Mark Pryor: “I do not do very many press conferences, as you all know, and I have always been first in line to work with any and all…”

“I do not do very many press conferences, as you all know, and I have always been first in line to work with any and all of my colleagues to try to get things done. The Senate is a special place. On a personal level, we talk about the Senate family. It is a family. When people mention the Senate to me, I think of other Senators, of course, and I think of legislation, but usually the first thing that comes to mind is the people who work here: the Parliamentarians, the clerks, the doormen, the Capitol Police. I am appreciative of the other Senators' staffs and the committee staffs, and even to my House colleagues--most of them, anyway. No, even to my House colleagues. But I have always been mindful of the people who really make this place run: the janitorial staff, the folks in the restaurants, the maintenance guys, the painters, the carpenters, the tech people. The list goes on and on. All of them contribute to make the Senate what it is. We work here together. We go through life and budget cuts and changing political winds together. There is a bond we all feel because we all have been in the Senate together. Please give me just a few moments of your time to make this next point. As great an institution as the Senate is, the Senate is broken. The American people know it. In fact, this is an area where the American people are way ahead of Washington. The people around our Nation look at Washington and they shake their heads.…”