Rob Portman: “I am on the floor today to pay tribute to friends and colleagues who will be leaving the Senate at the start of the new…”

“I am on the floor today to pay tribute to friends and colleagues who will be leaving the Senate at the start of the new Congress. I consider Lamar Alexander, who spoke yesterday, to be a friend and a mentor. He is an institution around here. He is what I would consider an old-school Senator in the best way. He not only takes the time to learn the issues, but he also understands how to explain the importance of the policies that we work on up here to the people back home. By embodying the principles of collegiality and bipartisanship, he has accomplished a lot for the people of Tennessee and all Americans. In the Senate, you need 59 other Senators to say ``That is a good idea'' to get anything accomplished. It is critical, then, to get to know your colleagues, learn about how to work with them constructively to get things done. Lamar Alexander is masterful at that. We have accomplished a lot under his leadership on a lot of important issues. In the interest of time, I will mention two recent examples where I worked with Lamar and watched him make a difference in the lives of all Americans.…”