On the recordApril 23, 2015
I rise today to recognize my chief of staff, Rose Baumann, and to pay tribute to her hard work on behalf of the people of Minnesota as a member of my staff for the past 9 years. For anyone who has met Rose, it will come as no surprise to you that Rose went from being a junior staffer in my office in 2006 just after graduating from Gustavus Adolphus College to my chief of staff just 7 years later. For the first 4 of those 7 years, Rose handled health care issues first as an outreach director in the Twin Cities and then as a legislative assistant in Washington. Rose approached every challenge with dedication and grace, regardless of whether she was helping a constituent access their Medicare benefits or talking with Minnesota physicians about health care reform proposals or organizing and executing a health care summit. Rose's intelligence, strong Minnesota work ethic, tenacity, and optimism always seemed to ensure success. During the health reform debate, Rose played a critical role in helping me highlight cost-saving health care delivery models like the Mayo Clinic uses and worked to ensure we reward quality, not quantity, of care. She worked tirelessly to advocate for Minnesota's hospitals, providers, patients, and industries, and that hard work is reflected today as we watch these policies being implemented. As my legislative director for 3 years, Rose advanced my legislative agenda while successfully managing 12 people and every policy area.…
