On the recordNovember 15, 2018
I rise also this morning to honor the life and legacy of my friend, Damon Nelson. A lot of wonderful, lofty things have been said about him this morning in this Chamber. Every single one of those was true. I certainly identify with each and every one of those remarks. I will not repeat those but will walk a different path. I did not realize the extent to which Damon impacted staffing across the Hill. Once he passed, I began to get information about folks whose lives had been touched and whose careers here in Washington had been started as a result of being hired and mentored by Damon over the years. There are people on my personal staff whom I did not realize had a direct connection to Damon because he had started their careers here in Congress and on the Hill through his mentorship and help. I got to know Damon extremely well as a result of working on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and his role as staff director, particularly when I took over running the Russia investigation. Damon was my direct contact with the staff. He did a masterful job at trying to expeditiously conduct that investigation, making sure that we dotted the i's and crossed the t's, making some really difficult decisions as we walked that path.…
