Quantcast

Green Mountain Times

Saturday, November 23, 2024

“Farewell to the Senate (Executive Session)” published by the Congressional Record in the Senate section on Dec. 20

Politics 14 edited

Patrick J. Leahy was mentioned in Farewell to the Senate (Executive Session) on pages S7793-S7803 covering the 2nd Session of the 117th Congress published on Dec. 20 in the Congressional Record.

The publication is reproduced in full below:

Farewell to the Senate

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I thank the Presiding Officer for the recognition, and I thank all who are here.

There are some things we experience in life that we can never prepare for no matter how hard we try. Embarking on a life with the person you love is one. Having, raising, and loving a child is another. And then there is this one today.

I have been here 48 years. Perhaps to the dismay of hundreds of distinguished Presiding Officers, I have delivered many floor statements--some more eloquent than others, some less--but I have never delivered a speech like this, and I so appreciate all of you indulging me.

My friends and colleagues, Marcelle and I have such warm and lasting memories of so many who have served in this Chamber, now and through many years, including mentors from the first day I arrived here, like Republican Senator Bob Stafford. He was our State's senior Senator when I arrived here, and I watched him in awe. But he was a person who looked me in the eye and said to this 34-year-old freshman: Patrick, you are not my junior Senator; from here on, you are my Senate partner. And what a difference that made.

In the last 48 years, the Senate has become a family to both Marcelle and me. Here, we have found friends--some of our best friends--and relationships that will last throughout our lifetime. It is also the place where I had the privilege of fighting for Vermont--the place where I was born, where I met Marcelle; the place where we started our family; and the place to which, early in the new year, we will return together, the State of our birth.

But I have a reverence for this place and its history, its constitutional role that, as people, I know we all share. I have had this sense of awe about the Senate from an early age. I used to walk to the Capitol in my time here as a law student at Georgetown University Law Center. I would sit in the Gallery. I would watch, transfixed, as the Senate debated the most pressing issues of the day. Back then, I could have never imagined that I would one day etch my name into one of these desks, let alone that I would have the opportunity to cast well over 17,000 votes, that I would serve with 400 Senators during my time here.

Eight times the voters of Vermont--my neighbors, my friends, my family--gave me the great gift of their faith in sending me here to be their voice in the United States Senate, but what propelled me to run was the belief that I understood the needs and values of Vermont and thought it was time for a new generation to address them.

Dublin-born Parliamentarian Edmund Burke's speech to the Electors of Bristol serves as my North Star. He said:

Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment.

Burke also said that a representative ought not to sacrifice to you his conscience.

After what many described at that time as an improbable win in a State that had never elected a Democrat, never elected anybody as young as I was, I began my time in the Senate in the aftermath of a constitutional crisis. We faced a nation broken by the Watergate scandal, the resignation of President Nixon, and an endless war in Vietnam. As I leave in a few days, the Nation is coping with strains and challenges of other kinds, including very real threats to the whole concept of a working democracy, the sanctity of our Constitution, our elections, and the strength of the rule of law.

Another thing I could never have imagined as that young law student sitting up there in the Gallery was that one day this Chamber itself and the Capitol would be stormed by a lawless and violent mob.

Now, the Senate can be the conscience of the Nation. Being elected three times as President pro tempore, I felt I was entrusted as one of many stewards of the time-honored norms and traditions which were passed down over the years, which helped build trust, which helped the Senate, when possible, to work through problems to get difficult things done and to allow the Senate, at its best, to rise to the occasion and serve as the collective conscience of the Nation. I have seen the importance of acts of grace and political self-restraint that make the Senate work.

When I arrived here, bipartisan cooperation was the norm, not the exception. It was engrained in the fabric of what it means to be a U.S. Senator.

Now, make no mistake, the Senate of yesterday was far from perfect. I came here in 1975, and I realize several of you were not old enough to vote at that time. In that body, there were still Senators who signed the Southern Manifesto, who filibustered landmark civil rights laws. It was a Senate of 99 people because there had been a tied race in New Hampshire. So I was sworn in to serve alongside 98 other men--all men, not a single woman out of 100--and I thought, boy, progress was a long way away.

But the Senate I entered had one remarkable, redeeming quality: The overwhelming majority of Senators of both parties believed they were here to do a job, not just score political points or reduce debate oratory to bumper sticker slogans. Issues like budgets and farm bills and transportation bills had nothing to do with whether a Senator was a Republican or a Democrat; it was all about the nature of our home States.

Now, no one would accuse Bob Dole or Ted Kennedy or George McGovern or Howard Baker or Paul Laxalt or so many others of being closet Democrats or closet Republicans, but each one of them understood that, to do our jobs the right way, we had to work together. And we did.

Republican leader Senator McConnell and I have worked together on the Appropriations Committee. We passed our gavel back and forth on the Foreign Ops Subcommittee depending upon who was in the majority, and we worked together passing complex bills, but we worked with a sense of common purpose and respect and incredible productivity because we had that common purpose.

Now, of course, that did not mean there weren't times when both sides fought like cats and dogs on the Senate floor, in an election campaign. That was understood. But there were unwritten rules that applied, quite different than they are today. Senators didn't engage in scorched-earth politics because they knew they would return the day after the election to a Senate that only worked if you found and stood on common ground. The person you battled today might be someone you need to work with on a different issue tomorrow.

Now, I will share something easily forgotten but something I learned on the Agriculture Committee. I once overheard someone say in the cloakroom that they had been out driving in the middle of nowhere. Well, I thought to myself, if you are one of the people who live there, you know it is always the middle of somewhere. And that was a bit of a brainstorm.

For years, I had been traveling, when Senate recesses allowed, to try to understand the world a little better, traveled to build some relationships with other leaders in other countries, allies and adversaries alike. From that very first codel onward, I found that almost without fail, when Senators of both parties travel together, their partisan differences dull and their shared perspective grows. You see a country, and you see the country through each other's eyes, not just your own.

So Dick Lugar and I came up with a new idea: Let's have a codel here at home in the United States to help Senators understand that rural States--whether they are north, south, east, or west--had a lot in common, to make it clear that everywhere was somewhere and ``nowhere'' was just a place on a map you hadn't experienced yet. So we explored those States together, having codels in each of the States--Republican States and Democratic States--and would hear from the people there, but more importantly, we got to know each other. We all became invested in each other's success, legislative and personal.

I fear those days may be gone, but I pray just temporarily because if we don't start working together more, if we don't know and respect each other, the world's greatest deliberative body will sink slowly into irrelevance and, Heaven forbid, become our own version of the House of Lords.

I am especially proud of the work I have been able to do for Vermont and for Americans across the Nation. Our distinguished leader here, Senator Schumer, has heard more about Vermont than anybody from New York ever has, and I thank him--I thank him, as a lifelong Vermonter, for listening. Among them are things that came from Vermont--the organic standards and labeling act. It was first blocked because it would be crunchy granola. Well, it is a $60 billion industry in this country now. Some crunch. Some granola.

We also enacted in this body the world's first ban on the export of anti-personnel landmines. I started off having three votes backing me, three or four votes. When it came to a vote--every desk carrying a publication I helped write--the vote was 100 to 0 across the political spectrum. I am very, very proud of that.

There were decades of work here to protect our beloved Lake Champlain; supporting our farmers and forging new markets; revitalizing historic town centers across our State; greatly expanding the Green Mountain National Forest by more than 140,000 acres, protecting one of Vermont's and actually one of America's greatest treasures; and bringing resources to rebuild after disasters, from the devastation of Tropical Storm Irene to the ravage of the COVID pandemic. I can never thank enough the Senators of both parties who joined with me on that.

The Leahy War Victims Fund is helping innocent victims of war across the globe. The Innocence Protection Act and the Kirk Bloodsworth Program facilitate use of DNA evidence to convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent. And there are the human rights protections of the Leahy Law. I will be forever grateful that I had an opportunity to be here to put those laws in place.

We strengthened and extended the Violence Against Women Act. I was joined on that by colleagues on both sides of the aisle so we could do it, making it the act it is today.

Then there is the work on the Voting Rights Act and the Freedom of Information Act, where I joined with a prominent Republican, and I as a Democrat said: Americans have a right to know what their government is doing no matter which party is in control of the government; a longtime effort to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba; and a landmark program to remediate toxic sites in Vietnam left over from the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam war and to care for those who were exposed. I thank the Presidents of both parties who backed me on doing that and brought relief to a country that so desperately needed it.

We made our copyright laws more effective--the bill we were able to write updated the copyright laws for the first time in 50 years--and protected Americans' privacy from government overreach.

I mentioned the strengthening of the Freedom of Information Act several times and in several ways. No matter what party we belong to, we ought to know what our government is doing.

I have often been asked for the formula that I have used to get laws like these across the finish line. I must admit, I allowed a little bit of humor this morning at 1 or 1:30 when we filed the omnibus bill. I should probably release what I told Chairman Schumer. I do it very fairly. I treat every State the same, alphabetically starting with the letter V--no. Let me be serious for a moment in case anybody thinks that is what we do. We do it because Democrats and Republicans learn to work together, and each side knows that they don't get every single thing they want, but they can get most of the things the American people need. It is far more important that the American people are helped than any one of us individually.

It feels like yesterday that I walked into my first meeting with the person who would become my first majority leader, ``Iron Mike'' Mansfield. The majority leader put a fundamental question to every new Senator: Why do you want to be here--for the title or to make a difference, to make lives better?

Although he was a soft-spoken man who listened more than he spoke and rarely gave speeches on the Senate floor, Leader Mansfield dispensed one piece of advice that made as enduring an impression as the question he left to each Senator to answer for themselves. He said: ``Senators should always keep their word.'' And I think of that every single time I look at his portrait in the Mansfield Room.

It struck me that across all those weighty debates, navigating the complicated and contradictory politics of a Senate and a caucus that included everything from--remember when I came in--social conservatives and segregationists to civil rights icons and prairie populists, Mansfield succeeded because he understood that the currency of the institution was actually trust, not ideology. ``Senators should always keep their word.'' It was a simple formula, but it worked.

If you knew what commitments colleagues had made to each other, you could count the votes. If you could count the votes, you could set the agenda. If you knew the agenda, you could set the schedule. If you could set the schedule, you could pass legislation and still send the Senators home to be present in their States when it counted. And if 100 Senators were invested in keeping their word to one another, then together we could keep our word to this institution and to the Constitution.

So, Mr. President, I am going to leave here with the satisfaction of knowing that I answered Leader Mansfield's question the best way I could, in keeping with my conscience, and that I did what I could to make a difference. And I leave here knowing above all that, right or wrong, difficult or easy, I kept my word to Vermont and to each of you.

I want to thank my current staff and my staff throughout those 48 years. They have steadfastly stood by me and our shared goals to deliver for Vermonters, for Vermont, and for all of our country.

I want to thank my family--our children, their spouses, our grandchildren, my parents, who were here with me to start this journey in my first Senate election, who I know watch over the entire Leahy family today, as do Marcelle's parents, who were also there. What a gift. What a gift to have had a mother and father who passed down to their children and grandchildren not privilege but a powerful example.

One of the problems of being half Irish and half Italian is that sometimes your emotions get under you.

And, of course, Marcelle. I was 19 and she was 17 when we met. I took one look at Marcelle, and I knew I wanted to go on every journey together. Sixty-three years later, we are still on that journey. She is still my closest friend, my partner, and my anchor.

I have been uniquely blessed to have served with fellow Vermonters who share my deep love and commitment to Vermont: Senator Bob Stafford, Senator Jim Jeffords, Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Peter Smith, and, of course, Representative and now Senator-elect Peter Welch. I couldn't be more grateful that Congressman and Senator-elect Peter Welch will be carrying on after me with his own agenda.

I might mention, you are going to like and respect your new fellow Senator. I think people will on both sides of the aisle. Our collective efforts are why in so many ways Vermont continues to set an example for the Nation to follow.

Marcelle and I will leave with the same conviction that brought us to Washington in the first place: that the brighter horizons of tomorrow hold the hope of the future. I leave still carrying that same sense of reverence about the place I felt as a law student. I have had and still have so many ``pinch-me'' moments, and one of the last ones will be etching my name inside my desk.

I will forever carry with me the enduring bond of my fellow Vermonters, whose common sense and goodness are what I have tried to match as their representative.

``What a place this is.'' I wrote those words in the margin of my legal pad as I rode back to our house late one evening after a very full Senate session last year when we were working out COVID relief for people who were still hurting. But what a place this is still.

I wondered what this 82-year-old President pro tempore of the United States Senate would love to say to the 33-year-old version of myself nervously walking for the first time onto the Senate floor. The 82-

year-old President pro tempore would say to that 33-year-old brand new Senator from Vermont: Don't lose that sense of awe, kid. Hold on to it. Treasure it. Don't even for a minute forget what a privilege and a responsibility it is to serve here.

I have never forgotten.

Sometimes when I drive past the Jefferson Memorial and I look at Jefferson in his marble rotunda, I am reminded of the tension that was and is America: imperfect people struggling to make reality out of ideals that they fail themselves to meet but always, always keep on trying. I think of my father, the self-taught historian. He loved to share with me the twists and turns of times gone by, not to lift up heroes as idols or point out their feet of clay but to find meaning and purpose in the journey. Only first-generation immigrants like my mother, whose parents had left homes where such journeys of change and redemption were not possible, could have such a gleeful appreciation for the fact that America wasn't a place but an idea--an idea of unmatched possibilities ever in search of its own perfection, for new and next generations to write.

I have so loved the privilege of being even a small part of this story, America's story, and I have loved the privilege of working with giants and heroes here in this Chamber.

I think of John Glenn and the Senate he represented. We came in together. I wonder what he would think of how we carried the baton that he passed on to the next generation. And then my mind flashes back to John's internment at Arlington National Cemetery. In the chapel where we gathered, at the end, the marine bugler played ``Taps.'' Imagine a somber feeling. He paused and then, completing a request that Senator Glenn had made himself but kept as a surprise, burst into ``Reveille.'' The mood in that chapel. That was John Glenn. There was a time to mourn and remember what was lost, but there was always another mission, another call to serve, another day. And that is how it has to be for every one of us--every one of us--in this Chamber.

Yes, the Senate is broken in too many places. No, our institutions are not what Mike Mansfield, Hugh Scott, Gerry Ford, Hubert Humphrey, Ted Kennedy, John Stennis, and Barry Goldwater knew them to be.

But some of that change is good. A lot of it is tragic. It all is simply what it is. I tell my colleagues: You can point fingers, or you can point the way forward to something better. And that is America, isn't it?

So I don't leave here today with a requiem for the Senate. I leave here with a recipe and request for its renewal--not taps, but reveille--always reaching, always repairing, never retreating, never retiring from the journey. America doesn't stop. The Senate just keeps turning. If we are lucky--if we are lucky--all of us get a chance to help tilt the trajectory forward. Just remember what Mike Mansfield said: Keep your word.

Thirty years ago, I visited a refugee camp after a war in that country. I brought my cameras, as I do everywhere, so I can show people back in Washington the human toll of this issue. Always on visits like this, I would ask if it is OK to take someone's picture. To be a displaced person is to have endured enough without somebody invading your privacy. On this trip, a man encouraged me to take his picture. I looked at his worn, weary face with a rangefinder. We sat and talked afterward, and he said simply: Don't forget people like me. That black and white picture has hung above my desk for 30 years since. Every day I come to work, he is looking at me. He is saying: You don't know my name; you don't speak my language; there is nothing I can do to help you, but what are you doing to help people like me?

Conscience--that is what people are hungry for governments to stand for. So now I am taking my ``conscience photo'' home with me, but I know that man's eyes will keep watching all of us and all of you.

What a journey. What an abiding hope that someday after I am gone, the Senate and both parties will come back together and be the conscience of the Nation. You can build a Senate defined not by sound bites, but one strength in the women and men with a sense of history who insist our Republic move forward. For the sake of all those children and their children and all children and all Americans, it not only can be done, it has to be done.

Serving with 400 different Senators has been an honor, but representing Vermonters has been the greatest honor. I am humbled and always will be by their support. I am confident what the future holds, but that is going to be up to all of you.

I will submit a list of the staff that made it possible over the years for me to do this, people who deserve the credit for my accomplishment.

I end with, to every one of my colleagues: Thank you.

(Applause, Senators rising.)

Mr. President, the Senate in a real sense is a family. I have come to know and work with so many staff members and their families, reporters and photographers, the Capitol Police--including the detail assigned to me in my current role--the Senate pages, and the many others whose work helps run and maintain this hallowed building.

I have been blessed with talented aides who were drawn to public service for the right reasons--superb assistants like my current chief of staff, J.P. Dowd; legislative director Erica Chabot, who now assists Chairwoman Stabenow as the new staff director for the Agriculture Committee; my current legislative director, Sherman Patrick; my deputy chief of staff, Annette Gillis; my senior adviser, Kevin McDonald; my State director, John Tracy, and Chuck Ross, before him; my longtime chief foreign policy adviser, Tim Rieser; my longtime communications director, David Carle; my two top aides leading the Appropriations Committee staff, Charles Kieffer and Chanda Betourney; my press secretary on the Appropriations Committee, Jay Tilton; my chief counsel and staff director on the Judiciary Committee, Raj Venkataramanan; and Bruce Cohen and Kristine Lucius, my former chief counsels and staff directors on the Judiciary Committee; also former chiefs of staff Luke Albee, Ed Pagano, Ellen Lovell and Paul Bruhn; former deputy chief of staff Ann Berry, who now so ably serves as Secretary of the Senate; Clara Kircher was deputy chief of staff before her; and so many others.

I will submit for the Record a full roster of those who have served on my staff over the years. Marcelle and I thank them all, and we will miss seeing them in the hallways and hearing rooms.

I ask unanimous consent that the names of all those who served on my personal office and committee staff be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

Abare, Kimberly A; Abrams, Evan; Acheson, Emma R; Ackerman, Kenneth D; Adcock, Alexandra Brooke; Adegbile, Debo P; Aden- Wansbury, Casey; Adkins, David C; Aeschliman, Katherine E; Agnew, C.W. Lucas; Aguirre, John J; Aidun, Hillary; Aiken, Gloria I; Aja, Lucille L; Albee, Luke S; Alberghini DiPalma, Theresa; Alexander, Catherine C; Ali, Mohammad H; Allbee, Ronald A.

Allen, Emma Neelani; Allen, Kristen; Allendorf, Laura L; Aloi, Elizabeth A; Amaya, John; Amestoy, Christina; Anderson, Katherine S; Anderson, Nina R; Andrews, Dawn K; Anechiarico, Dacey M; Angel, Carole; Apfeld, Luke; Arenos, Frieda L; Arfa, Rachel M; Arms, Vanessa M; Ash, Katherine E; Ashley, Rebecca; Atkinson, Corinne Louise; Audet, Autumn; Audet, Jeremy.

Audet, Susan O; Audette, Jessie; Audibert, Matthew J; Axe, Jessi K; Babb, Peter M; Backup, Ditra R N; Baenig, Brian T; Bagley, Meredith M; Baglien, Brent A; Bahrenburg, Andrew J; Baird, Stacy A; Baker, Benjamin I; Baker, David M; Baker, Ross K; Ballard, Grady; Bambara, Alicia R; Bang-Jensen, Bree L; Banister, Lauren Dorothy; Banks, Brian L; Bannigan, Clara A.

Barber, Judy E; Barham, Mary A; Barlowe, Alexandra C; Barnes, Elizabeth H; Barnett, Lynette R; Barnhart, Elizabeth C; Barrett, Debra S; Barrett, Gretchen M; Barrett, Michelle L; Barron, Edward J; Barron, James W; Barros, Kathleen; Barry, Elise; Barry, John W; Barry, Lydia Kennie; Bartlett, Ellen J; Bashford, Jessica N; Bastin, Jennifer; Bates, Taylor H; Bauers, Sarah.

Bayer, Shannon J; Bean, Rebecca A; Bean, Walker T; Beaton, Alex J; Beaudoin JR, Eugene W; Becker, Jonathan H; Becker- Pollet, Jennifer A; Beckert, John B; Bednarczyk, Michael C; Bedoya, Alvaro M; Belforti, Michael; Belle Isle, Paul P; Benedict, Margot G; Benjamin, Claire R; Benjamin, Karen; Benner, Timothy C; Berger, Jonathan; Bergh, Thomas R; Berry, Jessica M; Berry, Marsha E.

Berry, Sonceria A; Berry, Thomas H; Bessette, Thomas A; Betourney, Chanda M; Bettman, Randi L; Bhardwaj, Manu K; Bhattacharya, Monica; Billings, Susanna S; Bird, Jennifer L; Birmingham, Matthew T; Bisaccio, Derek P; Bishop, Douglas K; Bittinger, William D; Blain, Natacha; Blaisdel, Michael E; Bland, Zachary D; Blau, Zachary; Block, Alexandra K; Bloom, Hamilton R; Bloom, Lauren H.

Bludevich, Zoe N; Boardman, Somayina; Boehm, Eric W; Boggs, Alexia C; Bolduc, Kathleen R; Bolivar, Sylvia E; Bomberger, Elizabeth U; Bongiorno, Julianne R; Bookbinder, Noah D; Bordonaro, Anne E; Borre, Mary Alisa; Bottome, Lydia D; Bouchard, Maureen O; Bourne, Sarah H; Bowie, Gavin M; Bowles, Katherine Jackson; Bowman, Scott; Boyd, John C; Brackett, Lauren M; Braddock, Richard L.

Brady, Claire B; Brady, Edward M; Brady, Jessica L; Bragg, Janell L; Bragg, Lucia F; Brandt, David R; Brannigan, Susan; Branon, Bryan J; Breslin, Janet E; Bresnahan, Jennifer; Brewster, Hazel C; Brickey, Carolyn W; Brighenti, Lisa M; Bright III, William E; Bright, Caroline W; Briglin, Timothy C; Brosnan, Aaron N; Brosseau, Maria C.

Brostrom, Molly; Brown, Coleman M; Brown, Geoffrey H; Brown, Jennifer M; Brown, Joanne M; Brown, Kelly D; Brown, Marjorie J; Brown, Roger; Bruchs, Amanda Kate; Bruhn, Kathleen S; Bruhn, Paul A; Brundage, Nina R; Buchdahl, Jacob; Buis, Thomas P; Burditt, Elise C; Burfeind, Leanna L; Burgess, Brady; Burgess, Mary E; Burke, Caroline E; Burkins, Melody B.

Burroughs, Jeneva E; Byme, Mary L; Caalim, Angela-Gussi I; Caffary, Robert G; Cain, Stephen J; Calabro, Lia; Calderon, Marialejandra; Calhoun, Michael J; Callander, Sarah E; Callands, Valerie J; Callison, James Patrick; Camp, Erik G; Campbell JR, John B; Campbell, Charles M; Campbell, Eamonn; Cangelosi, Allegra; Cannone, Kyle; Cantor, Max S; Carle, David W; Camahan, Paul A.

Cames, Alexander N; Carpenter, Thomas R; Carragher, Allison M; Carrel, Marc; Carrese, Madeleine C; Carrier, Joyce H; Carrigan, Joan H; Carroll, Patrick B; Carson, April R; Carter, Erin E; Carter, Morgan R; Case, Emily Van Buren; Casey, Angie L; Castro, George A; Cater, Natalie E; Celentano, Katherine E; Chaffee, Louise C; Chandler, Crystal L; Chant, Paul W; Chap, Helen.

Charron, Samuel Leddy; Chauvin, Hannah C; Cheatham, Anne W; Cheney, Bradford B; Cherington, Rachel M; Choukas, Michael A; Christiansen, Anders; Ciamarra, Michael J; Claflin, Katherine M; Clapp, Douglas C; Clark, Charity R; Clark, Miles N; Clark, Thomas R; Clarke, John H; Clavelle, David A; Clavelle, Luke F; Clementi, Michael P; Coates, Diane; Coates, Patricia M; Coats, Elisabeth F.T.

Coffin, Clarissa D; Cohen, Bruce A; Cohen, David A; Cohn, D J; Cohn, Maya E; Colaianni, Lisa A; Collins, Maria A; Collins, Patrick T; Collins, Seamus; Conlon, Terrence; Conlon, William A; Conner, Charles F; Connor, Timothy G; Cook, Deborah T; Cook, Jessica A; Cook, William Christopher; Cookson, Cara L; Cooper, Aaron; Cooper, Jonathan G.

Cope, Lindsey; Cosgrove, Thomas W; Cota, Gregory R; Cota, Shirley F; Couillard, Kaitlin M; Cowen, Heather Lynne; Craig, Catherine; Cramer, Amy M; Craven, Jasper C; Crawford, Sydney C; Crawford, Tobias W; Cribben, Rosemary S; Crook, Colleen M; Cross, Judith K; Crowel, Linda N; Crowley, Talia Lea; Cubie, James M; Cummings, Meaghan M; Cupp, Sarah M; Curtin, Marese A.

Cutler, Allen R; Dach, Leslie A; Dahl, Kristopher A; Dakin, Emily S; Daley, Timothy J; Daly, James J; Daly, Kathleen; Danaher, William M; Danehey, John F; Daner, Brian R; Daniels, Kelsey E; Daniels, Robert H; Daniels, Robert V; Darby, Alberta N; Daumit III, Alexander J; Davey, Thomas B; Davies, Susan M; Davis, Austin N; Davis, George; Davis, Shawn R.

Davis, Thomas C; Day, Donna R; Day, Jodie L; Dayno, Zachary M; De Gray, Sarah E; De Rosa, Mary B; De Wolfe, Reid J; Dean, Megan D; Deck, Laura E; Declet, Brandon D; Delaney, William; Demers, Megan E; Dempsey, Erica J; Dent, Elizabeth King; Deoreo, Mary B; Der Garabedian, Rebecca; Derby, Diane; Derosa, Carol J; Devlin, Mary E; Devlin, Regina M.

Devoid, Issac Kyle; Diamond, Joshua R; Dickson, Donald E; Diender, Rachel M; Dier, Cary L; Dilg, Helen Lane; Dillane, Maia E; Dinklage, Charles N; Dittrich, Suzette M; Dixon, Desyree A; Doane, Christina A; Doerr, Brian M; Doherty, Clare C; Dole, Spencer M; Dominguez, Michelle; Donaghue, Michael; Donnelly, Patrick J; Donoghue, Robert J; Donovan, Deirdre M; Dourmashkin, Rebecca W.

Dowd, John P; Doyle, Caitlin A; Ducharme, Terrance P; Dudley, Drenan Elizabeth; Duell, Kim; Duhnke III, William David; Dumez, Jacob Aaron; Dunbar, Mary M; Dunham, N Meredith; Dunn, Laura L; Dunn, Madison T; Dunn, Michael V; Dunne, Brigid M; Dupee, Michael K; Dupree, Emerald J; Durborow, Kimberly E; Durrell, Suzanne E; Dwyer, Jackson T; Dycus, Jamie S.

Dyer, David R; Dysart, Elizabeth L; Dysart, Peter I; Eccles, Joyce A; Ecker, Robert G; Edmonds, Margaret F; Edwards, Faire R; Egger, Ryan J; Eisen, Jean Toal; Ellis, Alexander M K; Ellis, Brian F; Engels JR, John; Erenhouse, Chad M; Erickson, Lindsay Ann; Erlebacher, Rachel C; Esckilsen, Kristin A; Eskra, Jennifer A; Espinel, Zulima L; Ettlinger, Elysa; Evans, Rebecca Dane.

Eversole, Kellye A; Ewell, Benjamin L; Ewing, John T; Eyre, Ramsay W.B.; Faletti, Thomas; Farahmand, Kali A; Fariel, Megan R; Farland, Bryant; Farnham, Lillian P; Farnham, Madeline; Farrington, James P; Fast, Marvin B; Fastie, Galen L; Fauth, Wade; Fay, Johanna P; Feinleib, Max H; Ferenc, Samuel; Fernandez, Michael D; Ferro, Kevin T; Ferver, Emily.

Fifield, Adam; Finer, Jonathan J; Finneran, Michaela; Quinnbea; Finnie, Kathryn A; Fischer, Alexander M; Fischer, Anna L; Fischer, David B; Fish, Andrew C; Fishman, Aryeh B; Fitzpatrick, Mary C; Flanagan, Cody L; Flatow, Joel L; Fletcher, Diane; Flickinger, Barbara J; Flint, Lara M; Flynn, Kevin W; Flynn, Kiera M; Flynn, Ryan P; Flynn, Sean M.

Flynt, Molly Clark; Forbes, John R; Ford, James E; Ford, Jared D; Ford, Tyler J; Fordy, Camille L; Forgie, Anna C; Forward, Graham; Foster, Alison; Foster, Meron E; Fox, Mark R; Francavilla, Jane; Francis, Michael A; Franklin, Robert R; Franks, M D; Frazier, Jacqueline D; Frech, James E; Fredrickson, Caroline R; Friedel, Laura A; Friedman, Jill D.

Frommer, Ross Andrew; Frosch, Elizabeth; Frost, Kelly; Fuirst, Abigail Deborah; Funk, Jason Richard; Fyles, Adam M; Gaffin, Michael A; Gaffney, Helen R; Gage, Margaret M; Gagliardone, Lucia; Wetherbee; Gagne, David L; Gagne, Julia S; Gallagher, Colleen; Gallagher, Colleen H; Gallagher, Connell; Gallagher, Susan C; Galloway-Kane, Finnian C; Ganghan, Michael C; Garland, Margaret P.

Garland, Sara G; Gartner, Emily R; Gazley, Beth A; Gelb, Rebecca A; Genderson, Elyse R; Gendron, Margaret R; Genetti, Catherine L; Gentile, Michael; Gentry, Bradford S; George, Peggy L; George-Wheeler, Leila S; Gerencser, Stephen J; Gerhardt, Michael J; Getty, Matthew D; Giardina, Lane J; Giknis, Courtney S; Gillis, Annette M; Gillis, Gena S; Gillon, William A.

Gilman, Jonathan B; Gilmore, Corey F; Ginsberg, Daniel B; Girard, Lauren E; Givens, Alexandra R; Glenn, Cathy R; Gluskoter, Leah L; Godlewski, Heather Rachel; Godwin, Amanda A; Godwin, Laura M; Goggans, Miles M; Goldberg, David; Goldberg, Joshua P; Goldner, Aaron P; Golovin, Henry; Gomory, Owen W; Goodman, William T; Goodrow, John P; Goodstein, Samuel G; Gordon, Robert M; Gossens, Joanne M; Gottlieb, Sasha; Gourlay, Diana H; Graab, Alison C; Grace, Abigail C; Graffeo, Jonathan J; Graham, Deborah L; Granda, Madeleine E.S.; Grasso, Jacob R; Graves, Lisa R; Gray, Marion S; Gray, Molly R; Greelegs, Ed C; Green, Max A; Green, Robert R; Green, Susanne Lynn; Greene JR, James B; Greene, Anna C; Greene, Christy.

Greenfeld, Helaine A; Greenwood, Lee A; Greenwood, Terrance P; Greer, Matthew; Gregoire, Logan L; Gregory, Janet E; Griggsby, Lydia K; Grimo, Matthew; Gross, Margaret; Grout, Leah M; Grove, Paul C; Guerra, Alexander; Guidugli, Thomas F; Guilardi, Amanda J; Guile, Aaron S; Guillot, John D; Guillot, Mary L; Guiltinan, Rosemary B; Gully, Kevin M; Gupta, Utsav.

Haber, Jon; Hackerson, Cecilia S M; Hackett, Sarah A; Hagan, Sara K; Hall, Andrea R; Hall, Ann T; Hall, Kent S; Hall, Noah R; Halpert, Juliana S; Halverson, Mark B; Hamill, Kimberly D; Hamilton, Anna J; Hamilton, Brea; Hamilton, Katherine R; Hammond, Benjamin L; Hampton, Ryan Jay; Hanauer, Jill S; Hanley, Margaret E; Hannon, Matthew; Hansen, Mary F.

Harbaugh, Diana Lynn; Harberg, Jade N; Harlow, Frederick D; Harper, Justin H; Harris, Kyra A; Harris, Olivia S; Harris- Warrick, Thomas M; Hart, Reeves M; Hasazi, Sarah M; Hassett, Andrew P; Hassett, Claire; Hastings III, John A; Hayes, Leslie L; Hazen, Trevor H; Hebert, Thomas R; Heffner, Judith C; Hegg, Dabney P; Heim, Laurie Freeman SchultzHeinrichs, Hanz C; Heiss, Rosemary.

Henry, Michael S; Herrero, David; Herring, Joan; Herwig, Paige L; Hewitt, Elizabeth M; Hickling, Christopher W; Hickok, Chester J; Hilker, Lucas C.B.; Hill, Wendy K; Hillman, Joshua M; Hines, Shannon; Hutcherson; Hoadley, Jonathan ; Hockin, Brian ; Hoesing, Karrin; Hoff, Joanne Cianci; Hoffuaus, Stacy W; Hollister, Morgan W.

Holt, Jeffrey R; Holt, Mark E; Hong, Rachel L; Horan, James; Horbar, Marie C; Houston, Greta J; Howard, Katherine M; Howe, Tobias B; Howell, Beryl A; Howell, Matthew; Howrigan, Kaitlin A; Hsu, Josh; Hubbard, Benjamin L; Hudson, Repps B; Huebner, Benjamin T; Huessy, Margaret M; Hughes, Caitlin G; Hughes, Robert T; Hughey, Shanna S; Hunt, Frances A.

Hunt, John L; Hunt, Ryan D; Hurley, Emma K; Hutchinson, Kathryn W; Hutchinson, Randi F; Hutton, Valerie A; Indorf, Andrew C; Ireland, Samuel S; Irvine, Leslie M; Iscoe, Adam R; Iseman, Frederick J; Iversen, Shawn L; Jackson, Christina; Jacobius, Rose-Marie; Jacobson, Rachel M; Jacome, Edward R; Jaffe, Harry S; Jamele JR, Joseph; Jamele, Stephen P; Jarvis, Joseph Mark.

Jensvold, Darcie R; Jessup, Kimberly K; Jette, Karen F; Jiang, Chun Y; Jimerson, Rebecca; Johnson, Chance L; Johnson, David L; Johnson, Emily Scott; Johnson, Kaylee T; Johnson, Paul W; Jolovitz, Herbert A; Jones JR, Roscoe; Jones, Diane S; Jones, Ellen L; Jones, Jefferson J; Jones, Lillian B; Joyal, Georgia L; Joyal, Jessica; Julyan, David S; Kaigle, Aaron R.

Kaiser, Katherine M; Kartzmer, Melanie L; Katzman, Julie E; Kaufer, Katherine M; Kavanagh, Michael J; Kazati-Morgan, Zev Jacob; Keam, Mark Lee; Kearns, Elizabeth E; Keefe, Meagan G; Keenan, Alex S; Kelley, Kathleen A; Kelly, Stephen D; Kendall, Jane S; Kenney II, Frederick S; Kenney, Edward M; Kernoff, Joshua A; Kervick, Paul A; Keyser, Chelsea Larkin; Khalil, Nora Francis.

Kieffer, Charles E; Kielman, Roland S; Kimbell, Charles F; King, Robert J; Kingston, Maureen A; Kinzer, Kimberly D; Kinzer, Mary P; Kinzer, Sanford G; Kirby, Sean P; Kircher, Clara J; Kireker, Bennett J; Kirk, Jerry W; Kirker, Rebecca A; Kisonak, Lane; Kittell, Vanessa B; Kitzmiller, Amy E; Klepper, Leesa M; Knight, Jennifer A; Knipe, Michael J; Knox, Elizabeth K.

Knutsen, Maxwell I; Kobelt, Kelsey A; Kolish, Brigid D; Kononan, Jennifer L; Kordowski, Matthew D; Koshgarian, Samantha M; Kowalski, Tanya E; Krattli, Verna Kay; Kraus, Hannah E; Krause, Steven F; Kravitz, Joshua L; Kreckel, John; Kremer, Aaron L; Krieger, David J; Krueger, Mary R; Kruesi, Jonathan E; Kulkarni, Vikram; Kupperman, Tamara; Kwon, Hae J; Kyriacou, Elizabeth S.

Labun, Sarah H; Lacey, Stephen L; Lachs, Aileen L; Lackey, Miles M; Lafayette, Edward M; Laisch, Mark P; Laman, David M; Lampron, Katherine Q; Lamy, Jonathan L; Landis, Andrew J; Landon, Henry H; Landry, Marissa K; Langevin, Josef R; Lari, Rita G; Larivee, Karen; Larson, Seth M; Laurie, Adrienne N; Lauter, David S; LaViale, Dillon Meyer; Lawson, Michael S.

Leamy, Ryan J; Lecours, Richard D; Leene, Kara E; Legeyt, Curtis J; Leonard, Robert T; Leopold, Christopher B; Lesofski, Emelyn Faulkner; Letteri, John C; Levin, Garrett; Lewis, Matthew; Lewis, Sarah A; Lieber, David; Liebman, Daniel Lee; Lifton, Jesse D; Lilley, Stephen; Linder, Kestrel A; Lippert, Mark W; Liszt, Michelle Sarah; Littleton, Rachel E.

Livernash, Robert T; Livingston, Emily K; Loati, Justin L; Locke, Aaron; Locket, Stephani D; Logan, Leslie J; Long, Katherine A; Lovald, Ruth K; Love, Marguerite Lea; Lovell, Ellen M; Lovell, Jesse; Lucas, Roland; Lucio, John; Lucius, Kristine; Lusk, Katharine A; Lynch, Peter S K; Lynch, Timothy J; Lynn, Alexander S; Lynn, Jean M; Macdonald, Mona.

Madden, Laura L; Madkour, Abraham; Magill, Laurence A; Magner, Tara K; Magnuson, Patrick R; Maher, Christina A; Maher, Paul T; Mahon, Maureen T; Mahoney, M Lynne; Mahood, Alexis G H; Maiola, Joseph; Major, Pollaidh F; Mancini, Laura L; Manitsky, David M; Mann, Paul; Marcoullier, Catherine Rose; Marine, Sharon A; Markowitz, Sandra R; Markwart, Terri Snow.

Marshall, Malissa M; Martin, Charles W; Martin, Ian M; Martin, Kathleen C; Mashon, Kristi K; Mason, Colleen L; Mason, Meredith O; Mathews, Charles R; Mathews, Nancy; Mathur, Rajat; Matthews, Olivia C; Maxwell, Alexis R; Maxwell, D Gray; Mazel, Nancy R; Mazloom, Maryam; McCann, Adrienne W; McCarvill,John R; McCauley, David; McConaghy, Moira F C; McCormack, Blythe.

McCoy, Finn; McCoy, Nona S; McCray, Kimberly H; McDonald, Kerry Ann; McDonald, Kevin J; McDonald, Kinnon J; McDonough, Devin M; McDougall, Michael; McDougall, Peter J; McFarland, Katharine B; McFeeters, Amy L; McGaraghan, Neil G; McGovem, Brendan P; McInnis, Katherine; McKennerney, Christin L; McKenzie, Mary A; McLaughlin, Earle B; McMahon, Elizabeth M; McMahon, Jason C.

McMurray, Anya L; McNally, Catherine; McPherran, Caitlin S; McQuesten, Gary D; McQuillen, Karen L; McQuillen, Molly A; Meany, Megan R; Medina, Olga; Mehta, Nazneen D; Mencher, Daniel; Mensah, Kofi A; Merone, William M; Merrigan, Kathleen A; Merulla, Robert S; Metz, Robert; Meyer, Mary Kate; Meyer, Sara E; Meyers, Jeffrey A; Michaud, Michael M.

Mickenberg, David A; Mihan, Noah S; Milas, Annalisa M; Miller, Betsy A; Miller, Caitlin; Miller, Christopher J; Miller, Jeremy T; Miller, Mary P; Mingo, Antoinette H; Mishra, Subodh; Mitchell, Maya E; Mock, Haley R; Moghari, Leili A; Molina, Cynthia E; Molino, Timothy A; Monahan, James W; Monroe, Christina M; Monroe, Michelle M; Monsarrat, J Alexander; Mooney, Alexander W.

Moore, Curtis A; Moore, John T; Moore, Korinne D; Moore, Meghan; Moorehouse, Douglas A; Moran, Molly M; Moran, Monique T; Morgan, Nancy E; Morrill, Ashley M; Morris, Alexandra H; Morrison, Jeffrey Jamele; Morton, Andrew S; Morton, Kristen L; Mosley, Carolyn D; Mott, Meghan; Moulton JR, Hugh G; Moynihan, Helen A; Mulhall III, James A; Muller, Thomas; Mulvaney-Stanak, Emma J; Murphy, Liam L.

Murphy, Sean A; Murphy, Troy A; Murray, Ellen G; Murray, Jennifer W; Murtha, Elizabeth M; Murtha, William Garvan; Musinski, Thomas R; Mutz, Marla S; Myers, Keri A; Myers, Mindy E; Nance, Jeffrey S; Nardi, Elizabeth J; Nehring, Susan; Neises, Eric J; Nellor, Dianne M; Nelson III, Douglas A; Nelson, Garrison; Nelson, Hilary A; Nelson, Miriam E.

Neuwalder, Cynthia M; Newsom, Eric D; Newsom, Joel A; Newton, Andrew T; Newton, Anna N; Nguyen, Anh L; Nguyen, Hong T; Nguyen, Nhan; Nicholls, Kiernan J; Nielson, Emily L; Nieratko, Jennifer; Nintemann, Terri A; Nishida-Costello, Lianne S; Noel, Patrick J; Noel, Rebecca R; Nolan, Parker S; Nolan, Seamus T; Norris, John; Norton, Kit Y; Nosse-Leirer, Emily R.

Nugent, Malachy; Nunnally, Lauren Page; Obbagy, Justin T; Oboyle, Marcy A; Obrien JR, Leo; O'Brien, Cameron C; Obrien, Douglas L; O'Brien, Fiona T; Obrien, Michael R; Obrien, Molly A; Obrine, Kimberly L; Oconnor, David J; Odonnell, Bridget M; Oellermann, Charles M; Olinsky, Benjamin C Omalley, Regen; Oneill, Erin E; O'Neill, Katherine; Orbach Lachman Sherry E; Orourke, Margaret A.

Orrick, Sara R; Ostojic, Katja C; Owens, Tyler D; Oxford, Warren B; Pachman, Brandon H; Pagano, Jules Edward; Paige, Ann Marie; Palmer, Ashley M; Papineau, Gwen M; Paquin, Christine M; Paquin, Robert G; Paradis, Joseph A; Paris, Jeremy A; Parise, Andrew M; Park III, Joel T; Park, Chan; Parkes, Nancy Ann; Parry, Elizabeth A; Parsons, Paulina G; Pascarella, Stephanie E.

Pastner, Rebecca M; Patrick, Sherman; Paul, Betsy B; Paul, George V; Paul, Scott N; Pavek, Ryan S; Payne-Funk, Matthew T; Peabody IV, Endicott; Pease, Alison A; Peddie, Heather; Peek, Lincoln D; Pelham, Rachel; Peltier, Sheramy J; Pena, Olivia A; Penar, Peter H; Pendle, David; Penry, Charles D; Perry, Jed M; Petersen, Anna Zoe Lynn; Peterson, Aline G.

Peterson, Jeffrey A; Peterson, Zoe M; Petrou, Laura; Philips, Andrew; Phillips, Dean; Phillips, John R; Phillips, Ronald B; Phillips, Todd K; Piatt, Jennifer; Pickering, Bruce; Pierce, Kenneth J; Pion, Elizabeth N; Piper, Thomas A; Pisanelli, Andrew L; Pisanelli, Kristina M; Plan, Maile Z; Platt, Andrew J; Ploof, Pamela M; Plunkett, Jack T; Poalino, Eric O.

Podesta, John D; Podesta, Mae S; Podsiadly, Nicholas J; Poe, Leslie C; Poole, Katherine S; Post, Anna Lindley; Post, Ingrid E; Potter, George Ann; Powell, Laura C; Power, Maeve F; Prado, Caroline B; Preston, Brooks B; Price, Jennifer M; Puller, Travis L; Puopolo, Nicolle M; Purinton, Brooke; Quinn, Elizabeth A; Quinter, Neil F; Racine, Douglas A.

Racine, William T; Raeder, Joseph L; Rainone, Amy; Raleigh, Christopher J; Raphael, Mara B; Rasch, Tyler Josef; Raven, Erik K; Ray, Patrick B; Raymond, Laurel A; Ready, Ethan M; Reaves, Elizabeth K; Reczek, Jeffrey M; Reichert, Ronald E; Reid Breyette, Willis O; Reilly, Joseph J; Rejman, Jacqueline M; Renner, Thomas A; Reynolds, David A. V.; Rice, Laura D.

Richards Peelle, Reginald; Richards, Gary S; Richards, Jacob C; Riegelman, Katherine E; Riemenschneider, Charles H; Rieser, Timothy S; Rifkin, Marina R; Riley, John P; Riley, Leigh; Ristau, Gina M; Rita, Patrick M; Robbins, Robert A; Roberts, Kathleen; Roberts, Martha G; Roberts, Tracey C; Rocheleau, Dale A; Rogers, Edward D; Rogers, Glenn F.

Rogers, Rebecca Felsinger; Rogers, Ronald W; Romano, John P; Rome, Narric W; Rooney, Megan D; Rose, Carl P; Rosen, Jeremy M; Rosenberg, Alexander; Rosenberg, Sarah H; Rosenfeld, Jared H; Roskam, William C; Ross JR, Charles R; Ross, Benjamin H; Ross, Halley; Ross, Priscilla A; Rosser, Lauren W; Rotenberg, Marc S; Rothstein, Jeffrey D; Rothstein, Joe; Rouille, John E.

Rowe, Nancy J; Rowell, Anne L; Roy, Andra M; Ruane, Melissa B; Rubel, Dave; Rubenstein, Andrew L; Rubin, Samuel S; Rucker, Christopher A; Ruffo, Peter; Rugg, Molly M; Russell, Brenda L; Russell, Jacqueline A; Ryan, Janice M; Ryan, Michael J; Ryan, Parker S; Ryan, Stephen K; Ryan, Valerie A; Ryen, Rebecca M; Saadi, Joyce C.

Sadoski, Nicholas A; Safdie, Laura A; Samuelson, Betsy R; Sando, Sophie I; Sands, Jeffrey R; Saperstein, Craig J; Sapirstein, Sarah; Sarcone, Christine M; Sargent, Brenda C; Saries, Gretchen M; Sarle, Robert Edmund; Sarri, Kristen J; Sathe, Smrthi M; Saunders, Bernice C; Saunders, Chris; Saurman, Ann H; Saward, Elizabeth; Saxe, Elizabeth; Schadinger, Sonia.

Schenck, Jennifer A; Scherr, David A; Schiffmann, Jean E; Schmaler, Tracy A; Schmalz, Peter N; Schmidek, Robyn E; Schmidt, Frederick E; Schmidt, Rebecca M; Schneider, Brandon C; Schoenfelder, Catherine A; Schroeder, Theodore; Schulte, Melissa L; Schurman, Linda S; Schwertner, Deborah D; Scott, Mary Ann; Scully, Colleen M; Seager, Matthew G; Sedillo, Anthony C; Sefert, Wendy K; Segal, Carly S; Seger, Julia J.

Seibert, Kirsten A; Seideman, Daniel J; Seligman, Erin M; Seman, Amelia Rose; Semmel, Andrew K; Sena, Janet L; Sessions, Benjamin P; Sessions, Myra W; Shaffer, Rachel; Shapiro, Walter E; Sharp, Frederick P; Sharp, Kristin T; Sheahan, Patrick G; Sheinkman, Joshua L; Shelton, Todd D; Sher, Julia B; Sher, Michael S; Sheridan, Blaise M; Shifrin, Jon S; Shiman, B Gail.

Shinn, Shannon Lee; Shipman, Wanda R; Shipp, Doris E; Shore, John E; Shyaka, Simon Pierre; Sieber, Mariah S; Siegars, Mark; Silverman, Jodie L; Singiser, Dana E; Singleton, Jessica E; Sirotkin, Jacob H; Skea, Andrew Duncan; Slack, Emily; Slaiman, Charlotte S; Slayton, Elizabeth; Sloan, Douglass; Sloss, Michelle M; Smith, Allison E; Smith, Althea O; Smith, Ariel T.

Smith, Charles; Smith, Jacqueline R; Smith, Juliet H; Smith, Lashawnda M; Smith, Matthew R; Smith, Patricia M; Smith, Suzanne E; Smith, Thomas; Snow, Eric P; Snowdon, Jill A; Soderborg, Laurel; Sojourner, Lily M; Solomon, Zivah J; Solsaa, Greta Rose; Soltis, Elizabeth M; Somaini-Dayer, Pearl; Spalding, Christian T; Spangler, Claire M; Spears, Pamela Mcafee; Speno, Lisa.

Spiridakis, Nicole S; Squires, Cindy L; St Arnauld, Lydia M; St George, Laura M; St. John, Rebecca C; Stackpole, Kerin E; Stannard, Mary B; Stanton, Elizabeth S; Stearns, Dylan J; Stebbins, David M; Steele, Alexander D; Steffens, Donald C; Stein, Alesia Kaye; Stein, Elizabeth M; Stein, Emma Muir; Steiner, Maximilian Winter; Stek, Charles A; Stephany, David; Stewart, Douglas L.

Stitzel, Elizabeth; Stoll, Tina; Stout, Helen M; Strauss, Ari J; Strom, Shayna L; Strzelec, Scott; Studer, Paul; Sturm, Robert E; Suarez, Audrey K; Sudbay, William L; Sullivan, Marcia Z; Sullivan, Mary M; Sullivan, Ted D; Sun, Jessica L; Surchin, Alan David; Sussman, Susan M; Sutherland, Dale N; Swainbank, Elizabeth K; Swartsel, Alexandra R; Tanabe, Andrew R.

Tausanovitch, Alexander W; Taves, Peter W; Taylor, Daniel P; Taylor, Ellen L; Taylor, May T; Taylor, Rachael S; Terry, Stephen C; Terry, William W; Tetrault, Douglas N; Thabault, Isabelle M; Thanassi, Cara L; Thies, Gregory A; Thomas, Heather; Thomas, Joseph; Thomas, Juanita V; Thornton, Kathleen N; Till, Brian M; Tilton, John A; Tofferi, Jenna L.

Toll, Kate W; Toomajian, Kathryn N; Toomajian, Philip M; Towne, Jeffrey P; Tracy, John P; Traficant, Kathleen G; Trainor, Laura A; Trezise, Patrick B; Trocchio, Clinton A; Trombley, Andrea L; Tuchmann, E Thomas; Turner II, Derrick; Turner, Lauren A; Tutt, William D; Ulin, Maxwell E.P.; Ulven, Mark; Urie, Esther J; Vachon, Brian P; Vachon, Mary J; Valdivieso, Juan P; Valente, Thomas S; Valentine, Rebekah A; Valsangiacomo, Jon; Van Breen, Annelies C M; Van Heuven, Catherine M; Van Horne, William K; Van Oot, Jeffrey P; Van Oot, Peter D; Van Susteren, Emma C; Vance, Charles H P; Vanka, Sarita; Vanlandingham, Andrew Ray; VanSickle, Allie Lyn; Vaughan III, Woodrow W; Vaughn, Ann S; Venkataramanan, Rajiv; Vermilye, Andrew; Vincent, Miriam E; Violette, Carol A.

Virkstis, Richard M; Vitzthum, Lynne M; Voight, David K; Vojtisek, John-Paul G; Volin, Natalie P; Vrooman, Bruce M; Wachtel, William B; Wagner, David E; Wagner, Lynnett M; Walsh, Brady A; Walsh, Juliet C; Walsh, Martin; Waples, Lane S; Warren-Shriner, Lindsey C; Watson, Katherine E; Wear, Terrance J; Weatherly, Keith H; Webber JR, Daniel G; Weber, Rebekah S; Weinberger, Miro L; Weinstein, Anna K; Welch, Victoria M; Wells, Steven J; Werbel-Sanborn, Samuel A; Werner, David L; Westhoff, Patrick; Weston, Isabella LP; Wheeler, Kevin R; Wheeler, Patrick S; Wheeler, Thomas E; Whitcomb, James T; White JR, Duboise; White, Kamela G; Whitlock, Sylvia G; Whitney, Margaret; Wiles II, Harry G; Wiles, Margaret P; Wilhelm, Bradley K; Wilich, Haley; Wilkins, Dana L; Williams II, Edward H; Williams, Emily S; Williams, Genna; Williams, Kathleen A; Willis, Madeline G; Wilson, Benjamin L; Wilson, Jennifer E; Wilson, Scott B; Windauer, Daniel K; Wingate, Meghan H; Winski, John B; Wise, Robert E; Wisehart, Gretchen S; Witting, William N; Wolf, Carole L; Wolf, Julie L; Womble, Matt R; Woodfield, Mila A.

Woodfin, Jane D; Woodside, Meredith G; Woolwine, Jason T; Wright, David P; Wright, Lauren E; Yadav, Anuradha; Yarbrough, Benjamin Allen; Yaworske, Jason A; Yerby , Erin D; Yezerski, Adam M; Yoder, Lyle E; Young II, Robert E; Young, Courtney B; Young, Grace; Young, Kelly M; Yozell, Sally; Zablocki, Anna R; Zahn, Matthew V; Zamore, Leah; Zayas, David M; Zimmer, Kurt F; Zimmerman, Melissa E; Ziolkowski, John J; Ziter, Rhonda M; Zuri, Sharman A; Zvarova, Zuzana.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Leader Schumer.

Mr. SCHUMER. Well, it is never easy to bid farewell to a retiring colleague, but, boy, this one is hard. It is even harder to bid farewell to a friend; and everyone is Pat's friend. But today, we say thank you not to just a colleague and not just a dear friend, but to an institution all his own.

Pat, we are here to say we honor you. We are here to say we will miss you. Most of all, we are here to say we are happy for you on your well-

earned retirement.

We all just heard Pat speaking so eloquently, so beautifully from the heart, from his good soul. And it took a lot of strength for all of us to keep this together. I saw lots of misty eyes in different parts of his speech--lots of misty eyes.

It is the conclusion of an era here in the Senate. We will call this the Leahy era for all you have done. It is an era that began in the aftermath of Watergate and now concludes nearly 50 years and 8 terms later, a legacy that includes so much--Appropriations chair, Judiciary chair, President pro tempore. And to be sure, he is finishing his tenure precisely the way we all expect him to, by being up at 1:30 a.m. this morning--it kept getting later--to file the omnibus.

If you looked up the word ``Senator'' in the dictionary, you wouldn't be crazy to expect a picture of Pat included alongside that word. His name is synonymous with everything good, dignified, and admirable in the upper Chamber. Pat learned so much in the years he has been here, and Pat was everything.

One accomplishment that he mentioned that just shows the mettle of the man was the work he did on land mines, anti-personnel land minds. He did an amazing job. There are thousands and thousands of people across the world--children, old people, and everyone in between--who are not maimed, who are alive because of his persistence, his dedication. It took all of his skills, his knowledge of policy, his bipartisan chops, eloquence on the floor, his stubborn relentlessness, and most of all, his sense of duty to the people of world. He so aptly concluded with the picture we have all seen in his office over his desk.

Of course, Pat will be the first to shun these accomplishments as his alone. After all, he is just one half of the equation. The other half, of course, is Marcelle, an amazing, amazing person. And we love you, Marcelle. We love you.

(Applause.)

So, folks, it is the end of an era. Pat has done an amazing job in so many different ways. He could have sat here all day and all night if he were to delineate everything he has done for us and the American people.

Folks, in closing, let me return to a serious thought on duty from a source I suspect is near and dear to Pat's heart, the great poet Robert Frost. For those unfamiliar, the title of Pat's new memoir, ``The Road Taken,'' which everyone should read, is a play on Frost's famous poem

``The Road Not Taken.'' Like Pat, Frost lived in Vermont, at least for much of his life. He was a great lover of nature, a bold voice for a generation confounded by war, depression, and disruptions of modernity.

But there is another Frost poem I want to cite today, ``Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.'' It is about a man torn between his sense of duty to get home to his family and stopping to bask in the beauty of the countryside:

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Pat, you have walked the miles; you kept your promises; and when you get home to your beautiful tree farm up in northern Vermont, you have earned more than a few extra hours of sleep. But I have no doubt when you get up each morning, you will be going, striving, keeping on finding new ways to make Vermont a better place, just as you made the Senate a better place for all of us.

Thank you, dear friend. We love you. We love you. We are going to miss you and Marcelle so very, very much.

(Applause.)

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, as the other Senator from our small State of 630,000 people, I want to thank Senator Leahy on behalf of all Vermonters and people throughout this country for his 48 years of service here in the U.S. Senate.

On a personal note, obviously, Senator Leahy and I have worked together for many, many decades. He was very helpful to me when I was mayor of the city of Burlington. We worked together when I was a member of the House. Obviously, we worked together for Vermont since I have been in the Senate.

And I think if you drive around our beautiful State--and we want you all to visit us, maybe not this weekend where there is a snowstorm but come in the spring--you will see many of the impacts Senator Leahy has had on our State, really from one end of the State to the other.

But it is not only the impacts he has had on Vermont, it is the impacts he has had on the Nation and, in fact, as Senator Schumer said, on the entire world. As a U.S. Senator, Senator Leahy has been a great chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, dealing with some of the major issues that committee has dealt with over the decades. He has been a great chairman of the Agricultural Committee. And now, as we all know, he has done an outstanding job as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, along with Senator Shelby. In the middle of the night, I gather, they finally finished this omnibus bill, and we thank them very much for that.

As I think we have heard, Senator Leahy is known internationally for his efforts to ban the export and the use of land mines. That, in fact, has saved the lives of God knows how many people and prevented the maiming of many, many more. We thank Senator Leahy for that.

We thank him for the work that he has accomplished to end the use of these terrible weapons and also his creation of the Leahy War Victims Fund to get relief for those harmed by these terrible weapons. Beyond that, Senator Leahy, very importantly, worked to pass what has become known as the Leahy War, a human rights law to prohibit the U.S. from providing equipment and training for foreign military suspected of gross human rights violation. In that sense, he is standing up for the values of this country.

His international accomplishments are impressive, but in Vermont, our constituents know Senator Leahy for the work he has done on the issues that are much closer to home, like his support for agriculture, dairy, and organics. In 1990, as chairman of the Senate Agricultural Committee, Senator Leahy championed the Organics Foods Production Act. At that time, as he indicated, organics was not understood to be what it is today. But Senator Leahy understood that farmers in Vermont and around this country deserve to have standards in place to ensure a fair playing field. As a result of that, the organics industry has exploded.

Today, in our rural agricultural State of Vermont, its small farmers struggle to compete against corporate agriculture, organic production, and organic standards have helped many stay afloat to this day, in no small part thanks to Senator Leahy.

Beyond organic agriculture, Vermont dairy producers have also benefited from Senator Leahy's efforts to enact a Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact and establish the Milk Income Loss compensation bargain. All of us from agricultural States know how important it is to maintain family-based agriculture, and Senator Leahy has certainly been a leader on that.

Just as important as his work on agricultural issues for Vermont has been Senator Leahy's work supporting Vermont's rural landscape and our beautiful environment. Senator Leahy has fought to protect wildlife refuges across the United States, including the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Vermont, as well as national forest land, like Green Mountain National Forest.

But perhaps the environmental work Senator Leahy is best known for in Vermont is his work as a champion of our beautiful Lake Champlain, which we consider one of the Great Lakes. Is that right, Senator Leahy?

Through his work on the Appropriations Committee, Senator Leahy has secured funding for cleaning up and protecting Lake Champlain, as well as to study the lake to learn more about how to protect it for our kids and future generations.

Throughout these last 48 years, Senator Leahy has had dozens of staff who have worked by his side, both in Vermont and in Washington, who have been dedicated to all of the many efforts he has championed. All of us who have served in the Senate know that we cannot do this work alone, and Senator Leahy's staff deserves the sincere thanks of all of us--including all Vermonters--for their hard work and dedication over these last many years.

But as we have heard this morning, staff may come and go, but there has been one person by Senator Leahy's side every single day of his 48 years of service to Vermont, and that is his wife Marcelle. And I have had the privilege of knowing Marcelle for many of those 48 years, and Jane and I wish Marcelle and Pat the very best on their retirement years.

While much has been said today about Senator Leahy's time in the Senate, those words cannot be said without adding the important role that Marcelle has played in his life. This year, the Senator and Marcelle celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, and I can tell you that, just as all Vermonters know the name Pat Leahy, they also know Marcelle.

And if there is such a thing as being ``First Lady of Vermont,'' Marcelle, that is you. So thank you very much for all you have done for our State.

So with that, let me once again thank Senator Leahy so much for his years of service to Vermont and the country. We wish him and Marcelle the very best in the future.

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lujan). The Senator from Alabama.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I, along with many others, want to thank Senator Pat Leahy for a remarkable 48 years of service here in the Senate. As chairman of the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Agriculture Committees and President pro tempore of the Senate, I believe it is more than fair to say that Pat has had a profound impact on this institution.

First elected to the Senate in 1974, Senator Leahy has served Vermont for eight terms and ranks first in seniority, as we know, in the U.S. Senate. There are not many people in history whom you can say that about, as it requires a great deal of hard work, patience, and commitment.

Before coming to Washington, Senator Leahy served for 8 years as the State's attorney in Vermont. In 1974, he was elected as one of three outstanding prosecutors in the United States. Clearly, his degree from Georgetown Law School has served him well over the years.

Senator Leahy has dutifully served on the Committee on Appropriations for more than 40 years, and I have had the honor of serving alongside him for 28 years. We have gone back and forth as chairman and vice chairman in recent years, and while it is never easy to relinquish the title of chairman, I would not wish to do so with anyone other than Pat Leahy.

I am deeply proud of all that Senator Leahy and I have been able to accomplish together on the Appropriations Committee. Just last night, as all of you know, we reached an agreement and filed the 2023 Omnibus appropriations package, containing all 12 appropriations measures. This would not have been possible had Senator Leahy not been at the table.

Pat has several passions outside of the Senate, as a lot of you probably know. He is an accomplished photographer and an avid family man. He also has a deep appreciation for the ``Batman'' movies, even garnering a few cameos on the big screen, as we know.

Everything Senator Leahy does, in my judgment, he does well. The State of Vermont has benefited from his service in the Senate, and so has the Nation.

By no means do we agree on everything, but we respect each other and our constitutional duty a great deal.

The Senate will not be the same without you, Pat--without your leadership, effectiveness, and kindness.

And I will miss working together with him for the betterment of the country.

I want to thank, again, Senator Leahy for his many contributions to this body, as well as his wonderful wife Marcelle. They have built an incredible life together, and they are pillars in our Senate community. My wife Annette and I have enjoyed their friendship over the years. We wish them every happiness in their next chapter. They have certainly earned their retirement.

I yield the floor.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.

Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I rise today to honor, as all of my colleagues do, someone whom I have had the good fortune to work with my entire time in the U.S. Senate, 22 years. It is hard for me to believe that.

But Senator Pat Leahy really is more than a friend. He really is more than a leader. As my colleagues have said, he is an institution, and it is really hard to picture the U.S. Senate without him.

I was thinking that maybe the only time that we have disagreed was when he wanted to name Lake Champlain a Great Lake. It may be a big lake. It may be a beautiful lake. It is not a Great Lake.

Senator Leahy has literally made our Nation and our world a freer and fairer place. Through his leadership on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy has fought, as we know, for a fair criminal justice system and greater civil rights protections. One example is his tireless work that he spoke about to restore the landmark Voting Rights Act after the horrific Shelby County decision in 2013.

And he hasn't limited his fight for justice to the United States. Pat Leahy is a champion for human rights around the world, and I have had the great fortune to travel with him and see this up close.

Some of my fondest memories of Senator Leahy and Marcelle were when we traveled to Cuba in 2013 and then again in 2015. What an adventure that was. We met with Cuban officials to discuss opportunities for greater cooperation and reformers and activists who bravely pushed back against the Castro regime.

And in 2019, Senator Leahy led a large congressional delegation--a bipartisan delegation--to South Korea and Vietnam. It was so incredibly moving to see the people of Vietnam honor my friend for his long legacy of leadership on landmines and the effort to clean up areas contaminated with dioxin during the Vietnam war.

They actually have a plaque. There was this huge ceremony, literally rolling out the red carpet on the military base where they were announcing their efforts on cleanup. A plaque was set up primarily for Senator Leahy, but all of us on the trip had the good fortune of having our names on it with him as well. But the reverence shown for Senator Leahy was really inspiring.

Senator Leahy is also a legend on the Agriculture Committee, as everyone has said. He was chairman and ranking member of the committee. His work was guided by the same bipartisan principles that guide Senator Boozman and me today. We have learned from his leadership and his being a role model to us.

He is the father of the organic farm bill created over 30 years ago, which now has created a $60 billion industry--$60 billion industry.

He has been a leader on conservation initiatives.

He is the author of the Farm to School Program, which has been an overwhelming success, showing children that, actually, food doesn't come from the grocery store--you actually plant it and harvest it and grow it--and creating so much excitement for children in school.

And anyone familiar with dairy policy knows that our Nation's family dairy farms have had no greater champion than Senator Leahy.

And, of course, you can't talk about Senator Leahy without mentioning his love of everything Batman. I understand he started reading Batman comics as a young boy and grew up to voice a character in an animated series and appear in five Batman movies.

He looked like he was having so much fun that I decided to join him in the last one, which was filmed in Michigan, and I might say his character got blown up; mine didn't.

Pat, we are going to miss you so much, so much. I hope you enjoy many wonderful days and years ahead with Marcelle and your grandkids and your camera.

Thank you for a job well done. You have made Vermont, our country, and our world a better place.

I yield the floor.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following Senators be permitted to complete their remarks prior to the scheduled vote: Senator Collins, Senator Reed, Senator Cardin, and Senator Coons.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a fellow New Englander and a truly extraordinary Senator, our friend Patrick Leahy.

In his memoir, Senator Leahy said that one word came to him time and again as he prepared to announce his retirement. That word is

``conscience.'' The Senate, at its best, he wrote, has been the Nation's conscience--a place where Members keep their word and work together for the good of our country.

We heard him expound on that today when he talked about the currency of the Senate being trust.

He went on to say: It has been a place where the minority has not just had a seat at the table but a voice as well. It has been a place where leaders join together across party lines to protect and strengthen our precious democracy.

For 48 years, Patrick Leahy has been such a leader. As we celebrate the fact that he is the longest serving current Senator and the longest serving in Vermont's history, we know that this remarkable longevity is a consequence of his character.

It has been such a pleasure to learn from Patrick Leahy during many years and to work with him. The legislation that we introduced in 2013 to end straw purchasing and the illegal trafficking of firearms was incorporated into the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that was signed into law this year.

We have worked together to better protect runaway and homeless youth with legislation to help thousands of homeless young people nationwide.

We stood together at the signing ceremony for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

My fellow New Englander has been a champion for the Northern Border Regional Commission, which supports job creation and economic growth in the rural areas of the Northeast.

As the former chairman and current member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Pat has been such an effective advocate for our family farms. I have had the pleasure of working with Senator Leahy on many agricultural issues, including support for our dairy industries and vital nutrition programs.

And while Vermont and Maine may disagree on which State produces the best maple syrup, Pat has worked hard to protect an industry that is part of our region's heritage.

Above all, as we have heard today, Pat has been a stalwart champion of human rights. He has said that the accomplishment of which he is most proud is the Leahy Law of 1997 that works to prevent egregious human rights violations by American allies.

His determination, which we also heard about today, to end the deployment of antipersonnel landmines around the world has saved innocent lives.

Patrick has many talents, and he is endlessly curious. Many of us have been the beneficiaries of his wonderful photographs, but this story shows that that curiosity started at a very early age. After all, who else but a 6-year-old Pat Leahy would have pedaled his tricycle into the Vermont Governor's office simply because the door was open and he had to see what was inside? As a photographer, he is both an artist and a chronicler of history and, as has also been mentioned, his recurring role in Batman movies suggests that this former State prosecutor has a bit of ``The Dark Knight'' within him.

In his memoir, and again this morning, Pat laments that the Senate too often has descended into hyperpartisanship and political advantage. But he has faith, as we were inspired by his remarks today, that the Senate can once again be what it once was. He writes: ``Because it is the people, not the rules, who give the Senate its conscience.''

The title of Pat's memoir, ``The Road Taken,'' is a twist on the famous poem by Robert Frost, Vermont's poet laureate. Pat, you have taken the road less traveled by, and it truly has made all the difference, not just for your beloved Vermont but for our Nation. It has been such an honor and privilege to serve with you and to learn from you, and I wish you and your wonderful wife Marcelle all the best in the years to come.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.

Mr. REED. Well, Mr. President, let me start with the obvious. I have always looked up to Pat Leahy.

(Laughter.)

But we all know and we have all heard what an extraordinary legislator and public servant he has been for 48 years. But the most impressive and the most enduring aspect of Pat Leahy is that he is a gentleman of decency and dignity and selfless dedication to this Nation, and in doing that he has inspired and sustained all of us who have known him and who have had that privilege.

His legislation has been extraordinary. He has filled every moment of his service dedicated to helping the American people, helping those who need a chance, and helping particularly the people of Vermont and globally, reaching out to project from this country our best values and to transform those values into action across the globe.

He helped lead the effort to create and fund the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act, which now bears his name, allowing police departments to purchase over 1.5 million bulletproof vests and saving thousands of lives over the last two decades.

He authored the Innocence Protection Act, which ensures that law enforcement officials have the DNA testing tools to find and convict criminals, while improving access to DNA testing for the wrongly convicted. At the heart of what he has done and what he does every day is justice.

He has been a champion for the Second Chance Act, which helps individuals returning from incarceration to transition successfully into society.

As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he shepherded the critical reauthorization for the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act.

As Pat commented, when he arrived here there were no women in the Senate. There are now, fortunately, many of our colleagues who are women, but there is one gentleman who understood what this country had to do to ensure that women receive all the rights and opportunities that they deserve.

As chairman of the Agriculture Committee, he helped New England agriculture significantly, promoting small local farms and organic crops. He championed important agriculture conservation programs, including the Forest Legacy Program.

And in his own backyard, as many have said, he has done more to protect Lake Champlain than Champlain.

He is an extraordinary gentleman.

He has translated his local values, his concern for average people, and his innate sense of justice, as I mentioned before, to the international arena. He has worked across the world to safeguard human rights and human dignity. He fought to enact the Leahy Law, which requires the United States to withhold assistance to agencies of foreign governments that violate the human rights of their own people.

He has worked to repair the damage of the Vietnam war, the hazardous legacy of Agent Orange and landmines. Indeed, he has worked tirelessly to ban the use, stockpiling, and production of antipersonnel landmines around the world and worked to support demining operations in former war zones.

He has also been at the center in efforts to improve relations with Cuba. As a new Senator in 1990, it was my privilege to travel with Senator Leahy as one of the first trips in an effort to engage that nation. Of course, I acted as translator, and we had an extremely successful trip, I must add.

Now as the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Chairman Leahy led the efforts to get us out of the Budget Control Act and back on a path of much more astute and smarter investment for the Nation in the future. He fought to put back into Congress the power of the earmark, with the sense that individual Senators and Members of Congress know just as well--in fact, better--the needs of their district or State than a Washington administrator.

Well, let me conclude with the obvious too. Pat Leahy is OK, but Marcelle is great.

(Laughter.)

There has never been a more remarkable combination of friendship and love and commitment, which is manifested every time we see them and that, too, inspires us all.

So we will miss you, Pat and Marcelle, but you have left us with so much, and you have given us so much that we will carry on for you. Thank you.

I yield the floor.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, when I left home this morning, I told Myrna I was going to be speaking in regards to Patrick's speech on the floor. She wanted to make sure that I expressed our deep love and appreciation to Marcelle and to you, Patrick, for your friendship and for your genuine concern.

You call this the Senate family, and I can tell you that, for the Cardin family, the Leahy family is part of our family. And your deep concern about our challenges really helped us get through some very difficult moments.

So, first, I just want to express my appreciation to the Leahys for what they have meant to the Cardins.

It was 16 years ago when I came to the U.S. Senate. I knew Patrick Leahy from my service in the House. I knew he was an incredible leader on the Judiciary Committee, and I asked the then-majority leader, Reid, whether I could serve on the Judiciary Committee because of Patrick Leahy's leadership. What I didn't expect was a chairman embracing a first-year member of the committee with responsibility and resources to make a difference.

He brought every member of the Judiciary Committee into the process. He gave us an opportunity to be Senators, and my first year was so rewarding because of Senator Leahy's confidence in each of us contributing and giving us the resources to do that.

I have sought Senator Leahy's advice over my 16 years in the Senate with him, and our friendship has grown stronger each year.

Senator Leahy is special for many reasons. Yes, the longevity--48 years is an incredible record to serve in this crazy place and to put up with this schedule and to put up with all we have to. But it is what Senator Leahy has done over those 48 years that makes him so special to all of us. His love and respect for our democratic institutions, his love and respect of the U.S. Senate, are the hallmarks of his service. You have heard him speak about that today on the floor of the U.S. Senate. He has encouraged us to stick by our convictions and debate the issues, and, yes, disagree with each other, but to do it in a collegial way. At the end of the day, we have results to reflect the work that we are doing. That is the Patrick Leahy legacy for our democracy in the U.S. Senate.

On his values, we talked a great deal about that. You know a person by his values. I know what he has meant with regard to his international crusade for human rights. We have talked about the Leahy Law frequently, but the Leahy Law is incredibly important for America's foreign policy and to be embraced in our values. The Leahy Law, I have seen it work firsthand in protecting the rights of individuals, and the landmine legislation that have we talked about frequently, which has been the model to the world.

And, yes, I also had a chance to travel with Senator Leahy to Cuba. It is amazing to be in Cuba with him because he embraces America's values as making a difference by engagement, which is what Senator Leahy believes in.

And, yes, the one thing that he said, which is not exactly accurate, is that he treats all States equally. I don't think any of us will ever believe that. What he has done for Vermont is incredible, and we all respect that, because there are so many things Senator Leahy has done for the economy, but what he has done for the environment in Vermont is really a model for the entire country.

Yes, Lake Champlain is a great lake. The Chesapeake Bay is great water body. And we have patterned many of your efforts that we do in our region, and the people of Vermont and America are better off as a result of your environmental championship.

Senator Leahy has used every opportunity, whether it is recently as chairman of the Appropriations Committee or the President pro tempore of this distinguished Body or chairman of the Judiciary Committee or chairman of the Agriculture Committee or chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee dealing with foreign policy. He has used every one of those opportunities to advance the right values.

He is also a naturalist, we have heard, and he used that to express emotion. He is a photographer. I say that because a photographer doesn't just take pictures. A photographer looks at people and places and captures emotion. And you see in Senator Leahy's photography the hope for our future, his vision that we can do better in all communities around the world.

He has strengthened, by his service in this great Body, the U.S. Senate. He leaves us with a great legacy. He has a great love for this U.S. Senate. He has a great love for the State of Vermont. And his life partner Marcelle--that incredible relationship has strengthened not only the two of you but all of us.

You might not be surprised to learn that Patrick talks frequently about his family--all of his family--because he finds strength in his family and that strength is shown here in the U.S. Senate.

So we say not only thank you, Patrick, for what you have done, but your public service will be a model that you have established that will guide us for generations to come. Job well done. Thank you for your service to our Nation.

I yield the floor.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, we are witnessing the end of an era. After nearly five decades of principled service to his beloved State of Vermont, to our Nation, and to the cause of peace and justice throughout the world, Patrick J. Leahy is leaving the U.S. Senate. His departure feels like a bit of a personal loss for me. As long as I have served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy has been there. He joined that committee in January 1979. And for more than two decades of his tenure on the committee, he served as the chair or ranking member.

He has been a champion of the right to vote, of civil liberties, of freedom of information, of intellectual property, and of upholding and defending the Constitution. He chaired the historic confirmation hearings of the first Black Attorney General, Eric Holder, as well as the confirmation hearings of Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina Justice. He also presided over the historic markup of bipartisan comprehensive immigration legislation in 2013, and I want to assure Senator Leahy that I will continue pushing to reform our broken immigration system. During his service on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy has been a voice of calm and reason when tempers have flared. And he has been a mentor to Members, including me, and to the many staffers who have served him over the years. Just as you can never know a person's life until you walk a mile in their shoes, you can't know the patience and skills it takes to chair an important Senate committee like the Judiciary Committee until you bang that gavel. Thank goodness, I had Senator Leahy as a teacher and example.

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974--part of that big new class of Senators known as the ``Watergate Babies.'' They came to Washington to try to restore people's faith in government and in America itself. Today, Pat Leahy is the last ``Watergate Baby'' still serving in Congress. It seems fitting that his very first vote in this Senate was to authorize the Church Committee, the precursor to today's Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The Church Committee was created to investigate possible abuses of power and illegalities by the CIA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency--and it resulted in major reforms. In the decades since, Patrick Leahy has never shied away from the hard votes. He has voted time and again to uphold the values of our Constitution, even when doing so contained political risk. I have the greatest respect for his fidelity to the rule of law and his determined efforts to safeguard the independence and integrity of America's Federal judiciary. I was informed recently that Senator Leahy has been in the Senate for the confirmation of every single article III judge serving in active status across the Nation. That is an incredible statistic. He is a statesman and a humanitarian whose commitment to human rights--at home and abroad--is revered throughout the world.

I am particularly grateful for his longstanding commitment to funding the Paul Simon Water for the Poor and Water for the World Acts, the latter of which I authored and named for my closest friend in politics, the man whose seat I now hold. These two bills and the ensuing critical funding have spurred a historic American effort to bring greater health, dignity, economic opportunity, and access to school--especially for girls--by providing approximately 57 million of the world's poor with either improved or first time access to clean water and more than 38 million with sanitation services over the last 11 years.

Pat Leahy has gone from ``Watergate Baby,'' to senior statesman, to President pro tempore of the Senate--third in line to the Presidency. He has helped shape some of our Nation's most important laws for two generations. He is a champion of human rights and the rule of law, at home and abroad. And yet, somehow, he has never lost his sense of awe about our democracy. You can see that in the way he still carries his old, 35-millimeter camera to record historic moments.

The great photographer Annie Leibovitz said that if her photos have a hallmark, it is ``that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people.'' The hallmark of Pat Leahy's service to America is also love--

love for our Constitution, love for fairness and decency, and love of people, especially those who are so often overlooked.

Last but not least, Patrick's life has been shaped and enriched by his love for his wife Marcelle and their family. My wife Loretta and I wish Patrick and Marcelle may more years of happiness together. May they be filled with good health and good purpose. And don't forget to send us a few photos every once in a while.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise to celebrate the incredible legacy of Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

In his eight terms in the U.S. Senate, he racked up some incredible accomplishments. He established himself as Congress' most prolific photographer. He appeared in more Batman films than any of our other colleagues. And on one amusing occasion, he became the only politician to ever get a call from the President of the United States while on stage at a Grateful Dead concert.

But when Senator Leahy wasn't on screen or onstage, he could always be found working behind the scenes, standing up for Vermonters. You can't drive around Vermont without seeing Senator Leahy's impact. I mean that literally. There is the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, The Leahy Center for Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity, Leahy Way, Leahy Road, the other Leahy Road--just to name a few.

Those examples represent just a small fraction of what he has done for Vermont. He has gotten critical Federal investments in the iconic Lake Champlain. He successfully fought for resources to help Vermonters rebuild and restore their lives after Hurricane Irene. He got funding to revitalize downtowns, fund opioid treatment programs, support dairy farmers, and add more than 140,000 acres to the Green Mountain National Forest. Senator Leahy made it his priority to give Vermont a seat at the table, and that is just what he did.

And on the national stage, he was always looking out for people, even and especially in the face of heartbreaking circumstances. He stood up for Alan Gross, the U.S. citizen who spent years withering away in a Cuban prison cell surrounded by rats and roaches. Senator Leahy played a key role in getting him released and back home with his family.

During his decades of service on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he championed funding for law enforcement and led the creation of the Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership to stop preventable tragedies. As a result, we have been able to provide more than 1.5 million bulletproof vests for law enforcement. He also successfully spearheaded the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, providing crucial protections to countless women throughout the country.

Senator Leahy has been a clear and consistent voice on human rights, especially on landmines. In 1989, he started a fund to get medical aid to landmine victims, and he later single-handedly got the first legislation in the world to stop the export of landmines through the U.S. Senate. He is an internationally recognized leader on this issue.

In all his time in Washington, Senator Leahy never lost his sense of purpose or his fundamental belief in the power of our government to make life better for people. As a leader, that is what he has always done.

Senator Leahy has a legacy that anyone would be proud of--and I am proud to call him a friend. I wish him and Marcelle all the best in this next chapter.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, on behalf of some of the 400 Senators with whom Senator Leahy, Chairman Leahy, has served, I just wanted to rise as one of the most junior to have served with him to express my gratitude for what he has done for so many of his colleagues as a mentor, a role model, and a friend.

Annie and I are so grateful to you and Marcelle for the warm welcome you gave us when we first arrived a dozen years ago, and I will never forget our first encounter.

Some know that when I was elected in 2010, I was nicknamed ``the accidental Senator'' because I had an opponent who had said something awkward on television about being a witch, and I won by a decisive margin, despite being initially viewed as a real, real long shot.

So, when I had been here just a few weeks, I was summoned to the office of the chairman of the Judiciary Committee--the President pro tem. As I sat there, he had a fire burning in the fireplace of this majestic office.

He thundered at me for a few minutes: I am thinking of an obscure county-elected official--someone no one thought could win, someone with none of the qualifications or experience for a U.S. Senator, someone 99th in seniority. Who am I thinking about?

I shrank back in my chair and said: Why--why, Mr. Chairman, clearly, you are thinking of me.

He goes: No. Me.

When I first got here as a 33-year-old former county prosecutor, everyone said I was an accidental Senator. Today, you call me chairman and President pro tem. Don't ever forget this moment and how it feels--

your awe of this place. In every election, promise me you will go find someone who is a long shot--an unexpected winner--and invest some time and effort in them.

Then, to make the meeting more memorable, he handed me a generous check with which to hire staff counsel for my Judiciary subcommittee.

Patrick, I will never forget that first encounter. It would be enough if that were the only time you had shown me generosity and kindness, but there are dozens and dozens more, like the codel that Annie and I joined you and Marcelle on when we went to Haiti, to Cuba, and to Colombia. We got to go to a mountaintop and see the remarkable Kogi people, who are pre-Colombian, and they witnessed to us about the impact of climate change in a moment I will never forget.

You took me along with you to visit Alan Gross in a Cuban prison.

You showed me what this place can do and what an American who is dedicated to leading with our values can accomplish.

As your successor in chairing the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, I am passionate about continuing your work to ban landmines and to fund the victims of war; to ensure that our commitment to clean up the legacy we left behind in Vietnam is carried out; and to ensure the Leahy Law--one of the many things you have done that bears your name--is justifiably moved forward.

In those first 6 months, you gave me a chance to do a field hearing in Delaware with you, as a new member of the Judiciary Committee. In some of these last weeks together, you have shown us, yet again, what it means to be committed to your State; to leave a legacy of decency, kindness, persistence, thoughtfulness; and to insist on a Senate where Senators keep their word.

You have had an incredible staff who has been wonderful to work with. You have honored your family in your service, and you have inspired a younger generation of Senators to continue in the way that you have led.

While I know I will never cast 17,000 votes, it is only my hope that, someday, many years from now, I can thunder at some very junior Senator and share with him the story of this most seasoned and most admirable President pro tem, my friend.

Thank you, Patrick.

Thank you, Marcelle.

You are wonderful colleagues and friends.

With that, I yield the floor.

SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 198

The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.

Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.

ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY

!RECEIVE ALERTS

The next time we write about any of these orgs, we’ll email you a link to the story. You may edit your settings or unsubscribe at any time.
Sign-up

DONATE

Help support the Metric Media Foundation's mission to restore community based news.
Donate

MORE NEWS