Patrick Leahy: “I appreciate what the leader just said about COVID. It certainly reflects the feelings of people in my State that we…”

“I appreciate what the leader just said about COVID. It certainly reflects the feelings of people in my State that we have to get going. But I am here on a different matter today. Since the 1780s, we have had an extraordinary list of Secretaries of the Senate. The outgoing Secretary Julie Adams is one of those extraordinary people who have been here, and I have had the distinct pleasure and honor of serving with so many. But let me be personal for a moment. On Monday, in my role as President pro tempore, I will administer the oath of office to an amazing person, Sonceria Ann Berry. She will become the Secretary of the Senate. This is a woman who earned her bachelor's degree in education from the University of North Alabama, and she has had so much experience in the Senate. She first worked for Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama. I had the pleasure of serving with Senator Heflin--as I found when I would travel to Alabama with him, he usually would be greeted with ``Hello, Judge.'' He was a man who had an extraordinary sense of how the Senate worked but made very clear to me how much he relied on Ann Berry. She worked with other good friends of mine: Senator Pat Moynihan, whose office was right down the hall from mine, and Senator Edwards and Senator Carper. She took time out from her duties in my office to help stand up Senator Jones' office. She came to the Leahy office in 2007, and she worked with my chief of staff, J.P. Dowd.…”