Heidi Alexander: “I will say that I join the Senator from New York in welcoming another West Virginia Governor to the Senate. Governor…”

“I will say that I join the Senator from New York in welcoming another West Virginia Governor to the Senate. Governor Manchin succeeds a man who is irreplaceable in the Senate's history--Senator Byrd--but he brings to our Senate the skills of a Governor. Governor Rockefeller and I are very partial to those skills. We think the Senate needs more Governors. Governors are accustomed to looking for consensus, to making things work, to making things happen. We have a different sort of job here in the legislature, but those qualities are important, and especially important now when we have such large challenges to face, such as the fact that we are spending $3.7 trillion and collecting $2.1 trillion. All of us are shocked by that, and we have to deal with it one way or the other. I welcome him and I welcome his wife, a distinguished educator, to the Senate family. I know she is here today, so we welcome her and look forward to learning from her as well. I join Governor Rockefeller in saying it was a great speech.”