[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 7139]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO RUBY PAONE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, my friend the Republican leader talked about 
Ruby Paone. I have so much admiration and respect for her that it is 
hard to put it into words.
  In 1975, a young woman from North Carolina came to the U.S. Capitol. 
She was overwhelmed by everything, especially overwhelmed by this huge 
building she was going to work in. Ruby was excited for her first day 
of work at the Senate reception desk. But as she approached the 
Capitol, realizing what her new job was all about and the new city, she 
recalls: ``Walking into this building, I was overwhelmed.''
  It is understandable that she felt that way. Many of us have and do 
feel the same way. The Capitol was a big change for Ruby. She was 
raised in the small town of Bladenboro, NC. She was a farm girl who 
spent her summers pulling peanuts--I didn't know you pulled peanuts, 
but that is what they do--and harvesting tobacco. Ruby graduated from a 
small Presbyterian school, St. Andrews University. She is the only one 
in her family to leave their small town in North Carolina. But as Ruby 
got situated in her new job that day, another feeling set in. She said: 
``It just felt right to be here.''
  Now, 41 years, 2 months, and 9 days after she walked through the 
Capitol doors to start a new job, she is leaving. It is hard to imagine 
her not being here. To borrow from her own words, ``it just feels 
right'' to have Ruby here.
  Tomorrow is going to be her last day in the Senate. After more than 
four decades of service to the greatest deliberative body, Ruby is 
retiring to spend more time with her family. Her family's gain is our 
loss. She is an institution, a fixture in the Senate. She is the 
longest serving woman who works with the doorkeepers. She has been here 
for 7 different Presidential administrations, 10 consecutive 
inaugurations, 16 different Sergeants at Arms, and 383 different 
Senators.
  She recognizes every one of those 383 Senators, and there is a reason 
that she does that. When she was first hired, we didn't have the names 
and faces in these books we give to the pages and to new Senators. It 
wasn't done that way then. She had to do it by memorizing their names 
and learning to recognize them when they came into the Capitol Rotunda 
and on the Senate floor. She would walk around and look for these 
Senators to get to know who they were. She grew close to many of these 
Senators, including Blanche Lincoln, Tom Carper, and Thad Cochran.
  I know Ruby. I know her family quite well. Her husband worked on the 
Senate floor for many years. He was instrumental to Majority Leader 
George Mitchell, Tom Daschle, and me. No one knows the rules of the 
Senate better than Marty Paone. He now works for President Obama in the 
Office of Legislative Affairs. He is a very special person, and I have 
such admiration for him.
  When their children were in high school, we would often talk about 
their children--how they played ball, how they did well, how they 
didn't do so well the night before. That is what our conversations were 
about. We didn't talk a lot of Senate business, unless we had to. I am 
sorry to say that we had to many times. Marty helped me so many times 
through very difficult situations on the floor.
  To say that I will miss Ruby is an understatement. I want be able to 
come to Ruby and say: How is Marty? How is he doing?
  Throughout my entire time in the Senate, she has always been here 
with a smile and a kind word. She is as much a part of this place as 
anyone who has ever served in the Senate. So I, along with the entire 
Senate--Senators, staff--wish her the best as she embarks on her well-
deserved retirement.
  Ruby, thank you very much for your 41 years, 2 months, and 9 days of 
service.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________