[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16547]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO KELLY AYOTTE

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, in the U.S. Senate, seniority is the 
typical route to influence. As Senators serve longer, they typically 
acquire more powerful positions, more knowledge of how to work the 
levers of power, and more sway over their colleagues. Over the course 
of my time in the Senate, I have had the privilege to serve with 352 
other Senators. While in my experience the longest serving ones on 
average do indeed tend to make the greatest impact, I have always been 
most impressed by the rare colleague that leaves an indelible mark 
after only a relatively short time in this body. Kelly Ayotte is such a 
standout.
  Kelly came to this body well prepared to make a difference. As New 
Hampshire's first--and, so far, only--female attorney general, she left 
her mark across a wide swath of law and policy, from prosecuting the 
infamous Dartmouth College murderers to successfully defending New 
Hampshire's parental consent law before the U.S. Supreme Court.
  As soon as she arrived here in 2011, the Senator from New Hampshire 
began to make her mark. Within a short period of time, publications 
like the New York Times and Politico began consistently referring to 
her as a rising star, and in 2012, her name perennially surfaced as a 
contender for the Republican Vice Presidential nomination.
  How did Kelly gain such recognition so quickly? The answer is simple: 
through good old-fashioned hard work. From her first day in the Senate, 
she hit the ground running. The wife of an Air Force combat veteran, 
she joined the Armed Services Committee and poured her heart and soul 
into its work. It took little time for her to become one of the most 
powerful voices on the committee. On issues as wide ranging as 
protecting our servicemembers from sexual assault to keeping dangerous 
terrorists detained at Guantanamo, she made a real difference, 
enhancing our national security and advocating for our men and women in 
uniform.
  While defense and security policy has proven her signature issue, 
Kelly's influence extends across the board. From creating jobs to 
protecting our environment, she has proven an enormously effective 
advocate for families in New Hampshire and across America, willing to 
work across the aisle and buck her own party to do what she thinks is 
right for her State and the Nation. Her work to combat the opioid 
crisis merits particular praise. Both New Hampshire and Utah have been 
particularly hard hit by the rise in this dangerous trend of substance 
abuse, which has wreaked havoc in the lives of so many. Kelly made it 
her mission to do everything in her power to confront this challenge, 
resulting in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. This 
landmark legislation will make a real difference in the lives of so 
many in New Hampshire and across the Nation, and it will go down as one 
of the crown jewels of her legacy here in the Senate.
  While I am deeply saddened that Kelly will no longer be with us here 
in the Senate come January, I am comforted by the fact that her best 
years of service to her State and Nation lie ahead. After some well-
deserved rest with her family, it is my sincerest hope that she will 
continue her public service. In whatever capacity she chooses to serve, 
she will always have a devoted supporter in me.

                          ____________________