Political Quotes

“as I have said previously, there are many people who work behind the scenes to help the Senate function. We tend to take them for granted, but we shouldn't. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge one such Senate staffer, Deputy Director of Doorkeepers Ruby Paone, who is retiring after more than 41 of steadfast service to the U.S. Senate and to our Nation. Everyone knows and loves Ruby, who has been here longer than any U.S. Senator currently serving, except for our esteemed colleague, the senior Senator from Vermont. Ruby Paone, one of Lena and Wilbur Smith's five children, grew up on a farm in Bladenboro, NC, where she spent her summers pulling peanuts and harvesting tobacco. She graduated from St. Andrew's University and then came to Washington, DC. On March 17, 1975, she started working in the Senate as a card desk attendant. Then she became a reception room attendant and steadily worked her way up to her present position. Along the way, she met another Senate staffer, Marty Paone. The two of them starting dating, and then they were married in 1983. The Washington Post reported at the time: Senator Robert Byrd paused in the debate to inform his colleagues that Ruby Grey Smith, who has worked in the Senate Reception Room for the last eight years, had married Marty Patrick Paone, a member of the floor staff of the Democratic Policy Committee.…”