Political Quotes

“I rise today to extend my congratulations and best wishes to Kim Brinkman on the occasion of her retirement from the Senate disbursing office. For 34 years, Kim has served this Chamber, its Members, and its staff with decency and grace. We are lucky and grateful that Kim--some three decades ago as a recent graduate from the University of Iowa--ventured to the library in Ames, IA, and answered an ad placed in a newspaper to travel to our Nation's Capital and begin work in the U.S. Senate. Kim represents all that is great about public service--not just in aspiration to serve our Nation, but in aspiration to change it, too. When she first started at the disbursing office in October of 1987, there were just two female Senators. Today, there are 24, in addition to our first female Vice President. In the disbursing office itself, Kim was one of only 10 women on staff when she began her decades of service; she is now one of 45 women out of the office's 58 staff. The journey to Washington, DC, was a long one for Kim--geographically speaking. She comes from the town of Nevada, IA--the State where her parents Harold and Jan Brinkman still reside. She has been sure to make the trek and visit home, bringing along her daughter, Maya Caceres, a recent graduate of the University of Kentucky. An active member of her church and a frequent volunteer, she has managed to lay deep roots here in our Nation's Capital.…”