Erik Paulsen: “I want to thank my colleague from Minnesota for organizing this delegation, along with Congressman Kline, who has joined…”

“I want to thank my colleague from Minnesota for organizing this delegation, along with Congressman Kline, who has joined us as well, and acknowledge the passing and remember a wonderful servant from Minnesota, Congressman and U.S. Senator Rod Grams, who lost a very courageous battle to cancer recently. He passed away peacefully with his wife, Christine, by his side. I actually got to know Rod Grams first. Our families went to church together. I was just a young student, but I always remembered Rod Grams not only as a successful small businessman, but someone who was a famous anchorman on Channel 9 KMSP. That is where he got his start in politics. He left the news and actually ran for Congress back in 1992 and then the United States Senate in 1994. The one thing I will always remember about Rod Grams is that he always maintained his small-town, rural Minnesota values. He embodied those values. He shared those values. He always lived them to the fullest, and we remember his service to our State. ____________________”