Political Quotes

On the recordJanuary 8, 2024
Madam President, I rise today with my colleagues to pay tribute to a special friend and our former colleague, Senator Kohl of Wisconsin. I was fortunate enough to be able to serve with Herb Kohl during his service in the Senate and have been equally fortunate to know his wonderful family. I have been listening to my colleagues describe Senator Kohl, and I thought that I would describe him in a way that Herb Kohl would never describe himself as being. That is because he was too modest. The fact is, Herb Kohl was really the embodiment of what we Jews know as tikkun olam, which is a belief that all of us have a responsibility to leave our world and our communities better off than we found them. Herb did that day in and day out, living his life always trying to boost the well-being of those less fortunate. As my colleagues have been saying, Herb Kohl didn't need to go into public service, but what we are all saying today is that public service desperately needs people like Herb Kohl: a successful businessperson, passionate about improving his home State of Wisconsin and his country through public service. When most people think of a U.S. Senator, my guess is they have an image of somebody who loves to hear themselves talk, puts out a blizzard of news releases, tweets every day, and aims to take credit for lots of stuff. Herb Kohl was just the opposite of all that.…
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Ron Wyden
Democratic · Oregon

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