[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12761-12763]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO TIM MITCHELL

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I appreciate those remarks of the Republican 
leader regarding Tim.
  People have heard me talk about baseball and how I fell in love with 
baseball as a little boy, listening on the radio and the game of the 
day. I so wanted to be a baseball player. As time went on, as a young 
man in college, I realized I wasn't big enough, fast enough, or good 
enough to be the baseball player of my dreams, but that didn't take 
away my love for baseball.
  Living in Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, we had a team, the Dodgers. We 
listened to the games and watched the games. In the Reno area, Northern 
Nevada, the team was the Giants. We in Southern Nevada didn't like the 
Giants. The days of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Claude Osteen--those 
were the days of real baseball. Games were 2 to 1, 3 to 0, not these 
slugfests. We didn't have those then.
  In coming back to Washington, in the many years I have been here, we 
had the Baltimore Orioles. I love their owner--a wonderful man--Peter 
Angelos. I have been disappointed that they haven't done better, but 
they are doing pretty well this year. I have followed them very 
closely. Of course, when the Nationals team came here, our attention 
was focused not entirely on Baltimore--because it was the only team 
around here--but also on the Nationals, and we divided our attention. 
Of course, I have been to the Nationals games, and it has been great. 
As the Republican leader and I have said many times, we bicker and 
fight on some things but never on baseball. We both watch the Nationals 
and follow what they do.
  As everyone knows, Greg Maddux from Las Vegas is the best athlete 
ever to come out of Nevada. We have had some in Northern Nevada, and I 
recognized them also. Some of them played professional football. No one 
was as good as Greg Maddux, winning more than 350 games, which is 
unheard of today, a man of, as he would admit, average talent--average 
talent but a mind and such dedication and such composure and such 
confidence that he became one of the best of all time.
  Tim and I have talked about all these things I have talked about 
regarding baseball. We have talked about Bryce Harper. We recognize he 
is not having a great year this year. They are afraid of him still. He 
has walked 104 times, which is unheard of in baseball, but his batting 
average is not as good as it was. But he was still the Most Valuable 
Player in baseball at age 22. He has been on the all-star team four or 
five times already in his young career.
  Tim and I have talked about all of this, and as he knows, I like the 
Boston Red Sox, but I am not in the same league as Tim Mitchell. Tim is 
the Assistant Secretary for the minority and was for the majority, of 
course, during my many years as the Democratic leader. We have such a 
nice relationship. We can do our business when we need to, and we do 
that a lot, but we have a good time talking about family and baseball.
  I don't know if anybody saw his tie. He has over 100 ties that have a 
baseball theme on them. He has on one of those ties today. It is a 
little hard to see. It is one of those John Kerry ties. I think it is 
one of those Vineyard Vine ties from Massachusetts, but it is a 
beautiful tie. It is typical for Tim to wear a baseball tie. He wears 
one of them to work every day. I wouldn't say some of them are ugly, 
but some catch your attention.
  He watches the Red Sox whenever he can. He goes to games, takes his 
dad to the games, and takes his son when he can. He watches games here 
and watches them in Baltimore as often as he can with his son. I 
wouldn't put it in a class of weird, but it is close. In his basement, 
he has two seats from Fenway Park. They were worn out there, but he 
bought them anyway, and now he watches the games in his basement on 
Fenway Park seats. You can't make up stuff like this.
  Tim is dedicated to baseball and we recognize that and I admire him 
for that.
  Tim, I think you and I are going through the same withdrawals in a 
few weeks because baseball season is ending, and for me baseball season 
is a tremendous respite from what we do here. Frankly, I am not much of 
a football fan anymore. I have become kind of addicted to soccer after 
baseball, but during baseball season, I can go home and watch a few 
innings, and it is a complete deliverance from what goes on here. It is 
really very nice for me.

[[Page 12762]]

When I go home to Nevada, wow, is it pleasant because, again, I can 
watch a 7 p.m. game at 4 p.m. in the afternoon.
  Pretty good, huh, Tim?
  Anyway, we will have a little bit of depression here in a few weeks, 
but his team is doing well. The Nationals are doing well, and Baltimore 
is doing quite well so we are going to be fine.
  As dedicated as he is to baseball, he is also dedicated to this 
institution. He has spent one-quarter of a century here. As the 
Republican leader mentioned, this is his 25th anniversary of working in 
the Senate. He started as an intern with someone I served with in the 
Senate, Don Riegle from Michigan. He started working for him during his 
junior year in college. After graduation, Tim moved to Washington, DC, 
and became a full-time employee of Senator Riegle. He started out as a 
lot of us do, answering phones, but he moved on, of course, because of 
his personality and talent.
  Following his time on the Banking Committee, which Riegle chaired, he 
worked on the Whitewater Committee. We all remember that, and there are 
still parts of that dribbling on in this Presidential election. At that 
time, he worked for Senator Tom Daschle, who was one of my 
predecessors, as a research assistant, and later on the Democratic 
policy committee, which I led during part of my tenure in the Senate.
  In 2001, Tim made a move that would forever change the Senate for the 
better. He joined our floor staff. That was a long time ago, but he has 
been working diligently here ever since. He is armed with an incredible 
work ethic and a very keen intellect. He has worked his way up on the 
floor team and has become an expert on Senate rules and procedure.
  Tim is a lawyer. He went to law school at night and worked here as 
long as he could. He missed a few classes because of working late here. 
During his time as a member of the Democratic floor staff, he has 
become someone whom the Republicans appreciate and go to for help just 
as the Democrats do.
  In 2008, the Senate adopted a resolution making Tim Mitchell the 
Assistant Secretary for the majority. When the Republicans took control 
of the Senate, he assumed his current position.
  Think about all of the important legislation Tim has helped us with--
and I mean helped us with. There are a number of Senators on the floor 
this morning. I see Senator Boxer and Senator Durbin.
  Mrs. BOXER. Senator Murray and Senator Schumer.
  Mr. REID. They are on the same side as my bad eye, folks. We are all 
pretty good at what we do, but we would be lost without the Tim 
Mitchells and Gary Myricks of the world. We would be stumbling around 
here. We depend on them so very much. Tim has helped us. He has helped 
us on so many different things. He has helped us through the Affordable 
Care Act, the automobile bailout, and the stimulus. I could go on and 
on with all we have done, and he has been here helping us.
  He has accomplished so very much, but I know--and he doesn't have to 
give me a long dissertation on this--his role in life is to be a good 
father to his 10-year-old son Ben and of course a good husband to his 
wife Alicia. I am sure he accomplishes that very well. Ben is a budding 
skier--and to no one's surprise--a baseball player. He speaks, as we 
all do about our athletes, about how good they are, and in our eyes, 
they are the best.
  Alicia and Ben are here with us today. Thank you for sharing Tim with 
us all of these years.
  I join the entire U.S. Senate, Democrats and Republicans, in thanking 
Tim Mitchell for his exceptional work for 25 years.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask through the Chair if the Senator 
will yield for 5 minutes, please.
  Mr. REID. Yes.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I say through the chair, I see the 
leadership team is here. I will represent the rank and file, to tell 
you what Tim means to us. There is a lot of stress around here, not 
that I have ever experienced nor have I been worried, nervous, or 
annoying to people, but through it all, Tim is with the team--and they 
know who they are--giving us advice, protecting us, telling us what are 
our rights, what we can do and what we can't do. People outside the 
Chamber don't understand what it means to have people like Tim.
  Tim loves baseball. I grew up six blocks from Ebbets Field and saw 
the civil rights movement unfold with Jackie Robinson on the bases so 
we have something in common. If we were voting today, Tim Mitchell 
would be the most valuable player.
  We do love you, Tim. Congratulations, and we look forward to working 
with you for a long time.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask through the Chair if the Senator 
from Nevada will yield for a question.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am happy to yield.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I say through the Chair that I wish to 
join in. I started my career as a staffer and then as a Parliamentarian 
so I know what happens behind the scenes is sometimes even more 
important than what you see on the floor of the Senate.
  For 25 years, Tim Mitchell has been behind the scenes and at the 
heart of the activity in the U.S. Senate. I have been here for 20 years 
and have relied on Tim and our great staff team that has really stepped 
up time and time again.
  Like most people, it took just a minute or two in the Senate 
cloakroom to realize that Tim Mitchell is the biggest baseball fan I 
have ever run into. I didn't know he had 100 baseball neckties, but he 
does, and as Senator Reid said, some are very challenging from a style 
viewpoint, but he is loyal to his sport and particularly to his team, 
the Boston Red Sox.
  I watched him as he came into his glory moment when the Boston Red 
Sox won the World Series after a long wait. I know he is now looking 
for the Boston Red Sox to return to the World Series, and I have a 
pairing in my mind that would be perfect. It involves a former Red Sox 
President who came over to help the Chicago Cubs. His name is Theo 
Epstein, and he made history in Boston by taking the Red Sox to the 
World Series. We think he is going to make history in Chicago. This 
would be the perfect World Series for Tim, me, and for baseball.
  Let me close by saying that would be a perfect World Series, you have 
been a perfect addition to the Senate for 25 years, and we look forward 
to a lot more ahead.
  Thanks, Tim.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Rounds). The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, if the minority leader will yield for a 
moment.
  Mr. REID. I am happy to yield.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I just want to add my congratulations to 
Tim for his tremendous work here. I have been here for 24 years, and 
every year I have been here, he has been a critical part of the work we 
do. Thank you, Tim, for the numerous issues you have helped us work our 
way through.
  For me, when I was chairing the Budget Committee, which we all know 
is a very chaotic, long, and tedious process, Tim was there to make 
sure we did it right, that we were in order, and that things moved 
smoothly.
  Tim, we could not have done it without you. Thank you for your 25 
years of service and thank you to your family for allowing you to be 
here with us for 25 years of service, and I thank you for all you will 
continue to do in the future.
  Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, will the Democratic leader yield?
  Mr. REID. I am happy to yield.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, every organization has what they call 
unsung heroes. On the battlefield, they are the soldiers, in the 
automobile plant, they are the assembly line workers, and in the 
hospital they may be the nurses. Those organizations can't go on 
without these people. They are the heart and soul of these 
organizations, and they do their work quietly but proudly.

[[Page 12763]]

If you had to pick someone who personifies the unsung hero of this 
body, it would be Tim. He does his job every day. When you talk to him, 
you can see the pride and the knowledge he has in doing his job and 
doing it well.
  Barbara Boxer mentioned there are a lot of moments when everybody is 
in a stir but never Tim. He calmly and directly gives you the right 
advice. He is a hero--a hero not only to those of us who are here but 
to every Member of the Senate.
  Tim, we love you. God bless.

                          ____________________