Johnny Isakson: “this is one of those weeks where, every 6 years or 4 years or 2 years, we pause and pay tribute to those who have been…”

“this is one of those weeks where, every 6 years or 4 years or 2 years, we pause and pay tribute to those who have been elected to the Senate and have served with us and will be retiring or were possibly defeated in the last election. Kelly Ayotte The first Senator I wish to talk about is Kelly Ayotte, from the great State of New Hampshire. Kelly's departure from the Senate is a great loss for all of us. I remember the day Kelly Ayotte became a rising star, not only on the horizon of Republican politics but more importantly on the horizon of the Senate. During her campaign 6 years ago, we would get phone calls asking: Have you heard about Kelly? Everybody knew who Kelly was. She was the attorney general of the State of New Hampshire, running for the U.S. Senate, and she was catching fire. She did catch fire and won in convincing fashion. She is a great lady with a great family and has done a phenomenal job. Our U.S. Armed Forces are better today because of her efforts and hard work. We passed the agreement to go to the final passage on the authorization of the military appropriations today, and in large measure, Kelly Ayotte was behind that. When we were debating our policy on interrogation and torture, Kelly Ayotte was on top of that. Every significant decision we have made in the last 6 months, whether it was our military, policies, or process, she has been at the forefront of those decisions and has done a phenomenal job.…”