Roy Blunt: “I am glad to join you and the other Senator from Georgia, Mr. Ossoff, here today and join both of you in sharing some…”

“I am glad to join you and the other Senator from Georgia, Mr. Ossoff, here today and join both of you in sharing some thoughts about Senator Isakson. Senator Ossoff has already said a lot of things that are easily said. Not that they were easy for him to say, but anybody that knew Johnny Isakson would make many of those very same points and, hopefully, make them as well. I was glad to join him as the original cosponsor of this bill. Johnny and I served together in the House from 1999 until 2005. I was the majority whip during most of that time. And he was one of the half dozen deputies that really are key to getting things done. And Johnny Isakson liked to get things done. In 2005, he came over here to be in the Senate and brought that same determination to get things done, to find the place--wherever that place was--where something could happen. And he was a master at making things happen. When I joined him in the Senate in 2011, I was pleased to get a chance to serve alongside him again. He was a fast friend and a friend that you could count on. He knew how to bring people together. He did view, as Senator Ossoff said, people as his current friends or people who--the only reason they weren't his friend is they hadn't become his friends yet. And that is quite a way to approach life. And Johnny did it really well. I don't think there was anyone more respected by the other Members of the Senate than Senator Isakson was.…”