Mark Pryor: “John Paul Hammerschmidt is 90. There are many colleagues here in this Chamber, who serve in this body today, who worked…”

“John Paul Hammerschmidt is 90. There are many colleagues here in this Chamber, who serve in this body today, who worked alongside him either during their service in the House or when they were in the Senate. He is one of the Arkansas greats. He served northwest Arkansas, which is the Third Congressional District, 26 years in the Congress. Looking back at his career, John Paul once said, ``The only reason people should be in public office is to purely serve other people.'' Indeed, he set the bar for constituent service--from delivering a Social Security check to a senior bogged down in bureaucracy or fighting for disability benefits for a veteran. Today, each of us in Arkansas congressional delegation tries to emulate his legendary casework management. One of John Paul's most significant contributions was preserving the Buffalo River as a free-flowing stream. According to the Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, John Paul first floated the Buffalo at age 12 after taking wood from his father's lumberyard to build himself a boat. Nearly 40 years later, he established the Buffalo as the first National River. This was not an easy achievement, but one that was built with persistence and through relationships within the community. Today, tens of thousands of Arkansas families, including mine, enjoy floating the Buffalo National River.…”