Madam President, I am here on the floor to congratulate my friend from North Carolina, the Tar Heel State. We go back a few years. He is from Winston-Salem, where my wife is from. Our spouses actually waitressed together back in Winston-Salem during high school, and they are still buddies. Brooke and Richard are dear friends. More importantly for today, Richard has been a terrific representative of the State of North Carolina--first, in the House of Representatives, where I served with him when I was a Member there from Ohio; and then he snuck over to the Senate, a little bit ahead of me, and kind of laid the groundwork. We have had the opportunity to work on so much together, Richard. I think of every major bipartisan achievement in this place, and you will see Richard's fingerprints on it. So to his staff who are here, I know those are your fingerprints as much as his; so congratulations. They haven't always been easy issues. Sometimes they have put Richard in a difficult political position, but he did what he thought was right for his beloved State of North Carolina and for the country. Today, I have heard a lot about healthcare. I like healthcare. That is great to talk about it, but I want to talk about something else. But first, on healthcare, I must say, on Operation Warp Speed, it was remarkably successful. I think everyone has to acknowledge that now. No one in this Chamber was more responsible for laying the groundwork for that than Richard Burr.…
On the recordDecember 14, 2022
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