John Cornyn: “I have the unwelcome task of saying farewell to my right hand: my chief of staff, Beth Jafari. It is literally…”

“I have the unwelcome task of saying farewell to my right hand: my chief of staff, Beth Jafari. It is literally impossible to separate my Senate career from Beth's influence because she has been a leader on Team Cornyn for the last 20 years. Back in 2003, I made what I now recognize as one of the best employment decisions I have ever made. That is when I hired Beth to be my legislative director. This Houston native had spent nearly a decade working in the House of Representatives before she came to the Senate, but she had had a short period of time wherein she practiced law and recognized the satisfaction and reward of public service more than the enhanced paycheck of the private practice of law. To me, one of the great benefits is she knew Texas; she knew Congress; she understood Washington and all of its strange ways. I was confident then and am now that she was the perfect person for the job. Beth quickly developed an expertise in both the processes and the people of the U.S. Senate. She understood the ins and outs of every policy area and which Members cared the most about what issues. She built strong relationships with staff on both sides of the aisle and earned a reputation as a trustworthy and honest broker, and she empowered our own legislative team to notch up win after win for Texas. When my first chief of staff left in 2007, I knew there was only one person for that job, one person I could literally trust with that job.…”