Roy Blunt: “everybody doesn't just come up with the same description of someone they have worked with every day by accident. When we…”

“everybody doesn't just come up with the same description of someone they have worked with every day by accident. When we think about everything that has been said and everyone independently setting down what we remember about Senator Cochran, what we think about when we think about Senator Cochran--he is a gentleman. He is a quiet persuader. He gets things done in a way that makes things that would otherwise seem hard for other people seem easy for him. The true, groundbreaking politician came to the Congress in 1972, but in 1978, he was the first Republican elected statewide in Mississippi in over 100 years. He gave evidence to that willingness to serve everybody in the direction he gave his staff. Nobody ever talks about Senator Cochran without talking about his staff. It doesn't take long into that conversation to talk about his staff. Just as Thad Cochran encouraged them to do on day one, they always tried to solve everybody's problem they worked for, no matter what that past relationship might have been or how they disagreed on other things. The first time I got a chance to work with Senator Cochran, I was the chief deputy whip in the House, and we were in a leadership meeting trying to bring some things to a conclusion. I think the majority leader in the Senate at the time was Thad's colleague from Mississippi. Trent Lott turned to Thad and me--I was the junior person at the table.…”