really like him as a person.
  Jason Unger is my legislative director. I have such admiration for 
him. He also is quiet and very effective. He is a person who believes 
in public service. This young man, who graduated with high honors from 
UCLA, decided he wanted to do something in public service, so he taught 
for the Teach For America Program for 5 years in Compton, CA. It is a 
very difficult job. He taught little kids, and I bet he did a wonderful 
job, as he has done in the Capitol working with me as my legislative 
director.
  My staffers were not alone in their efforts. They were helped 
tremendously by staff from other offices. The four principal leadership 
negotiators were, as I mentioned, Drew Willison, my chief of staff; 
Hazen Marshall from Senator McConnell's staff; Dick Meltzer from Leader 
Pelosi's staff; Austin Smythe; and Cindy Herrle from Speaker Ryan's 
office. They worked well together. I am sure once in a while they would 
raise their voices with one another, but it worked out real well. It 
was a good team, and we have the result to prove it.
  As I indicated, these were tough negotiations, but these five 
individuals worked very hard. They made tough choices and brought them 
to their principal and decisions were made. It was amazingly 
cooperative. It was done in a collegial manner. I believe that all the 
leaders were exceptionally well represented by these men and women.
  I would be remiss not to mention Barbara Mikulski's outstanding 
appropriations team. The entire staff deserves our thanks but 
especially Staff Director Chuck Kieffer, who is an institution of the 
U.S. Senate. He is a fine person, a hard worker, and no one understands 
the appropriations process better than he does, and of course Deputy 
Staff Director Jean Eisen, who has been remarkably involved.
  This leaves me to say a word about Barbara Mikulski. When the history 
books are written of what has taken place in the U.S. Senate during the 
last 40 years, she will be a principal of that history. I had the good 
fortune of being able to come to the Senate with her. We served on the 
same committees. We have served on the Appropriations Committee for 
sure and enjoyed our relationship. There is no one I have served with 
in public office I have more respect for than Barbara Mikulski. I 
admire her. I admire how she has been so dynamic in the U.S. Senate. 
She is one of the finest orators we have ever had in the Senate while I 
have been here. She does it in a unique way, but we all listen.
  Barbara Mikulski, thank you very much.
  We also had to work hard with the Finance Committee. I extend my 
appreciation to our ranking member, Ron Wyden. He and I have served 
together in Congress for a long time, more than three decades, but not 
only do I appreciate his work but also his staff director, Josh 
Sheinkman. I may not pronounce his name just right, but everybody knows 
Josh. I want the Finance Committee and all of their staff to know how 
much we appreciate this product that they were responsible for piecing 
together.
  I already talked a day or so ago about Dennis McDonough, the 
President's Chief of Staff. He is a remarkably fine man.
  Brian Deese, Senior Adviser to the President, was one of the reasons 
we got the great agreement we got out of Paris with those accords 
dealing with the environment.
  Katie Beirne Fallon, President Obama's Legislative Affairs Director, 
I have already laid out on the record what a wonderful person she is.
  Jason Furman, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, I extend 
my appreciation to him and his entire family whom I know.
  Marty Paone, I talked about him.
  We really care a great deal about them.
  There are many others who helped craft this compromise.
  From the Republican Leader's office: Brendan Dunn and Scott Rabb.
  From Speaker Ryan's office: George Callas and Matt Hoffman.
  From Leader Pelosi's office: Katherine Monge and Wendell Primus.
  From Senator Cornyn's office: Monica Popp.
  From the Senate Finance Committee: Ryan Abraham, Brett Baker, Kim 
Brandt, Chris Campbell, Adam Carrasco, Anne Dwyer, Karen Fisher, Liz 
Jurinka, Matt Kazan, Jay Khosla, Jim Lyons, Juan Machado, Todd Metcalf, 
Matt Prater, Josh Sheinkman, Katie Simeon, Tiffany Smith, and Todd 
Wooten.
  From the Senate HELP Committee: Nick Bath and Andi Fristedt.
  From the Senate Banking Committee: Mark Powden.
  From the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources: 
Angela Becker-Dippmann and Sam Fowler.
  From Senator Schumer's office: Meghan Taira.
  From Senator Gillibrand's office: Brooke Jamison.
  From Congressman Levin's office: Karen McAffe.
  I realize I may be missing some people. So to everyone who helped 
push this legislation across the finish line, thank you. You have done 
America a great service.

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