[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 7721]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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                        TRIBUTE TO BOB SCHIEFFER

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, later this month, a man we have all 
become accustomed to welcoming into our living rooms will leave behind 
a decades-long journalistic career and embark on a new journey with his 
wife, Pat.
  Bob Lloyd Schieffer has been a Pentagon reporter. He has served as a 
State Department reporter. He has covered the White House. And he has 
roamed the halls of the Capitol as a congressional reporter.
  It is rare to see any journalist serve in all four of the big DC 
national assignments. But Bob Schieffer has.
  Bob has interviewed every President since Nixon. He has moderated 
debates between Kerry and Bush, between Obama and McCain, and most 
recently between Obama and Romney. He has won just about every award 
possible in broadcast journalism, including a few Emmys. And he has 
turned out chart-topping hits, like ``TV Anchorman,'' as the front man 
for a honky-tonk band.
  Perhaps that is the passion Bob will follow in retirement. We will 
see.
  But here is one thing we do know: Bob Schieffer is one of the most 
famous Horned Frogs ever to graduate from his beloved TCU. It is no 
wonder Bob Schieffer's alma mater elected to name its School of 
Journalism after the man who hosts CBS' ``Face the Nation'' every 
Sunday.
  I have been a guest on his show many times. He can ask tough 
questions. But he is fair.
  The last time I appeared with Bob, we talked about the new majority's 
drive to restore the Senate. He later shared his view on our efforts 
with his audience.
  ``What's happening is by no means on the scale of an Old Testament 
miracle,'' he said.
  ``But,'' he noted, ``Every journey begins with a first step.''
  I agree with him. It is not like we are parting the Potomac. But we 
are getting the Senate moving again, debating again, amending again, 
and working again. I think it is good for our country.
  Perhaps Bob might take some of his own advice as he looks to the 
future too.
  Because every journey does begin with a first step.
  So whatever it is Bob ultimately chooses to do in retirement, whether 
it is penning a memoir or cutting more honky-tonk hits, it all begins 
with that first step. He will take it on May 31, when he signs off for 
the last time.
  I am sure it will be a bittersweet moment for him. But it is a step 
he is likely to ultimately welcome after so many years in the 
spotlight. The Senate wishes him all the best in retirement.

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