Political Quotes

“as the Nation celebrates a new beginning by welcoming a new administration to town next week, my office will be saying goodbye to a longtime trusted adviser and friend. Today, I pay tribute to my legislative director, Rich Arenberg, who will retire from Congress after 34 years to take a teaching position at Brown University. In the nearly 15 years that Rich has led the legislative team in my office, he has provided invaluable guidance on innumerable issues that have arisen. No doubt, he has a detailed record--likely in chart form-- of the legislative back-and-forth behind each bill, if not each vote, we have confronted together. And when Rich announced his retirement to the legislative staff last month, the number of long faces around the table spoke volumes about his skills. Rich has an encyclopedic knowledge of Senate history, procedure, and protocol. He has been a mentor to countless Hill staffers, as well as a thoughtful, reasonable, skilled adviser to the Members he has served. He is a gifted storyteller who enlightens and entertains my office with anecdotes of his decades on the Hill. And above all, he is an incredibly decent human being, devoted to his work, loyal to the people around him, with a passion for life.”