Amy Klobuchar: “we have heard a lot of people honoring our wonderful colleague Senator Begich today. We are all going to miss him…”

“we have heard a lot of people honoring our wonderful colleague Senator Begich today. We are all going to miss him dearly. We are especially going to miss him in Minnesota. I have heard many positive statements about Alaska today, but no one can come from a State where they can say they have one of the main streets in Anchorage named after them; that is, Minnesota Street in Anchorage. That is because there are many Minnesotans. Believe it or not, it was not cold enough in Minnesota so they moved to Alaska. One of those people who moved to Alaska was Mark's dad. Mark's dad actually grew up about 30 miles away from my dad. It is rough-and-tumble country up in the Iron Range of Minnesota. Mark still has relatives in northern Minnesota, and particularly he has an uncle named Uncle Joe--Joe Begich--who served in the legislature for many years and also is a Korean War vet and was truly the heart and soul of the Iron Range delegation in the Minnesota State legislature. For any of our colleagues who think Mark Begich is a character, they should meet his Uncle Joe. I know Uncle Joe. I hope he is watching because nothing made him happier than the day Mark Begich got elected to the Senate. And when Mark once came up there with me and we were greeted by Uncle Joe, it was like a hero's welcome when Mark Begich appeared on the Iron Range of Minnesota. People came out, and we did an event with veterans.…”