Tom Harkin: “I rise now to pay tribute to a great friend of mine, a close personal friend and someone who has added significantly to…”

“I rise now to pay tribute to a great friend of mine, a close personal friend and someone who has added significantly to the Senate and the House over the course of almost an entire adult lifetime of work and, moreover, who has added to moving America forward in terms of how we feel and how we care about each other and really moving America forward toward the ideal of our Nation. And that is a nation without barriers to anyone, a nation of opportunity for all. Mr. President, I speak of Bobby Silverstein, who later this month will leave the Senate to teach and establish a center for the study and advancement of disability policy at George Washington University. For the past decade, Bobby has been my chief counsel and staff director of the Subcommittee on Disability Policy. During this time, he has been the behind-the-scenes architect of legislation that has truly revolutionized our Nation's policy towards its citizens with disabilities and expanded opportunities for the more than 49 million Americans with disabilities and their families.”