On the recordDecember 14, 2022
in calculating, it may be possible that I have served on the Intel Committee longer than anybody besides Richard Burr currently on the committee, with some time in the House--but not all of the time in the House--and in the Senate. It is truly amazing the depth of understanding he has of programs, of capacity, of the places we are all over the world. I think he and Senator Warner have done a great job of maintaining that committee as a bipartisan committee, working together, understanding that most of what we do and that most of what we talk about is only seen by us and the staff of that committee. It is an important responsibility to ask questions and hear answers that others Members can't. Richard's leadership has been incredible. I want to spend a few minutes talking about the other portfolio he has that I am also involved in as the appropriating chairman on the Health and Education and Labor Committee. In so many ways, particularly after COVID, Richard, we became the team--the authorizing and the appropriating--so we could make this all work together. Efforts are extraordinary as well. We heard the long list of things he did to create an understanding of what we needed to do--the whole idea of rapid response, of BARDA, of having a stockpile. All of this is--not only is so much of it Richard's idea, but also Richard has kept the idea alive.…
