On the recordJune 6, 2013
tomorrow there will be another class of pages who will graduate after serving the Senate so well. We expect a lot of our pages, who often work as hard as Senators and staff. Their contributions to make the Senate run smoothly day in and day out are greatly appreciated. I commend them for their hard work, thank them for their efforts, and wish them the best of luck in their next endeavor. Speaking from a personal perspective, my two oldest grandchildren served as pages. It really changed their lives. Even though their grandfather was heavily involved in politics--and that was all my adult life--they really were not in tune with what was going on or I guess they really didn't care that much. But after having served here as pages, they became avid readers of the press, listened to the news, and became interested in what goes on here. These jobs as pages are really life-changing. There are lots of examples of that. Senator Chris Dodd, who recently retired, was a longtime Member of Congress and Senator from Connecticut. His serving as a page really paved the way for him to be a Peace Corps volunteer, a Member of Congress, and a Member of the Senate. Each of these young men and women has a golden opportunity. I appreciate very much how hard they have worked. These young men and women have gone to school, and it has been hard. It is not easy to complete the semester of school that they do here--it is very hard. People who run that school cut them no slack.…





