don't know if i'm leaving with him or he's leaving with me. i guess i leave a few days before he does, but we're leaving together. i cannot think of a better person with whom to leave public service than barack obama. for eight years i was his point man. it's been an hoon -- honor and effort of pleasure. what this man accomplished despite unprecedented obstruction from republicans is remarkable. history will remember president barack obama's many accomplishments, and i hope that the presiding officer -- this won't get her in trouble. but it was because of her and two other republican senators that his first congressional session was remarkably historic. we wanted to do more but this good woman, the presiding

officer sitting here today said enough is enough and we had to retract some of the stuff we wanted to do. it was hard but i do say this, it would not have happened but for the presiding officer. president obama saved the country from economic collapse, ushering in a new era of growth. since 2010, the economic recovery has added more than 16 million private-sector jobs. median household incomes have risen significantly. the unemployment rate is now 4.6%. in some states, like the state of nevada, more than 14%. president obama brought the american auto and manufacturing industries back from the brink of collapse with unique program. more than 800,000 new manufacturing jobs since 2010. the auto industry has added almost 700,000 jobs since 2009.

domestic production of automobiles doubled from below six million per year to last year, the year before, 12 million. president obama brought health care to tens of millions of americans through the affordable care act. and every day we learn how important this bill has been. we heard from a very conservative american hospital association today that doing away with obamacare would bankrupt the hospital industry. they would lose over the next few years almost $200 billion. the affordable care act, 21 million more americans now have affordable health care. 92% of americans now have coverage. insurance companies cannot deny coverage or charge more to cover people with preexisting conditions. and how many of us have gone out

to our home states and had people with tears in their eyes say, you know, debbie has been sick since she was a little girl with diabetes. now for the first time in her life she can have insurance, health insurance. insurance companies can't discriminate any more against anyone because of their gender. all women were discriminated against before. every american with insurance has access to preventive care without cost sharing. that means no co-pays for immunizations, cancer screenings, contraceptive coverage for women, diabetes screenings or blood cholesterol. we signed into law the most comprehensive wall street and financial legislation sinced great depression. his administration established a new watchdog to protect consumers from unfair practices. he signed legislation into law that protected homeowners from mortgage fraud. president obama took more action to protect our planet from a

changing climate during the historic paris climate agreement. i met yesterday with some native alaskans. it was scary to talk to this woman, a native alaskan, her town of 800 having trouble getting in and out of the town. she told me the animals are confused because the seasons are changing. the caribou. the caribou have traveled for 20,000 years, we believe, 3,000 miles, migrate every year. they walk in single file, not in large herds jammed together. she said they're having such difficulty. they used to be able to walk over the ice. they can't. there's no ice. they have tried to swim. president obama made the largest investment ever in renewable energy, tripled wind power,

increased solar power by 30 times, creating more than 200,000 jobs in solar alone with hundreds of thousands more jobs the next few years. president obama -- more than 260 acres of public lands and waters. that includes more than 700,000 acres in nevada with one order that he signed. it's called the basin range national monument, a place where john mirrah came looking around for special places in america. he camped in the basin range. and, madam president, hopefully someday you and every senator can go to this magnificent thing in the desert. it has taken 40 years to build. one man has done it, a famous artist by the name of my kerr kerr -- michael hizer.

it's called the city. when i talk about 40 years, days, weekends, overtime, large contingencies of people he directed to this magnificent thing in the middle of the desert. it's now protected forever. president obama and the first lady, michelle obama, have made our nation's children a top priority. in 2010, president obama signed a bill into law to fight child hunger and improve school meals to ensure children receive the nutrition they need to have healthy successful futures. president obama made strides on education. our nation's high school graduation rate is the highest in the hurst of our country. he increased pell grants, made student loan repayment more affordable and expanded loan forgiveness for graduates. president obama granted deferred action for immigrant youth who qualified under the dream act bringing nearly 800,000 young people out of the shadows. president obama made our country more inclusive.

he signed the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. he signed executive orders protecting lgbt workers. americans are now free to marry the person they love regardless of their gender. and as commander in chief, president obama brought bin laden to justice. these are just a few aspects of president obama's storied legacy. it's still growing. what a record. it's a legacy of which he should be satisfied. america is better because of this good man spending eight years in the white house. i'm even more impressed by who he is as a person than who he is as president. he is a man of integrity, of honesty. i've learned so much from him. i never heard barack obama denigrate anyone, ever. there have been times when he could have. perhaps i thought a negative word should be said, and i've suggested that to him. but he would never take it. no, he wouldn't do that. that's barack obama.

and above all, i admire the attention he's given to his family. he may be president of the united states, but nothing gets in his way of his family. he is a terrific husband to michelle and an outstanding father to sasha and malia. he arrives home for dinner virtually every night he's in washington. he goes to their plays, their games. president or not, he's a husband and a father. his devotion extends to his staff as well. he has had a terrific staff working for him. i can't mention all of them, but i'll mention his present chief of staff, dennis mcdonald. he and i have a very close relationship. close relationships come with a lot of difficulty sometimes because it's been tough, but we've tried to work through together. pete rouse, one of the nicest people i've ever known, he also worked for the president very closely. he was chief of staff as senator

and chief advisor when he was in the white house. rahm emanuel, now the mayor of chicago, illinois, former chief of staff, current mayor of chicago, a man known for his bluntness and his productivity as a member of congress and as chief of staff. melissa monaco, former deputy chief of staff who i hope that i had something to do with the romance that wound up her marrying my chief of staff, david. these are a few people i had the pleasure of working with. then there's president obama's cabinet, a cabinet of quality. that includes my friend, secretary of interior ken salazar, a wonderful man and a terrific public servant; a man of substance like no other i've ever known. after eight years leading our country, president obama is leaving office on a high point. when he first took office, our country was in economic free

fall and was hemorrhaging jobs. now the economy has experienced the longest streak of private-sector job growth ever. we have the lowest employment rate in nearly a decade. and eight years of president obama, we're now as a country on a sustainable path to fight climate change and grow renewable energy. we're more respected around the world. we reach international agreements to curb climate change, stop iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. and on the path of normalizing relations with our neighbor, cuba. our country has made significant strides in nearly every way. there's no doubt that the united states is better now than we were eight years ago, and we have barack obama to thank for that. thank you, president obama, for being the person that you are.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the house message to accompany h.r. 34, which the clerk will report. the clerk: house message to accompany h.r. 34, an act to authorize and strengthen the tsunami detection forecast, warning, research and mitigation program with the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, and for other purposes. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california is recognized. mrs. boxer: madam president, thank you so much. this is a moment for me that i think it's fair to say i will never ever forget. and i'm so honored -- i'm so honored to have members of my family here, staff from past and present, from both my personal office and committee.

extraordinary colleagues who i adore and love, i worked with, fought with, debated. i'm so honored that senator mcconnell and senator reid have said really nice things about me. i think in senator reid's case, we go back so long, and i'll talk a little bit more about that. in senator mcconnell's case, we didn't talk for a long time, and then we did get together and we did some great work together. but i think he was here just to make sure i'm leaving. my leader over in the house is here, nancy pelosi, and i will talk about her more. my colleagues from the house came over in the midst of all their work. i love them. i have enjoyed working with them. i look around this chamber, and i realize the reason i'm able to actually leave is because i know each of you in your passion to make life better for people,

and that's what it's all about. madam president, when i decided not to run for reelection, you know how the press always follows you around and they said, is this bittersweet for you? and my answer was forthcoming: no way is it bitter. in every way is it sweet. and why do i feel that way? it's because this has been a dream to be in a profession that i think is noble, no matter how beaten up it gets. for 40 years, for more than half my life. and i was able to do every day what i always want to do, which was simply to make life better for people. i didn't always succeed. were there frustrations? yes. were there disappointments? yes. were there defeats? yes, many. but every morning when i woke

up, i knew i had a chance to do something good. and as a first-generation american on my mother's side, and most particularly as a woman, i never in my wildest dreams imagined that i could be in the united states senate. it was an uphill battle, and i know i speak for a lot of people sitting right here who know what i'm talking about. when i first ran for the marin county board of supervisors in 1972, it was a republican landslide year. it was more than tough. i'll never forget one woman i spoke with after knocking on her door, i introduced myself and said hi, i'm barbara boxer, i'm running for county supervisor. she greeted me by saying, "i never thought you'd be so short." and then she said she wasn't supporting me. to quote her, because, "you

have four kids and you're going to neglect them if you're elected." well never mind this was a part-time job, just a few minutes from the house. never mind the man i was running against had a family and a full-time job. and never mind that i actually had two kids. but she insisted, nancy -- she said "i know you have four kids because i read it in the newspaper." i said, lady, when you give birth, you never l forget it. and i did it twice. well, i lost that seat. but two things helped get me through it. first was an article by gloria steiner, who essentially said that women tend to take losses too personally. we have to understand we could be just a little bit ahead of our time and we can't give up. and second, my son doug, only seven at the time, ignored any attempts to cheer him up by saying, mom, can you make me a

peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. the point is, life goes on. you pick yourself up and you keep fighting, because this is your country, it is our country and it is worth fighting for. so i ran again four years ago later and i won. hi was eager to get to work on things like after-school for kids, protecting the natural beauty of my county, ensuring that a child walking to school would be safe. and i soon became known as the stop sign queen, i put up so many signs to protect kids. but, you know, it was local government, and the world was changing. the vietnam war was raging. the women's movement was ramping up, the oil companies wanted to drill off the pristine coast of chas-- of california. so even only representing 40,000 people, i was exposed to these

national issues that would soon require all of my attention. tip o'neill, one of nancy pelosi's great predecessors, was known for his saying that all politics is local. but the global became local in marin county. when we got a federal grant saying the threat of nuclear attack is real, you have to have a plan to evacuate the county in case there's a bomb dropped in san francisco. this was in the 1980's. well, the reagan administration, i think, missed the obvious. getting in a car on a narrow road to evacuate to napa or going under your desk wasn't going to protect you, so all five supervisors -- three republicans and two democrats -- rejected the grant. instead, we mailed the informational booklet to every household telling them, there was no way to evacuate from a nuclear bomb. you have to prevent it in the first place.

and during that same period, james watt wanted to drill off the coast of california. we put together business people and environmentalists and farmers and everybody, and we said, no, and the tourist industry joined us, and we stopped it. that was my first attempt at very broad coalition building. so as national issues enfolded before my eyes, i had to do more, if i really wanted to stay true to making life better for people. so when john burton's seat for congress opened up in 1982, i jumped in. it was a longshot and i'll always be grateful to the people that brought me to that dance, working people, environmentalists, child advocates, they put me over the top. after i won the election, i began hearing about the mysterious disease that was stealing the lives of so many in my congressional district. i remembered feeling so helpless

because we didn't know what it was and what caused it, but one thing was clear: aids was devastating, and too many in washington were just not taking action. when we found out it could be transmitted sexually, i had to go up against the far right wing who didn't want to provide any information about the disease. yet here i was, a middle-aged mother of two from the suburbs talking about condoms. it was uncomfortable. but this would become my way. in the face of a crisis, never look away, never back down, and never be afraid. in the case of aids, i got to work with the chairman of the house appropriations committee, a southern gentleman. he never heard of aids. and he said to me, if people are sick, we're going to help them. we got the first double-digit

federal aid funding and we established an aids task force and brought in people like elizabeth taylor and elizabeth glazer and we -- glaser, and we fought back and we took it under our wing to solve this crisis, both adult aids and pediatric aids. by that time, i had an extraordinary new partner in the house, nancy pelosi. we immediately bonded. i was so impressed with her passion and her energy. we remained the dearest -- we remain the dearest of friends to this day. i am so proud of her. nancy has changed the face of politics in america and she will go down in history as one of the most influential leaders of our time. recently, on a recent issue, i was expressing deep disappointment and nancy told me, don't ago nice; organize -- don't agonize; organize.

this was two nights ago. she's right. when things get tough, that's what you do. over the years, issues kept coming my way, came the way of a lot of people in this room. the violence against women act, lgbt equality, protecting a woman's right to choose, workers' rights, protect being the air and clean air act and clean water act. those are all examples. the fights keep coming, whether you are in elected office or not. they come to you if you are a single parent trying to raise a child and struggling to make ends meet 0 on a minimum wage. it is not fair. they come to you if your kid gets asthma. they come to you if your job has been outsourced and you have nowhere to turn. they come to you if college tuition gets out of reach. whether it is happening to you or someone else, the great thing about our participatory democracy is, each of us has a chance to make a difference.

you can make a difference by holding an elected office or working for someone who does. you can make a difference by working for a campaign. you can make a difference by starting a business and employing good people to help you build it. you can make a difference by becoming a teacher, a nurse, a firefighter, or a police officer. there are so many noble ways to make a difference in america, but the one thing you cannot do even when it is tempting -- you cannot turn away. never. the forces and the people who shape you cannot be ignored. and i say to everybody within the sound of my voice that you have it within you to step out and make your mark. a lot of young people come up to me and said, i'd lover to do what you do. how do i become a u.s. senator? i'm sure lots of us get that question. and i always say, it's important

-- i always say, it is not important to be something; it is important to do something. but if you choose my path and the path of many in this room, i want to be clear: you will need mentors, and you will need friends ... like two of mine, john burton and barbara mikulski. john encouraged me to reason for the house. we had always been a fighter for those without a voice. barbara had been my friend from the house and encouraged me to run for the senate. when i went to see her, she said very simply, go for it. i mean, that and $40 million. that was good advice. and i did. senator mikulski is everything a senator should be: intelligent, caring, always focused, and as an added bonus, she can have you in stitches. i'm so grateful for her guidance

and, most importantly, her friendship. so i launched my spain for the senate. it was -- so i launched my campaign for the senate. it was very difficult. no one predicted i was win -- i would win. i was filled with doubt. coming to my aid was my senior senator, dianne feinstein. she stood by my side, even though it could have cost her votes. and i will never, ever forget that. thank you, diane. and i also need to pay tribute to anita hill, because without her, i never would have been elected to the senate. anita hill courageously told her story to the all-male u.s. senate judiciary committee, breaking the silence on this painful issue. in addition, people saw there were only two women in the senate. anita hill, you showed us all that we must never be afraid to take on the powerful.

it certainly isn't easy. but if you learn to be tough in the right way, you can find the sweet spot, even in this atmosphere where the parties have grown so far apart. this is one of my biggest regrets: how far the parties have grown apart. especially when it comes to the environment. remember, richard nixon created the environmental protection agency. he signinged the clean air act, the clean water act, and the endangered species afnlgt george h.w. bush signed the extension of the clean air act and many republicans led the charge for environmental protection. but now, unfortunately, protecting the environment has become a divide where we truly duke it out. as i leave here, i intend to do everything in my power to work to bridge that divide because we all live on one planet. doesn't matter what party we

are. we all breathe the same air. we all want our families to be healthy and live on a planet that can sustain us and all of god's creation. so now, in this time of deep division, we have to find areas to work together. well, i think i've found approval -- a proven formula with senator jim inhofe. we never surprise each other, even where we disagree. ever. our word is our bond to each other. we found that we could work as a winning team to build and strengthen our nation's infrastructure, and we have made incredible progress for the american people on those issues: long-term highway bills, long-term water bills and the first update on the toxic control act -- and that was a doozy for us. i'll never forget that battle. transportation turned out to be a sweet spot between majority

leader mitch mcconnell and me. we haven't talked seriously for -- we hadn't talked seriously for 20 years because of the packwood case. hello, hello, and that was it. but we did come together on the transportation act. our work surprised our colleagues, but i think it surprised the two of us more than anything else. but it worked because we set aside all of our past legitimate divisions in order to rescue america's transportation system. we took a risk, and the risk paid off. and, of course, all of my colleagues helped make that possible. i want also to mention my republican counterpart on the ethics committee, senator johnny isakson because when it comes to ethics, we've proven there's no room for partisanship. we want to make sure the senate is a respected institution. friendship and trust, with members on both sides, and in

the house of representatives -- i'm so proud so many of you are here -- that's the only way to get things done. and having a leader who has your back is essential. a good leader knows and understands each member of his caucus and where they draw the line. harry is so humble. whenever you talk about him, he puts his head down. harry, could you just look at me for a second. a good leader knows when to speak up and when to listen. a good leader knows when to pick up the gloves and fight like hell. that's what harry reid has done. he is not a show horse. he is a workhorse. he is a soft-spoken man. how many of us had to say, harry, can you speak up? he is a soft-spoken man after food words, but he chooses his words wisely, and he chooses his fights wisely. he doesn't seek the spotlight. but when it comes for standing

up for what's right, he is right there. when others have tried to slip out of the room. harry has not only been an extraordinary leader and colleague, he's been a close and treasured friend of me, of stewart. he and his wife landra. i know he treats me like a sister. he always hang up on me when i call him. and he never calls on me when i madly wave my hand in caucus. you're like a sister. you don't have to worry. the level will be there. i am forever grateful for his leadership and friendship. another quality of harry's is that he encouraged women to run for the senate and once we got here, he made sure we had major responsibilities. harry, you will go down in history for that. i am, of course, ecstatic that my successor is kamala harass is, who has served as attorney

general in my state with great distinction and who will continue the tradition of having a strong, progressive woman in this seat. kamala, you heard it here -- a strong, progressive woman in this seat is what we need. as i wind down my remarks, i must be completely honest about my broken heart. i worked hard along with so many millions of americans so that we would have our first female president. it was not to be this time but we made history with hillary clinton, the first female nominee of a major party who, i might add, won the popular vote by millions and still counting. she truly shattered the glass ceiling and show that women have the ability to take it on the chin again and again. my message to everyone who supported hillary is the work goes on. yes, you build on success but you learn from failure, but you

never stop working for human right, civil right, women's right, voting rights, children's rights, and the environment. i certainly don't plan to stop. i am not only fortunate to have this extraordinary career, but i'm also so fortunate to be going home to a state that stands for everything i believe in. i want to thank everyone -- every one of my staffers, those who work for me in washington, either on my personal staff, my committee staff, those who work for me in the state, and those who helped me get elected. a lot of you are here today. without them i never, ever could have done my job and i never could have accomplished the things that i've accomplished that i'm proud of. and i want to thank the floor staff. the floor staff never gets thanked enough because they deal with us when we're very nervous, when we're about to have an amendment come up, when we're about to vote on something.

and we want to understand the rules. we want to understand our rights. gary, you and your team, trish, tim, all of you, thank you. when i look back on everything i fought for, there are more than a thousand accomplishments, and i am certainly not going to talk about all of those, but i'm going to briefly, very fast go through ten of my favorites. the first after-school programs that got funded by the federal government covering more than 1.6 million kids every day. a million acres of california wilderness preserved. the first ever comprehensive combat casualty care center in california for our most wounded warriors. ensuring that our transportation programs remain in place for years to come with millions of jobs protected. upholding our landmark environmental laws, and i hope that continues. but i won't go off on that. setting clean, drinking water

standards to protect pregnant women, children and other vulnerable people. the dolphins safe tuna label. protecting victims of rape in the military from irrelevant harassing questions that had already been barred in civilian courts. establishing the first ever subcommittee to oversee global women's issues which jeane is going to carry on. recommending a diverse group of extremely qualified judicial nominees who are carrying out our laws in california's federal courts. there are many more i can talk about. each one is like a child to us, and we remember how hard it was to get it done, but let me be clear. you don't get anything done here unless your colleagues help you from both sides of the aisle. my biggest regret i have to say what it was. my biggest regret is that i couldn't end the war in iraq. it hurt my soul. i came down to the floor every day and i read the names of

fallen soldiers. i was accused of being too emotional. i asked probing questions in committee to expose the fact that we were in the middle of a civil war. day after day i made my case, but the war went on and on, and it took president obama to finally end that war and i will also be grateful to him. of course, there's unfinished business and i know my colleagues are going to carry it o. we have to restore the voting rights act. we need to restore trust between our communities and law enforcement. we have to continue to protect and provide affordable health care. we must take action on climate change or we are in deep trouble as humankind. we must protect the dreamers and immigrants who contribute to our communities every day. we must raise the minimum wage and ensure equal pay for equal work. we must protect reproductive freedom and work across party lines for a safe word. i've often joked about some of

the things that have been said to me over the years that are too colorful in a negative way to repeat here, but i want everyone to know whether friend or foe, whether critic or admirerrer, i do appreciate the fact that you let me know how you felt about my work one way or the other. so to close, i want to read into the record a letter i received in october from one of the greatest jazz musicians in our country. it was this handwritten letter. he was recently honored at the kennedy center and he writes in long hand. i quote him. "greetings: so, so sorry that we are not going to have you for us anymore. i've always been interested in politics marching as a 6-year-old with my activist

grandmother for civil rights. it has been such a joy and inspiration knowing that barbara boxer was there for us. god bless you, your family, and loved ones and thank you. you will be missed and we all love you. have a beautiful life just like you've made life beautiful for so many citizens." well, i want to thank sonny rollins. i don't know him personally. i met him once. but what he said is all i wanted to do, make life beautiful for people. i didn't always succeed. i didn't always prevail. i felt the pain of losing many times, but i can honestly say i never stopped trying. i was able to do it because of the love, understanding, and support of my husband of 55 years, stewart, who is here today. he gave me so much including the best political name ever.

i did it because of my son doug, my daughter nicole, my daughter-in-law amy, my son-in-law kevin and my four incredible grandchildren. and because of the people of california who sent me here time and time again ten years at the house, 24 to the senate. i had the opportunity to never stop trying. i had the opportunity to speak out no matter how many times i had to try, i did. here's the thing. i had this platform, this extraordinary honor, this sacred position, and i say to my colleagues no matter who says what about it, it's a sacred position. you hold your head high. so many here have fought the good fight and will continue to fight the good fight. ly always treasure my time

serving the people. they gave me a purpose in my life that i will always cherish. they made me a better person. they paid my life -- made my life more beautiful than i ever could have imagined and for that i am forever grateful. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. [applause] [applause]

the presiding officer: the senator from oak oak hoff mr. president -- oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, that was a very emotional, heartfelt talk. and i look around. i know there are a lot of people who want to respond, a lot of people who want to be heard. but i grabbed it first. this will be real short. i want to say that -- i believe it was the majority leader who gave me the quote this morning, made the comment that the two of you agree on nothing but you get

everything done. there's really a reason for that. when you stop and think about the fact that we have -- we came about the same time to the house and about the same time to the senate. and there are no two people in this body who are further apart from each other than barbara boxer and jim inhofe. and yet we have something beautiful and i hesitate to show this a.p. picture of our embrace, but it's got to be in the record here somewhere. when you stop and think about the fact that for 12 years we swapped back and forth being chairman of the environment and public works committee. i remember when the republicans were in the majority -- let's see. we lost in '06. barbara danced in, al gore, all these other people. the world is going to come to an

end unless we do all these things. and i responded. at that time she said something to me very profound. i never forgot and i thought about it for the next eight years. and that was that we looked at things and we had an election, and elections have consequences. well, a few years later -- two years ago the republicans took back over and so we presented gifts to each other. i presented a gift to her with a t-shirt that says "elections have consequences" but all that time we didn't really change in terms of what we were doing together. i have a list of the things that we have done which i left some place but nevertheless, it was in 2005 we did the highway bill. actually in 1998 we were doing the highway bill and 17 -- so all of these -- -- tosca.

i looked around, there was all my very liberal democrat friends and me. i thought wait a minute, how did this happen? but anyway, that has -- it has worked. we've been able to get things done. and i've been very proud. in fact, i shouldn't say this because i'm divulging confidence but we have meetings the same as democrats have their meetings where all the chairmen get together. when it gets my turn to make my statement, i say -- of the committee that gets things done. anyway, i disagree with you, senator boxer, on a lot of the regulations. i told her many times that she has every right to be wrong. but, you know, on the things that are really important, we did manage to get things together. you know, there's an awful lot of hate around here, around this

place. it's so unnecessary. you can disagree with someone and love them anyway. i have to tell you confession is good for the soul, barbara, but i want you to know i'm truly going to miss you around here. and i yield the floor. mrs. boxer: mr. president, if i could just respond to my dear friend. the relationship that we developed was based on trust. and honesty -- and honestly, we never ever misled each other. the staff, i just love your staff. i really do. and my staff developed the same type of relationship that we developed, disagreeing on many things but understanding that we could work together and find common ground. and so i just hope as i step out the door, lord knows when that

will be given this place, but when i do step out the door, that others will form this type of bond across party lines because without it, things just don't work right. and i just want you to know it has been a great pleasure to work with you in every way, shape, or form. one of us is from venus and one of us is from mars. that's just the way it is. we just see the world differently. but it hasn't stopped us from putting aside those disagreements, not forming any bitterness about them which is easy to do. when one person says climate change is a hoax and the other one thinks it's the biggest threat, we have to deal with it. that's a pretty big divide, you know. but we knew there was no way we could come together so we kind of put it aside and we didn't let it in any way spoil our

friendship or our ability to work together. so it is a very important message i think to many chairmen and ranking members that if there's honesty, set it aside if you can't work together but where you can find those sweet spots, do it because everyone wants -- they're cheering us on from the outside. i can't tell you how many people at home tell me we don't know how you do it, but it's great what you and inhofe get done. fortunately, we never lost an election over our cooperation. they could have said i won't vote for him, he talks to her. we were able to prove we could do it. jim, i'm honored you came to the floor. i'm honored that senator mcconnell said such nice things. i'm so honored that so many came to the floor to hear my farewell remarks. and again, i would yield the floor.

ms. ayotte: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: mr. president, it is with deep gratitude that i rise today to address my senate colleagues and members of my staff with whom i have had the privilege of serving with over the last six years. first and foremost, i want to thank the people of new hampshire for giving me the extraordinary opportunity to serve them. from nashua to newport to the north country, they have inspired me. the people of our state are hardworking, caring, compassionate people with grit. and they have a fierce sense of independence which i respect and admire. that spirit has guided me during my time here and it has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve them. i want to thank my family.

my husband joe, my wingman. joe is a patriot with a heart of service. that's why he served our country as a fighter pilot in the air force and why he has been my biggest supporter during my service, not only as new hampshire's attorney general but as a senator. we are so proud of our children, kate and jake, who are now 12 and 9. my family has sacrificed so that i could serve the people of new hampshire, and i'm grateful for their patience and love. i also want to thank my mother kathy, who is and always has been my mentor and number-one cheerleader. i could not have done it without her help and that of my stepfather jim, my uncle jack and jane, and all of our extended family who have done so much for us. they have made it possible for me to serve, and there are not adequate words to express how much their love and support

means to me. i also want to thank my wonderful and hardworking staff. in new hampshire and washington, whose dedication, work ethic and talent is unparalleled in the senate. i'm especially fortunate that some of the members of my staff have served by my side since i was first sworn in six years ago. my staff is dedicated, creative, tireless and compassionate. i'm so proud of our team and all that we've accomplished together. i'm confident that they will continue to work to create a brighter future for new hampshire and for our country. and i ask unanimous consent that a list of their names be entered into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. ayotte: thank you, mr. president. i want to take a moment to thank the capitol police who devote themselves to keeping us safe each and every day and who have become friends to my staff and me over the years. i'm so grateful for all of our first responders who put their

lives on the line each and every day to keep us safe. i also want to thank the senate floor staff, the pages and everyone who work so hard behind the scenes to make our work possible here. during the past six years, i've traveled throughout new hampshire, talking to people from all walks of life, listening to their ideas and learning from their experiences. i've met so many hardworking people in our state who have, in turn, inspired me to work hard on their behalf. true to the nature of our great state, they have never been shy about letting me know what's on their minds, whether it was at one of the 50 town hall meetings we held or in the grocery aisle at the market basket. they sent me to the senate with a sense of purpose, and it has been an honor to fight for them and their families every single day. one of the most rewarding aspects of my time in the senate has been standing up for those who put their lives on the line for our country.

our veterans and our men and women in uniform and their families, and today we mark the 75th anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor, we are reminded once again of their selfless service and sacrifice on behalf of our great nation. i was honored during my time here to lead the charge to repeal unfair cuts for our military retirees, and to help make progress toward improving access to local health care for veterans in new hampshire, who for far too long have been forced to travel long distances to receive care from a v.a. facility because we don't have a full-service hospital, unfortunately, in the state of new hampshire. too often, our veterans are not treated as they should be, and this has to change. they have sacrificed so much for our freedom and deserve only the best from us. as the wife of a combat veteran who served in iraq, nothing has been more important to me than keeping our country safe. that commitment is deeply

personal to me. one of the greatest privileges i have had as a senator is to visit with members of our new hampshire national guard and our men and women in uniform who serve overseas and are there now as we are here today, and we pray for their safe return. they make us so proud. they represent the very best of our state and our country. as a member of the armed services committee, i have been proud to advocate for the ports mouth naval shipyard and the vital workers who help our national security. this has been a team effort between new hampshire and maine. i want to thank my colleagues, senator shaheen, senator collins who i see here today, senator angus king, for their incredible work in supporting the shipyard. i especially want to thank senator shaheen for all the work we did together on important issues for our state, whether it

was advocating for the shipyard, for the air refueling wing to receive the new tanker, for our national guard and for our veterans. we always look for ways to come together for the people of new hampshire, and i appreciate her dedication and service. since i first came to the senate, one of my top priorities has been reversing the obama administration's misguided policy to empty and close the guantanamo bay detention facility. each year, i've led efforts to prevent the transfer of terrorists to the u.s., to our soil here, and to be -- and to urge the administration to be transparent with the american people about these dangerous detainees. as i have called for previously, i hope the new administration will immediately halt the dangerous policy of releasing guantanamo terrorists to other countries where they often rejoin terrorist activities and finally establish a commonsense detention policy that keeps terrorists off the battlefield and protects american lives and

our national security. we made progress in saving taxpayer dollars at the pentagon, and i know there's more work that needs to be done, by ending wasteful programs like the missile to nowhere and passing the never contracting with the enemy legislation that cut through red tape and helped prevent tens of millions of dollars from ending up in the hands of our enemies. and working with chairman mccain, i was proud to help lead the successful effort to prevent the premature retirement of the a-10 aircraft. ensuring that our ground troops continue to have the best close air support possible to keep them safe. during my time on the committee, i've had the privilege of working closely with chairman john mccain and senator lindsey graham to ensure that america maintains the strongest and best military in the world and to ensure that our country continues to be the greatest

force for good in the world. there are no stronger voices in this body for america's leadership in the world nor fiercer advocates for our men and women in uniform than chairman john mccain and senator lindsey graham. now more than ever, we need their leadership, expertise and passion for keeping this country safe with the challenges we face around the world. i'm honored to have worked with them and most of all to call them my friends. serving on the armed services committee has been one of the best experiences i've had in the senate. i want to express my gratitude to all my fellow committee members because it has truly been a bipartisan effort each year to ensure our troops have the resources they need to do their jobs, and i see senator mccaskill, the senator from missouri here, and i deeply appreciate the work we have done together on behalf of our men and women in uniform. thank you.

going forward, it is critical that congress and the next administration work together to reverse the harmful cuts to our military and to ensure we have a defense budget based on the threats that we face around the world right now, which are unprecedented. another issue that has been near and dear to my heart is addressing a devastateing epidemic that's facing the state of new hampshire, and that is a heroin and prescription opioid epidemic that has taken a devastating toll on our state. i've met so many people in new hampshire who are hurting because of this epidemic. mothers and fathers who have lost children, brothers and sisters who have lost siblings. many of the families who have been affected have become my dear friends, like doug and pam griffin of newton, new hampshire, who lost their

beautiful daughter courtney, who had so much potential, and they lost her to an overdose. the griffins, like so many other families in new hampshire that i've met, have turned their pain into passion to save other families, and i've learned so much from their experiences. they inspired me to work with a group of great senators and my colleagues, senator rob portman, whom i know is here today, senator sheldon whitehouse from rhode island and senator amy klobuchar from minnesota. the four of us came together and worked on what's called the comprehensive addiction and recovery act. this bill will provide a much-needed framework for addressing this epidemic, for prevention, treatment, recovery and support for our first responders who are doing so much for this epidemic. as a bipartisan team, we worked on this legislation for more

than two years. our bill passed the senate overwhelmingly and was signed into law earlier this year. cara will focus on the best programs to help state and local efforts in turning around the tide of addiction that are facing so many in this country. cara is an important first step, but there is so much more work that needs to be done. i'm encouraged that because of our efforts, this body has recognized the seriousness of this crisis. i was particularly glad to advocate for a billion dollars in funding to address the heroin epidemic be included in the 21st century cures act, which we are expected to pass and send to the president this week. i want to thank senator lamar alexander for his incredible leadership in getting this important public health bill passed. the funding in the 21st century cures bill goes hand in hand with the important policy provisions in the cara bill and will help save lives in new hampshire and across this

country. finally, i would like to return to the reason i ran for the senate back in 2010, to make sure that we leave new hampshire and our nation stronger and better off for the next generation. as the mother of two young children, i was increasingly concerned that left unchecked, our skyrocketing national debt would ultimately burden future generations and diminish their opportunities. i ran because i believed it was time for new hampshire to bring some of its common sense here to washington to deal with our nation's spending habits, and on every committee i served on, we looked for ways to cut wasteful spending and fought to hold the government accountable for the way it spends our hard-earned taxpayer dollars. it is my hope that this issue will be at the top of the agenda of the incoming congress and the

new administration. if there's anything that i've learned in my time here, is that it takes cooperation from both sides of the aisle to get things done. it has been a privilege to serve with so many in this body that care about our country deeply and work tirelessly each day on behalf of their constituents, and i am so honored as i see my colleagues who are here today because i know how hard you work every day, and i want to thank you for what you do on behalf of the people of this country. i'm humbled by what i have learned from each of you and from each of my colleagues in the senate, and for the opportunity to serve with so many good people on behalf of our great nation. i thank each of you for your dedicated service and most of you will for your friendship. without leadership here, things

just don't get done, and i especially want to thank majority leader mitch mcconnell for his commitment to making the senate work and to making sure that we're doing the people's business. on a personal note, i've deeply appreciated his mentorship and his friendship. working with ouw president, the senate has a fresh opportunity to create a better quality of life for all americans in this great country. that means elected leaders will need to work together and put aside our partisan differences. during this election, we heard the frustrations of the american people about their government. they rightly expect this body to move forward in solving the significant challenges facing our nation, such as getting our fiscal house in order, ensuring that families can afford quality health care without washington between them and their doctors,

reforming our broken tax code so we can keep and grow jobs here in the united states of america, and foremost, keeping america safe in a dangerous world. my hope is that the members of this body will appeal to the better angels of our nature, put partisanship aside and focus on the challenge of building a more perfect union. because the challenges before us are great, and we cannot hope to overcome them unless we do so working hand in hand. i know my senate colleagues are people of great character, and they are up to this challenge. and i wish them the very best as they continue their very important work on behalf of the people of the greatest nation on earth. to the people of new hampshire, joe and i thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the greatest honor of a lifetime,

for serving you, and for the privilege of serving in this, in the united states senate with so many good people. mr. president, i thank you and i yield the floor. mrs. shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, i'm pleased that i could be here for senator ayotte's farewell address and honored to have had the opportunity to serve with her over the past six years. six years ago i stood on this floor to recognize another departing republican senator from new hampshire, judd gregg. i said then about my rip -- relationship with senator gregg something that is also true

about my relationship with senator ayotte, that we always manage to disagree without being disagreeable. i am grateful to senator ayotte for this. i'm proud that we've been able to maintain that civility and bipartisanship even in the course of two very close and very tough election cycles. that's the new hampshire way. putting partisanship aside whenever possible and seeking practical, pragmatic solutions to address people's critical needs. as she said, time and time again senator ayotte and i have teamed up to advance legislation of special importance to the granite state, including strongly advocating for veterans, for the ports portsmouth naval shipyard and new hampshire national guard and that new casey 46 tanker. together we fought to secure more resources for law enforcement and treatment professionals on the front lines of the opioid crisis, including this week important new funding in the 21st century cures act.

mr. president, i want to publicly express my gratitude to kelly for her dedicated service to the people of new hampshire and more broadly to the people of the united states. over the last six years, senator ayotte has earned respect on both sides of the aisle in this body and in new hampshire. i know that her husband joe and their two wonderful children, kate and jacob, are very, very proud of her service in the senate. looking to the future, there's no question in my mind that she will continue to serve the state and the country she loves. and, kelly, i wish you and your family all the best in the years ahead. thank you, mr. president. mr. mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: mr. president, i come to the floor today to pay tribute to my dear friend and colleague, the senator from new hampshire, kelly ayotte. i first met kelly in 2010 when i joined her for a town hall meeting in nashua, nam new -- nw hampshire. my affection for the state of

new hampshire dates back to my bid for president in 2000. it was a familiar setting to join so many old friends in support of her campaign for the united states senate. i was impressed with senator ayotte's deep understanding of the top challenges facing the country, the seriousness with which she approached her work and ease with which she engaged with members of the audience, gracefully handling spirited debates and sparring matches with voters, a staple of town hall meetings in new hampshire i always admired and i knew then we'd be fast friends. in the senate, senator ayotte brought that same tenacity to her work, distinguishing herself as a rising star in the republican party and a leader willing to work across party lines to get things done. senator ayotte has approached every issue candidly and pragmatically, sometimes -- and that's something that is all too often lacking in this politics today. i call them like i see them,

she once said, and that means not just with the opposing party but with my own party. senator ayotte took this mantra on the road continuing the tradition of the new hampshire town hall meetings by holding more than 50 town hall meetings in small towns and cities across new hampshire. where she spoke directly with her constituents about the issues impacting their families. but in my view, senator ayotte's very best work lies in her contribution to defense and national security as a member of the armed services committee. coming from the military family, her commitment to strengthening our armed forces is deeply personal. that is contributed to her tireless advocacy on issues important to new hampshire, to the national guard base and the portsmouth naval shipyard and military and personnel supporting our national security who call new hampshire home. as chairman of the subcommittee on readiness, senator ayotte has called attention to the dangerous military readiness

crisis and has been a consistent advocate for making sure the men and women of our armed forces have the resources they need to defend the nation. she has authored numerous legislative proposals to eliminate wasteful and duplicative spending at the department of defense so that we can reinvest savings into rebuilding our military. she has successfully passed legislation to save over $1 billion in the pentagon's budget to keep u.s. tax dollars out of the hands of america's enemies. and she's been a leading advocate for appealing arbitrary budget cuts and the mindless mechanism of sequestration which continue to weaken our military and put the lives of our service members at greater risk. senator ayotte's fight to prevent the air force from precipitously mothballing its fleet of a-10 wart hog attack planes saw the very best she has to offer. as a wife of a retired a-10 pilot who flew combat missions in iraq and an expert in defense

policy, senator ayotte understood the critical role this aircraft plays in providing close air support for our fighting men and women. so year after year she relentlessly led the fight to prevent the obama administration from following through on its plan to retire that fleet, pushing through measures in annual defense authorizations bills that would prevent any premature divestment of this aircraft. at the end of the day she was right. the air force conceded to this aircraft's value in the fight against isil overseas and reversed its decision to laying any divestment -- delaying any divestment until at least 2022. anyone who watched senator ayotte question a witness will not be surprised to learn of her background as new hampshire's first female attorney general. i've been a fortunate observer on more than one occasion in which a bureaucrat withered under skilled cross-examination by is not ayotte.

she takes her oversight role seriously and believes in holding our nation's leaders accountable. in every way senator ayotte rose to meet the responsibilities and opportunities of her office and there are many qualities important to being a good senator, but none, in my opinion is more important than standing firm for what you believe. that is what senator ayotte has done. she has never wavered in her commitment to principle and this body is better for it. on a more personal note, i have cherished the friendship and partnership of senator kelly ayotte. the kindness and courtesy she has extended to her colleagues has made this institution a better place. and her principled leadership has served as an example to all of us. kelly, you could always find a warm smile that served as a reminder that serving here is truly a joy and a privilege. while i'll miss kelly's presence in the senate, i will continue

to rely on her wise counsel and friendship, and i'm confident our nation will continue to benefit from her talents for many years to come. with this in mind, i thank my dear friend, valued colleague, senator kelly ayotte, for her service to the nation in this body. and until the nation calls on her again, i wish her and her husband joe and their children, catherine and jacob, fair winds and following seas. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mrs. mccaskill: i don't have eloquent prepared remarks as the chairman just delivered, but i will tell you this. i've been lucky enough to be in the trenches with kelly ayotte. and when you're in the trenches with kelly ayotte, there is something about her demeanor that lifts you up.

it was a tough fight where we were outnumbered particularly by our fellow women senators, and it was hard. it was really hard and emother-in-law morning business. -- it was really hard and emotional. and every time i would walk up to kelly in full-blown panic mode, this smile would radiate, the reassuring pat on my shoulder that we had the facts on our side. that the emotional arguments might be on the other side, but the facts were on our side. it was -- it kept me strong. it kept me focused. and i will tell you three things i know in my heart about kelly ayotte. she's a warrior. she's a class act. and she's my friend. thank you, kelly.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: thank you very much. i want to attest to claire and kelly, figure to war, i want -- if i go to war, i want to go with y'all. when the bullets fly, you get tougher. of all my colleagues, sometimes the stress of the debate wears you down pretty quickly. the more contentious, the better you were. so, kelly, the best way we can pay you back is keep the fight up and make sure we have a fair military justice system and commanders are accountable but they're still in charge. an observation: people with young kids, this has got to be a tough job. i don't have any children but i can imagine the schedule if you have young kids. i got to know kelly and joe and kate and jake. i can only imagine what it was like for joe to be a single parent three days a week. running a business, trying to get kids off to school. i can tell you from being

kelly's friends -- and john and i have traveled all over the world with kelly -- that was a constant strain for her. i'm sure it's true of every young mother in america doing any job. but having to be gone and having to balance the needs of her kids and being a mom and a wife and all that good stuff, all i can tell you for you and joe, if you meet kate and jake, y'all did good. if you meet these two kids, it's been an enriching six years. their full life, i think you both handled it very, very well. the long list of things you've accomplished, you should be proud of. i guess what i saw in you and what i wish more of us would embrace is an attitude that nothing's too hard. nothing is too challenging if you really believe that you're here for a purpose. you didn't talk about immigration. i don't blame you. immigration fight is one of the hardest fights i've ever been in, particularly on our side. it's not easy on your side, but

on our side it's really tough. kelly was there pushing over the line a bill that i think made a lot of sense. the debt. everybody talks about it, but nobody wants to do anything about it. we've had a couple of sessions with 10 and 20 senators trying to find out a way to get more revenue and do entitlement reform, something like simpson-bowles. if you don't do that, the country is going to become greece. and every time we had a meeting, every time we had a session about doing hard stuff, kelly was there. i remember sequestration. jeanne shaheen and kelly ayotte were two of the six senators trying to find a way to set aside these defense cuts and a balanced approach without destroying the military. so i think what you should be most proud of is that you served for six years and your kids are great. that you made a lot of friends that will last a lifetime. that your best days are yet to

come. but you can tell the people of new hampshire -- or i'll tell them for you if they can understand me -- apparently they couldn't because i didn't do that well when i ran for president. the bottom line is that kelly never blinked. sheep went to the sound of the -- she went to the sound of the gunfire. she took on the hardest challenges. she did it with style and grace and everybody in this body is better off for having met kelly ayotte, and look forward to working with you for years to come. the three amigos are now two, and there will never be a third amigo like you. i yield. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, we've heard a lot of wonderful things about kelly ayotte today, and all are served. they've come from both sides of the aisle, you noticed. they come from members who are talking about her expertise on national security as john mccain did eloquently and homeland security.

i certainly worked with her on those issues. i was with her on the armed services committee when i first got here and we were -- and we're on the homeland security committee now and she's been a champion of those issues, no question about it. she has helped keep our country safer and legislation she's championed will make it safer for our kids and grandkids. i also worked with her on other issues and i want to talk about that for a second. one is this way in which we as a chamber can ensure we're creating more jobs, being more energy dependent and helping the environment. that's energy efficiency. she's been a leader on that issue. senator shaheen and i have legislation, we're still working to get all of it done but we've gotten some of it done and kelly ayotte was part of that. again it has the added benefit of creating jobs and making the economy stronger while improving our environment. and that's what she's led on as well. i've also worked with her on

issues that, you know, you would expect someone who is a national security expert to lead on. iran sanctions, she's taken the lead on some of the issues that resulted in the incredible vote we had here on the floor of this senate just a few days ago when virtually every senator voted to extend those sanctions, but i've worked with her on another issue that has nothing to do with our national security, has everything to do with our family security. it has to do with ensuring that people have the opportunity to achieve their god-given purpose in life. it has to do with stopping the deterioration of our communities, families being torn apart and the enormous impact that we've seen of the opioid epidemic starting often with prescription drugs, often leading into heroin, now synthetic heroins like fentanyl and carfentanil and ufor. these are very difficult issues

and i have seen no one in this chamber who has a greater passion for this issue than kelly ayotte. it comes out of experience. it's born of experience of walking around new hampshire communities with families who have lost a loved one. she talked earlier about befriending a family would had lost their beautiful daughter to this horrible epidemic. it comes from going to the treatment centers and seeing the people who are in the trenches saving lives and improving lives. it comes from talking to those who at one point had great promise in their lives and got off track and seeing those people in a detox unit as she has done or seeing them in a treatment center or seeing them now in recovery and beginning to get their lives back together. this is not an issue of republicans or democrats. it's not an issue that is political. it's an issue that is in the heart of kelly ayotte because it affects the communities that she knows in new hampshire, the people that she loves in new

hampshire and now sadly our nation. on that issue she has led, not just to draft legislation and she talked about the cara legislation which is going to change the dynamic and get the federal government to be a better partner with state and local and begin to turn the tide and not just the cures legislation which does have funding for the next two years to try to stop some of this horrible growth in addictions and overdoses and deaths. but she has done this house to house, family to family, person to person back home to give people hope and to help gather the support in communities around new hampshire to fight back. and she'll continue to do that. she's not doing it as a united states senator, after all. she's doing it as a mom. she's doing it as a citizen. and i'm looking forward to continuing to work with her on that issue as well as the other issues we talked about today. her public service career is not over. it's really just beginning in a

sense. she will be active, i know, on the national security issues, on fighting against the heroin epidemic, on ensuring that we continue to have a safer and stronger country and i for one look forward to working with her on that. i thank her for her service. i thank her and her kids and joe for their sacrifice because this isn't an easy job and it does take you away from your family. and yet in 2009 she decided that she was going to serve her country because she was worried about the direction it was going, and she did that and did valiantly and she deserves our praise today for that. so, kelly, we're going to miss you, but we also look forward to continuing to work with you on all of the issues that we talked about today. thank you for your service. i yield back. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i'm very pleased to be here with my colleagues today and most especially pleased to be here to honor my good friend kelly

ayotte as she leaves the senate but does not leave public service. i first met kelly on the softball field believe it or not when we were on the congressional women's softball team. i was over in the house and kelly was the cocaptain here in the senate. we raised money for young survivors of breast cancer. and i knew then i wanted to get to the senate to be a good friend with kelly. you want to talk about being in the trenches, she is such a competitor. when you think about a team, a baseball team or a softball team, in my view who's the toughest person on the team? everybody wants to say the pitcher. in my view it's the catcher. and guess who our catcher was? kelly ayotte was and is. so we became good friends then. we found we have a lot of love for physical activities. we both are runners. we've run a couple of times together. we participate in the three-mile run that we have every may that determines who's the fastest male senator, who's the fastest

woman senator. guess who the fastest woman senator is? you got it. now, she just blew right by me every year. i might have hope next year. i don't know. i have to check out the newcomers. kelly was always such a great competitor on the softball field, running in 5k's and just being around in general. she's, as we've heard from everybody, you served the state with integrity and compassion. i know it's tough on your family. i see joe up there in the gallery, have gotten to meet your beautiful children, kate and jac jack -- jake, excuse me. i heard you on the phone planning day care while the rest of us are figuring out how we're going to get home that night or what we're doing in our committees. kelly as a young mother still trying to figure -- make ends meet. i have such admiration for that. as a mother myself, i know how difficult it s. i know the three of them know if you were here

figuring that out, they were always number one in your heart. that i think is a real tribute to you. as we've heard, all of the issues that she's been so out front on, particularly being a state of west virginia, the opioid issue has impacted our rural areas. when i visited kelly twice over the last six months in new hampshire, it's the same kind of impact. it's small towns, families, people who know each other. so it hurts everybody. and kelly, thank you for your leadership there. that's going to make not just a mark in yr state but across our nation and in my state in particular. we traveled to gitmo together. i'd never been to gitmo before. to have an expert like kelly to explain to me and hear her question what's going on there and how important it is and was and continues to be in the fight -- and the fight that she led to make sure we don't have terrorists on our own home soil here. the fact that gitmo is still open i think and is still functioning to keep those very dangerous folks off of our

shores is, i think, a tribute to kelly's leadership. in terms of new hampshire, you know, i know you're going to realize as you move away from here how you've impacted the people where you live and in your home state. but just kind of multiply that all around the nation. and we have a huge debt of gratitude to you and to your family for being here for six years but as i've told you repeatedly since the election, this is not the last time we're going to hear from kelly ayotte or about kelly ayotte. and that to me is a very strengthening thing when i talk about my friend. so i'm not going to say goodbye because i don't think we'll be saying goodbye. i'm going to say godspeed, good luck. you'll land on your feet because you always do. keep running and i'll keep running and make i can improve my time so that i can at least see the backs of your feet as you're running past me. and it's been a real privilege to serve with you. it's been great to be your

friend and i look forward to keeping our friendship very, very viable and alive as the time goes on. thanks, kelly. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: madam president, i, too, like a lot of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle want to come down and say a few words about my friend and mentor, senator kelly ayotte. now, i use that word "mentor" and actually -- in actually an

official capacity. when you come to the senate and i'm like you, madam president, part of the new class of 2014, when you come to the senate, you're assigned a mentor. and i think the idea is that you come in, you're clueless. you don't really know what's going on so you have somebody woz's smart and -- who's smart and experienced to mentor you. everybody gets a mentor. and i was very fortunate enough to have kelly ayotte as my mentor. and so i certainly learned a lot from her. she took the time to help me understand how this important body works. we talked about things like wo work/life balance. somebody like kelly who has kids. and it wasn't just those kind of issues. i had the great opportunity to serve on a couple of really important committees with senator ayotte on the armed

services committee, on the commerce committee, and like my colleague from missouri, really learned a lot watching her in action, always prepared, always engaged, always tenacious when it came to certain witnesses. and of course, like a lot of us, we shared certain passions for our country. certainly a strong national defense. my state like a lot of states like new hampshire is suffering from the opioid crisis and watching her and senator portman literally lead the country, lead the country on this issue was so important. but i would just end by saying what i really learned from my mentor here is watching the way she dealt with other people, the way she always treated people with respect, with class, with

optimism, with dignity, and that's probably more important than anything, not only in the u.s. senate but in our country. so i want to thank kelly as a mentor, a great role model not only for me but all the 13 members of the class of 2014. i know she's going to be serving her country and her state in a lot more ways, and i look forward to watching that and continuing to call her my good friend. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to take the floor for what i call my summing up speech. it is not my farewell speech because i have the honor and privilege of being the ranking member on the chairmanship of the appropriations committee and will speak later on this week when we move the continuing

resolution. but it is the practice and the tradition of the senate that when a senator is departing the senate to give what they call their farewell address. well, mine is not going to be as memorable as when george washington resigned his commission and other memorable speeches. but i do want to say words about how i feel today about having the great opportunity to serve in the united states congress, 30 years in the united states senate, 10 years in the house of representatives. and, yes, five years in the baltimore city council. i have served in elected public office for 45 years, more than half of my life has been in elected public service, but at the same time all of my life has been focused on service. i want to rise today to thank

the people of maryland. i want to rise to thank them for their vote of confidence. you know, when people vote for you, it's not only that they're sending you to washington or sending you to city hall, they're giving you a vote of confidence that you will be their voice, that you will be their vote, that you will be at their side and on their side. and that's what i want to be able to talk about today. for the people of baltimore who gave me my first shot in running for the baltimore city council, when i beat the political bosses, when running for political office as a woman was considered a novelty, they said, you don't look the part. i said, this is what the part looks like. and this is what the part is going to be like. and along the way, you know, so many people helped me. behind me is a whole lot of "w "we." i got started in public life

because of volunteers and activists, who on their own time and their own dime, volunteered their -- themselves to not only help me get elected but to be involved in their communities, to be civically engaged, to make their community and their country a better place. these are the people who were mind me -- or, guess what? -- no, i was behind them, because they certainly have led the way. and along the way there were people that not only helped me get elected, but they helped me govern. people who, again, volunteered their own time. i had a wonderful service academy board that helped me pick the best and the an bright. i had a judicial appointment advisory board that made sure that i helped nominate the best people to serve in the federal judiciary. and also i had a veterans

advisory group who brought to me what was really happening to the veterans, not what was in the press releases from the veterans administration. and, of course, i had a fabulous strategy group that was functioned as a kitchen cabinet. it was a kitchen cabinet, and we spent a lot of times cooking things up to try to make our country and our communities best places. so i thank them all for what they d but -- did. but, you know, when we come here, we can dmot it alone -- we cannot do it aloan, so we have a fabulous staff that serves us in washington and serves us in our state. my current staff i'd like to thank my chief of staff, my deputy chief, my state director, my legislative director, my communications director matt juror again sen, my scheduling director katie finley, josh

yearly, my appropriations staff chuck geefe revment, the help committee with jean doyle and all my staff in my state office that helped me. it is also the support sthaf that made sure that the phones got answered. you didn't get one of those call 1, press 2, press 184, et cetera, et cetera. and also the people who answer the mail, whether it was nail mail, which -- whether it was snail mail or e-mail because we really believe that we need toed to be here for the people. when i called their names -- there are also others who filled those jobs throughout my time in public office. and they worked very hard to make sure that we could represent the people of maryland and to be on their side. after 45 years, though, it is time for me to say goodbye to

elected office but not to service. mr. president, i had the high privilege to be the longest-serving woman in congressional history. but what i say, it's not how long you serve but how well you serve. for those who know me and have been to rallies and floors and so orntion they know that i say, i'm here to work on the macro-issues and i'm here to work on the macaroni and cheese issues. to work on the big picture, to make sure, though, that the people's day-to-day needs were converted into public policy. while we're working on public policy to try to help our communities, we also have to remember in our own states that we have constituent service issues. one of the things i'm really proud of is my constituent service staff where if you were a veteran and you needed help or you had a social security or medicare problem, you could call

senator bar shall and you didn't feel that you had to go to a $1 00 fund-raiser or meet somebody who had connections. much the only connection you needed was a foafnlt you didn't even knee wifi. you could just call me. summer, winter, spring, or fall, they had senator barb. and i tried to be of service because service was in my d.n.a. i was raised to think about service. you know, my mother and father ran a small neighborhood grocery store in one of baltimore's famous row house neighborhoods. and every day they would get up and they would open that grocery store and say to their custome customers, good morning, can i help you? now, in running that birks they also wanted to be sure that they were connected to the people. we weren't a big-box shop. we were a shop for the little people. if anybody was in difficulty, my father was happy to extend credit. it was called, "we'll write your

name down in a book. pay us when you can. don't worry that you got laid off at bethlehem steel. we know your wife had a difficult childbirth and needs this extra stuff. barbara, deliver those groceries. take it down with that little red wagon i got for you." i would maybe take orange juice down to a shut-in who was a diabetic. the tip he gave me was always treat people fair and scwairm the other place where i learned about service was from the newness. i had the great fortune t go to catholic schools. these wonderful women who led the consecrated life taught us not only about reading, writing, and arithmetic, but when they taught us religion, they

emphasized the attitudes. if anybody reads the scripture, if you go to matthew 5, you know what has shaped us. one of the lines is "blessed are those who are meek of heart." i had to really work at that one -- really, really work at that one. but, at the same time, there were those that said, those who hunger and thirst after justice. and that's what motivated me. it was focusing on the values of faith, like love your neighbor, care for the sick, worry about the poor. and also in this institute of noter damn where i went, i was insphierd by a motto from something called the christopher movement where you were to help carry the burden and it said, it's better to light one little candle than to curse the darkness. that is what was motivating me to the service. you know, we really believed in america in my family. and we really believed in it in my community.

when my great-grandmother came to this country from poland in 1886, she had little money in her pocket, but she had big dreams in her heart. women didn't even have the right to vote. 100 years to the year that she landed in this country, i landed in the united states senate. that's what opportunity means in the united states of america. i never thought i'd come into politics. politics, growing up in baltimore -- and my family wasn't involved in it -- my family was involved more in churchwork, philanthrophy, doing good works in the way they did their business. but because in baltimore in those days it was political bosses, guys with pot bellies and smoked cigars and did deals, et cetera, and that wasn't going to be meevment i thought -- me. i thought -- went into the field

of social work. i got involved because they wanted to put a 16-lane highway through the europeanet europeanc neighborhoods of baltimore. they were going to smash and bulldoze the first african-american homeownership neighborhood in baltimore, a community called rosemont. i said, look, we can fight this. we just got to give ourselves a militant name. i put together a group called scar, southeast community against the row. we came up with our african-american neighbors across the town. they had a group called ram. and a citywide coalition group called mad, movement against destruction. i have hauls a certain flair about these things. we did take on city havment but the more i knocked on doors and our community did, we weren't heard. so i decided, the heck with t if

i knocked on a door and i wasn't going to be herksd i was going to knock on the door to get elected. that's what i did. knocking on doors, putting together a coalition to find the odds, defying what people said. you can't win. no woman could tbhin an ethnic neighborhood. no woman can win who isn't part of the political machine. and no woman could win who had been active in the civil rights movement. and i said, guess what? we defied the odds. well, we defied the odds and that's how i came into public office. a champion on behalf of the people. i wanted to come to be an advocate for people to have better lives, to have better livelihoods and have better neighborhoods, to be able to save jobs and do whacked toen -- do what i could to be able to help them. i had to show up, stand up, and speak up for my constituents, staying close enough to the people so that they wouldn't

fall between the cracks. meeting their day-to-day needs and the long-range needs of the nation. when i came to the senate, i was the very first woman elected in her own right. though i was all by myself, though, i was never alone. when i came, there was only one other woman here -- the wonderful and distinguished colleague from kansas, senator nancy kassebaum, a wonderful colleague. when i was by myself as the only woman in the democratic caucus, i was never alone. it's because of the great men that we could work with in the united states senate. now, i had the privilege that my colleagues -- to work with two of the best men in america, senator paul sarbanes, my senior senator when i came, my champion, helped me get on the right committees, convinced everybody that my name was barb mikulski, not bella sbzic -- i

was a little bit of both. and now senator ben cardin, who also has been at my side. and we've worked together o -- on issues related to maryland, both large and small. there were others who taught me, like senator byrd, senator kennedy, and others. and all -- what it was all about was being able to work for jobs and for justice. though i was the first democratic woman, i wanted to be the first of many. i wanted to help women get elected to the senate and do what i could to be able to help them to do that. it has been just wonderful to see that now there are over -- there are 20 women who are currently serving in the united states senate, and one of the great joys has been to work to help empower them so that they could be a powerhouse and that's why we ran those power workshops that struck fear into the hearts

of the guys. nothing to worry about, guys. just keep an eyen us. the and i've been proud of what i've learned, taking the valings i learned growing up -- the values i learned growing up and trying to put them in the federal law books. because for me, no issue was too small to take up. and no cause was too big for me to take on. i firmly believe that the best ideas come from the people. that's where some of my greatest accomplishments came from. one of the things i loved the most was being in maryland, moving around the state, going to all of the counties in the state. i loved my mondays in maryland, where i could meet and go into unannounced places, like diners. a lot of people like to do ton halls. they're terrific, but i like to show up at a diner, go table to table to table and not only kind of like eyeball the french fries but listen to what the people have to say. and the other thing that i really liked was round tables.

absolutely those rands tables where -- those round tablings where you could engage in conversation with people and listen to them, not show off how smart or cool you were. so i really, really loved doing that. and out of that came some of my first big accomplishments. when i came to the united states senate, my father was quite ill with alzheimer's. my father was a wonderful man. he worked so hard for my sisters and i that we would have an education. he saw his role as a protector and as a provider, that in providing for us an education, we could always take care of ourselves. and when he became so ill and turned into a nursing home, as i listened to other families who would come to visit people in long-term care, we saw that the very cruel rules of our own government were forcing people to spend down their entire life savings and put their family home or their family farm in as

an asset base. well, barb mikulski said this, listening to them. family responsibility, yes. you need to take responsibility for your family, but the cruel rules of government should never push a family into family bankruptcy. so i crafted something called the spousal anti-impoverishment rules that enable elderly couples to keep their asset and to keep their home. aarp tells me that since that legislation passed over 20 years ago, we've helped one million seniors not lose their home or their family farm because one becomes too ill because of that dreaded a word or parkinson's or others. that's what i mean about the best ideas coming from the people. and then also listening to women who work hard every single day and yet weren't getting equal pay for equal work. and of course we heard it in lilly ledbetter, but we heard it

from lots of lillys and lots of roses and lots of marys and lots of marias. and that's why we worked hard to pass the equal pay for equal work act. and then we also found working together with senator nancy kassebaum, our friends over in the house, olympia snowe, connie morroa, pat schroeder, that women were being excluded from the poet kolls at n.i.h. the famous study take an an aprinciple -- an aspirin a day, keep a heart attack away was done on male medical students. so connie, pat, barb showed up at n.i.h. and we pounded the table and said let's start practicing good science instead of bad stereotypes. make sure we're included where we should in a legitimate scientific way. out of that came the appointment of bernadine healey, the head of

n.i.h. out of that came the office of women's health at n.i.h. and then out of that came the famous hormone replacement study that dr. healey championed. and then we were helped to get money in the federal checkbook. one study changed medical practice and lowered breast cancer rates in this country by 15%. wow. that's what working together does, to try to save lives a million at the at a time. that was on women's health. and then as we saw just the growing concerns about the issue of the high cost of college, that the first mortgage many of our kids are facing is their student loans, working together on the other side of the aisle, we created the americorps, making sure we enable people to be able to be of service to their country and earn a voucher to pay down their student loans. and then there was a roundtable where i met with parents of

special needs children, and a mother asked me to change the law from retardation to intellectual disability because she was being bullied. well, i came back here and drafted legislation. and again, on the other side of the aisle was mike enzi who worked with me to pass that. rosa now is a member of the special olympics. she wins medals. she was person of the week on tv. that's what mondays in maryland mean, mr. president. it's worth everything to do things like that. and in maryland, we work, along with senator sarbanes and cardin, to clean up the bay, to work to make sure our port was viable. not only our port of baltimore for, you know, ships of commerce, but also we worked on the space community at goddard. i am so proud of the fact that i worked very hard to save the

goddard -- to save the hubble space telescope. in that hubble space telescope, it turned out to be the richest contact lens in world history, but again, the astronaut senators, jake garn, john glenn working together, we did it and it has ensured america's premier leadership in astronomy and space for years and for several decades. so over the years, though, i could go through accomplishments after accomplishments, but one of the things that i have learned as my lessons in life is that i learned that the best ship you could sail on in life is something called friend ship. that it is friendship that makes life worth living, thatten ables life -- to have a life of giving. that's what friendship is. and when i think about the friends along the way that i've

met both in my hometown and my state, there are also those that are here, the people that on both sides of the aisle have been absolutely, absolutely so important to me. and the fact that we could work on both sides of the aisle. i spoke about senator cardin and senator sarbanes, but also on the appropriations committee, it was senator shelby, it was senator kit bond that we could actually work together, put our heads together to try to come up with real solutions for real problems, and we could do that. and the other is not just to judge one another because we have a party label. i'm so darned sick of that. so in the year of the women when so many came like barbara boxer and patty murray and dianne feinstein, also senator kay bailey hutchison came from

texas. i got a call from senator hutchison one day, and my staff said eww, she wants to work with you on something. eww, eww, eww. she is a conservative from texas and she wants to do something for women. i said how about if we listen? could we start with listening? could we start with just listening. senator hutchison had a fabulous idea. in the i.r.a. contributions in those days, if you were in the marketplace, you could put in $2,000, but if you were full-time at home, you could only put in $500. what senator hutchison wanted to do was to make it have parity. that old word parity. so i said yes. our staffs told us not to work with each other, but we were going to forge ahead. we went out to dinner to talk over strategy, but we talked about our lives together and how she got her start and obstacles

she faced and i did the same. we had such a good time. we said let's invite other women. well, that became the famous dinners, the famous dinners that the women of the senate have. we knew we would never be a caucus because we were not uniform in our views or the way we vote, but what we wanted to be was, number one, a zone of civility where we would treat each other with respect, our debates would be observed with intellectual rigor, and when the day was over, the day would be over. those dinners have now stood the test of time, and i'm so proud of them, and i have been so proud to work with my colleague from maine, the senior senator from maine, senator collins, who has been such a friend and such an ally because although when you're not a -- although we are not a caucus, we are a force that can come together, and we have made change and we have

made a difference. so that doesn't go down in the law books, but it certainly i think should go down in the history books. so, mr. president, as i get ready to leave the senate, what will i miss? well, i will never have another job as consequential as this. this is pretty consequential. the fate of this country and maybe even the world lies in the hands of congress and the united states senate. i will also miss the people in the senate, the wonderful professional staff, but i'm also going to miss the doorkeepers, the elevator operators, the cafeteria workers, all who have -- and our police officers who say in helping the one, we help the many. and we learn so much from them, because i have learned so much from them. i learned a lot from the elevator operators. one was a lady of very modest means who every day would say to me and to all of us have a

blessed day. what a great gift she gave us. have a blessed day. and an elevator operator now who himself has recovered from very challenging health issues, always cheerful, and asks how is your day, and the last thing that you could do is not return it with a smile. and those are the kind of people that i will always remember. all those helping hands. so i say to my colleagues now i will never, ever forget you. helen keller, helen keller, although she was blind, was a great visionary, and she said all that you deeply love, you never lose. and all that i have ever met have become a part of me. each and every one of you have become a part of me. everybody i met along the way, whether it was the roundtables, the elevator operators, have become a part of me. you've shaped me and you have

helped me, i think, become a better person. so when i wrap up, people say well, what do you think you're going to do, barb? and i'm going to say this -- my plan is not a job description but it's a life description. every day, i'm going to learn something new. every day, i want to give something back. every day, i want to do something where i keep a friend or -- keep an old friend or make a new one. and i want to thank god that i lived in the united states of america that enabled me to do this, and in conclusion, actually george bernard shaw, who i don't know how he would have felt about me, but he wrote this pretty good. he said this -- i am convinced that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as i live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever i can, for the harder i work, the more i live. i will rejoice in life for its own sake.

life is no brief candle to me. it's sort of a splendid torch which i got to hold up for a moment, and i want to make it burn as brightly as possible as i turn it over to future generations. god bless the united states senate, and god bless the united states of america. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, yesterday, i had an opportunity on the floor to talk about senator mikulski, but i just want to take one minute because i know a lot of my colleagues here want to speak, to thank her on behalf of the people of maryland. mr. president, yesterday, i was at the inauguration with senator

mikulski of katherine pugh, our new mayor of baltimore city, and as is the tradition on programs, the senior senator speaks and then the junior senator speaks, so i had the opportunity to speak after the dynamic remarks of senator mikulski. that's been a burden that i've had now for ten years, so as i pointed out to the people of maryland, we are losing one of the great giants and advocates for our state, and that's going to be a great loss. the only benefit i can see is that i will not have to follow senator mikulski on the program in the future. we are living part of a legacy, and we know that, and we know that what we do here in the united states senate one day will be recorded in the history of our country, and i know that senator mikulski will be mentioned frequently in her incredible accomplishments here in the united states senate. i just wanted to express on a

personal basis that my life in the united states senate has been special. all of us being in the senate is special, but my enjoyment, productivity and life in the senate has been made so much greater because of my seatmate and friend, senator barbara mikulski. ms. collins: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: madam president, it is with deep affection, admiration and appreciation that i rise today to offer my heartfelt congratulations to our colleague and my dear friend, senator barbara mikulski. as her service in the senate comes to a close. as the longest serving woman in the history of the united states congress, 30 years in this

chamber in addition to ten years in the house, she has earned the gratitude of the people of her beloved maryland and of the entire nation. that gratitude is based on much more than simple arithmetic, much more than just how many years she has served here, impressive though that is. in reflecting on her service, it is difficult to decide where to begin. her accomplishments, her vision, or her complete dedication to the people she serves, the dedication that began in that neighborhood in baltimore that she described so passionately today. no matter where we begin, we end up in the same place. it's a