Roy Blunt: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I certainly agree with and really understand and appreciate all the comments the chairman just…”

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I certainly agree with and really understand and appreciate all the comments the chairman just made about Matt Pollard. He was the person I worked most closely with in the intel community. He served his country his whole adult life. He loved his country. He loved his work. He understood the importance of protecting, advancing, and defending who we are. The chairman pointed out his real dedication to his son. Often, Matt would come over to my office for a topline indication of what we were going to be doing when we got to the Intel Committee. Since you really can't talk about that until you get to the Intel Committee, a sure way to get a good conversation going was to say: Tell me about that son of yours. He would have chapter and verse of what had happened in the last few days of the things he was doing with Brad. He was really appreciated by his coworkers. I talked to the Chaplain yesterday. He went to see our Intel team moments after they found out about the loss of Matt Pollard, and the Chaplain was impressed by the emotional sense of loss this whole team felt. He knew more about his area of expertise than anybody on our staff. We will miss that, but we will mostly miss him. We are grateful for his service, grateful for his dedication to his country and his son and the future of both his country and his family. I yield back to the chairman.”