[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 1510]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   WELCOMING BACK THE MINORITY LEADER

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, first I wish to welcome back my colleague 
and friend, the minority leader of the Senate, Senator Harry Reid. I 
was told he was coming back. I found a way to avoid a blizzard in 
Chicago to be here with him because I wanted to be here for this 
moment.
  It is a great moment for those of us on the Democratic side of the 
aisle to have him back. I know it means a lot to him. We have been on 
the phone. I know he has gone through a lot in terms of his injury and 
also his impatience at home when for a period of time he could not read 
a book, which he loves to do, watch television, or do much of anything. 
I know he was anxious to get back in the saddle and back here, and we 
are so glad he has returned.
  His message at the outset shows he may be scarred and beaten up, but 
there is no diminution of the fighting spirit that Harry Reid has 
brought to the Senate floor on so many occasions with his opening 
remarks, reminding us we are going to embark this week on a question 
about the funding of the Department of Homeland Security.

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