Political Quotes

“I rise to thank Senator Landrieu for her tireless service in the U.S. Senate to our State and to the country. I have had the pleasure of knowing Mary for a long time. She was in her second year of service in the Senate when I first came to Washington to the U.S. House, but it is far longer than that, probably longer than anyone in this Chamber realizes. Both sets of my grandparents live all of 3 blocks from where Mary grew up, and I grew up all of 10 blocks from there. Mary and my brother Jeff were grammar school classmates starting at kindergarten. Of course, here in the Senate I had the honor of working with Mary on so many important issues and challenges. From the moment we worked together on key Louisiana issues, we determined on those issues to put aside any partisan concerns when those crucial priorities were at stake. As she alluded to, the most challenging and trying time in all of that experience was just a few months after I first came to the Senate when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck. Neither of us could have ever imagined facing the challenges our State and Mississippi and others faced and facing the challenges we faced in the Senate trying to respond in a robust and full and responsible way. I am sure it was the most trying work for both of us in our careers. Louisiana faced unprecedented disaster and desperation, and that brought us together all the more to work for those crucial Louisiana needs and priorities.…”