[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19494-19495]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTES TO LUTHER STRANGE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on behalf of all of our colleagues, I 
want to thank the junior Senator from Alabama for an extraordinary 
farewell. Due to the unusual circumstances of his arrival, his service 
here regretfully is limited to roughly a year, but I know all of our 
colleagues share the view that the Senator from Alabama has made an 
extraordinary difference for Alabama and for the Nation during his time 
here. I know I also express the views of all of our colleagues that we 
will miss him greatly.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise as a Member of this great body to 
say thank you to our good friend from Alabama for serving. It is such a 
shame that we have so many good people in this body and some really 
great people in this body who are here for such a short period of time, 
and to have a person like Senator Strange come before us and be part 
and try to make a difference.
  I truly enjoyed his speech based on bipartisanship, which is what we 
are all here for, and seeing how we have digressed to the point where 
there is very little bipartisanship that goes on and then knowing that 
we can make that change and make a difference.
  I want to thank the Senator. It has always been a joy to be around 
him. He has such a way and such a demeanor about him--his congeniality, 
his camaraderie and wanting to make this place work the way it is 
supposed to work and the way they have told us it did work.
  With that I would say, Senator, I am grateful I got to know you. I am 
grateful that you have passed through these doors for all of us to call 
you our friend. I am sad that you are not staying.
  I know there are bigger things in store for you. I know your life is 
going to be blessed, and with that, you blessed us by being part of us 
for a period of time.
  Thank you, Senator.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I have had the unique privilege of 
knowing Senator Strange in that I have the privilege of being the 
chairman of the all-powerful--sometimes-powerful--Senate Agriculture 
Committee.
  I hope every Senator will read your comments, sir. I think, perhaps, 
every Senator in their heart wishes, as you do, that we could get along 
better. For better or for worse, I think we represent the Balkanization 
in this country, but we come here with the hope that, yes, through 
compromise, and, yes, that in working together, we can represent our 
people in a much better fashion. Your remarks, I think, really hit the 
nail on the head in terms of what we should be doing.
  We do that on the Agriculture Committee. When Luther first came to 
the Senate and asked to be on the Agriculture Committee, I knew right 
then he was a special person and would be a special Senator. A lot of 
people get sentenced to the Agriculture Committee. It is a pleasant 
sentence, really, when you do that work. I have been privileged to be 
the chairman in the House and in the Senate for quite a few years. We 
will not get into that.
  The Senator asked to be on the Ag Committee, and so, when we try to 
put together a farm bill, it is our responsibility--both the 
distinguished Ranking Member Stabenow and myself--to travel to various 
States. We have sat on the wagon with the farmer, the rancher, the 
grower, and said: What do you think? We listen to the farmer first, 
knowing that if you are fair to the farmer--they are the backbone of 
the Nation and underappreciated in our society today.
  So I have been going to Kansas, Michigan, and Montana, and I said: I 
haven't been down South, I am going to Alabama. I am going to go down 
there with our newest Member who wants to be on the Ag Committee and 
has already demonstrated his affection, not only for the committee but 
his commitment to represent farmers and growers and ranchers in 
Alabama. So we planned an event. We were going to listen to every 
commodity group, every farm organization, and any farmer who wanted to 
come in and talk to the chairman and the new member of the Ag 
Committee.
  This was a special day for me and, as sometimes happens, planes don't 
fly. Planes fly to Atlanta, but they don't fly from there, which was 
the case when we were going down the night before, before we had this 
opportunity to visit with a lot of folks in Alabama. If you try to find 
a rental car that time of night, it is difficult. So we finally found a 
rental car after the third or fourth rental car opportunity, and then 
we drove to Montgomery.
  Now, if you drive from Atlanta to Montgomery--people don't usually 
recommend doing that, but I will tell you, from about 1:30 in the 
morning to about 4 a.m., it is an easy drive. Then you get to 
Montgomery, and you get to that square they have there in Montgomery 
where they have a statue of Hank Williams. So the first person to 
welcome me in Montgomery, AL, was Hank Williams. Of course, being a 
country and western aficionado--or at

[[Page 19495]]

least fan--I thought that was very special. So we went down and saw 
Hank. I saluted him.
  Then we went off to the hotel. Of course, the hotel had given up our 
hotel reservations. So that posed a little bit of a problem. They 
finally made some accommodations for me, at least, but it didn't have a 
bed. It was an office room. Then I finally figured out it was a wall 
bed, and I pulled the wall bed down, but there were no sheets and 
pillows. I just sort of slept in my wardrobe, so to speak. Then I said: 
I can't sleep. It was getting to be 5:30, 6:30 a.m., and we were 
starting off about 7 in the morning.
  I came down the elevator, and as happened, the elevator door opened 
up. Across from me was Luther. He said: How did you sleep, Mr. 
Chairman? I said: As well as could be expected. Finally, I told him 
what happened.
  After all of that, I had probably one of the best days in my service 
in the Senate, visiting a State I had not visited before. I talked to 
every commodity group, every farm organization representative. We went 
out to many different farms. I learned firsthand that a big export 
factor to China is peanuts. If we are going to be making friends with 
China--or at least getting to a situation where we have a better 
relationship with any country--as you know, agriculture can be a tool 
for peace. It is a stabilizing factor. It becomes a national security 
situation. We talked about this at length.
  I must say I was very impressed with the folks I met there and the 
respect they had for you, Luther, for wanting to be on the Ag 
Committee, obviously, and for your record as attorney general and your 
public service. To a person, they were committed to you and thanking 
you for your service on the Agriculture Committee.
  So wherever you go, whatever you do, I know you are an Aggie. I know 
you will continue to fight for your farmers, and, as you know, we are 
going through a pretty rough patch.
  Personally, I want to thank you for your friendship, and, personally, 
I want to thank you for the message you gave to all Senators here, 
which I think should be mandatory in our quest to see if we can't 
achieve a better situation in working together to find solutions. The 
Senator from West Virginia and I feel the same way, and I know whatever 
you are going to do, you will do so with dignity and with respect and 
with strong leadership.
  Thank you, my friend.
  Mr. STRANGE. Thank you.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell and to 
express my gratitude to Senator Luther Strange as he leaves the U.S. 
Senate. During his too-brief tenure here, he established an admirable 
reputation for hard work, dedication to his State of Alabama and our 
Nation, and a commitment to principles.
  Senator Strange was appointed to the Senate last February to fill the 
vacancy created when Senator Jeff Sessions became Attorney General of 
the United States. From the start, it was clear that Senator Strange's 
pride in his home State was matched only by his humility at being 
selected to represent the State he loves.
  Building on the reputation he earned as attorney general for Alabama, 
Senator Strange established himself here as a determined advocate for 
the rule of law and defender of our Constitution. From preserving the 
Senate traditions that foster full and open debate to supporting our 
veterans and strengthening our national security and our economy, 
Senator Strange has worked on a number of important initiatives.
  Senator Strange has met the obligations of his office with energy and 
dedication, and it has been an honor to serve with him in the U.S. 
Senate. I wish him and Melissa all the best in the years to come and 
look forward to many more contributions and accomplishments from this 
distinguished American.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, I just want to say on the record how much I 
have enjoyed serving with the Senator from Alabama. He has meant a 
great deal to this institution, to this body during his short time 
here, and it is sad to see him go.

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