Political Quotes

“I rise today to acknowledge the life and contributions of one of the Senate's truly outstanding staff persons: Elise J. Bean. Elise, who worked for almost 30 years for Senator Carl Levin on various subcommittees of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, died on January 14 at the age of 68. She started in the Senate as an attorney/investigator on the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management and ended as staff director of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), leaving when Senator Levin retired. Having chaired PSI in the 118th Congress, I am personally grateful that this historic subcommittee continues to benefit from the powerful and enduring legacy that Elise left. Anyone who knew Elise would tell you that there was no one like her. She was an institution of congressional oversight. During nearly three decades in the Senate, Elise drove some of the Chamber's most significant investigations and, thereafter, was a force behind the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy for a decade. There, she relentlessly promoted bipartisan, fact-based oversight. Elise embraced the notion that Congress is not only capable of high- quality oversight and, in doing so, would turn the tide of history toward fairness and equality.…”