before he worked with me, he worked with senator david vitter, is worked with senator steve scalise. michael has been my state director every single day i've been a united states senator. let me tell you, is a tough job and one of the most important jobs. you know, mr. president. we're here in washington. our people are back home. a state director has got to make sure that their needs are being addressed back home, their concerns are heard. the state director has to manage our local representatives, make sure they're representing me at all the different functions they need to do. in michael's case, he's also a valuable source of policy advice. i'm going to miss that every day. michael has maybe one of the best political minds in louisiana, and he's a nice guy -- much nicer than me. and he -- i just can't overstate how important he has been, not just to me, but to the -- to the people of louisiana. i said michael is one of the best -- has one of the best political minds -- he has one of the best minds, period, not just in terms of policy and politics, but i want to mention the politic