Rick Allen: “as the time for my departure from the Senate draws near, on behalf of the greatest blessing in my life, my wife Susan…”

“as the time for my departure from the Senate draws near, on behalf of the greatest blessing in my life, my wife Susan, and on behalf of myself, I thank all of my colleagues for their many courtesies and friendships that have been forged during the past 6 years and offer a few concluding reflections about our time here together, as well as talk about the future of our Republic. Our foremost statesman in Virginia, Harry Byrd, Jr., observed that with the exception of the Presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt, no time in the history of our country has witnessed more problems and challenges of great magnitude than these past 6 years. When I arrived here in January of 2001, America was at peace, or so it seemed, and so we thought. And then on that bright blue sky morning of September 11, the skies suddenly darkened with clouds of smoke from the Pentagon and the horrific collapse of the World Trade Center towers in New York City, and our world changed forever. A cascade of other great challenges soon followed in rapid succession, issues foreign and domestic, challenges locally and nationally, threats manmade and disasters decreed by nature. Through all of these unprecedented storms, it was our responsibility to make careful decisions for the safety, security, and prosperity of the people of our country.”