Tina Smith: “I have a little bit of a beef here with Senator Brown because right before he spoke, I admonished him to try not to…”

“I have a little bit of a beef here with Senator Brown because right before he spoke, I admonished him to try not to choke up during his speech, and, of course, this was a fool's errand. It was like asking the Sun not to shine; and, of course, it was highly predictable that what would cause that gravelly voice of his to get even more of a catch in it was when he was talking about his family and also about his staff--his work family. The very first time I met Sherrod, I could see that this was a man with a huge heart and tons of energy. I recognized in you, Sherrod, the Midwest populism that I come from, from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. I sit in the seat that was once held by Paul Wellstone, as you know, who famously said, ``When we all do better, we all do better.'' I know that has been the guiding light of your service. There are plenty of people here in Washington watching out for the rich people, the powerful people, and the big corporations, but you have always been our guide in watching out for everybody else, the people who actually make this country work. I saw this firsthand when you and I worked together on one piece of legislation--the Butch Lewis Act--to basically say that hard-working folks who earned their pensions, who lost their pensions through no fault of their own, deserve to be able to retire with dignity.…”