On the recordJune 16, 2011
I am happy to be here to listen to my friends talk about hockey, and I will talk for just a minute about hockey. I was raised in the desert. When I came back as a Member of Congress, I wanted my boys to watch a hockey game. I wanted to watch one. I had never watched one. So we went to a hockey game. I tell my colleagues, it is a game you have to learn something about. For me, with no hockey experience, it was pretty difficult. They are on the ice just a few minutes and then off, back and forth, and it is hard to keep track of it. But I did have the opportunity twice to watch the great Gretzky and that was a great experience. One of my most difficult, scary experiences of my life: There was a time when--well, they still do--Las Vegas had a minor league hockey team. I was asked to go out in the middle of that ice and drop a puck. I don't do very well, as demonstrated when a few weeks ago I slipped and fell and dislocated my shoulder on regular dirt. So to walk out on that ice was something that was frightening to me, and I have never forgotten that. So to have those men rushing up and down those rinks the way they do is truly astounding. My only heroism in hockey was my own heroism in convincing myself I should go out there. Mr. President, our staffs have been working diligently for days now to find a path that would allow the Senate to complete action on the jobs bill which is now on the floor.…





