On the recordDecember 17, 2011
as we know, very clearly, today is Saturday. But the Senate had some very important work to do today, so we stayed in session to present some issues to the American public that were extremely important. One was to make sure there would be no tax increase on millions of American families--in fact, 160 million. We had a duty to be here, the Senators, but also other people had a duty to be here, and they are here. Four very dedicated pages are here today: Grace Mason, from Roanoke, VA; Kristina Biddle, from Hockessin, DE; Mitchell Bustillo, of Fort Worth, TX; and Zach Schroeder, from Clarksville, TN. They didn't have to be here. They could be home with their families during this holiday season, as the other pages are. Instead, they stayed to help keep the Senate running smoothly. They didn't have to be asked. They volunteered. We expect a lot of our pages, and I so appreciate their work. I have had two granddaughters who were pages--my two oldest grandchildren--and it actually changed their lives. I say that as seriously as I could say anything. Ryan and Mattie were not interested much about government. They had other things to do as juniors in high school. But they came back here in this environment, where they saw us wandering around and making speeches and voting and they got interested in reading the newspapers and watching the news more intently. My two granddaughters now are both in France studying abroad.…
