Saxby Chambliss: “I rise and second what my friend and colleague from Arizona said. It has been a privilege of mine to serve in this body…”

“I rise and second what my friend and colleague from Arizona said. It has been a privilege of mine to serve in this body for 12 years-- and I will be making some comments about that tomorrow--but during my early years in the Senate the Secretary of Agriculture was Secretary Mike Johanns. Being a very active member of the Agriculture Committee and being chairman for 2 years during then-Secretary Johann's tenure, I had the opportunity to work with Mike on a day-to-day basis and, boy, what a pleasure it is to work with one of the finest gentlemen and public servants I have ever known. He is smart, and he is political when he needs to be political, but he has as much or more common sense as, again, any public servant I have ever known. For the past 6 years, he has been my next-door neighbor in the Russell building, so we see a lot of each other coming and going and have the opportunity to visit on a regular basis. As I leave at the end of this term, one of the real Members of the Senate I am going to miss is Mike Johanns. I publicly thank him for his service and thank him for his commitment. I wish him and Stephanie the best, but what I really thank him for is the great friendship he and I developed over the years. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.”