On the recordDecember 22, 2010
Mr. President, when I came to the Senate in 2007 as a Senator-elect, one of the first things I did was to go see Senator Specter. He asked me at the time to go to lunch, and from the moment that I arrived in the Senate, he made it very clear to me, not only did the people of Pennsylvania expect, but he expected as well that we work together. From the beginning of his service here in the United States Senate, way back when he was elected in 1980, all the way up to the present moment, he has been a Senator who has focused on building bipartisan relationships and, of course, focusing on Pennsylvania priorities. I have been honored to have worked with him on so many Pennsylvania priorities, whether it was veterans or workers, whether it was dairy farmers or the economy of Pennsylvania, or whether it was our soldiers, or our children, or our families. He has been a champion for our state, and he has shown younger Senators the way to work together in the interest of our state and our country. That bipartisanship wasn't just a sentiment. He is a legislator who sought compromise that led to results in a Senate often divided by partisanship. His record is long, so I will only highlight a few areas. He helped to lead the effort to dramatically increase funding for the National Institutes of Health, that great generator of discoveries that cure diseases and create jobs and hope for people often without hope because of a disease or a malady of one kind or another.…





