Josh Hawley: “if I could, just a brief word of thanks and commemoration for my friend, the senior Senator from Missouri, Roy Blunt. It…”

“if I could, just a brief word of thanks and commemoration for my friend, the senior Senator from Missouri, Roy Blunt. It has been an incredible privilege to get to serve with Senator Blunt these last 3\1/2\ years. In a sense, I don't know that I would be here in the U.S. Senate were it not for Senator Blunt. I think Senator Blunt was one of--maybe the first person to urge me to consider running for the U.S. Senate, and it has been a true privilege to get to serve alongside him. He and Abby have been so kind to me and Erin on a personal basis. They were with us throughout the campaign. He was through all of the ups and down, as anybody who has been through a campaign knows. Roy was there. They were there with us on the final days on the bus, with Charlie, as I recall, who, between my boys and Charlie--Charlie was the calming influence on my kid. So they were all the life of the party. But from that moment forward, Roy and Abby were such good friends and mentors to us. Roy gave me advice about what it is like to raise a family in politics--something that I was just starting out to do. He gave me advice on things large and small in the Senate: helping me understand how the floor worked, helping me choose my first committee assignments. I remember he made time to sit down and talk through that with me about this time, gosh, 4 years ago now. He has been there every time I have had a question, needed help, needed to understand something.…”