[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9757]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     CONGRATULATING SENATOR PETERS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I wish to take a minute to express my 
appreciation to the junior Senator from Michigan in his maiden speech. 
It was terrific. It was delivered so well, and that is what Michigan is 
all about. We appreciate it very, very much.
  He has big shoes to fill, those of Carl Levin. We all know what a 
giant he was in the Senate. From Senator Levin to Senator Stabenow, 
they have both said: Gary Peters can do it. I am impressed with him 
very much. He is a team player. He is willing to do the hard lifting. I 
appreciate that very much. He mentioned Senator Levin, of course, whom 
we all admired so very much. Also, I wish to take a minute to talk 
about his partner in the Senate today, Debbie Stabenow. As he 
mentioned, she is a part of Senate leadership. She is there because she 
deserves it. There is no one who works harder than Debbie Stabenow. And 
if there were a work ethic role model for my friend Gary Peters to 
follow, Debbie Stabenow is the perfect person.
  So I thank the junior Senator from Michigan for being who he is. We 
have come to know who he is in 6 months, and we like him very much.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, first, I am very deeply appreciative of 
our leader's comments. Thank you very much.
  I just wish to add my words of pride in the fact that we have such a 
wonderful Senator now coming to the Senate and the fact that he is 
fighting so hard for Michigan and already doing a wonderful job.
  I am so pleased he is my partner, and it was a wonderful speech.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant Democratic leader.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I congratulate the junior Senator from 
Michigan for his opening speech in the Senate. My State of Illinois is 
separated from his State of Michigan by another State and a Great Lake, 
but we have many things in common.
  People of Chicago and Illinois, many of them, spend a lot of money in 
the State of Michigan and particularly in western Michigan. We love the 
Senator's State. It is a beautiful State. Many of us vacation there and 
get to know the people.
  We have so much in common as midwesterners, looking at the world from 
our vantage point, smack dab in the middle of this country, and 
bringing to the conversation in the Senate many of the values that have 
guided our lives and inspired our families. I listened carefully and 
thought it is amazing that we have such parallel backgrounds--a father 
who can trace his family roots back to the Revolutionary War and, in 
both cases, mothers who were immigrants to this country. So being a 
first-generation American, I am sure the Senator feels as I do, a 
special honor, standing on the floor of the Senate, representing a 
State as great as Michigan--or Illinois.
  I wish to say my colleague's background in the House of 
Representatives prepared him well for this challenge. Although he 
follows one of the greats in the history of the Senate, Carl Levin, he 
brings to this job an extraordinary talent and a great partnership with 
Senator Stabenow. Already, the two of them have been in contact with me 
about Michigan's needs as they relate to our Department of Defense--and 
it is a significant investment which Michigan has made over the years 
in keeping America strong, one we want to continue for many generations 
to come.
  I am pleased Senator Peter's family was here to be part of this 
official opening of his service in the Senate, and I certainly look 
forward to working with him for many years to come.

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