On the recordSeptember 15, 2016
Madam President, first of all, I will be very brief. What we just passed is a major bill. It took a lot of effort from a lot of people. Many times the Members get more credit than they should because the real heroes are the ones who are back there doing the work. I want to thank the staff who are responsible for the hours and a lot of late nights. I want to thank my chief of staff, Adrienne Jackson, as well as Alex Herrgott. They do a lot of late night work on these things, as well as many on the other side. In the case of Alex Herrgott, who was driving this thing, he has been doing this for me for over a dozen years. We have had a lot of successes. I also wish to recognize Susan Bodine, who is sitting right here. She is a long-time WRDA expert, going back to 2 years ago when we had the WRDA bill, in 2014. She actually worked on WRDA on the House side for 11 years. I thank, as well, Charles Brittingham. These are the two who actually spent the time on my side of the aisle who put in the hardest and the longest hours. He was originally on loan to me from Senator Vitter, but now he is a full member of the EPW Committee. Few, if any, have better expertise on the core operation than Charles. I want to thank Joe Brown for his long hours, as well as Jennie Wright and Andrew Neely for their work on the Oklahoma priorities on this bill, along with Carter Vella and Amanda Hall.…





