On the recordFebruary 6, 2012
I am in the happy position of mimicking a lot of what my colleague Senator Hutchison has said but for a very good reason. Until one goes through an experience such as the one Senator Hutchison and I have been through for the last year, plus, plus, one has no understanding of how hard staff works. That staff routinely work over the weekends is just a given. They work through the night. They will stay up all night frequently. They have to reach out in so many directions. There are not that many of them as compared to those who have requests of them, and so their work never stops. Let me start, obviously, with Senator Hutchison. She did mention Todd Bertoson and Richard Russell, then Jarrod Thompson, the lead negotiator. That is a tough position. It is a very tough position because people and interest groups figure out whom to go to and whom to pester and whom to follow up with. I have that same situation, and Ellen Doneski is incredible. I called her at 11 last night and she was fine and well and then she got sick and now she is already back at work. Does that mean she is not sick any longer? I don't know. But they are driven to excel. They are driven to drive the product home in ways that are expiring. To my left sits James Reid, who is the No. 2 person on that committee who, as far as I can tell, knows everything about everything and certainly about any discussion that comes up in terms of the Commerce Committee. He is tireless.…
