[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16377]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO HARRY REID

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, earlier today we heard a moving speech by 
the Democratic leader and my longtime friend, Harry Reid. He spoke of 
his life and his time here.
  An amateur boxer turned police officer, turned lawyer, turned 
majority leader, that is the supercondensed outline of the life of 
Harry Reid. When the book closes on this 114th Congress, so too will it 
close on the congressional career of Senator Reid. He is a fighter and 
a champion. That is an understatement.
  He is a fellow country boy, but he had a much tougher upbringing in 
the isolated hamlet of Searchlight, NV. You can read about that in his 
book. That upbringing has bred traits that I have admired since he 
arrived in the Senate in 1987. His humble upbringing, raised in a shack 
with no indoor bathroom or hot water, sowed the seeds of a life in 
public service and of the perspective that has infused and driven his 
public service. He first came to Capitol Hill as a police officer, 
working nights to pay his way through George Washington University Law 
School. Little did he know he would end up being one of the longest 
serving majority leaders in the history of the U.S. Senate.
  He can point to so many of the things he has done, including steering 
the Affordable Care Act to Senate passage. But I want to thank Senator 
Reid for his strong support of justice bills that I have championed. An 
original cosponsor of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization 
that I introduced in recent years--to strengthen and renew the 
transformative and lifesaving work that is made possible under VAWA--he 
has always worked to combat the scourge of domestic violence, helping 
to shepherd the reauthorization of this vital legislation across the 
finish line. He has also supported vital grant programs to put more 
cops on the street in communities small and large and to keep them 
safe. His commitment to advancing our comprehensive immigration reform 
bill, we got it through the Senate by a large bipartisan majority. When 
the history books are written, one of the huge mistakes made was when 
that the House of Representatives did not take up that bill, even 
though they had the votes to pass it. These are all examples of how 
true leadership takes action--not merely talking points--no matter how 
difficult, to make a difference.
  Harry Reid was at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 2015, commemorating the 
50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. I looked at him there with 
Congressman John Lewis and President Barack Obama--the first African 
American elected as President--as one of the towering figures in 
America. But the true measure of a man is revealed not when he pauses 
to remember past injustices, he works to prevent them from happening. 
From pay equity to restoring the Voting Rights Act, from the repeal of 
don't ask, don't tell, to the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Hate 
Crimes Prevention Act, there can be no doubt that Senator Reid fights 
for every American, every day.
  And yet, no matter how large a national leader Senator Reid has 
become, he has never forgotten the people of Nevada. In him they have a 
tireless and effective champion of the highest caliber. Senator Reid's 
work on behalf of Nevada has been relentless.
  He has been our fighter. He has been our champion. And he has been a 
friend. He has faced and risen above personal adversity. He is a truly 
American story. And his presence here in the Senate will be missed next 
year. When Marcelle and I leave Washington for the last time, we will 
think of the special friends we have had. Harry Reid, Landra Reid--we 
will think of them. We wish them all the best as they begin their next 
chapter together.

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