Mitch Landrieu: “I want to begin by commending, as I have often, my colleague from Ohio for his leadership on this issue. It has been a…”

“I want to begin by commending, as I have often, my colleague from Ohio for his leadership on this issue. It has been a joy and a privilege to work with him as we have alternated the chairmanship of this very important committee for this region and this Nation and, obviously, for the residents of the District itself. It has been a real joy to work with him. We have found a tremendous amount of common ground in the course of these few years, and I think we have made a lot of progress in some of the most complex challenges here in the District. He noted this morning the challenge, still, with the foster care system and its weaknesses, and he outlined how this committee and this Congress has worked in partnership, very closely, with all the city leaders to recognize the problems, admit them, and begin to put in the resources and the management changes necessary to make that child welfare system much better and, hopefully, a model for the Nation.”