TRIBUTES TO HON. HARRY REID 

Harry Reid 

U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA 

TRIBUTES 

IN THE CONGRESS OF 

THE UNITED STATES 

UNUM

E PLURIBUS


congress.#15
Harry Reid 


23052_Reid.eps
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 2017

S. DOC. 114–23 

Tributes 

Delivered in Congress 

Harry Reid 

United States Congressman 

1983–1987 

United States Senator 

1987–2017 

÷ 

Compiled under the direction 

of the 

Joint Committee on Printing 

[ iii ] 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Biography .................................................................................................. v 

Farewell Address ...................................................................................... ix 

Proceedings in the Senate: 

Tributes by Senators: 

Boozman, John, of Arkansas ..................................................... 41 

Boxer, Barbara, of California ................................................... 3, 6, 20 

Cardin, Benjamin L., of Maryland ............................................ 25 

Casey, Robert P., Jr., of Pennsylvania ..................................... 4 

Collins, Susan M., of Maine ...................................................... 30 

Durbin, Richard J., of Illinois ................................................... 14 

Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming ................................................... 29 

Feinstein, Dianne, of California ................................................ 6 

Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah ........................................................... 36 

Heller, Dean, of Nevada ............................................................ 10 

Hirono, Mazie K., of Hawaii ...................................................... 31 

Klobuchar, Amy, of Minnesota .................................................. 34 

Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont ................................................... 24 

McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky ................................................. 7, 36 

Nelson, Bill, of Florida ............................................................... 31 

Peters, Gary C., of Michigan ..................................................... 39 

Portman, Rob, of Ohio ............................................................... 41 

Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island ...................................................... 23 

Reid, Harry, of Nevada .............................................................. 9 

Stabenow, Debbie, of Michigan ................................................. 38 

[ v ] 

BIOGRAPHY 

To understand Senator HARRY REID, you must look to the 

small mining town of Searchlight, NV. 

There in the desert, more than an hour away from the 

bright lights of Las Vegas is where he was born and raised. 

Searchlight is where HARRY REID watched his father work 

as a hard rock miner. It’s where he attended a school with 

one teacher for eight grades. It’s where he learned Nevada 

values like hard work, opportunity, and independence. 

HARRY REID was the Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate, 

someone that earned the respect of colleagues from both parties, and a powerful advocate for Nevada families. Every day 

Senator REID put his leadership position to work to deliver 

meaningful results for all Nevadans. 

He was guided by the lessons and values he learned in 

Searchlight. 

The Las Vegas Sun newspaper summarized Senator REID’s 

story by saying that he ‘‘has gone from underdog to Senate’s 

top dog.’’ 

Parade Magazine, the Nation’s largest weekly magazine, 

identified Senator REID as one of a handful of leaders in 

Washington with ‘‘integrity and guts.’’ 

Since Nevadans first elected him to the Senate in 1986, 

HARRY REID developed a reputation as a consensus builder 

and a skillful legislator. His Republican colleagues have 

praised his reasoned, balanced approach. 

Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican from Utah, has said, ‘‘We 

all respect Senator REID. He is one of the moderate voices 

around here who tries to get things to work.’’ 

Former Republican Senate Leader Trent Lott said, ‘‘HARRY

REID is out there finding a solution. I enjoy working with 

him very much.’’ 

Senator REID worked with both parties, including all members of the Nevada congressional delegation, to address the 

issues important to the State. 

After Nevadans reelected Senator REID to a third Senate 

term in 1998, he was chosen by his colleagues to serve as the 

assistant Democratic leader, also known as the ‘‘whip.’’ After 

he won a fourth term in 2004 by a wide margin, he was 

[ vi ] 

unanimously elected Senate Democratic leader, a position he 

held until his retirement. In 2010, he was reelected as Nevada’s senior U.S. Senator. 

HARRY REID wasn’t afraid to speak his mind—but he 

wasn’t afraid to listen, either. Like the desert country that 

helped shape him, he didn’t cry out for attention. He’s soft 

spoken—but when he talked, people listened. 

He earned the trust of both Democrats and Republicans, 

and his reputation for integrity and fairness gave the small 

State of Nevada a powerful voice in Congress. 

Since he came to the Senate in 1986, HARRY REID fought 

tirelessly to make Nevada an even better place to live by 

promoting economic development, investing in infrastructure, working to address the foreclosure crisis, investing in 

clean energy development, fighting the proposed Yucca 

Mountain nuclear waste dump, delivering quality affordable 

health care, protecting Social Security, and ensuring the 

readiness of our military. As a result of surges in the State’s 

population over the last decade, Senator REID used his leadership position to meet Nevada’s unique needs. 

As the Democratic leader, Senator REID worked on building a clean energy future that would help provide Nevadans 

with safe, reliable, and affordable supplies of clean energy, 

and he championed efforts to make Nevada the Nation’s 

leader in clean energy. He supported investments in renewable energy, transmission lines, and energy efficiency that 

create jobs and reduce energy costs for Nevada families. 

Since 2000, he secured over $100 million for Nevada-based 

projects to research and advance our Nation’s renewable energy and energy efficiency capabilities, and he also helped to 

pioneer renewable energy development on public lands in 

Nevada. Since 2008, Senator REID cosponsored the National 

Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, NV. These summits 

brought business leaders, elected officials, and experts in energy development and technology together to develop policy 

recommendations that guide Federal and local government 

in developing clean renewable energy and growing a greener, 

more sustainable economy. 

Senator REID also secured hundreds of millions of dollars 

to make Nevada safer. These funds helped put more police 

on the street, and ensured that Nevada’s military bases 

throughout the State have the vital funding they need. In 

2005, Senator REID worked with the Base Realignment and 

Closure Committee (BRAC) and fought to successfully prevent the removal of the Nevada Air National Guard C–130 

[ vii ] 

aircraft and the closure of the Hawthorne Army Depot. He 

also worked tirelessly to ensure the Southern Nevada Veterans Administration Medical Complex became a reality. He 

secured over $600 million for the project and because of Senator REID’s work, the 700,000 square-foot center opened in 

2012 for Nevada’s veterans. 

As an avid sportsman, Senator REID has long been a 

champion of Nevada’s outdoors. In 1986, he authored and 

passed legislation establishing Nevada’s first national park, 

Great Basin National Park, He led the fight to protect and 

restore Lake Tahoe, and in 1997 he invited President Clinton and Vice President Gore to join him at Lake Tahoe and 

secured a Federal commitment to restore and protect the 

lake. From this, the annual Lake Tahoe Summit was created, which brings leaders of all political stripes together 

with the common goal of preserving Lake Tahoe’s clarity. 

While some were taking away funding from Nevada 

schools, Senator REID used his leadership position to deliver 

more Federal funding to invest in Nevada students, reduce 

class sizes, and lower the dropout rate. He also helped make 

college more affordable by increasing grant aid and making 

student loan payments more manageable. He secured hundreds of millions of dollars for Nevada’s colleges and universities for research in energy, medical, and science industries. 

Born in the small rural mining town of Searchlight, HARRY

REID grew up in a small cabin without indoor plumbing, and 

attended a two-room elementary school. As a small boy he 

would accompany his father, Harry Reid, Sr., for long days 

deep underground in the mines. His father was a hard rock 

miner with an eighth grade education and his mother never 

completed high school; yet, the youngest of Harry and Inez 

Reid’s four sons would go on to achieve the American dream. 

Searchlight had no high school, so after eighth grade, 

HARRY began attending Basic High School in Henderson, 

where he boarded with local families during the school week. 

It was at Basic High that he met Landra Gould, who became his high school sweetheart. In 1959, 2 years after they 

had graduated from Basic, HARRY and Landra were married. 

In 1961, their first child and only daughter, Lana, was born. 

Son Rory was born in 1962, and three more brothers—Leif, 

Josh, and Key—followed. 

Basic High was also where HARRY REID met a teacher 

named Mike O’Callaghan who would play many roles in his 

life: teacher, boxing coach, political mentor, trusted advisor, 

and best friend. 

[ viii ] 

After high school, some businessmen in Henderson helped 

him go on to college, an act of generosity that HARRY REID

would work hard to repay in the years that followed. He 

graduated from Utah State University in 1961 and went on 

to get a law degree from George Washington University. 

During these years as a law student, he supported his young 

family by working nights as a U.S. Capitol Police Officer. 

After completing law school, the Reids headed back to 

Henderson where HARRY served as the city attorney, revising 

the city charter and working on extending Henderson’s 

boundaries by acquiring Federal land. His outstanding 

record helped him win an election to the Nevada State Assembly in 1968, at age 28. 

In Carson City, as a young assemblyman, he introduced 

the first air pollution legislation in Nevada’s history and also 

worked on laws to protect consumers. In 1970, at the age of 

30, HARRY REID became the youngest Lieutenant Governor 

in Nevada history, winning election as Governor Mike 

O’Callaghan’s running mate. 

In 1977, he was appointed chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, where for 5 years, he made headlines with 

his legendary and unrelenting fight to clean up Nevada’s 

gaming industry. 

HARRY REID returned to his private law practice for a few 

years, and, in 1982, won the first of two terms in the U.S. 

House of Representatives. In the House, he championed 

issues important to Nevada families, introducing the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights as well as legislation to protect Nevada’s wilderness. 

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, and reelected 

in 1992, 1998, 2004, and 2010. He served as the chairman 

or senior Democratic member on several important committees and subcommittees, and was the Senate Democratic 

leader. 

HARRY REID was a tireless worker, and it wasn’t unusual 

for him to be the first Senator to arrive at the Capitol in the 

morning and the last to go home at night. 

Despite the demands of his career in government, HARRY

REID’s family has always been his first priority. The bonds 

forged in the tight-knit family have only grown stronger as 

the Reid children have grown up, embarked on their own careers, and started their own families. 

Senator REID and Landra are the proud grandparents of 

19 grandchildren. 

[ ix ] 

Farewell to the Senate 

Thursday, December 8, 2016 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the history of Searchlight starts 

this way, the first paragraph of that book: 

Searchlight is like many Nevada towns and cities: it would never have 

come to be had gold not been discovered. Situated on rocky, windy, and arid 

terrain without artisan wells or surface water of any kind, the place we call 

Searchlight was not a gathering spot for Indian or animal. 

Searchlight. It is a long way from Searchlight in the U.S. 

Senate. 

I grew up during World War II in Searchlight. As Senator 

McConnell mentioned, my dad was a miner, a hard rock 

miner, an underground miner, but work wasn’t very good in 

Searchlight. The mines during World War II were especially 

gone—all over America but especially in Nevada. There were 

a few things that went on after the war, promotions. He 

would work, and sometimes they would pay him, sometimes 

there were bad checks that would bounce. Sometimes they 

wouldn’t pay him, they would just leave. 

My mom worked really hard. We had this old Maytag 

washer. There were lines outside. She worked really hard. 

Searchlight had about 250 people then. It had seen its better days. Searchlight was discovered in 1898 when gold was 

discovered, and for 15 or 18 years, it was a booming town. 

It was one of the most modern cities in all of Nevada. It had 

electricity—turn of the century electricity. It had a telegraph. It had telephones. It had a fire station, firetrucks. It 

had roads with signs on them designating the name of the 

street. It had a railroad. When I grew up, that was all gone. 

Searchlight, as I said, had 250 people. 

So people may ask: How did my mother work so hard in 

a town with 250 people? We had at that time no mines, but 

13 brothels at one time in Searchlight—13, not over time but 

at one time. The biggest was the El Rey Club. So that tells 

everyone what wash my mom did, from the casinos and from 

the brothels. She worked really hard. She ironed. She 

washed. 

[ x ] 

As I look back on my growing up in Searchlight, I never 

felt, during the time I was a boy, that I was deprived of anything. I never went hungry. Sometimes we didn’t have, I 

guess, what my mom wanted, but we were fine. 

As I look back, it wasn’t that good, I guess. We had no inside toilet. We had a toilet outside. You had to walk about 

50 yards to that because my dad didn’t want it close to the 

house, and we had a good time, even with that. My poor 

mother, what a wonderful woman she was. Sometimes, my 

younger brother and I sometimes, just to be funny, when my 

mother would go to the toilet, which had tin walls—it was 

made out of tin—and we would throw rocks at that. ‘‘Let me 

out,’’ she would say. It doesn’t sound like much fun, but it 

was fun at the time. 

When I started elementary school, there was one teacher 

for grades one through four and then another teacher for 

grades five through eight, but when I got to the fifth grade, 

there were not enough students for two teachers so one 

teacher taught all eight grades. I learned at that time in 

that little school that you can really learn. I have never ever 

forgotten a woman by the name of Mrs. Pickard. I can still 

see her with those glasses, just a stereotype spinster teacher—but she was a teacher. She taught me that education 

was good, to learn is good. When I graduated, we had a large 

graduating class: six kids. The Presiding Officer from Nevada [Mr. Heller] should feel good about me. I graduated in 

the top third of my class. 

My parents did the best they could. My dad never graduated from eighth grade. My mom didn’t graduate from high 

school. In Searchlight—this is probably no surprise to anyone—there was never ever a church service in Searchlight 

that I can ever remember. There was no church, no preachers, no nothing regarding religion. That is how I was raised. 

My brother and I were born in our house. There was no 

hospital. It had long since gone. I didn’t go to a dentist until 

I was 14 years old, but I was fortunate. I was born with nice 

teeth, especially on the top. The bottoms aren’t so good, but 

rarely have I had a cavity of any kind. I have just been fortunate in that regard. 

We didn’t go to doctors. It was a rare occasion. There was 

no one to go to. I can remember my father having such a bad 

toothache, I watched him pull a tooth with a pair of pliers. 

My mother was hit in the face with a softball when she 

was a young woman in Searchlight and it ruined her teeth. 

[ xi ] 

As I was growing up, I saw her teeth disappear—a few, a 

few less, and finally no teeth. My mom had no teeth. 

My brother was riding his bicycle, slid on the dirt, broke 

his leg, never went to the doctor. I can remember it as if it 

were 10 minutes ago, my brother Larry in bed. We couldn’t 

touch the bed, it hurt him so much, but it healed. The bottom part of one leg is bent, but it healed. 

I can remember once a TB wagon came through Searchlight, the only time I remember. People had tuberculosis, or 

TB. I can remember Con Hudgens had TB. I don’t remember 

who else. We had miners who were there who had silicosis, 

some of them, my dad included. My mom had one of those 

tests. She went into the big truck and had her chest x 

rayed—I guess that is what they did. A few weeks later, she 

got a postcard that said her test was positive and she should 

go see a doctor. She never went to see a doctor. I worried 

about that so much. I can’t imagine how my mother must 

have felt, but obviously it was a false positive. Think about 

that, never going to the doctor when you are told you have 

tuberculosis. 

As I learned more about my dad, I know how important 

health care would have been for him, to be able to see somebody to try to explain more to my dad so he could understand himself a little better. 

I am sure I haven’t done all the good in life I could do, but 

I am here to tell everyone that there is one thing I did in 

my life that I am so proud of, and I will always be. I hope 

I am not boasting; if I am, I am sorry. I worked long hours 

at a service station. As Mitch indicated, there was no high 

school in Searchlight so I went to school in Henderson, NV. 

I worked in a Standard station. I worked really hard, long 

hours. I took all the hours they would give me. I saved up 

enough money—I had $250—I was going to buy my mother 

some teeth. I went to a man—he was a big shot. They named 

a school after him, and he was on the school board in Las 

Vegas. He married this beautiful woman from Searchlight. I 

went to him. I had never met him before, but Dr. Smith 

knows who I am. His name was J.D. Smith. 

I said, ‘‘I want to buy my mother some teeth.’’ 

He said, ‘‘I don’t do credit here.’’ 

He insulted me. So I went to Dr. Marshall in Henderson 

and bought my mom some teeth. It changed my mother’s life. 

My mother had teeth. 

My parents lived in Searchlight until they both died. There 

are a number of people who know, at least my staff knows, 

[ xii ] 

that my dad killed himself. I can remember that day so 

plainly. I had been out and spent 2 hours with Muhammad 

Ali, he and I, one of his handlers and one of my staff. It was 

so—for me, as someone who has always wanted to be an athlete, an athlete want-to-be, that was great. Some of you 

know I fought, but he was in a different world than I, but 

he was nice. He was generous with his time and he was so 

much fun. He said, ‘‘Pay no attention to me. I am fighting 

some White guy and I am going to cause some trouble out 

here.’’ He kicked the walls and yelled and screamed, and I 

was happy. 

I walked to my car, got to my office, and my receptionist, 

Joanie, said to me, ‘‘Mr. REID, your mom is on the phone.’’ 

I talked to my mother all the time—many times a week. She 

said, ‘‘Your pop shot himself.’’ So she lived in Searchlight. It 

took me an hour, an hour and a half to get out there. I can 

still remember seeing my dad on that bed. I was so sad because my dad never had a chance. He was depressed always. 

He was reclusive. I did things; he never came to anything 

that I did. I never felt bad that he didn’t because I knew my 

dad. My mom came to everything she could. But I felt bad 

about that. I will talk some more about suicide in a little bit, 

but I think everyone can understand a little bit of why I 

have been such an avid supporter of Obamacare, health care. 

I was ashamed, embarrassed about Searchlight. When I 

went to college, when I was in high school, law school, I just 

didn’t want to talk about Searchlight. I was kind of embarrassed about it. It was kind of a crummy place. I didn’t show 

people pictures of my home. 

Many years later, I was a young man, and I was in government. Alex Haley, a famous writer who wrote the book 

‘‘Roots,’’ was a speaker at the University of Nevada foundation dinner in Reno. He gave a speech that was stunning. It 

was so good. Basically, what he said to everyone there—he 

directed his remarks to me, I thought, and of course he 

didn’t, but he said, ‘‘Be proud of who you are. You can’t escape who you are.’’ 

I walked out of that event that night a different person, 

a new man. From that day forward, I was from Searchlight. 

When I got out of law school, I bought little pieces of property so I had contacts there. My parents lived there, and I 

went there all the time, but I became HARRY REID, the guy 

from Searchlight. 

So one thing people ask me all the time—they say, ‘‘You 

have done OK. Tell me what you think are the important asVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ xiii ] 

pects’’—especially young people ask all the time—and 

‘‘young’’ is a relative term—‘‘what would you recommend? 

What do you think is the way to success?’’ I tell them all the 

same thing. I didn’t make it in life because of my athletic 

prowess. I didn’t make it because of my good looks. I didn’t 

make it because I am a genius. I made it because I worked 

hard. I tell everyone, whatever you want to try to do, make 

sure you work as hard as you can to try to do what you want 

to do. I believe that is a lesson for everyone. 

The little boy from Searchlight has been able to be part of 

the changing State of Nevada. I am grateful I have been part 

of that change. 

When I graduated from law school, the population of Nevada was less than 300,000 people. The State of Nevada has 

now 3 million people. We grew from one Member of Congress 

in 1864–1882. One was all we had. Now we have four. During my 34 years in Congress, I have seen the country 

change. I have seen Nevada change. The change for the 

country and Nevada has been for the better. 

Now I am going to spend a little bit of time talking about 

some of the things I have been able to do as a Member of 

the U.S. Senate. I know it is long and I know it is somewhat 

tedious, but I have been here a long time, so please be patient. 

MY LEGISLATION

Reducing tax burdens. I am sorry he is not here—David 

Pryor from Arkansas. I don’t want to hurt the feelings of any 

of my very capable friends, but the best legislator I have 

ever served with in State government, Federal Government, 

was David Pryor. He was good. He was not a big speaker, 

but he was good at getting things done. 

The first speech I gave as a Member of the Senate was 

way back there where Cory Booker is right now. I gave a 

speech. I tried to do it in the House; it was called the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights. I couldn’t get Jake Pickle, the chair of 

that subcommittee on Ways and Means, to even talk to me 

in the House. But I came over here and gave that speech, 

and David Pryor was presiding. He was subcommittee chair 

of the committee dealing with that in finance. Chuck Grassley was also listening to my speech. David Pryor sent me a 

note when I finished and said, ‘‘I want to help you with this.’’ 

Chuck Grassley did the same thing. So my first speech led 

to the passage of the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, with the help 

of David Pryor and Chuck Grassley. It was landmark legislaVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ xiv ] 

tion. It put the taxpayer on more equal footing with the tax 

collector. Everybody liked it so much, we have done two more 

iterations of it since then to make it even stronger. 

Source tax. I am sure it is just a boring thing to everybody, 

but it wasn’t boring to people who came from California and 

tried to retire someplace else. The State of California was 

merciless in going after people. They had the law on their 

side, they thought. If you had worked in California, it didn’t 

matter where you went, they would go after you—for your 

pension, is what it amounted to. I tried for 15 years to get 

that changed, and I got it changed. No longer can California—with all due respect to Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer—do that. They can’t do that anymore. If you retire in California and move someplace else, they can’t tax 

that money. 

Mortgage tax relief. We all participated in that. I initiated 

it when the collapse of Wall Street took place. That was a 

big help. 

Tax incentives for solar and geothermal—very important. 

I will talk a little bit more about that. 

Payment in lieu of taxes. All my Western Senators will appreciate that. It was just 4 or 5 years ago that we were able 

to fully fund PILT, payment in lieu of taxes. I worked very 

hard with Max Baucus and Ron Wyden, and we did things 

to take care of some issues they had. That is the first time 

it had ever been fully funded. 

Cancellation of indebtedness. Those are buzzwords for people who understand taxes a little better. But what happened 

is people—everything collapsed. They would try to get out of 

the debt they had. They couldn’t because the IRS would tax 

them at the value of it when they bought it. It was unfair, 

and we got that changed. That was in the stimulus bill. We 

got that changed. 

Let’s talk about the economy a little bit. I know some of 

my Democratic colleagues will say, ‘‘Why did you do that?’’ 

Here is what I did. I worked with Republican Senator Don 

Nickles from Oklahoma. There was a Republican President. 

Don and I talked about this. We knew the administration 

would change and it would affect every President, Democratic and Republican. It was called the Congressional Review Act. What that said is the President promulgates a regulation and Congress has a chance to look it over to see if 

it is too burdensome, too costly, too unfair. We have done 

that quite a few times. That was because of HARRY REID and 

Don Nickles. That was legislation that I did, and it was 

[ xv ] 

great when we had Republican Presidents, not so great when 

we had Democratic Presidents, but it was fair. 

One person who has been so important to the State of Nevada is a man by the name of Kirk Kerkorian, an 

uneducated man. He flew over the North Atlantic during 

World War II for England at great personal sacrifice to himself. As I said, he had no education, but he became one of 

America’s legendary entrepreneurs. 

Many years ago, as a young new lawyer, I met him, and 

for many years I helped him and especially his brother with 

their legal issues. He is the man who helped create Las 

Vegas the way it is. He did something unique. He decided he 

was going to build something on the Las Vegas Strip called 

CityCenter. When you go to Nevada, look at that sometime. 

You could be in the middle of New York City—you would 

think you were there, basically. This is a magnificent operation. Well, it started before the recession. They were desperate to get it finished. More than 10,000 people worked on 

that project. I would drive by there and count the cranes— 

25, 30 cranes at one time there at work. Well, I interceded 

in that. I did some things that probably a lot of people 

wouldn’t do, but I did it because I thought it was very important that the operation didn’t shut down. Kerkorian had already put billions of dollars of his own money in it, and they 

had an investor from one of the Middle Eastern countries. I 

did a lot of things, I say, that a lot of you probably wouldn’t 

do, but I did it and I saved that project. I won’t go into detail, but I called people whom I doubt any of you would call. 

I called bank presidents, and I called leaders of countries. 

Anyway, it is completed now. I take some credit for that. 

The stimulus, the American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act. We got that done. Yesterday, the Presiding Officer was 

the senior Senator from Maine [Ms. Collins]. Oh, she was so 

helpful. I will probably get her in trouble by boasting about 

her here today, but she and her colleague from Maine, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter—we only had 58 votes as 

Democrats, and they were the difference. We were able to 

get that passed only because of them, and it was so good for 

our country. 

President Obama—the first 2 months after having been 

elected, the country lost 800,000 jobs. Can you imagine that? 

One month. But because of the stimulus bill, we were able 

to reverse that. We did a lot of wonderfully good things in 

that that were important for the country. 

[ xvi ] 

The Travel Promotion Act. Amy Klobuchar is here; she 

worked so hard helping get that done. It promoted travel to 

get foreigners to come here, come to America, and it worked 

out so well. Seven different clotures I had to file on that to 

get it done, but we got it done finally, and it has been remarkably good for America. Other countries—you will see 

them on television—are always advertising: Come visit Australia. Come visit the Bahamas. Come visit England. Come 

visit everyplace. But now there is advertising around the 

world: Come visit America. Now, everyone knows that Las 

Vegas gets more than its share, probably, of visitors, but it 

was good for Nevada and it was also good for the country. 

Nevada Test Site workers. We were the cold war veterans 

in Nevada. That was a big project. We had 11,000, 12,000 

workers there at one time. An aboveground test—I could remember seeing them. We were a long ways away in Searchlight, but you could see that flash. You wouldn’t always feel 

it. Sometimes it would bounce over Searchlight. But it was 

a very big deal. We didn’t know it was making people sick, 

but they were good enough to make sure the tests didn’t go 

off when the wind was blowing toward Las Vegas. It blew up 

toward Utah, and Utah suffered terribly because those were 

aboveground tests. So we worked to make sure the test site 

workers were a part of it because they were the reason we 

were winning the cold war, because what they did was dangerous. We passed that. It took a number of different segments to get it done. So we have done a lot to protect people. 

Nevada transportation. McCarran Airport. I have tried for 

years to get the name taken off—a Democratic Senator from 

Nevada who was an awful man. I tried to get his name off 

that, and it didn’t work. I tried to get J. Edgar Hoover’s 

name off the FBI Building; that didn’t work. We had a vote 

here. I can still remember how mad Orrin Hatch was when 

I did that, but, anyway, everybody had to vote on it. I think 

I made a mistake. I tried to name it after Bobby Kennedy. 

That was a mistake I made on that. 

Anyway, McCarran Airport. It is I think the fifth busiest 

airport in America now. We have gotten money for a new air 

traffic control center. It is one of the largest structures in the 

Western United States. We have done a good job taking care 

of McCarran, with all kinds of construction funding for runways and rehabilitation of runways. In the stimulus bill, one 

of the last things we put in that was bonding capacity that 

allowed McCarran Field to build a big new terminal. More 

than $1 billion we got in that legislation. It was really imVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ xvii ] 

portant during the recession to have all those workers. There 

were thousands and thousands of them on that new terminal, which is now completed. 

Reno. I was also able to direct money toward getting a new 

traffic control center there, a new control tower. We have 

done all the construction funding. A lot of stuff, good stuff 

for the airport in Reno. 

So I feel good about what we have done to help Nevada 

transportation, not the least of which, everybody, are the billions of dollars in directed spending for roads and highways 

in Nevada. It has made a change in northern Nevada and in 

southern Nevada. 

It is important for us to be able to bring people to Las 

Vegas, so we made deals with the California State Department of Transportation, and we participated in big construction projects that took place in California, in Barstow and 

San Bernardino. We did that because it would make it easier 

for people to go to Las Vegas. So I wasn’t just giving money 

to Las Vegas, NV; we also did it, of course, for California because it helped us. 

Health care. The Affordable Care Act. I have talked about 

that a little bit. It would have been wonderful if we had 

something like that around to help my family when we were 

growing up. I worked hard to help a number of you on the 

Children’s Health Insurance Program. Orrin Hatch was certainly involved in that. 

Just like I had trouble coming to grips with my home in 

Searchlight, I had trouble coming to grips with the fact that 

my dad killed himself. I was like most—we are called victims. We shouldn’t be, but that is what we are called. 

This year, about 32,000 people will kill themselves in 

America. That doesn’t count the hunting accidents that are 

really suicides or the car accidents that are really suicides. 

So I couldn’t get my arms around the suicide. Republican 

Senator Cohen from Maine was chairman of the Aging Committee upon which I served, and we were doing a hearing on 

senior depression. Mike Wallace came—the famous journalist—and here is what he said: ‘‘I have wanted to die for 

years. I would take the most dangerous assignments I could 

hoping I wouldn’t come back. You know, I am OK now, 

though. I want to live forever.’’ 

He said, ‘‘I take a pill once in a while, I see a doctor once 

in a while, and I am good. I am OK.’’ 

I said for the first time publicly, ‘‘Mr. Chairman, my dad 

killed himself.’’ That was a long time ago, but I think it 

[ xviii ] 

would be extremely important for this committee to hold a 

hearing on senior suicide because we have learned—since my 

focusing on suicide, we have done some good things as Members of Congress. We have directed spending to study why 

people kill themselves because we don’t know for sure. 

Isn’t it interesting that most suicides take place in the 

western part of the United States? You would think it would 

be in the dark places, like Maine and Vermont, where it is 

so dark and cold, but, no, it is in the bright sunshine of the 

West. We are learning a lot more. That has been so good to 

me as a person, and we have now funded projects around 

America where there are suicide prevention programs that 

are extremely important. There are suicide victims programs 

where people can get together after a loved one kills 

themself. That is something I am glad I worked on. 

Finally, health care. So 24 years ago, one of my friends 

from Las Vegas called me, Sandy Jolly, and she said, ‘‘I 

would like you to look at this film I am going to send you. 

You are not going to want to watch it, but I want you to 

watch it.’’ What it showed was a beautiful little girl in Africa 

in a white party dress. She looked so pretty. It was a party. 

Suddenly, two men grabbed her, spread her legs apart, and 

cut out her genitals—right there, with a razor blade. 

I thought: Man, that is hard to comprehend. My staff said 

it is something you shouldn’t deal with; it should be something for a woman. But I went ahead, and I did something 

about it. We haven’t done as much as we should do, and I 

hope that we have people who will pick up this issue. I had 

a meeting last Friday—the biggest audience I have ever had. 

There was a conference on female genital mutilation. I say 

that word because that is what it is. Millions of little girls 

have been cut. That is what it is called—‘‘cut.’’ Last year, no 

one knows for sure, but probably 250,000 little girls were 

cut. 

Last Friday, I had 200 people there. I said, ‘‘This is wonderful.’’ I said, ‘‘I have had 10 people a couple of times. Two 

or three of the people were lost and didn’t really want to be 

there.’’ 

It is really important that we do something about it. We 

have some laws now. It is against the law in the United 

States. They can’t go away for the purpose of being cut. 

There is a lot more that needs to be done. Our government 

has done almost nothing. 

[ xix ] 

ENVIRONMENT

I am going to spend a little bit on the environment. I have 

been chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee twice—not for very long. I gave it up once because I 

had to, because of the control of Congress, and one time I 

gave it away. Remember? I gave it away. I gave my chairmanship and my committee spot to Jim Jeffords. I love that 

committee. 

I have been involved in environment and energy issues 

since I came here. The State of Nevada is 87 percent owned 

by the Federal Government; 87 percent of the State of Nevada is Federal land. The rest, 13 percent, is private land. 

Of course, I should be concerned about it. As to Yucca Mountain, I am not going to get into a long dissertation about 

that. We spent about $8 billion there so far, maybe more. It 

is gone. 

Someone asked me the other day, ‘‘Well, you know, Republicans are in power now. They are going to come back to 

Yucca Mountain now.’’ I said, ‘‘Well, they better bring a 

checkbook with them because there is nothing there.’’ They 

would have to start all over again. With the big auger, they 

spent well over $1 billion digging that tunnel. That is scrap 

metal. There is nothing there. You can probably get it going 

again now for $10 billion, $12 billion. If you have a way to 

pay for it, good luck. If you were smart, what you would do 

is leave it where it is in dry cast storage containers, which 

is proven to be extremely safe and effective. That is what 

should be done. 

Renewable energy transmission. Part of the stimulus bill 

said one of the problems we have with energy is that we 

don’t have a way of transmitting electricity to where it 

should go. We talk about all this renewable energy, which is 

produced in places where there aren’t a lot of people, but you 

can’t get it anyplace where there are a lot of people. That 

has been changed with the stimulus bill. 

For example, in Nevada we have Line One, and for the 

first time in the history of the State of Nevada, we can move 

power from the north to the south of Nevada. That is underway now. That line will go up into the north-northwest. That 

was good legislation. 

I have had clean energy summits for many years. We 

bring in national leaders. Democrats and Republicans have 

focused attention on the problems America has with energy. 

The Clintons have come. President Obama has been there. 

We have had Republicans. Here is one who came and did a 

[ xx ] 

great job—Tom Donohue. Everybody knows him. We Democrats know him, for sure. He is head of the U.S. Chamber 

of Commerce. 

I have no problem with coal. I have helped fund clean coal 

technology. The Tracy powerplant, outside of Reno, was a 

clean coal plant. It didn’t work. So they had to go to another 

type of fuel. I have nothing against coal. However, I was 

upset about this. Nevada is very pristine. I have told a couple of people this. 

People don’t understand Nevada. Everybody thinks it is 

the deserts of Las Vegas, but it is not. Nevada is the most 

mountainous State in the Union, except for Alaska. We have 

314 separate mountain ranges. We have a mountain that is 

14,000 feet high. We have 32 mountains over 11,000 feet 

high. It is a very mountainous State. 

When I learned from reading the papers that we were 

going to have power companies come to Nevada in the most 

pristine areas and they were going to build three or four new 

powerplants fueled by coal, I said no. 

My staff said, ‘‘You can’t do that. You are up for reelection, 

and they will destroy you.’’ 

They tried. They left leaflets on all the cars in the parking 

lots and said I was running up the power bills. I won; they 

lost. There are no coal-fired powerplants in Nevada. There 

are two left. One of them is going out of business in 2 weeks; 

the other is on its way out, probably within a year. We are 

not going to have coal-fired plants in Nevada, but we do have 

a lot of renewable energy. 

I have done work, especially with John Ensign, when he 

was here, on major land bills—Clark County, Lincoln County, White Pine County, Carson County—and we were able to 

do a lot of good things to save land. He was a real conservative guy, and because of him, I had to make deals to make 

some of the 87 percent land private. I was able to do that. 

He was able to work with me to create more wilderness, and 

we worked together to get that done. 

I created the first national park in Nevada, Great Basin 

National Park. It is wonderful. Everything within the Great 

Basin is in that park. It is hard to believe, but in Nevada 

we now have a glacier. We have the oldest living trees in the 

world on that mountain. Those old pine trees are there. They 

are 6,000 or 7,000 years old—bristlecone pine. It is a beautiful park. 

As to Basin and Range National Monument, I worked with 

President Clinton on this. There are more than 700,000 acres 

[ xxi ] 

in a remote place of Nevada. It is a place where John Muir 

came as a young man, camping there, and talked in his diary 

about how beautiful this was. Now everyone can see that. In 

part of that wonderful place is a man who is a world famous 

artist. His name is Michael Heizer. He worked for 40 years 

building this monument in the middle of nowhere. It is in 

the middle of nowhere, and it is done. It is called the City. 

It is magnificent. We don’t have roads coming there yet, but 

we will pretty soon. That is done. 

Tule Springs. People came to me and said, ‘‘We have this 

place in Nevada where we have the oldest and most abundant source of fossils anyplace in America.’’ To make a long 

story short, that is now a national monument. You can come 

to Las Vegas if you are an archaeologist, or if you are interested in old fossils, you can come there. I don’t mean old people. You can come there. There are all these studies going on 

with Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. 

When I came to Congress, we had about 70,000 acres of 

wilderness in Nevada. Now we have about 4 million. Those 

are legislative initiatives of mine. We have approximately 4 

million acres of wilderness. We have 1 million, 1.5 million 

acres of additional conservation of land, and I mentioned 

some of it here. 

Water has been difficult for Nevada, in the north and the 

south. I knew I had been elected to the Senate, and I was 

leaving Reno, NV, on an airplane and someone asked me: 

‘‘What is the most difficult problem facing Nevada?’’ I said, 

‘‘Water.’’ 

Having said that—we have all done it—I thought: What 

am I going to do now? I had to do something. We did something. Now it is all done. We settled a 100-year water war 

between the States of California and Nevada. We settled all 

the litigation on the Truckee and Carson Rivers. It took 20 

years to finally implement that. There were many water systems—the Lake Tahoe region—and they are gone. We had 

large wetlands that had gone dry, and that is now getting 

fresh water in it. It involved an irrigation district for Indian 

tribes and endangered species, and we were able to get all 

that done. It made a stable water supply for northern Nevada, the Reno area. 

Southern Nevada is really a desert. It has 4 inches of rain 

a year in Las Vegas. We have worked hard with Pat Mulroy. 

She has done wonderful things. 

I see the junior Senator from Arizona [Mr. Flake] here. 

When he was elected, the States of Arizona and California 

[ xxii ] 

wouldn’t speak to each other. They were fighting over water. 

Now we work together on water. It has been remarkable 

what we have been able to do as partners to get things done. 

We bank water for Arizona, and when they need the water 

and it is in our ground, we can give it back to them. It has 

been good for Nevada because we can use that water in the 

meantime. 

We have done good work with California. California got 

most of the water out of the Colorado River. They took a lot 

more than they should have, and we were able to work on 

that. We worked with California in a very positive way. We 

help pay for port reservoirs. We help line canals. We have 

done a lot of good things to help water in that whole area. 

I am happy about that. 

We share Lake Tahoe with California. Lake Tahoe is a 

stunningly beautiful place. There are only two alpine lakes 

in the world. One of them is in Siberia, and the other is 

there. I have had 20 summits there. We have gotten over $1 

billion there with the cooperation of the California delegation 

and many others. We have done well in stabilizing and helping the clarity of that beautiful lake. 

Walker Lake is another lake that was originally controlled 

by the Indians. It has been stolen from them by us. We now 

have gotten hundreds of millions of dollars directed toward 

that, and we have bought up water rights, and we have 

saved Walker Lake. There are 21 desert terminus lakes in 

the world. There are two in America. They are both in Nevada, and we saved those two lakes—Walker and Pyramid 

Lakes. 

There was a great big gravel pit. It was 10, 15 times bigger than this Chamber—huge. There were spots of black that 

appeared on it. The State of Nevada didn’t have the resources to take on the oil companies and airlines. So they 

didn’t know what was wrong. I got Bill Bradley, who was 

chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, to hold a hearing. 

It was so important we did that because we determined that 

oil was coming from broken oil lines, fuel lines, going to the 

Reno Airport. Had we not done something, it would have 

been awful. It was declared an emergency Superfund site, 

and people immediately moved in and took care of that. 

I am giving a quick look at it. That gravel pit is now a 

beautiful lake. It is called the Sparks Marina. There are 

condos, apartments, and businesses all around there. People 

boat on it. It is wonderful. It all started out as a gravel pit. 

I appreciate Bill Bradley’s good work on that. 

[ xxiii ] 

NATIONAL SECURITY

I want to talk about national security. There are people in 

this Chamber much better than I am on national security, 

and I know that, but I have worked hard. We have been a 

dumping ground for all things in the military. We have 

Nellis Air Force Base. It was named after Bill Nellis, who 

was from Searchlight. He was a war hero in World War II. 

It is the finest fighter training facility in the world. If you 

want to fly jet airplanes, then you must train at Nellis. They 

have a large gunnery range. The Navy does the same thing 

in northern Nevada with the naval air training center. 

Frankly, I was able to get tens of millions of dollars for both 

of those operations because they have been important. 

We hear a lot about drones. Every drone attack that takes 

place in the world takes place 30 miles outside Las Vegas at 

Creech Air Force Base. We have all of these great 

servicemembers, mostly airmen, who take care of that. They 

protect us around the world. 

Barbara Mikulski is here. She was in a position to help me 

on appropriations. She said, ‘‘This facility in Reno is awful, 

and I—Barbara Mikulski—am going to do something about 

it,’’ and she did, very quickly. We renovated that place. It 

was so bad. It was a little VA hospital with hallways so narrow they couldn’t bring in new hospital equipment because 

they couldn’t get it down the hall. I appreciate what Senator 

Mikulski did for that hospital. 

I requested money for two VA hospitals, and they were 

built in southern Nevada. We had one that was an experiment. It was a joint venture between the Veterans Administration and the Air Force. It worked great except we had a 

Middle East war and the veterans had to go someplace else 

so we don’t have that hospital anymore, but we have a huge 

new one. It is the newest and best in the entire VA system. 

They don’t have all of the equipment they need, but it has 

been functioning very well for the last couple of years. I feel 

very proud of that. 

The Nevada Test Site is part of our national security, and 

I have done everything I can to make sure that facility is 

taken care of, and it is. There are a lot of experiments going 

on there all the time. We have fuel spills and different tests 

that take place there. 

Finally, this is one of the best things I ever did. Yesterday 

I heard Barbara Mikulski say listen to what your constituents say. A group of veterans came—just a few feet from 

here—to talk to me a number of years ago. One of them said, 

[ xxiv ] 

‘‘Senator, this is somewhat strange. I am disabled from the 

military, and I am also retired from the military. I can’t 

draw both benefits.’’ I said, ‘‘What are you talking about?’’ 

He said, ‘‘I can’t. If you retire from the Forest Service and 

have a military disability, you can get your pension from the 

BLM, the Forest Service or whatever it is, and also get your 

disability, but not if it is both military.’’ We changed that. 

Now, if you have a disability and you have retired from the 

military, you can draw both. It is called concurrent receipt. 

That took a long time, but we got it done. It is not perfect, 

but it is 80 percent complete. 

I talked earlier this morning about being a lawyer. I am 

proud of the fact that I was a trial lawyer. I hear Senators 

talk all the time about these judicial selection committees. 

They have to help pick whom they will have on the Federal 

bench. I am glad they do that because I also have a judicial 

selection committee. You know who is on that committee? 

Me. No one else is on it. I select all of my judges. I am the 

committee, and I am very happy with what I have been able 

to do. 

One of the things I did when I was in the House was name 

a Federal building in Las Vegas after a very famous family 

of lawyers, the Foley family. They had two Federal judges, 

a district attorney, and a State court judge. They were a 

wonderful family called the Foley family. I attended the 10th 

anniversary of that, and when I looked up there, I saw nothing but White males. I thought to myself, ‘‘Gee, I hope someday I can change that,’’ and as fortune would have it, Lloyd 

George decided to take senior staff and I had a chance to do 

something about that. I have sent names to the President 

and selected far more judges myself in the entire history of 

the State of Nevada. So what I did with the first one, I said, 

well, I want to get a woman judge, but we didn’t have a 

Black judge on the court either. I wanted to nominate a 

Black judge and a woman judge, and that is what I did. Boy, 

was I criticized. They said, ‘‘She doesn’t have enough experience. You could have found somebody better.’’ She was a dynamo. People loved this woman. She was so good that she is 

now on the Ninth Circuit, and she quickly went there. To 

make a long story short, she has been part of the talk about 

who could get appointed to the Supreme Court. She is a wonderful woman named Johnnie Rawlinson. 

I put Roger Hunt, great trial lawyer; Kent Dawson, one of 

my predecessors as city attorney; David Hagan, a wonderful 

trial lawyer, and I put him on the bench. I selected Brian 

[ xxv ] 

Sandoval as a Federal judge, and he was a good Federal 

judge. Things were going great until he ran against my son 

for Governor, and I wish he hadn’t because my son would 

now be Governor. He is my friend, and our family has accepted that. He was the first Hispanic on the bench. I appointed another Hispanic, Gloria Navarro. Her parents were 

born in Cuba, and she is now the chief judge. Miranda Du, 

how about that, a woman who was born in Vietnam is now 

on the bench in Nevada. How about that, Miranda Du. She 

was born in Vietnam and came over when she was 11 years 

old to Alabama. Jennifer Dorsey, a woman; Andrew Gordon, 

a Harvard law graduate; Richard Boulware, AfricanAmerican. I changed that Nevada Federal bench significantly. I had the pleasure of voting for and against all eight 

members of the Supreme Court who now sit there. I have 

had a chance to vote for every one of them during my career. 

Education. I worked hard for education in Nevada, and I 

have done OK. The Desert Research Institute is a unique organization. It is not helped by the University of Nevada at 

all. They all have Ph.D.s and they have been in existence for 

50 years. Some of the most significant research in the world 

is done there. They have two supercomputers. Our earthquake center is the best in the world. They have more shake 

tables than anyplace in America. People come from all over 

the world to study what happens to earthquakes. 

Biodiversity study. For many years, I directed funding to 

the biodiversity study. It was the best science going on at the 

time on the environment and studying the Great Basin. 

Native Americans in Nevada. We have 26 different tribal 

organizations. I am really happy with what I have been able 

to do to help Native Americans, and, believe me, they 

haven’t been treated well in Nevada or anyplace else. I have 

led the legislative efforts to make sure they have their water 

rights taken care of, settled longstanding claims against the 

United States. We have the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe, 

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Shoshone-Paiute Tribes, and the 

Duck Valley Reservation have all been able to develop their 

water rights and economies. For example, Pyramid Lake will 

receive almost $100 million and Fallon will receive $60 million. I worked to get two new high schools built, and they 

were so long overdue. It took decades to get the Shoshone 

Claims Distribution Act done, and we finally got it done. 

Thanks to President Clinton, we were able to get the Indians 

who belonged up there, the Washoe Tribe, right on the lake. 

[ xxvi ] 

Working with the Obama administration for the last 8 

years has been a dream job of mine, being the President’s 

point man here in the Senate. 

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have an extended speech on President Obama that I gave yesterday 

printed in the Record. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be 

printed in the Record, as follows: 

[From the Congressional Record, December 7, 2016] 

TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

(By Senator HARRY REID) 

It is hard to imagine today, but it wasn’t that long ago that Barack 

Obama was a little-known Illinois legislator with a very unusual name. I 

still remember the first time I heard that name. I was in the House gym, 

where ex-Members congregated, and one of the people I shared the room 

with was Abner Mikva, a longtime Illinois Congressman, an appellate court 

judge, and President Clinton’s chief legal officer. 

I had known that Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald decided not to run 

for reelection after one term. Judge Mikva turned to me and said he knew 

the perfect person to fill that open seat. 

I said, ‘‘Who could that be?’’ 

He said, ‘‘Barack Obama.’’ 

I said, ‘‘What?’’ 

He said, ‘‘Barack Obama.’’ 

I said, ‘‘Who? What kind of a name is that?’’ 

He said, ‘‘He is one of the most talented people I have ever met in all my 

years.’’ 

That said a lot to me, even though at that time I smiled and left the room. 

It didn’t take long, though, before I understood what Abner Mikva said 

to me. Barack Obama won that election to the Senate. He came from nowhere, a man with an unusual name, but once he was here, it was obvious 

he was the real deal. His ability to communicate was, and is, stunning. I 

can remember one of the first floor speeches he gave here in the Senate on 

George Bush’s policy regarding the Middle East war. It was eloquent, 

thoughtful, powerful. I was so impressed that following his speech—there 

had been a quorum call—his seat was way back there, and I walked up to 

him—he was sitting, I was standing looking over him, and I said, ‘‘Senator, 

that was really terrific. That was really good.’’ 

I will never forget his response. Without hesitation, without any braggadocio, no conceit, but with humility, he looked up to me and said, ‘‘I have 

a gift.’’ 

It wasn’t a boast; it was a fact. I have never met anyone with the ability 

to communicate as well as Barack Obama. Whether it is in his writing, 

speaking to huge crowds of tens of thousands of people or small crowds, or 

someone on a one-on-one basis, he is without equal when it comes to communicating. 

His reputation was well known even before he came to the Senate. He had 

written a book, a bestseller called ‘‘Dreams from My Father,’’ a decade before arriving here in the Senate. Like his 2006 book, also a bestseller, called 

‘‘The Audacity of Hope,’’ this book was full of lyrical and insightful writing. 

[ xxvii ] 

In ‘‘Dreams from My Father,’’ he outlined the remarkable story of his life 

we have all come to know. Born to a father from Kenya in faraway Africa. 

His mother was from Kansas. He was raised by his grandparents in Hawaii. 

His mother and grandparents set positive examples for him. They pushed 

him to always do better, to be the man he was born to be. That upbringing 

would serve him well. 

Barack Obama went to some of the most elite schools in the world. He 

was an undergraduate at Columbia, where, of course, he was an honor student, then Harvard Law School. He graduated with distinction. He made 

history as the first African-American to be elected president of the Harvard 

Law Review. Just to be a member of the Harvard Law Review—having gone 

to law school myself—is significant, but he was the No. 1 guy in that very 

prestigious law school. Even then, his reputation for bringing people together and his gift for communication were renowned. 

He continued to excel after law school. He became a professor of constitutional law at one of America’s great law schools. He became a community 

organizer, as he has spoken about a lot. He became an Illinois State senator 

before giving one of the most dramatic convention speeches in American history at the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston. 

Throughout it all, his ability to communicate and connect with people 

fueled his ascendancy. Those skills made Barack Obama a terrific Senator, 

and they have greatly benefited our country over the past 8 years. 

In just a few weeks, Barack Obama will finish his term as the 44th President of our great country. He will be leaving office. I don’t know if I am 

leaving with him or if he is leaving with me. I guess I leave a few days before he does, but we are leaving together. I cannot think of a better person 

with whom to leave public service than Barack Obama. For 8 years I was 

his point man, and it has been an honor and an effort of pleasure. 

What this man accomplished, despite unprecedented obstruction from the 

Republicans, is remarkable. History will remember President Barack 

Obama’s many accomplishments. I don’t want to get the Presiding Officer 

[Ms. Collins] in trouble, but it was because of her and two other Republican 

Senators that his first congressional session was remarkably historic. We 

wanted to do more, but this good woman presiding over the Senate today 

said, ‘‘Enough is enough.’’ We had to retract some of the things we wanted 

to do. It was hard, but I do say this: It would not have happened but for 

the Presiding Officer. 

President Obama saved the country from economic collapse, ushering in 

a new era of growth. Since 2010, the economic recovery has added more 

than 16 million private sector jobs. Median household incomes have risen 

significantly. The unemployment rate is now 4.6 percent. In some States, 

like the State of Nevada, it was as high as 14 percent. President Obama 

brought the American auto and manufacturing industries back from the 

brink of collapse with unique programs—Cash for Clunkers—and more than 

800,000 new manufacturing jobs since 2010. The auto industry has added 

almost 700,000 jobs since 2009. Domestic production of automobiles doubled 

from below 6 million units per year to 12 million per year in 2015. 

President Obama brought health care to tens of millions of Americans 

through the Affordable Care Act. Every day, we learn how important this 

bill has been. We heard from the very conservative American Hospital Association today that doing away with Obamacare would bankrupt the hospital 

industry. We would lose over the next few years almost $200 billion. 

Through the Affordable Care Act, 21 million more Americans now have affordable health care. The uninsured rate is at an alltime low, and 92 perVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ xxviii ] 

cent of Americans now have coverage. Insurance companies cannot deny 

coverage or charge more to cover people with preexisting conditions. 

How many of us have gone out to our home States and had people with 

tears in their eyes say: You know, Debbie has been sick since she was a little girl with diabetes, and now, for the first time in her life, she can have 

health insurance. 

Insurance companies can’t discriminate anymore against anyone because 

of their gender. All women were discriminated against before. Every American with insurance has access to preventive care without cost sharing. That 

means no copays for immunizations, cancer screenings, contraceptive coverage for women, diabetes screenings, or blood pressure and cholesterol 

tests. 

President Obama held Wall Street accountable. He signed into law the 

most comprehensive Wall Street and financial reform legislation since the 

Great Depression. His administration established a new watchdog to help 

protect consumers from unfair financial practices. He signed legislation into 

law that protects homeowners from mortgage fraud. 

President Obama took more action to protect our planet from a changing 

climate, including the historic Paris Climate Agreement. 

I met yesterday with Native Alaskans. It was scary to talk to a Native 

Alaskan woman. In her town of 800, people are having trouble getting in 

and out of the town. She told me the animals are confused because the seasons are changing. 

The caribou have traveled for 20,000 years, we believe, 3,000 miles to migrate every year. They walk in single file, not in large herds jammed together. She said they are having such difficulty. They used to be able to 

walk over the ice. They can’t. There is no ice. They have to swim. 

President Obama made the largest investment ever in renewable energy. 

He tripled wind power and increased solar power by 30 times, creating more 

than 200,000 jobs in solar alone, with hundreds of thousands more jobs in 

the next few years. 

President Obama protected more than 260 million acres of public lands 

and waters. That includes more than 700,000 acres in Nevada with one 

order that he signed called the Basin and Range National Monument, a 

place where John Muir came looking around for special places in America. 

He camped in hills in the Basin and Range. Hopefully, some day every Senator can go to this magnificent place in the desert. It has taken 40 years 

to build. One man has done it, a famous artist by the name of Michael 

Heizer. It is called the City. It is stunning. When I talk about 40 years, it 

wasn’t work done on weekends. It was days, weekends, overtime, and large 

contingencies of people he directed. This magnificent thing in the middle of 

the desert is now protected forever. 

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have made our Nation’s 

children a top priority. In 2010, President Obama signed a bill into law to 

fight child hunger and improve school meals to ensure children receive the 

nutrition they need to have healthy, successful futures. 

President Obama made strides on education. Our Nation’s high school 

graduation rate is the highest in the history of our country. He reformed 

student loan programs, increased Pell grants, made student loan repayment 

more affordable, and expanded loan forgiveness for graduates who enter 

public service professions. 

President Obama granted deferred action to immigrant youth who would 

have qualified under the DREAM Act, bringing nearly 800,000 young people 

out of the shadows. 

[ xxix ] 

President Obama made our country more inclusive. He signed the repeal 

of ‘‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’’ He signed executive orders protecting LGBT workers. Americans are now free to marry the person they love, regardless of 

their gender. 

As Commander in Chief, President Obama brought Osama bin Laden to 

justice. 

These are just a few aspects of President Obama’s storied legacy, and it 

is still growing—what a record. It is a legacy of which he should be satisfied. America is better because of this good man spending 8 years in the 

White House. 

I am even more impressed by who he is as a person than who he is as 

President. He is a man of integrity and honesty. I have learned so much 

from him. I have never heard Barack Obama denigrate anyone, ever. There 

have been times he could have. Perhaps, I thought a negative word should 

have been said and I suggested that to him, but he would never take it. No, 

he wouldn’t do that. That is Barack Obama. 

Above all, I admire the attention he has given his family. He may be 

President of the United States, but nothing gets in the way of his family. 

He is a terrific husband to Michelle and an outstanding father to Sasha and 

Malia. He arrives home for dinner with his family virtually every night he 

is in Washington. He goes to their plays and games. President or not, he 

is a husband and a father. 

His devotion extends to his staff as well, and he has had a terrific staff 

working for him. I can’t mention all of them, but I will mention his present 

Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough. He and I have a very close relationship. 

Close relationships come with a lot of difficulty sometimes. It has been 

tough, but we tried to work through it together. 

Pete Rouse is one of the nicest people I have ever known. He also worked 

with the President very closely. He was his chief of staff as Senator, and, 

of course, a chief adviser when he was in the White House. 

Rahm Emanuel, now the mayor of Chicago, IL, was former Chief of Staff. 

He is a man known for his bluntness and his productivity as a Member of 

Congress and as Chief of Staff. 

Alyssa Mastromonaco was former Deputy Chief of Staff and I hope that 

I had something to do with the romance that wound up with her marrying 

my chief of staff, David Krone. 

These are just a few of the incredible people I have had the pleasure of 

working with. They are all wonderful. 

Then there is President Obama’s Cabinet—a Cabinet of quality. That includes my friend, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, a wonderful man and 

a terrific public servant, a man of substance like no other ever known. 

After 8 years leading the country, President Obama is leaving office on 

a high point. When he first took office, our country was in an economic free 

fall and hemorrhaging jobs. Now the country is experiencing the longest 

streak of private sector job growth ever. We have the lowest unemployment 

rate in nearly a decade. 

After 8 years of President Obama, we are now as a country on a sustainable path to fight climate change and grow renewable energy sources. We 

are more respected around the world. We reached international agreements 

to curb climate change, stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and we 

are on the path to normalizing relations with our neighbor Cuba. 

Our country has made significant strides in nearly every way. There is 

no doubt that the United States is better now than we were 8 years ago, 

and we have Barack Obama to thank for that. 

[ xxx ] 

Thank you, President Obama, for being the person you are. 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 

lots and lots of stuff I have done be printed in the Record. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be 

printed in the Record, as follows: 

REDUCING TAX BURDENS FOR NEVADA RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES

Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights.—The ‘‘Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights’’ was the first 

bill Senator REID introduced upon entering the Senate. Several of the ideas 

in his bill were later incorporated into the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The ‘‘Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights’’ laid out 

the rights of taxpayers during an audit, procedures for appealing a decision 

or filing complaints, the procedures the IRS may use to enforce laws, and 

placed the burden of proof on all issues upon the IRS. 

Ended the Source Tax.—Senator REID and the Nevada delegation were 

successful in protecting Nevada retirees from taxes imposed by other States. 

This legislation ended taxation without representation by prohibiting States 

from taxing the retirement benefits of nonresidents. 

Sales Tax Deduction.—Senator REID reinstated the deduction for sales 

taxes to level the playingfield for residents of States with no income taxes 

and he has been successful in extending it. 

Mortgage Tax Relief/Debt Cancellation for Homeowners.—Eliminates the 

income tax penalty for homeowners who are successful in negotiating a 

lower mortgage with their lender. 

Tip Tax Agreements.—These are agreements between the IRS, the employer, and tipped employees that make it easier for employees to report 

and pay the tax due on tipped income. Senator REID was instrumental in 

making sure that these agreements are fair for Nevada’s tipped employees. 

Tax Incentives for Solar and Geothermal Energy.—Senator REID was instrumental in securing the long-term extension of tax incentives to promote 

the development of electricity generated by solar and geothermal sources in 

Nevada. 

Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and Secure Rural Schools.—Senator 

REID led a bipartisan coalition of Western Senators to fully fund PILT and 

reauthorize Secure Rural Schools the first time since 1994 and provides 

$130 million over 5 years to rural counties in Nevada. 

Cancellation of Indebtedness.—Businesses needing to restructure their 

debts in order to survive the economic downturn found themselves facing a 

significant tax penalty as a result of that process. As part of the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Senator REID was instrumental in 

pushing through relief from this tax penalty, helping Nevada companies to 

improve their balance sheets and save thousands of jobs. 

Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension.—Instrumental in securing an extension 

of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and offering a reduced 

credit of up to $6,500 for repeat buyers who have owned their current home 

for at least 5 years. 

NEVADA JOBS, ECONOMY, AND LABOR

Congressional Review Act.—Worked with Senator Don Nickles to lead passage of the Congressional Review Act, making it easier for Congress to overturn burdensome regulations imposed by executive branch agencies. 

[ xxxi ] 

CityCenter.—Worked with stakeholders of CityCenter to ensure construction of project continued and advanced to opening in 2009, saving almost 

10,000 jobs. 

Housing Loan-to-Value Ratio.—Requested the administration raise the 

loan-to-value requirement for its mortgage modification program, and the 

administration responded by raising it 125 percent. 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).—Shepherded the stimulus legislation through the Senate and conference, which will provide Nevada with $3 billion in economic recovery funding, which is expected to create or save 34,000 jobs, 90 percent of which are in the private sector. Each 

worker is eligible for up to $400 in tax relief and families could receive up 

to $800. A tax credit of $8,000 for first-time homebuyers will help Nevadans 

invest in a home and move the excess supply of houses off the market. The 

ARRA provides a temporary deduction for nonitemizers for sales tax paid 

on the purchase of a car or truck. The HOPE education credit for higher 

education is increased to $2,500. Every SSI recipient, Social Security beneficiary, railroad retirement beneficiary and disabled veteran receiving VA 

benefits will receive a one-time economic recovery payment of $250. Federal 

and State pensioners who are not participants in Social Security will be eligible for a $250 tax credit. 

Travel Promotion Act.—Using the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors 

Authority’s model for Las Vegas, the bill will create a Corporation for Travel 

Promotion which will be responsible for marketing the United States around 

the world as a tourist destination. Senators REID and his colleagues from 

both sides of the aisle believe that efforts through this bill to make the 

United States more attractive abroad and easy to visit will directly increase 

the number of visitors to Nevada and create tens of thousands of sorely 

needed jobs. A study by Oxford Economics estimates that this plan would 

attract 1.6 million new international visitors annually and projects TPA 

could create $4 billion a year in new economic activity. 

Minimum Wage Increase.—In 2007, Senator REID worked with a bipartisan coalition of Senators to increase the minimum wage for the first time 

in 10 years. Signed into law by President Bush, this legislation helped some 

of the hardest working Nevadans make ends meet. 

Nevada Test Site Workers EEOICPA.—Senator REID was instrumental in 

the passage of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation 

Program Act (EEOICPA) of 2000, which provides monetary compensation 

and medical coverage to NTS workers with radiation-induced cancer, beryllium disease, or silicosis. 

Nevada Test Site Workers 1951–1962.—Senator REID was instrumental in 

establishing the atmospheric testing years at NTS in an expedited eligibility 

category. 

Nevada Test Site Workers 1963–1992.—Senator REID was instrumental in 

the writing and submission of a regulatory petition to include more Nevada 

Test Site workers in an expedited eligibility category. According to a recent 

position paper by the agency responsible for establishing membership in the 

expedited eligibility category, it appears the underground testing years are 

on their way to being granted the expedited status. 

Nevada Test Site Workers Area 51.—In 2008, Senator REID successfully 

fought for the Federal agencies to allow Department of Energy workers at 

Area 51 to be eligible for the EEOICPA, thereby reversing a Republican 

Bush administration policy. 

Unemployment Insurance Extension.—Instrumental in passage of an extension of unemployment insurance benefits in 2009 and 2010 for States 

[ xxxii ] 

that have been hit the hardest, like Nevada, and out-of-work Americans 

across the country. 

NEVADA TRANSPORTATION

McCarran Airport Funding.—Senator REID has secured tens of millions 

for McCarran Airport. Among the projects this money has funded include: 

new air traffic control tower; increased customs and border control protections; wind hazard detection equipment; fiber optic telecommunications systems; and apron rehabilitation and reconstruction. 

Reducing Flight Delays Act.—Led passage of legislation that provided the 

Secretary of Transportation with flexibility to transfer funds to reduced FAA 

traffic control operations, which had been reduced as a result of sequestration. 

Reno Airports Funding.—Senator REID obtained more than $55.8 million 

for the needed improvements to the Reno-Tahoe International and RenoStead Airports. These funds have paid for new approach lighting systems, 

new control towers, runway/taxiway reconstruction and lighting to name but 

a few projects. 

McCarran Airport: Tax Relief for Growth and Construction.—Senator 

REID was able to save the Clark County Department of Aviation tens of millions of dollars by passing relief for the department’s alternative minimum 

tax (AMT) for bonds which refinanced the Terminal 3 project at McCarran 

Airport. This provision will lower financing costs for this important project 

by at least $72.4 million. 

Last Highway Reauthorization (SAFETEA–LU).—Increased Nevada’s 

highway funding by 30 percent and transit funding by 152 percent. Senator 

REID was instrumental in getting over $1.3 billion for Nevada transportation projects included in the 2005 national highway bill. 

Some Additional Major Transportation Projects: 

North 

• Interstate 580 Extension Between Reno and Carson City—$29 million 

• Reno Transportation Rail Access Corridor Cover (ReTRAC)—$15.25 million 

• Virginia and Truckee Railway from Virginia City to Carson City—$10 million 

• Reno Bus Rapid Transit—$12 million 

• Lake Tahoe Passenger Ferry Service—$8 million 

• Carson City Bypass Enhancement—$2 million 

• Meadowood Interchange—$3.75 million 

South 

• Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge—$50 million 

• Boulder City Bypass—$28.6 million 

• Interstate 15 Widening Project from Primm to Apex—$27 million 

• Boulder Highway Bus Rapid Transit System—$12 million 

• UNLV Transportation Research Center—$2.5 million 

• Lake Mead Parkway, Henderson—$2 million 

AFFORDABLE AND QUALITY HEALTH CARE FOR ALL NEVADANS

Affordable Care Act.—Led passage of the Affordable Care Act, commonly 

referred to as the health reform law, which is helping thousands of Nevadans and millions of Americans gain access to the affordable health care that 

they need and deserve. The law has resulted in 21 million more Americans 

[ xxxiii ] 

being covered by health insurance, and an alltime high insured rate of 92 

percent. 

Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Creation and Reauthorization.—This long overdue reauthorization ensures health care for thousands 

of children across Nevada whose parents earn too much for Medicaid, but 

not enough to afford private insurance. Thanks to the recent expansion, an 

additional 4.1 million low-income children across the country will now have 

access to quality health coverage. 

Strengthening Medicare.—Seniors and people with disabilities know the 

value of the Medicare Program. In the last Congress, Senator REID led the 

way to overriding a Presidential veto of improvements to the program. This 

legislation ensured that physicians did not experience severe cuts to reimbursement that could have jeopardized access to care for Nevada’s seniors. 

Suicide Prevention.—Senator REID is responsible for the creation of the 

National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and has helped enact a number of 

laws that will help reduce the rate of suicide, including the Garrett Lee 

Smith Memorial Act targeting youth suicide, legislation that will lower the 

Medicare coinsurance for outpatient mental health and the Mental Health 

Parity Act. 

Mental Health Parity.—The bipartisan legislation which Senator REID

helped pass ensures that plans covering mental health services cannot provide different financial requirements or treatment limitations than they 

would for medical or surgical benefits. 

Drug Quality and Security Act.—Provided the FDA with more authority 

to regulate and monitor the manufacturing of compounded pharmaceutical 

drugs. 

Interstitial Cystitis Research.—Senator REID earmarked millions of dollars 

for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to research IC, a disease which 

affects women, and has funded programs at the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC) to support public and health provider education and 

outreach about the illness. 

Nevada Cancer Institute.—Senator REID has secured tens of millions of 

dollars to support the infrastructure costs to create a cancer institute in Nevada. This has helped to attract world-class cancer researchers to Nevada 

and will help to ensure that Nevadans will have access to clinic trials. In 

2009, Senator REID worked on a bipartisan basis with the Nevada congressional delegation to secure 80 acres of Federal land for the Institute to construct a new facility devoted to developing new treatments for Nevadans afflicted with cancer. 

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research.—Senator REID has a long history of 

supporting efforts related to chronic fatigue syndrome since he first became 

aware of this devastating disease in 1987 when the first known outbreak 

of CFS cases was documented in Incline Village, NV. In 1999, he uncovered 

a scandal at the CDC and forced CDC officials to acknowledge that they had 

misappropriated the majority of the $22.7 million he had earmarked for 

CFS research at the CDC in 1995. 

Contraceptive Equity.—Passed legislation ensuring that Federal employees have access to prescription contraception. 

Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act.—Sponsored by Senator 

REID, this law will help to establish a national strategy to study the potential links between the environment and breast cancer and would authorize 

funding for such research. The resulting discoveries could be critical to improving our knowledge of this complex illness, which could lead to new 

treatments and perhaps, one day, a cure. 

[ xxxiv ] 

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Registry Act.—Sponsored by Senator REID, 

this law will create an ALS registry at the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) and will aid in the search for a cure for this devastating 

disease. 

Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act.—Senator REID was instrumental in passing legislation that establishes strong protections against discrimination on the basis of genetic information by health insurance companies and employers. 

Affordable Birth Control.—Senator REID was instrumental in passing a 

provision that would restore the practice of allowing safety net providers to 

have access to nominally priced drugs. Historically pharmaceutical companies have been permitted to offer low, or ‘‘nominally priced,’’ drugs to safety 

net providers to help ensure that low-income populations have access to affordable medication. In 2005, Congress passed legislation which tightened 

regulations about who was eligible for nominally priced drugs. In doing so, 

Congress inadvertently cut off every safety net provider from obtaining birth 

control at a low cost, and passing on those savings to their patients. Women 

who once paid $5–$10 each month had to pay $50 or more for basic birth 

control. 

Pandemic Flu Funding.—Senator REID has worked to secure billions of 

dollars to ensure we are prepared to minimize the impact of the H1N1 flu 

or any potential flu pandemic. 

Medical Research Funding.—Senator REID has a long history of directing 

funding to the National Institutes of Health for funding biomedical research 

in areas such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, diabetes, and stem cells. 

Last year alone, he supported directing over $40 billion to the National Institutes of Health through ARRA and the omnibus. These investments could 

lead to new cures and treatments, and will address debilitating health conditions that prevent our workforce from reaching optimal productivity. 

FDA Reauthorization Including Drug Safety Requirements.—In September 

2007, Senator REID worked to enact the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act (Public Law 110–85), which extends the legal authority for 

the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) programs for approving prescription drugs and medical devices. While this new law will improve prescription drug and food safety for all Americans, it also will improve programs 

focused just on our children. These improvements represent a victory for 

consumers and patients who depend on our Nation’s system for ensuring 

that life-saving drugs and devices come to market in a timely and safe way. 

Federal Medical Assistance Program (FMAP) Increase.—Senator REID

worked very hard to increase temporarily the Federal Medical Assistance 

Program as included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 

2009 (P.L. 111–5). The goal was to enable States to maintain their Medicaid 

services, while also targeting additional funds to the States most in need 

like ours. Nevada will receive more than $450 million in additional funding 

as a result, which is the largest percentage increase of any State in the Federal Medical Assistance Program. 

Cobra Expansion.—The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act 

of 1985 (COBRA) requires most employers with group health plans to offer 

employees the opportunity to continue their coverage under their employer’s 

plan if their coverage is cut off or suspended due to a layoff, or other qualifying change in their employment status. Many Nevadans who have recently become unemployed are troubled by the steeply rising premiums for 

their COBRA insurance coverage. Senator REID was instrumental in obtaining a premium subsidy for COBRA recipients in the American Recovery and 

[ xxxv ] 

Reinvestment Act of 2009. This provision created a 65 percent subsidy for 

health insurance premiums under COBRA for up to 9 months for workers 

and their families who have been involuntarily terminated between September 1, 2009, and December 31, 2009. 

NEVADA’S ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY, AND LANDS

Yucca Mountain.—Slashed funding for Yucca to record lows during the 

pro-Yucca Republican Bush administration, and worked with President 

Obama to terminate the project and launch a blue ribbon commission to develop alternatives. 

Renewable Energy and Efficiency Tax Incentives.—Since 2000, Senator 

REID has secured over $100 million for Nevada-based projects to research 

and advance our Nation’s renewable energy and energy efficiency capabilities. Additionally, the Recovery Act provided over $500 million for energy 

efficiency, renewable energy, and weatherization projects in Nevada. Nevada’s institutions of higher education, schools, counties, and others are 

working to make Nevada the Nation’s renewable energy leader 

Renewable Energy Transmission.—Delivered $3.25 billion in financing for 

developing transmission for renewable energy in the West (Recovery Act), 

as well as $4.4 billion to build a national smart grid to accelerate renewable 

energy development in Nevada and across the country. 

Solar Energy.—Worked with Department of Interior to designate seven 

solar energy study areas in Nevada and to institute fast track environmental reviews for key renewable energy projects (three solar and two wind 

energy projects). 

Hosted Eight National Clean Energy Summits and Established the Blue 

Ribbon Panel on Energy in Nevada.—Senator REID has hosted the National 

Clean Energy Summit in Nevada since 2008. These events have helped 

build a dialog among the Nation’s most distinguished leaders in clean energy policy on how to build the infrastructure and create jobs to achieve energy security using renewables, other forms of clean energy, and efficiency. 

Speakers have included President Barack Obama, President Bill Clinton, 

Secretary Hillary Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Energy Secretary Steven 

Chu, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, along with many other leaders from government, 

business, labor, and the nonprofit communities from Nevada and beyond. 

Geothermal Energy.—Prevented the Republican Bush administration from 

closing down the geothermal energy R&D program. 

Mormon Crickets.—Was successful in getting over $20 million appropriated for Nevada. 

BLM California Trail Center in Elko.—Passed authorizing legislation and 

secured more than $10 million to build the center. 

Clark County Heliport.—Conveyed 230 acres to create a new, dedicated facility. As a result, 100,000 people are safer. 

Ivanpah Airport.—Authored and passed legislation that designates 6,500 

acres for a new long-haul airport. 

Clark County Land Bill.—In 2002, led Nevada delegation to pass a comprehensive public lands management plan for Clark County. This strong bipartisan legislation released wilderness study areas to enhance economic opportunities in Clark County while also adding 440,000 acres to the national 

wilderness system. 

Lincoln County Land Bill.—Led Nevada delegation to pass the largest 

wilderness bill in the history of Nevada. This legislation designated over 

768,000 acres in new wilderness areas, including over 150,000 acres of the 

[ xxxvi ] 

Mormon Mountains. This legislation also provided new authority for land 

sales to increase Lincoln County’s tax base. 

White Pine County Land Bill.—Senator REID led the Nevada delegation 

to pass legislation protecting 559,000 acres of incredible wilderness lands 

and provided a timely economic boost to White Pine County. The bill also 

added important protections to the land surrounding Great Basin National 

Park, enlarged two State parks and a State wildlife management area, and 

provided lands for the future growth of the Ely Shoshone Tribe. 

Carson City Land Bill.—This legislation increases open space opportunities and helps the city pursue its smart growth plans. The bill includes a 

land exchange between the city and the Forest Service, giving each entity 

land that is more suited to its mission and management abilities. The legislation also conveys the Silver Saddle Ranch and Prison Hill to Carson City 

for continued public use, with a conservation easement retained by the Bureau of Land Management. 

Ely Native Seed Warehouse.—Currently under construction, the Ely Native Seed Warehouse will hold 1 million pounds of native seed used to help 

reseed habitat after fires. 

Fallon Plant Materials Center.—Secured funding for the Center which will 

help develop resilient crops for the Great Basin. 

Nevada Hunting Bill.—Restored each State’s ability to differentiate between in-state and out-of-state hunters when selling game tags. 

Drop 2 Reservoir.—Passed legislation allowing construction of a major 

water-saving reservoir east of San Diego, which will allow southern Nevada 

to take significant additional water from the Colorado River. 

REBUILT/RECONSTRUCTED SEVEN BRIDGES IN JARBIDGE

Sloan Canyon.—In the Clark County land bill, created the Sloan Canyon 

National Conservation Area to preserve the beautiful areas that bless southern Nevada. 

Clark County Shooting Park.—Conveyed 3,000 acres and provided $60 

million to develop the world’s finest shooting range. 

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.—Protected southern Nevada’s most notable and beloved outdoor and scenic area. 

Great Basin National Park.—Championed legislation that created Nevada’s first national park in 1986; secured funding for and dedicated a new 

visitor’s center in 2005; and stopped two coal plants that would have 

wrecked the park’s incredible clean air. 

Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument.—In 2012, Senator REID authored and introduced legislation to establish Nevada’s only current national monument in the north Las Vegas Valley. The legislation was passed 

in 2014 and created a 22,600 acre national monument that protects the best 

collection of ice age mammal fossils in the United States. The legislation 

also provided economic development, and educational and recreation opportunities throughout Clark County. 

Basin and Range National Monument.—President Obama used his authority under the Antiquities Act on July 10, 2015, to permanently protect 

more than 700,000 acres of land in eastern Nevada as the Basin and Range 

National Monument. Senator REID advocated for years to protect this truly 

special area where the Mojave Desert meets the Great Basin, and Joshua 

trees and cactus give way to a sea of sagebrush. It is home to desert bighorn 

sheep, mule deer, elk, and pronghorn antelope. It is an area that provided 

food and shelter for Native Americans, and one can see their history today 

in incredible rock art panels there. The Basin and Range Monument will 

[ xxxvii ] 

also protect the cultural integrity of world-renowned artist Michael Heizer’s 

expansive sculpture, ‘‘City.’’ 

Lake Tahoe.—Hosted the first Tahoe Summit to help preserve the lake’s 

clarity; passed the original Lake Tahoe Restoration Act; sent over $300 million in Federal funds to help the lake. 

Fallon Water Treatment Plant.—Senator REID secured funding for the 

construction of the Fallon Water Treatment Plant which opened in April 

2004. The residents of Fallon and the neighboring Naval Air Station had 

been subjected to high levels of arsenic in their drinking water that were 

10 times greater than the national standard set by the EPA. 

Walker Lake.—In line with Senator REID’s commitment to protecting the 

environment and Nevada’s natural resources, saving Walker Lake is one of 

his top priorities. In response, Senator REID has secured more than $375 

million in Federal funds for efforts to preserve the lake. 

Truckee River Operating Agreement.—Senator REID helped negotiate the 

settlement for Truckee and Carson Rivers. 

Sparks Marina.—Senator REID worked with the residents and community 

leaders of Sparks and used his position in the Senate to clean up the oncecontaminated gravel pit into the Sparks Marina. Now the Sparks Marina 

is a popular recreational area used by thousands each year for boating, fishing, and other outdoor activities. 

Two Million Acres of Wilderness Land.—Beginning with the Nevada Wilderness Act of 1989, which designated 740,000 acres of land as protected 

wilderness, Senator REID has been devoted to protecting Nevada’s wilderness. To this date, he has continued working hard to turn more than 2 million acres into protected wilderness. One of the highlights of the Senator’s 

efforts includes the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails 

Act of 2000 which provided 750,000 acres of wilderness in Nevada. 

Rural Water.—Secured more than $100 million to rural water systems 

across Nevada to improve drinking water quality and treatment systems. 

Water Security.—Enhanced Nevada’s water security by directly authorizing development of the All American Canal, a critical piece in implementing the lower Colorado River Basin multistate shortage agreement. 

NATIONAL SECURITY AND VETERANS

Secured Vital Funding for All of Nevada’s Military Installations.—Over 

the course of his tenure, Senator REID has secured millions for Nevada’s 

troops, veterans, military families, and installations. In fiscal year 2017, 

Senator REID worked to obtain over $204 million in Federal funding for 

projects at the Nellis Air Force Base, Naval Air Station Fallon, and Reno 

VA Medical Center. In addition, $90 million was allocated nationwide for 

construction of State veteran extended care facilities, including one to eventually be built in Reno. 

Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC).—Successfully fought 

to keep Hawthorne Army Depot open through the BRAC process and prevented the Nevada Air National Guard from losing their C–130 aircraft. 

Senator REID’s leadership position in the Senate was pivotal in allowing him 

to appoint a Nevadan to the Commission. 

Nellis Air Force Base.—Secured more than $350 million in funding for 

base infrastructure. 

Creech Air Force Base (Indian Springs).—Secured $128.8 million in funding for base infrastructure and for a new Center of Excellence for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). 

[ xxxviii ] 

Hawthorne Army Depot.—Secured over $59 million in funding for base infrastructure and modernized demilitarization facilities. Senator REID also 

helped protect the depot from closure during the BRAC process saving hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in impact for the community. 

Nevada National Guard (Army and Air).—Secured over $195 million in 

funding for base infrastructure and equipment. 

Cold War Heroes.—As part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act 

of 2009 (P.L. 111–11), Senator REID secured passage of the Cold War Historical Sites Study Act which requires the Department of the Interior to evaluate sites and resources for commemorating and interpreting the cold war, 

including the Mount Charleston Plane Crash Memorial. 

Concurrent Receipt for Nevada’s Veterans.—Senator REID was instrumental in getting concurrent receipt legislation passed in 2004 that enabled 

our veterans with 100 percent service-related disability to collect both disability and military pay. The following year, Senator REID won passage of 

his amendment that expanded concurrent receipt to cover America’s disabled veterans rated as unemployable. This issue has been a top priority of 

Nevada’s 250,000 veterans, as well as veterans across the country. 

New Las Vegas Veterans Hospital.—Senator REID has secured more than 

$600 million for the construction of the Veterans Administration’s new Las 

Vegas Hospital and Community Living Center on Pecos Road in north Las 

Vegas. Additionally, the $75 million Mike O’Callaghan Federal Hospital at 

Nellis Air Force Base opened its doors in 1994 due to Senator REID’s leadership. 

New VA Clinic in Laughlin, NV.—In January 2015, Senator REID announced the opening of a VA outreach clinic in Laughlin, which will allow 

veterans in the southeast area to more easily access high quality care. The 

Laughlin Clinic will provide primary care for eligible veterans who are appropriate for care at an outreach clinic as well as some mental health and 

social work care. 

Nevada Test Site.—Maintained the Nevada Test Site as part of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, and provided appropriations of 

over $20 million annually. 

Urban Area Security Initiative.—Reinstated Las Vegas onto the UASI 

(Urban Area Security Initiative) city list, thereby securing millions in funding to help prepare and protect the city from attack. 

Implemented the 9/11 Commission Recommendations.—As majority leader, Senator REID pushed to have the recommendations of the bipartisan 

9/11 Commission written into law. This law made Nevadans and all Americans more secure by: giving first responders the tools they need to keep us 

safe; making it more difficult for potential terrorists to travel into our country; advancing efforts to secure our rail, air, and mass transit systems; and 

improving intelligence and information sharing between State, local, and 

Federal law enforcement agencies. 

NEVADA’S JUDICIARY

Nevada Federal Courthouses and Buildings.—Senator REID secured more 

than $83 million in funding for construction of a new Federal building for 

southern Nevada, the Lloyd D. George Courthouse and Federal Building in 

Las Vegas. Senator REID was also instrumental in securing funding for the 

Bruce R. Thompson Courthouse and Federal Building in Reno. 

Mills B. Lane Justice Complex Security Upgrades.—Secured nearly $1 million for the Reno Municipal Court and the Washoe County district attorney’s 

security following the 2006 sniper shooting. 

[ xxxix ] 

ETHICS AND LOBBYING REFORM

Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK Act).—Senator 

REID led the way in creating new reporting requirement for Members of 

Congress and staff regarding stock and commodity transactions. 

Honest Leadership and Open Government Act.—Senator REID authored 

the ‘‘Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007,’’ which passed 

on a bipartisan basis and was signed into law by President George W. Bush. 

Senator REID’s measure was recognized as one of the toughest and most 

sweeping ethics reforms in a generation. Among the many accomplishments 

of this law include: 

• Closing the ‘‘revolving door’’ between government and lobbyists by former 

Senators and staff 

• Reforming and increasing transparency for earmarks and conference reports 

• Prohibiting pensions for Members of Congress convicted of certain crimes 

• Expanding the lobbying disclosure requirements 

• Toughening limits on gifts and travel 

NEVADA EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act.—Changed the Federal student 

loan program from fixed interest rates to rates based on the Treasury note 

plus a percentage for undergraduate, graduate, or parent loans. 

GI Bill of Rights.—Under Senator REID’s leadership, the post 9/11 GI bill 

of rights—the largest expansion of educational benefits since the original GI 

bill of rights—was passed. 

Teach for America.—HARRY REID worked to bring Teach for America to 

Nevada, which has resulted in the hiring of several hundred highly qualified 

teachers in the Clark County School District. 

America COMPETES Act.—HARRY REID led passage of the America COMPETES Act, bipartisan legislation to improve math and science education 

and increase the Federal commitment to research. 

UNR Fire Science Academy.—The Fire Science Academy located in Carlin 

opened its doors in 1999. In cooperation with the University of Nevada, 

Reno, Senator REID succeeded in getting the Department of Energy to 

award the facility with $8 million in grant and appropriations support. 

Nevada State College Campus.—In 2002, Senator REID successfully 

pushed through a land transfer in southern Nevada that provided campus 

land for the newly created Nevada State College. 

Desert Research Institute (DRI).—Secured more than $70 million in appropriations for projects. 

UNLV Super Computers.—Secured $2.7 million. 

UNR Earthquake Center and Biodiversity Study.—Secured $2.5 and $7.5 

million respectively. 

UNLV Research Park.—Conveyed 122 acres of Federal land to UNLV Research Foundation for construction of a research center and provided special 

authority to allow the foundation to keep and reinvest 100 percent of any 

lease revenues from the land. 

Dandini Research Park Conveyance Act.—Passed legislation signed into 

law by President Bush transferring a 467-acre parcel north of downtown 

Reno from the Bureau of Land Management to the Board of Regents of the 

University and Community College System of Nevada for use by Truckee 

Meadows Community College and the Desert Research Institute. 

[ xl ] 

NATIVE AMERICANS

Indian Water Settlements.—Senator REID has led the legislative effort to 

quantify Indian water rights and settle longstanding claims against the 

United States. The Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe (1990), the Pyramid Lake 

Paiute Tribe (1990), and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley 

Reservation (2009) have been able to develop their water rights and their 

economies because of these settlements. 

Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Act.—Senator REID led efforts to 

enact a law ordering the United States to distribute settlement funds resulting in the resolution of the western Shoshone land and accounting claims 

against the United States. The settlement funds, now totaling nearly $160 

million, will be distributed to an estimated 6,000 eligible Shoshones. They 

and their descendants will be eligible for benefits from a $1.5 million educational trust fund. 

Washoe Tribe: Additional Land for Residential and Commercial Development.—As part of the Omnibus Public Land Act of 2009, Senator REID

passed a measure to address the Washoe Tribe’s need for more land for residential and commercial development. Under the bill, about 300 acres of Forest Service and BLM land near the Carson and Stewart Colonies will be 

conveyed to the Washoe Tribe, with nearly half of those acres available for 

development. 

Ely Shoshone Tribe Land Transfer.—Senator REID, working with his Nevada colleagues in Congress passed the White Pine County lands bill as part 

of a broad tax package in 2006. The bill transferred 3,526 acres to the Ely 

Shoshone Tribe for traditional, ceremonial, commercial, and residential purposes. 

Las Vegas Paiute Tribe Land.—In 1983, Senator REID (then in the U.S. 

House of Representatives) passed a measure—which was signed into law by 

President Reagan—to declare 3,850 acres of land held in trust by the Federal Government would thereby be ‘‘declared to be part of the Las Vegas 

Paiute Reservation.’’ 

ENSURING EQUALITY FOR NEVADANS

‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’’—As majority leader, Senator REID led passage of 

the repeal of ‘‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’’ 

Mr. REID. I am winding down, everybody. I know you are 

glad, but it has been 34 years. I served with 281 different 

Senators during the time I have been here. I have such fond 

memories of so many. There was the hilarious and confident 

Fritz Hollings. I have never known a better joke teller than 

Frank Lautenberg. I asked him to tell the same story so 

many times, I could have told it. He had one about two wrestlers, but I am not going to repeat it. He was very funny. I 

am not going to go through the whole Ted Kennedy list and 

all of that, but I have had wonderful experiences with my 

Senate friends. 

When I came here as a Democratic Senator, there was only 

one woman, Barbara Mikulski, and that was it. I am very 

happy now that we have 17 Democratic women, and we have 

4 Republican women. I want to make the record very clear 

[ xli ] 

that the Senate is a better place because of women being 

here. There is no question about that, for many different reasons, but they have added so much to the Senate. The only 

problem we have now is that there aren’t enough of them, 

but we did our best this go-round. We have four new Democratic Senators. 

Leaders. I have already talked about Senator McConnell. 

It has been my good fortune to have served with such good 

leaders like Robert Byrd. I don’t know if it is true. I accept 

it because that is what I want to believe, but a number of 

people told me I was his pet. As I said, I don’t know if I was 

or not, but he sure was good to me. 

George Mitchell, what a wonderful extemporaneous speaker. He was the best. He was a Federal judge, U.S. attorney, 

and a good man. 

I was a junior Senator and didn’t have a lot of interchange 

with Bob Dole when he was the leader, but I have had a lot 

lately. He calls me to talk about some issues he is working 

on now. One of the most moving times of my life was when 

Dan Inouye was lying in state in the Rotunda. Bob Dole 

called me and asked if I would go over there with him, and 

I said of course I would. He was in a wheelchair and somebody pushed him over there, and he said, ‘‘Stop.’’ There was 

a little alcove there, and Bob Dole, as hard as it was for him, 

walked over to the crypt where Danny was and he climbed 

up on the bier and said, ‘‘Danny, I love you.’’ If that doesn’t 

bring a tear to your eye, nothing will. I will always remember that. 

Trent Lott was a really good leader. He was extremely conservative but extremely pragmatic. We got lots of stuff done. 

I was Senator Daschle’s point person to get legislation out of 

this body, and we did some really good things. 

Tom Daschle always gave me lots of room to do things. I 

can remember one occasion when I was the whip, I thought 

he had been too generous with one of the other Senators and 

I complained. He said, ‘‘Look, you are going to make this 

whip job whatever you want it to be.’’ I took him at his word, 

and I did. I never left the floor. When the Senate opened, I 

was here, and when it was closed, I was here. 

Bill Frist is a fine human being. I really cared for him a 

lot. He wasn’t an experienced legislator, but that is OK. He 

is an experienced human being, and I liked him a lot. I already talked about Mitch. 

Diversity. We don’t have enough diversity in the Senate, 

but I do take credit for creating a diversity office here with 

[ xlii ] 

Democrats. Senator Schumer has indicated he will continue 

that, and I am very happy he will do that. I repeat, we don’t 

have enough diversity. 

I want to tell everyone here I am grateful to all of my 

Democratic Senators. They have been so good to me during 

my time as leader, but I have to mention Dick Durbin. He 

and I came here together 34 years ago. He has been so supportive of me. He has been my ‘‘Cousin Jeff.’’ Can I tell the 

story? Here I go. 

My brother still lives in Searchlight, and he is an interesting man. He had a girlfriend there who was married and 

brought her home one night. 

Her husband or boyfriend, whatever it was, jumped out of 

the tree on my brother’s back, and they had a fight. My 

brother won. So a couple of weeks later, he is at the 49er 

Club, a bar, a little place in Searchlight. He is having a beer, 

whatever he drinks. 

He looks around, and he sees the guy he beat up, but the 

guy has a couple of people with him. He knew why they were 

there. They were there to work him over. He said, ‘‘What am 

I going to do?’’ Just about then a miracle happened. Our 

Cousin Jeff walked in. He hadn’t been to Searchlight for a 

couple of years. But Cousin Jeff was known as being a really 

tough guy. 

So Larry said, ‘‘Here’s the deal.’’ 

Cousin Jeff looked them over and went over to the biggest 

one, grabbed his nose, twisted it as hard as he could. He 

said, ‘‘Do you guys want any part of me or my cousin Larry?’’ 

They said, ‘‘No.’’ They left. 

The reason I mention that—the reason I say Dick Durbin 

is my Cousin Jeff—I was in my office watching the floor, and 

Mitch McConnell was up there. I was so damn mad. He was 

talking about stuff. I was mad. I called my office: ‘‘Why don’t 

we have somebody out there saying something?’’ 

They said, ‘‘Senator, that was recorded earlier today. We 

are out of session.’’ 

So Dick Durbin has been my man, my Cousin Jeff. Whenever I have a problem, I call Dick Durbin, and he can come. 

Dick Durbin can talk about anything, and it sounds good. 

OK. 

Chuck Schumer. My kids said, ‘‘Make sure you tell everybody about how smart you think he is.’’ OK. I am going to 

do it. One day I said to Chuck Schumer—we have known 

each other for a long time. But I said, ‘‘How the hell did you 

ever get into Harvard?’’ 

[ xliii ] 

He said, ‘‘It helped that I got a perfect SAT and a perfect 

LSAT.’’ 

That is true. He did. He is a brilliant man. He has a big 

heart. He works extremely hard. He has been so good to me. 

We have worked together. He took a job he did not want, the 

chair of the DSCC twice, but it worked out great. We were 

able to get the majority. So I will always have great affection 

for him, and I wish him well in being my replacement. I am 

confident he will do a good job. He will not be me, but he 

will go a good job. 

My staff. We checked yesterday—my staff did. It is hard 

to comprehend how many people I have had work for me 

over 34 years—almost 3,000, everybody. I feel so strongly 

about my staff. They are my family. I really do believe that. 

I feel they are my family. Chiefs of staff—I haven’t had that 

many, surprisingly, over 34 years. Claude Zobell, Ray Martinez, Susan McCue, Gary Myrick, David Krone, Drew 

Willison, and, of course, Dave McCallum, who has done so 

much to make sure I did not overspin things, and my utility 

man, Bill Dauster. He can catch, pitch, play any position on 

the field. He has been great for me. I appreciate Bill’s work 

very much. 

Thank you, Adelle, because I would be so embarrassed if 

I did not say something about Patty Murray. She has been 

part of this little leadership team I have had. We have never 

had anything like this before in the Senate. The leaders 

prior to me did it all on their own. But I have had these 

three wonderful human beings helping me for all these 

years. 

We meet every Monday night and get set up for the caucus 

on Tuesday, leadership meetings on Tuesday. So, Patty, you 

and Rob, I just care so much about. I want you to know how 

I appreciate your loyalty, your hard work. You have taken 

some jobs that you did not want to take: a budget job, that 

super—whatever the hell it was called. That was awful. I 

don’t know how long she is going to live, but that took a few 

years off her life. You and Rob have been great. Loretta is 

my friend. Iris I love. So thank you very much, you guys. 

I have told everyone on my staff, with rare exception: You 

represent me. If you are on the phone, when you answer that 

phone, you are representing me. You are as if you are HARRY

REID on the phone. I say the same to those who speak, write, 

and advocate for me. They represent me. They have done so 

well. They have helped me in good times and bad times. 

[ xliv ] 

What is the future of the Senate? I hope that everyone will 

do everything they can to protect the Senate as an institution. As part of our Constitution, it should be given the dignity it deserves. I love the Senate. I don’t need to dwell on 

that. I love the Senate. I care about it so very much. I have 

enjoyed Congress for 34 years. As the leader of the Senate, 

I have had such joy and times of awe. Wow. What are we 

going to do now? 

That is what these jobs are like. They are so exhilarating, 

until, oh, man, something happens, and I think all of you 

have done as I have just said: Wow. What are we going to 

do now? 

The Senate has changed, some for the good, some for the 

bad. I want to say this, though. It is not the same as when 

I first came here. There is change in everything. The biggest 

change has been the use of the filibuster. I do hope my colleagues are able to temper their use of the filibuster; otherwise it will be gone. It will be gone first on nominations, 

then it will be gone on legislation. This is something that 

you have to work on together because if you continue to use 

it the way it has been used recently, it is really going to affect this institution a lot. 

Something has to be done about the outrageous amount of 

money from sources that are dark, unknown, and now involved in our Federal elections. The Citizens United case in 

January 2010—if this does not change and if we don’t do 

something about this vast money coming into our elections, 

in a couple of more election cycles, we are going to be just 

like Russia. We are going to have a plutocracy—a few rich 

guys telling our leader what to do. 

Leonard Cohen, who recently died, was one of America’s 

great music geniuses. He recently died, as I said. In one of 

his songs called ‘‘Anthem,’’ he says it all: 

There is a crack in everything (there is a crack in everything) 

That’s how the light gets in 

That is what he said. I believe there are cracks in what 

is happening with the huge amount of money currently in 

Federal elections and excessive partisanship. The cracks are 

that the American people don’t like it. They don’t like this 

money. They don’t like the partisanship. So there are 

cracks—cracks, I repeat—because the American people are 

complaining big time about excessive use of money and objecting to the partisanship. That is the crack. That is how 

the light is going to get in. That is how America has an opVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ xlv ] 

portunity to become a better place, where money will not 

control our political system over partisanship. 

So just a little bit of advice to my colleagues: It has worked 

OK for me. It does not matter if I am in Elko, really a conservative place in Nevada, 400 miles from Las Vegas. If a 

question is asked of me in Elko, I give the same answer 

there as I give in Las Vegas. We should all do that. 

People in Nevada have never had to weigh how I stand on 

an issue. I tell them how I feel. That is why I have never 

had any big-bang elections. People at least know how I 

stand. People don’t necessarily like how I vote, what I talk 

about, but at least they know how I feel. I think that is good 

advice for everybody. At least that has worked well for me. 

What is your formula for success? What do you recommend? I tell them the same thing about working hard. Of 

course that is important. Of course it is important, but also 

stay true to who you are—your roots. 

Now my social life. My time in Washington has been different than that of many. I am not saying it is better, but 

it has been different. Every year there are galas: White 

House Correspondents’ Dinner, the Gridiron Club Dinner, 

Radio and Correspondents’ Dinner, Alfalfa Club. So during 

my 34 years in Congress, I had approximately 135–136 of 

these. I have attended one of them. For me, that was 

enough. 

I have attended one congressional picnic in 34 years. That 

was because my son Key had a girlfriend named Maile and 

he wanted to impress her. I guess he did because they are 

married. But one was enough for me. 

I have attended one State dinner. That is because I had 

a son who spent 2 years in Argentina. I wanted him to meet 

the President of Argentina. I did that for my son Rory. But 

one was enough. I have not been to another one. I have 

never been to a White House Congressional Ball. That is 

going to be held tonight. I guess I am inquisitive of how it 

would be, but I don’t want to go. 

I have seen one World Series. That was enough. I have 

been to one Super Bowl. That was plenty. I have flown once 

in an F–18. That was enough. Over the years, I have gone 

to hundreds of fundraisers for my friends and colleagues, but 

everyone has to acknowledge, I can get in and out of those 

pretty quick. 

Let me talk about the press a little bit and their responsibility, as I see it. We are entering a new gilded age, and it 

has never been more important to be able to distinguish beVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ xlvi ] 

tween what is real and what is fake. We have lawmakers 

pushing for tax cuts for billionaires and calling it populism. 

We have media outlets pushing conspiracy theories disguised 

as news. 

Separating real from fake has never been more important. 

I have met him, but I wish I could sit down and talk to him 

sometime because I so admire Pope Francis. Here is what he 

said yesterday: ‘‘The media that focuses on scandals and 

spreads fake news to smear politicians risks becoming like 

people who have a morbid fascination with excrement.’’ 

That is what Pope Francis said. He added that using communications for this rather than to educate the public 

amounted to a sin. 

Well, he can categorize sin; I can’t. But I agree with him 

on what he said. I acknowledge the importance of the press. 

I admire what you do and understand the challenges ahead 

of you. But be vigilant, because you have as much to do with 

our democracy as any branch of government. This is best understood by listening to what George Orwell had to say a 

long time ago: ‘‘Freedom of the press, if it means anything 

at all, means the freedom to criticize and oppose.’’ 

So, press, criticize and oppose. Please do that. 

This really is the end of my speech. I have five children: 

Lana, Rory, Leif, Josh, and Key. They have been role models 

for me and for Landra. They were role models. We learned 

from them when we were young, and we are still learning 

from them. We appreciate the exemplary lives they have 

lived. I am confident, hopeful, and determined to make sure 

that they understand how much affection and admiration I 

have for each of them, for their wonderful spouses, and our 

19 grandchildren. 

OK. Here goes. Whatever success I had in my educational 

life, my life as a lawyer, and my life as a politician, including 

my time in Congress, is directly attributable to my Landra, 

my wife. We met when Landra was a sophomore in high 

school and I was a junior. That was more than six decades 

ago. We married at the age of 19. As I have said, we have 

5 children, and we have 19 wonderful grandchildren. 

She has been the being of my existence in my personal life 

and my public life. Disraeli, the great prime minister said in 

1837—listen to what he said: ‘‘The magic of first love is that 

it never ends.’’ I believe that. She is my first love. It will 

never end. Landra and I have talked. We understand we are 

going to have a different life. We have said and we believe 

that we are not going to dwell on the past. We will be inVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ xlvii ] 

volved in the past any way we need to be, but we are going 

to look to the future. 

I wish everyone the best. I am sorry I have talked so long. 

I usually don’t do that. I thank everyone for listening to my 

speech. I appreciate my wonderful family being here, my 

friends, my staff, and each of you. Thank you for your friendships over the years. 

(Applause, Senators rising.) 

TRIBUTES 

TO 

HARRY REID 

[ 3 ] 

Proceedings in the Senate 

WEDNESDAY, November 30, 2016 

Mrs. BOXER. Senator REID, my leader, I can’t tell you how 

humble I feel to hear you talk about my career and to put 

it, in many ways, in a historic place. 

I am going to have a lot to say about your career, what you 

have meant to me. Today I won’t get into it, but you are a 

man—you just don’t throw words around. I know how humble you are because every time I try to praise you, even in 

a situation with just a few people around you, you look down 

like you are doing now. It makes you uncomfortable. I don’t 

want to make you uncomfortable. So here is what I am going 

to say today. I am going to make you uncomfortable in the 

near future when I talk about your career and what it has 

meant to me. But today, hearing you talk about what you 

just said, weaving our friendship, our work together, and our 

family friendship has meant a lot to me. 

Obviously, I am going to miss you, but I will say this. As 

we enter into uncharted territories in terms of politics, I 

know you and I are not going to lose our voices. We will have 

a platform. We are not leaving because we are tired of the 

fight. We are not leaving because we have nothing more to 

say, we are leaving because we think it is time for the next 

generation. I look forward to working with you in the future—and I mean that sincerely—just fighting for the things 

we care about, whether it is Lake Tahoe or whether it is 

clean air, whether it is fighting against the ravages of climate change, whether it is fighting for the right of the American people, from children to seniors, to have affordable 

health care. We are not going into the wilderness. That I was 

able to protect more than a million acres—I am so proud you 

mentioned that. 

Today you have humbled me with your words. I will always be your sister. Thank you very much. 

I yield the floor. 

[ 4 ] 

TUESDAY, December 6, 2016 

Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, in the interest of time, I will 

limit my remarks. 

I rise this afternoon to commend and salute three Senators 

from the Democratic caucus who are leaving the Senate this 

year. I will have longer written statements for the Record to 

appropriately pay tribute to their service. In alphabetical 

order, Senator Boxer of California, Senator Mikulski of 

Maryland, and Senator REID of Nevada. 

I will offer some specific remarks about Leader REID, in 

the interest of time, but I do want to commend and salute 

Senator Boxer for her service to the people of California and 

to our Nation, as well Senator Mikulski for her great work— 

two great advocates, two individuals whom we are going to 

miss terribly here in the Senate. As I said, I will put longer 

statements in the Record. 

With regard to Senator REID, I can’t help taking the time 

to say a few words about him in the remaining minutes we 

have before we break for the caucus lunches. 

Mr. President, as many people know, Senator HARRY REID

is a son of Searchlight, a small community in the State of 

Nevada, and he comes from humble beginnings. It is probably best to read his words about his beginnings rather than 

trying to describe or encapsulate them. Among many things 

he said about his background and his family, he said this, 

in short fashion, about his background: ‘‘My dad was a hard 

rock miner. My mom took in wash. I grew up around people 

of strong values.’’ 

That is a direct quotation from HARRY REID about his 

background. I think those values have helped him his whole 

life. Those values, that work ethic, and that strength of character allowed him to go from Searchlight to rise up to become a leader in his home State of Nevada in many positions 

in State government, to be a Member of the U.S. House of 

Representatives, later to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 

1986, and then, of course, to become the Democratic leader— 

and he remains so until the end of this Congress—but, of 

course, the pinnacle was his service as majority leader, one 

of the longest serving majority leaders in our history. That 

is kind of a summary of his positions in government, important though they are, leading a large and diverse caucus. It 

is a difficult job whether you are leading that caucus in the 

majority or leading it as the minority party. So we salute 

[ 5 ] 

and commend his service to his home State of Nevada and 

to the people of the United States. 

But maybe more important than just talking about positions he held is to talk for just a minute about who he is— 

a fighter. No person has fought harder for workers and for 

their families than HARRY REID. No Senator, no person I 

know in public life, has made that such a central part of who 

they are and a central part of their priorities, also, at the 

same time, being a fighter for those who often don’t have a 

voice here—people who don’t have power ever in their lives 

or often don’t have power on a regular basis. They always 

had a friend in HARRY REID—someone who would go to the 

end of the Earth fighting on behalf of them. 

Over and over in our caucus, he would say: ‘‘We have to 

work on this issue,’’ or we have to get this or that done for 

people who are hurting. There are so many different examples of that, which we don’t have time to enumerate them 

today. 

I am recalling today a great line from a great Democratic 

leader, William Jennings Bryan, who talked about the power 

of one individual to make a difference and the power of an 

issue or set of issues to drive that person’s success in public 

life or even beyond public life, as a citizen. William Jennings 

Bryan once said: ‘‘The humblest citizen in all the land, when 

clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all 

the hosts of error.’’ So said William Jennings Bryan about 

one citizen clad in the armor of a righteous cause. 

HARRY REID is a Senator and he has been a leader, but he 

is also a very humble man at his core. His righteous cause 

wasn’t just one issue, but if you had to encapsulate it or 

summarize it, the righteous cause for HARRY REID was fighting on behalf of those workers, fighting on behalf of those 

people who did not ever have power in their lives. 

His ability to not just articulate their concerns and their 

struggles but literally their hopes and their dreams was one 

of the reasons why so many of us have such a high regard 

for him. We commend and salute his service. We appreciate 

his commitment to strong values, but we especially appreciate his steadfast support for those who needed his voice, 

who needed his work, who needed his votes, and needed his 

leadership. 

To Senator REID, we say thank you for your service, thank 

you for what you did for your home State of Nevada, and 

thank you for what you did for the United States of America. 

[ 6 ] 

WEDNESDAY, December 7, 2016 

Mrs. BOXER. . . . Having a leader who has your back is essential. A good leader knows and understands each member 

of his caucus and where they draw the line. HARRY is so 

humble. Whenever you talk about him, he puts his head 

down. 

HARRY, could you just look at me for a second? 

A good leader knows when to speak up and when to listen. 

A good leader knows when to pick up the gloves and fight 

like hell. That is what HARRY REID has done. He is not a 

show horse; he is a workhorse. 

He is a soft-spoken man. How many of us have to say: 

‘‘HARRY, could you speak up?’’ He is a soft-spoken man of a 

few words, but he chooses his words wisely, and he chooses 

his fights wisely. He doesn’t seek the spotlight. When it 

comes to standing up for what is right, he is right there 

when others try to slip out of the room. 

HARRY has not only been an extraordinary leader and colleague, he and his wife, Landra, have been close and treasured friends of me and my husband, Stewart. I call him the 

brother I never had, and he calls me the sister he never had. 

He treats me like a sister; he always hangs up on me when 

I call him. He never calls on me when I madly wave my 

hand at caucus. You know, I am like a sister. You don’t have 

to worry, the love will be there. I am forever grateful for his 

leadership and his friendship. 

Another quality of HARRY REID is that he encouraged 

women to run for the Senate. Once we got here, he made 

sure we had major responsibilities. HARRY, you will go down 

in history for that. 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I wish to honor 

our colleagues who are leaving us at the end of this Congress, six individuals who have done a lot to shape how the 

Senate operates today. 

First I would like to thank my three Republican colleagues 

who are departing. Thank you not only for your service to 

our country but your willingness to work with me and other 

members of my party on a number of issues. . . . 

I would also like to speak to three of my closest colleagues 

on our side of the aisle. 

Over the past 24 years, I have had the pleasure of serving 

in the Senate with HARRY REID, Barbara Mikulski, and Barbara Boxer, and I am grateful not just for our working relaVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ 7 ] 

tionships but for the close friendships I have formed with 

each of them. 

Mr. President, Senator REID has served in Congress since 

1983, and he has been our party’s leader for the past decade. 

Despite more than three decades in Washington, Senator 

REID still retains the values instilled in him while growing 

up in Searchlight, NV. Often described as a tough fighter, he 

has respect from both sides of the aisle for being a consensus 

builder who is willing to constantly work to find a deal. 

One issue on which Senator REID and I share a passion 

is Lake Tahoe, the High Sierra lake that straddles the 

California-Nevada border. 

Twenty years ago, HARRY invited President Bill Clinton to 

announce a major commitment to restoring the health of 

Lake Tahoe. That first summit launched a public-private 

partnership that has now invested $1.2 billion in conservation and restoration projects around the lake. 

This year, Senator REID told me he wanted to turn the annual summit into a celebration by inviting President Obama 

to speak. The event was a huge success, with more than 

7,000 people attending. 

I will miss HARRY’s passion and leadership, but if anyone 

deserves a break, it is him. . . . 

THURSDAY, December 8, 2016 

Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, it seems like any speech 

about the Democratic leader requires a mention of Searchlight, NV. There is a reason why that is. You cannot begin 

to understand the man until you understand where it all 

began, and here is where it began—a tiny mining town at 

the southern tip of Nevada. One teacher. Zero indoor plumbing. Miles of desert. That is Searchlight, at least the Searchlight HARRY REID knew when he was growing up. It is the 

kind of place where you might learn to drive at 13 or spend 

your summer roping cattle with a cowboy named ‘‘Sharky.’’ 

In fact, if your name is ‘‘HARRY REID,’’ that is exactly what 

you did. 

HARRY grew up in a tiny wooden shack with a tin roof. He 

hitchhiked more than 40 miles to school and had a father 

who toiled in the hard rock mines. It goes without saying 

this was not an easy life. It taught some tough lessons, but 

HARRY had his escapes. He found one in the snap and crackle of his radio. 

[ 8 ] 

Searchlight didn’t exactly have a radio station of its own, 

but every now and then, HARRY could pick up a faint signal 

from California. During the regular season, it carried his favorite baseball team, the Indians. He can still rattle off 

Cleveland’s 1948 roster. Just ask him. 

HARRY himself played some baseball. He was the catcher 

in high school, and during his sophomore year, HARRY’s team 

was crowned Nevada State champions. Later, after a close 

game on the California coast, his team won the NevadaArizona-California tristate playoffs as well. HARRY still 

treasures the big white jackets each member of the team received, not because, understand, he was the best player on 

the team—HARRY says he wasn’t—but because of what that 

jacket represented: his hard work, his contributions, his 

worth. 

Like many young men, HARRY once dreamed of a life in 

the majors, of cheering crowds and commissioner’s trophies. 

So did I. I wanted to throw fastballs for the Dodgers. HARRY

wanted to play center field at Fenway. We wound up as 

managers of two unruly franchises instead. 

As the leaders of our parties, we are charged with picking 

the batting order, controlling the pitch selection, and trying 

our best to manage 100 opening-day starters. It isn’t always 

easy. As HARRY has often pointed out, baseball represents a 

nice reprieve from the serious work of the Senate. So no matter how contentious the issue before us, we try to put politics 

aside—at least briefly—to trade our views on the Nats and 

Bryce Harper. HARRY is probably looking forward to having 

even more time to dedicate as a fan of the sport and never 

having to miss another game because of votes. 

If there is one thing HARRY loves more than baseball, it is 

his wife Landra and the family they built together. When 

HARRY first met Landra Gould, the two of them were in high 

school, and HARRY was hardly conflicted about his feelings 

for her. He recalled: ‘‘She looked like she belonged in the 

movies. She was smart [too]. And she’d been places. Out of 

my league, that’s for sure.’’ 

But if there is one thing we know about HARRY, he doesn’t 

give up easily. It wasn’t long before the two of them were 

heading off on their first date. As many dates do, it started 

with a movie and ended—as no dates do—with Landra pushstarting his car. HARRY worried, as many of us might, that 

this could well be their first date and their last date. But 

then he looked over at Landra. She smiled as she pushed 

along beside him. He said it was the kind of smile that said: 

[ 9 ] 

Who cares about the car? I am with you. It was a smile that 

has stayed with him ever since. HARRY said: ‘‘There are moments that turn a life . . . that stay with you until the last 

breath, [and] this was one of those moments for me.’’ 

The Reids have never been strangers to pushing through 

challenges. They have confronted a lot over nearly six decades in marriage. But hand in hand, sweat on the brow, they 

have always moved forward together. Through it all, Landra 

has never stopped smiling and HARRY has never stopped 

counting every lucky star for Landra. His idea of the perfect 

night out is still a quiet night in with her. Landra is his confidant, his high school sweetheart, and his best friend. She 

is his everything. For a guy who grew up with nothing, that 

is something. 

HARRY REID didn’t have an easy childhood. He faced tragedy from a young age. There were times when he just wanted to leave Searchlight and never look back, but these experiences helped shape him too. This is a guy who has seen it 

all. He has been on the wrong side of electoral nail biters, 

and he has been on the other side of them too. He even won 

a primary against somebody named ‘‘God Almighty.’’ 

HARRY will now retire as the longest serving U.S. Senator 

from his State with some three decades of Senate service behind him. It is clear that HARRY and I have two very different world views, two different ways of doing things, and 

two different sets of legislative priorities, but through the 

years we have come to understand some things about one 

another, and we have endeavored to keep our disagreements 

professional rather than personal. We have also found some 

common ground through baseball. 

I hardly know what it is like to serve here without 

HARRY—he came into office just a couple short years after I 

did—but I do know this: Come next month, you will know 

where to find him. He will be right next to Landra, writing 

new chapters, making new memories, and continuing a love 

story that began with a smile more than 50 years ago. 

Today the Senate recognizes the Democratic leader for his 

many years of service to Nevada, to the country, and to his 

party. We wish him and Landra the best as they set off on 

their next journey. 

Mr. REID. Mitch, thank you very much for those nice remarks. 

Mr. President, I have heard for years—especially from the 

press and others—how do you get along with Mitch McConnell? It is obvious it is not very good. 

[ 10 ] 

It is simple, everybody. He and I understand our relationship. We are both lawyers. I have been to court lots of times, 

over 100 jury trials, and when I would go to those trials, I 

would really fix on my opponent. How could he feel that way 

about an issue? He is wrong on the law, he is wrong on the 

facts, and we are going to take care of this in court. 

Fortunately, I was fairly blessed with my trials; it turned 

out OK most of the time. But Mitch and I understand that 

is what we do here. When the trial was over—I have walked 

out of a courtroom with Neil Galatz or whoever it was—it 

was over with. It was gone. We were friends. We were there, 

each doing our thing to effect our cause, and that is what we 

do here. 

McConnell and REID don’t need to be hugging out here 

every day. That is not what we do. We are advocates for our 

cause. I do the very best I can; he does the very best he can. 

He laid that out just fine a few minutes ago. 

So this is not a love session for REID and McConnell, although I want everyone here to know that Mitch McConnell 

is my friend. He and his wonderful wife have been kind and 

thoughtful to us. I have said that before; let me repeat it. 

When Landra was in that very dreadful accident, they were 

there—letters, flowers. They took care of us. When Landra 

had the devastating breast cancer, they were there. When I 

hurt myself, Mitch called me. 

So everybody go ahead and make up all the stories you 

want about how we hate each other. Go ahead. But we don’t. 

If it makes a better story, go ahead and do it, but maybe 

somebody should write this. 

Thank you very much, Mitch. 

OK, everybody, now my final speech. [See farewell address, p. ix.] 

Mr. HELLER. Mr. President, I stand in front of you to 

commemorate the long life and service of a fellow Nevadan 

who has given his all to serve our State and this country. 

It has been said it is better to be feared than loved if you 

cannot be both. My colleagues in the Senate and those in the 

gallery probably agree with me, no individual in politics embodies that sentiment today more than my colleague from 

Nevada, HARRY MASON REID. 

Today I am on the floor to pay respect to Senate Minority 

Leader HARRY REID, after 30 years of service in this Chamber, in addition to the years of public service before entering 

into the Senate. 

[ 11 ] 

I know HARRY is notorious for his short conversations— 

minus today—for hanging up the phone before our conversations end, and sometimes even midsentence, so I will try to 

keep my comments respectfully short. 

Before I truly get into the speech, I must first recognize 

HARRY’s family. As a public official, very often it is time with 

your family that is most often sacrificed the most, and it is 

very true, as stated by a leader in our shared faith when he 

said, ‘‘Nothing compensates for failure in the home.’’ 

HARRY has been keenly aware of this fact and he shows 

his adoration. He has shown it for his wife Landra and his 

five children: Lana, Rory, Leif, Josh, and Key. He has made 

sure to keep a very close bond with his wife, his children, 

and grandchildren. That is something we all respect and 

something I wish to emulate. 

So what can I say? It is an end of an era for my home 

State of Nevada. HARRY has devoted his entire adult life to 

one cause, the State of Nevada and serving it. 

Trust me, though we have had our differences when it 

came to our State, I can attest to one thing; that is, there 

is no stronger partner to serve the people of Nevada than 

HARRY REID. 

It has been said victorious leaders feel the alternative to 

winning is totally unacceptable so they figure out what must 

be done to achieve victory, and then they go after it with everything at their disposal. I believe that describes HARRY

REID in a nutshell. 

Another measure of success, something HARRY and I have 

found amusing in the past, is being blamed for all things— 

all that is good, all that is bad, and all that is ugly. Let me 

assure you, HARRY has been blamed for a lot, some fairly 

and some unfairly. 

Senator REID has served in every level of government, 

from city attorney, the State assembly, Lieutenant Governor, 

U.S. Congressman, and Senator. As a Senator, he is one of 

only three to serve at least 8 years as majority leader. Even 

in retirement, due to his far-reaching influence in just about 

every facet of State, local, and Federal Government, I totally 

expect he will operate as Nevada’s third Senator. 

After 26 elections, HARRY knows a thing or two about representing his constituency. He is one of the sharpest tactical 

minds ever to enter the political arena. Having worked together over the years, my hope is that we have sent a message, not only to all Nevadans but to everyone across this 

country, that two people who you can tell differ on many 

[ 12 ] 

opinions can work well together, get things done for their 

constituents when both are willing. 

That is why it is fitting this week that the Lake Tahoe 

Restoration Act will pass the Senate and will be sent to the 

President’s desk to be signed into law. After fighting for 

years to refocus Federal policy on the 21st century threats 

to the lake, we teamed up to ensure important work that 

preserves the ‘‘Jewel of the Sierra’’ for future generations 

and that it will advance. 

One of HARRY’s lasting legacies will be that he and I 

worked to improve water clarity, reduce wildfire threats, 

jump start transportation and infrastructure projects, and 

combat invasive species at Lake Tahoe. Because of this work, 

Lake Tahoe has once again been made a national priority. 

Another policy initiative that we worked together on was 

the fight against Yucca Mountain. HARRY, rest assured, I 

will continue to fight Yucca. My mantra is borrowed from 

one of your late friends, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, when 

he said: ‘‘The work goes on, the cause endures. . . .’’ 

We will not allow Nevada to turn into America’s nuclear 

dump against the will of its own people. 

HARRY, you share the Nevada values such as faith in God, 

hard work, and commitment to family. I know, because you 

displayed these values at home, at work, and at church. In 

fact, actually, that is how we first met HARRY. It was during 

his tenure as Lieutenant Governor when he spent time in 

Carson City. Our families were able to meet each other and 

become friends. Eventually, I became very good friends with 

his son Leif. HARRY, your dedication to family is extraordinary and it serves as a model to all of us. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t share a couple of my favorite 

HARRY REID stories. There are a lot of them. There are a few 

I cannot share, there are a few I can so I will share with you 

the ones I can. 

Before serving in the Senate, I was elected to the House 

of Representatives in 2007, until my appointment to the Senate in 2011. Late one evening, I was sitting in my office with 

my chief of staff, Mac Abrams, discussing a few last-minute 

details before leaving for the day. It must have been near the 

end of the week because staffers in the House offices were 

milling around the hall celebrating a birthday party, enjoying each other’s company, playing loud music, and taking a 

few moments to relax. I was having a hard time keeping the 

noise from the halls out of my office because of the thin 

walls. All of a sudden, it was as if it all stopped immediately. 

[ 13 ] 

A quiet hush came over the crowd. It became so quiet, to the 

point I could hear a small echoing—tap, tap, tap. The taps 

were magnified. The hallway, which was previously full of 

life, just immediately died. I began to walk toward the hall 

to see what it was. I could tell the tapping noise was the 

sound of footsteps. As they grew louder and closer, I barely 

heard a peep in that hallway. Sure enough, the next sound 

I heard was the doorknob to my office turning, and in walks 

HARRY: ‘‘Hi, Dean. Do you have a few minutes?’’ To me, that 

story illustrates how much presence HARRY has and the respect he commands no matter where he is. He quieted an entire hallway full of lively staffers by just passing through 

and walking down that hallway. 

The second story occurred more recently. We were in 

HARRY’s office on a January morning soon after I was elected 

to my first full term. During that campaign, HARRY and his 

special friends gave me 12 million reasons why I shouldn’t 

be standing there in his office that day, but, hey, this is the 

Senate and collegiality reigns supreme so I was at that 

breakfast because our constituents were there. 

HARRY and I have known each other for many years, and 

he made it a point to tell those in attendance how close we 

were. We were having a good breakfast. He gets up to tell 

everyone how long he had known me, some of my background—but he kept highlighting how close we were. 

So after his short speech—a little shorter than today— 

HARRY looks at me, offers for me to say a few of my own 

words. So I just got up in the front of the room and made 

sure that everybody knew I could attest that at least one 

Reid voted for me—HARRY’s son Leif. The look on HARRY’s 

face was priceless. Seeing HARRY process the fact that there 

was a Reid who voted for me is a memory seared in my brain 

forever. 

For me, this speech is not a goodbye because I know we 

will be seeing you back home in our great State. HARRY, people, like me, may disagree with you at times, but we will always respect you for three things: your devotion to your family, your service to our State and Nation, and your commitment to fighting for what you believe in. 

This Chamber has been blessed with some of the greatest 

men and women who have ever served our Republic. Today 

I recognize and rise to recognize your place among these figures and hope your career will give inspiration to a young 

child from Carson City or Searchlight or anywhere else in 

Nevada to follow in your footsteps. 

[ 14 ] 

Again, congratulations on your career. We, the people of 

Nevada, thank you for your service. Lynne and I wish you 

and Landra all the best in the years ahead—and as your 

new senior Senator, I hope I can count on your vote. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Rubio). The assistant 

Democratic leader. 

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I wish to say a few words 

about HARRY REID, our departing, retiring, Democratic leader. It is appropriate he is not on the floor because it is painful for him to sit and hear anybody say anything nice about 

him. I am sure he is going to be happy not hearing these 

words, but I want the rest of the folks following the proceedings in the Senate to hear them. 

I was first elected to the House of Representatives the 

same year as HARRY, 1982. A friend of mine, who is an attorney in Chicago named Ed Joyce, said, ‘‘Be sure and look up 

this HARRY REID from Nevada because he is a great fellow 

and a great lawyer.’’ So I did. We came in with a large class 

of over 50 Members. I went up to HARRY and said, ‘‘Hi. I am 

Dick Durbin from Illinois. We have a mutual friend in Chicago.’’ 

He said, ‘‘Well, great. I am looking forward to working 

with you.’’ 

I said, ‘‘So are you headed up to Harvard for the orientation? I will see you up there.’’ 

He said, ‘‘No, I am headed to Kansas City. We have a settlement conference in a personal injury lawsuit that I 

couldn’t miss.’’ 

I thought to myself, this is some lawyer. Up to the bitter 

end of his legal career, he was still devoted to the cause of 

representing clients and representing them effectively. When 

HARRY makes a commitment, he keeps it. I knew at that moment and I have known it ever since. 

Four years later, he was in the Senate, I was still in the 

House, but the day came when I finally got elected to the 

Senate and joined HARRY REID. 

I know we had a good friendship to start because we came 

to the House together, but I remember the day and I remember the moment when that friendship became something special. It was right there in the well of the Senate. 

The most important bill in HARRY’s political career was up 

for a vote. It was on Yucca Mountain. 

[ 15 ] 

He came before the rollcall was being announced and he 

said, ‘‘How are you going to vote?’’ 

I said, ‘‘Well, HARRY, I have kind of mixed feelings on 

this.’’ 

He said, ‘‘Stop. I need you. I think I have enough votes, 

but I may need you. So can you promise that if I need your 

vote you will be there?’’ 

I said, ‘‘Well, all right.’’ 

He said, ‘‘But I don’t think I will need your vote.’’ 

You know what happened next. They called the roll, and 

at the very end, one of the Democratic Senators he counted 

on voted the other way. He turned to me and said, ‘‘Well?’’ 

I said, ‘‘I am giving you my word.’’ 

I voted with HARRY REID on Yucca Mountain. 

That was the moment when our friendship became solid. 

In this business, your word is your bond. When you promise 

somebody you are going to stick with them come heck or 

high water, that is when it is tested. 

Our friendship grew from that point. I didn’t know the 

time would come, but it did, amazingly, when Tom Daschle 

lost in the Senate race in South Dakota. The next day, I got 

a call from HARRY REID. He said, ‘‘I hope you will consider 

running for whip. You ought to call every Member of the 

caucus,’’ and I did. 

I quickly learned that many of them had called him and 

said, ‘‘Whom do you want to be your whip?’’ He said, ‘‘Well, 

I think Senator Durbin would be a good choice.’’ 

That is why I am sitting here today. 

Twelve years later, I am still serving as HARRY REID’s 

whip and still counting the votes on key issues, and during 

those 12 years, I probably spent more time talking to HARRY

REID, my colleague in the Senate, than to any other Member 

of this body. It is a close, personal friendship and relationship, and we have gone through a lot together. 

I listened to his stories. He told some of them today. He 

returns to his youth, growing up in Searchlight, which we 

heard about today in just wonderful detail, but he also returns to all of those friendships that were made during those 

years with people he grew up with in Searchlight and in 

Henderson, where he went to school. I have come to know 

these people as if they were my own classmates because I 

have heard these stories so many times. It is part of who he 

is, and it is part of his value system. It explains some important decisions in his life. 

[ 16 ] 

When he talks about the Affordable Care Act, we understand that he still remembers that his mother needed dentures, and he saved up money to buy his mother a set of 

teeth. He thought about the fact that there was no medical 

care for his family when they needed it the most. He thought 

about the depression that took his father’s life and how that 

might have been averted with the right medical care. That 

is what has inspired him to public life. 

The one thing that has inspired him the most is Landra. 

Over and over, I have heard these stories about this courtship. Now, by most standards, getting married when you are 

19 is not recommended but, clearly, in this case, it worked 

out beautifully. When he tells the story of how he finally got 

Landra to marry him, it appears there was a little bit of tension between Landra’s family and this young HARRY REID, to 

the point where Landra’s dad basically said to him: ‘‘Stay 

away; I don’t want you dating my daughter.’’ Well, they had 

words and other things, and HARRY insisted. He dated 

Landra, and they were married. The interesting thing about 

that is that despite that tension with her father in those 

early years, HARRY wears a ring that her father used to 

wear, and he carries it around with pride in memory of her 

father and her family. He manages to keep those memories 

as part of his life and his inspiration. 

Another thing my colleagues may or may not know is that 

HARRY is a voracious reader. He reads books constantly. 

Even after he lost the sight in his right eye, he has continued to read. I love to read as well. It has been one of my real 

joys in life, exchanging books with HARRY. He reads everything under the sun. One time he told me he was reading 

the Koran cover to cover. I thought: Man, that is something 

I am not sure I could even do. He has this curiosity, this interest in learning. Even at this point in his life, as he nears 

the end of his public career, he wants to continue to learn 

about people and history and important things. 

I look back on experiences we have had together. It was 

9/11 when HARRY and I were in a room just a few feet away 

from here when there was an attack in New York, and in 

Virginia, and we thought the Capitol would be the next target. We had to race out of this building and stand outside, 

not knowing which way to turn as we were afraid that we 

were the next target here at the U.S. Capitol. Those were 

moments we spent together that I won’t forget. 

I remember as well that he was one of the first to say to 

my junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, that he 

[ 17 ] 

should seriously consider running for President. President 

Obama the other night said that was one of the most important pieces of advice he received in making his decision to be 

a candidate for President of the United States. It is an indication of HARRY’s credibility—how much people trust him, 

and how when he gives his word, you know he is going to 

be there. 

When President Obama was elected, he needed a person— 

more than one, but he certainly needed a leader in the Senate whom he could count on. He couldn’t have had a better 

ally than HARRY REID. When I look back on the battles over 

the last 8 years that were waged on behalf of America and 

HARRY’s leadership role with the President, there wasn’t another person in this Chamber who could really take as much 

credit. He would be the last person in the world to do so. 

When it came to the stimulus package to turn this economy around, it was HARRY REID counting the votes. It was 

HARRY REID working every single day holding the hands of 

those Members of the Senate who weren’t quite sure they 

could be there when he needed them. 

It was HARRY REID who was counting up to 60 votes to 

pass the Affordable Care Act. It took every single Democrat. 

Not a single Republican would join us in that effort. HARRY

REID had to do it. What was he up against? He was up 

against Ted Kennedy, who sadly was giving his life up to 

cancer at that moment and fighting to stay alive until he 

could vote for that important bill. It was HARRY REID working with other Members of the Senate who would get cold 

feet on the issue and had to be brought back in. He did it 

time and again, day after day. In the end, 20 million Americans have health insurance because of HARRY REID’s determination that what he went through as a kid growing up in 

Searchlight would not be repeated for families across the 

United States. 

When it came to Wall Street reform and the Dodd-Frank 

bill that passed through the Senate, HARRY stuck with it and 

made sure we passed it, hoping to avoid the kind of recession 

we have been through and the damage that was done to 

businesses and families and individuals all across the United 

States. 

I knew he was a fighter because I knew his record when 

it came to being a lawyer. There are so many stories about 

his clients that I have heard over and over. I feel like they 

were my clients because I have heard those stories so often. 

[ 18 ] 

One of the things I remember and read about in his book 

I want to share with you. There was a woman named Joyce 

Martinez who was working in Las Vegas, and the police 

came in to the casino where she was working and arrested 

her for writing bad checks at the local grocery store. Joyce 

tried going to several lawyers and kept insisting they were 

wrong. She had never done anything like that, but none of 

these lawyers would take the case. Then she met HARRY

REID. HARRY believed her. HARRY said she reminded him of 

the people he had grown up with—real people who had nothing but hard work as their life. Like many of the cases 

HARRY decided to take, his colleagues said, ‘‘What are you 

doing wasting your time on this case? Spend your time on 

worthwhile cases.’’ But every step of the way, despite the ridicule, HARRY decided to stand up for this cocktail waitress. 

HARRY was determined to keep at it and to make sure that 

she had a strong voice in court. Ultimately, Joyce won her 

case, and HARRY REID ended up with a victory that he still 

counted many years later as one of his great successes as a 

lawyer. 

He also made sure the store that brought the charges 

against her had to follow the law in the future. So he didn’t 

just help Joyce, he helped a lot of other people as well. 

For HARRY, this is what the law was all about as a lawyer 

and what it was all about as a Senator—making life better 

for people and families across the United States. 

He has fought for so many important causes, and there is 

one that I want to give special thanks for. It was his commitment to the DREAM Act. I introduced this legislation 16 

years ago when I discovered a young woman in Chicago, undocumented, who sadly couldn’t go on with her life and go 

to college because of her legal status. I introduced the 

DREAM Act to say those young people brought to the United 

States as kids deserve a second chance. HARRY REID heard 

my speeches and then met his own DREAMer in Nevada: 

Astrid Silva, a DREAMer who would often write to HARRY

with updates on her life. On December 8, 2010, HARRY REID

kept his promise to me and a promise to Astrid and to other 

DREAMers by allowing the DREAM Act to be brought to the 

floor for a vote. The Senate gallery was filled with DREAMers wearing their graduation gowns and caps to remind people they were students who wanted to use their education 

and talents for the future of America. Fifty-five Senators 

voted for the DREAM Act that day. HARRY had given us our 

[ 19 ] 

chance. But it wasn’t enough to pass because we needed 60 

votes under the Senate rules. 

HARRY REID joined me and 22 other Senators in sending 

a letter to the President of the United States asking that he 

do everything he can to protect these DREAMers, and he 

did, with an executive order known as DACA. To date, 

744,000 of these young people have been protected with 

President Obama’s executive order, because HARRY REID believed, as I believe, that these young people deserve the 

chance. 

Let me tell my colleagues one last story that I think really 

defines HARRY—his courage, as well as Landra’s courage. It 

goes back to his days as chairman of the Nevada Gaming 

Commission. Being a Mormon, not gambling, not drinking, 

he was the perfect choice for gaming commissioner. It was 

hard to consider bribing him. In the 1970s, HARRY wore a 

wire for the FBI to catch a bribery attempt. The tape that 

was transcribed from that wire ends with HARRY jumping 

out of his seat and shouting, ‘‘You SOB, you tried to bribe 

me.’’ HARRY couldn’t tolerate that somebody thought he could 

be bought. 

In an effort to retaliate, the mob was mad at HARRY, and 

they planted a bomb in his family car. Thank goodness, a 

watchful Landra spotted it and told HARRY, ‘‘Don’t start the 

car.’’ They are alive today because of Landra’s vigilance, but 

they suffered that indignity because of their courage in 

standing up for ethics and integrity. Today, when we hear 

people talking about how rough politics can be, it certainly 

doesn’t lead to a bomb, in most circumstances. In this case, 

HARRY proved then and today that he is up to that kind of 

challenge. 

Let me conclude with this. In HARRY’s childhood home in 

Searchlight, there were words embroidered on a pillowcase 

that his mom hung on the wall. As we have heard, it was 

a simple and barren little shack that they lived in, but this 

pillowcase had the following words: ‘‘we can . . . we will . . . 

we must! . . . Franklin D. Roosevelt.’’ 

HARRY never forgot those words. They are engrained in his 

spirit. I want to thank him for what he has done for the Senate, for the State of Nevada, for me, and for his decades of 

service to the United States. I want to thank Landra and 

their five kids and their wonderful family for sharing her 

husband and their father with us for all of these years. 

HARRY is leaving the Senate, but I am sure he is not going 

to quit. He is going to be fighting for Nevada to the end, and 

[ 20 ] 

he will be fighting for the causes he believes in. He will continue to be a fearless advocate. I wish him and his family all 

the best. 

I yield the floor. 

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, Senator HARRY REID and I 

were both elected to the House in 1982, and over the last 34 

years, HARRY has become more than a colleague to me. He 

is like family. 

I call him the ‘‘brother I never had,’’ and he calls me the 

‘‘sister he never had.’’ 

Only a brother can hang up on you like HARRY does. 

Because a sister’s job is to embarrass her brother, I want 

to talk today about HARRY’s incredible, extraordinary career 

and how much he means to me. 

HARRY, his wife, Landra, my husband, Stewart, and I have 

all grown to be dear friends and enjoy quiet dinners together. Stew and I even invited them to stay with us in our 

California desert home once—where I cooked, much to 

HARRY’s disbelief. 

Theirs is a truly beautiful love story. They met in high 

school and have been together ever since. 

There was one incident early on that could have derailed 

them. When HARRY went to pick Landra up for a date, her 

father, a Jewish immigrant, was opposed to his daughter 

dating a man with no religion. 

But that wasn’t going to stop HARRY. He actually got into 

a fistfight with his future father-in-law and punched him in 

the face. 

As HARRY simply said, ‘‘It wasn’t the greatest beginning.’’ 

But love always prevails. HARRY and Landra eloped during 

college, and Landra’s parents eventually came around to supporting them. 

Throughout HARRY’s career—throughout every campaign, 

every election, every bump in the road—Landra has been by 

HARRY’s side, and he by hers. 

Though he has risen to the highest levels of success, 

HARRY has never forgotten where he came from and has always fought like hell for his State. He was born in what he 

calls a ‘‘flyspeck on the map’’—Searchlight, NV, in 1939, a 

year before me. 

To say he grew up poor is an understatement. His childhood home had no toilet or running water, and in order to 

attend high school, he had to move in with relatives 40 miles 

away. 

[ 21 ] 

Nothing came easy for HARRY, but he never let that deter 

him. In high school, he wanted to buy a car, so he took a job 

at a bakery that required him to wake up at 4 a.m. during 

the week—3 a.m. on weekends. In his spare time, he took up 

boxing, which earned him a college scholarship. 

His very humble beginnings taught him the value of hard 

work. We have all heard HARRY tell the story of working 6 

days a week as a U.S. Capitol Police Officer while putting 

himself through law school full time at George Washington 

University. For years, he proudly displayed his badge here in 

his DC office. Upon graduation from law school, he returned 

to Nevada as an attorney specializing in what he called, ‘‘the 

cases nobody would take,’’ before starting his career in elected office: First, as the Henderson city attorney, then as an 

assemblyman, Lieutenant Governor, and chairman of the 

Nevada Gaming Commission, before winning election to the 

House of Representatives. 

After two terms in the House, HARRY won a seat in the 

Senate, where he gained a reputation for integrity and fairness. He was elected as our leader in 2004, and I believe he 

will go down in history as one of the best. 

HARRY is a workhorse, not a show horse. 

He is soft spoken and a wonderful listener, but is not 

afraid to speak up. 

He doesn’t seek the spotlight—in fact, he often avoids it at 

all costs—but he also knows how to use it to fight for those 

without a voice. 

He takes the time to know every member of his caucus— 

what makes us tick, what our core issues are, and where we 

each draw the line. 

I want to relate one particular story that truly exemplifies 

the leader HARRY is. 

One December night in 2009, I got a call from HARRY and 

Senator Chuck Schumer. They were trying to negotiate the 

final issue on the Affordable Care Act, and this was our last 

chance to get the bill passed. 

We needed every single Democrat in order to end the Republican filibuster, but we had reached a stumbling block: 

Senator Ben Nelson believed the Federal subsidy in the ACA 

should not go toward abortion. 

If he voted against the bill, Obamacare would be gone. So 

HARRY trusted Senator Patty Murray and me with the crucial responsibility of finding a solution. 

For 13 grueling hours, my team and I would come up with 

an idea, Senator Schumer would run it over to Senator NelVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00073 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ 22 ] 

son, and we would volley back and forth until we finally 

landed on a compromise. 

The bill was saved, and today, more than 20 million Americans have health care—many for the first time ever— 

thanks, in large part, to HARRY REID. He never gave up, and 

he trusted members of his caucus to help get this bill—one 

of the most important health care bills in a generation— 

across the finish line. 

HARRY has perfected the art of strategy and negotiation. 

He knows when to compromise and when to stand up and 

fight—especially when it comes to his beloved Nevada. 

He has accomplished far too many things to mention, but 

I want to quickly talk about a few issues. 

No one fought harder against the plan to dump nuclear 

waste at Yucca Mountain, which would have threatened the 

health and safety of Nevadans. Since he was first elected to 

Congress 34 years ago, HARRY fought proposal after proposal 

until the plan was finally scrapped—almost entirely because 

of him. 

He has been instrumental in the fight to protect and restore Lake Tahoe—which is shared between our two States. 

HARRY created the Lake Tahoe Summit and worked across 

party lines to help keep Tahoe blue. 

He has protected more than 3 million acres of wilderness, 

established Great Basin National Park, and has fought to 

protect our landmark environmental laws. 

When we were in the throes of the worst economic crisis 

in a generation, HARRY fought tooth and nail to stop the 

hemorrhaging of jobs and help Americans keep their 

homes—especially in Nevada, which was one of the hardest 

hit States. 

HARRY worked tirelessly to shepherd the Recovery Act 

through Congress—a monumental task in our political environment. At every turn, the rightwing threw everything they 

had at us, but HARRY took it all on the chin with his 

strength, stamina, and fortitude. 

He stepped up and helped us avoid Armageddon, and I 

give a great deal of credit to Senator REID and President 

Obama for that. 

At his core, that is who HARRY REID is: When he believes 

something to be right, he doesn’t think twice about putting 

the gloves on, hopping in the ring and fighting for what he 

believes in. He just does it. 

For this, and for so many other reasons, HARRY has made 

the Democratic Party better. He has made Nevada better. He 

[ 23 ] 

has made our country better. On a personal level, HARRY has 

made me better. I will forever be grateful for his leadership, 

his mentorship, and most of all, his friendship. 

In closing, I would like to read the words I wrote about 

him. 

HARRY . . . thank you for the strength you give to us. 

HARRY . . . thank you for the way you make them cuss. 

So you’re not a TV star, 

We just take you as you are. 

HARRY, blue and true, 

No one like you. 

HARRY . . . working from the day until the night. 

HARRY . . . never turns away when there’s a fight. 

Good thing there are no Senate duels! 

HARRY, blue and true, 

No one like you. 

Mr. REED. Mr. President, I want to take an opportunity 

to salute and thank and commend my colleagues who are departing. . . . 

We also have other colleagues departing: Senator Ayotte 

from New Hampshire; Senator Boxer of California, Senator 

Coats of Indiana; as I mentioned, Senator Kirk of Illinois; 

Senator Mikulski of Maryland; Senator REID of Nevada; and 

Senator Vitter of Louisiana. Each has brought passion in 

their work to best serve their constituents, and the institution of the Senate and the Nation are better for this service. 

I am better for knowing them, working with them, and having the opportunity to share with them, and I want to thank 

them for their service. Let me mention a few words with respect to all of these distinguished Senators. . . . 

Mr. President, finally, there is our leader, HARRY REID. 

Much has been said about HARRY today. I will not go over 

the extraordinary tale of a young man from Searchlight, NV. 

He was a boxer and a Capitol Police Officer while he was 

working his way through law school. He has always been a 

fighter—and a fighter for those who need help, not for the 

powerful but for the people without power. For those without 

a voice, he has given a voice. 

I have always appreciated his counsel, his guidance, and 

his support, which were important to my constituents and 

important to all Americans. We have worked on numerous 

pieces of legislation together to address the housing crisis, to 

extend unemployment insurance, to make college more affordable, and to improve mental health services, to name just 

a few. 

[ 24 ] 

As he said today in his remarks, one of his achievements 

is to be able to give health care protection to millions of 

Americans who didn’t have it and if it is taken away will not 

have it. He did that because it was the right thing to do, because he understood from his own personal experience how 

traumatizing and how debilitating and, ultimately, how destructive the lack of access to good health care—both physical health care and mental health care—is to America, and, 

also, how it does make us productive. Simply having health 

care is not just a good thing to do, it is a smart economic 

thing to do. He led that fight for us. 

It has been an honor to serve alongside HARRY REID and 

to see this extraordinary legislator work his way quietly 

sometimes—many times—but persistently. There is no one 

more persistent than HARRY. His steady, unselfish leadership will continue to guide us and his example will continue 

to guide us. 

I have been very fortunate. I have had the privilege to 

serve with these ladies and gentlemen, and I want to thank 

them for their service. 

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, earlier today we heard a moving speech by the Democratic leader and my longtime friend, 

HARRY REID. He spoke of his life and his time here. 

An amateur boxer turned police officer, turned lawyer, 

turned majority leader, that is the supercondensed outline of 

the life of HARRY REID. When the book closes on this 114th 

Congress, so too will it close on the congressional career of 

Senator REID. He is a fighter and a champion. That is an understatement. 

He is a fellow country boy, but he had a much tougher upbringing in the isolated hamlet of Searchlight, NV. You can 

read about that in his book. That upbringing has bred traits 

that I have admired since he arrived in the Senate in 1987. 

His humble upbringing, raised in a shack with no indoor 

bathroom or hot water, sowed the seeds of a life in public 

service and of the perspective that has infused and driven 

that service. He first came to Capitol Hill as a police officer, 

working nights to pay his way through George Washington 

University Law School. Little did he know he would end up 

being one of the longest serving majority leaders in the history of the U.S. Senate. 

He can point to so many of the things he has done, including steering the Affordable Care Act to Senate passage. But 

I want to thank Senator REID for his strong support of justice bills that I have championed. An original cosponsor of 

[ 25 ] 

the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization that I introduced in recent years—to strengthen and renew the transformative and life-saving work that is made possible under 

VAWA—he has always worked to combat the scourge of domestic violence, helping to shepherd the reauthorization of 

this vital legislation across the finish line. He has also supported vital grant programs to put more cops on the street 

in communities small and large and to keep them safe. His 

commitment to advancing our comprehensive immigration 

reform bill, we got it through the Senate by a large bipartisan majority. When the history books are written, one of 

the huge mistakes made was when the House of Representatives did not take up that bill, even though they had the 

votes to pass it. These are all examples of how true leadership takes action—not merely talking points—no matter how 

difficult, to make a difference. 

HARRY REID was at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 2015, 

commemorating the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. I 

looked at him there with Congressman John Lewis and 

President Barack Obama—the first African-American elected 

as President—as one of the towering figures in America. But 

the true measure of a man is revealed not when he pauses 

to remember past injustices, he works to prevent them from 

happening. From pay equity to restoring the Voting Rights 

Act, from the repeal of ‘‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’’ to the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 

there can be no doubt that Senator REID fights for every 

American, every day. 

Yet, no matter how large a national leader Senator REID

has become, he has never forgotten the people of Nevada. In 

him they have a tireless and effective champion of the highest caliber. Senator REID’s work on behalf of Nevada has 

been relentless. 

He has been our fighter. He has been our champion. He 

has been a friend. He has faced and risen above personal adversity. He is a truly American story. His presence here in 

the Senate will be missed next year. When Marcelle and I 

leave Washington for the last time, we will think of the special friends we have had. HARRY REID, Landra Reid—we will 

think of them. We wish them all the best as they begin their 

next chapter together. 

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I wish to take a moment to 

express my appreciation to the Democratic leader, Senator 

HARRY REID, who spoke earlier on the floor. 

[ 26 ] 

I was here with many of my colleagues and listened to his 

incredible story about his background from Searchlight, NV, 

to his ascension to the Senate and becoming the Democratic 

leader. 

When I first came to the Senate, Senator REID asked to 

meet with me. I thought he was going to talk about my philosophy on different issues or what my interests would be or 

how I was going to try to move forward on particular bills, 

but what he really wanted to talk about was my family, 

what I thought was important in life. He was very interested 

in my family traditions and how that would be impacted by 

my life in the Senate. 

I must tell you, it was very personal. I think many of us 

have seen many sides of HARRY REID, but one side of him is 

clear. He treats the Senate as his family, and he treats each 

one of us as his family. 

I wish to express my appreciation for his service in the 

U.S. Senate and for his public service over so many years. 

Myrna and I are friends of Landra and HARRY. We wish 

them only the best as he moves forward from his career in 

the Senate. 

It has really been a pleasure to serve with him in the Senate. This is an incredible place to serve. Senator REID has 

certainly made this Senator’s life in the Senate much more 

enjoyable and productive. 

Mr. President, part of American culture is to celebrate our 

small towns. There are few American towns smaller than 

Searchlight in Clark County, NV. That is the hometown of 

our beloved Democratic leader, Senator HARRY REID. 

Senator REID epitomizes the American dream. He grew up 

without indoor plumbing, in a small cabin built out of scavenged railroad ties, and attended a two-room elementary 

school. His father was a hard rock miner. As a young boy, 

Senator REID would go deep into the mines with his father. 

Searchlight didn’t have its own high school so Senator REID

had to hitchhike each week to Henderson, 40 miles away, 

where he attended Basic High School and boarded with relatives and other families. 

Local businessmen saw his potential and helped him attend Utah State University, a debt he repaid. He earned his 

law degree from George Washington University and supported his young family by working as a U.S. Capitol Police 

Officer. 

Senator REID started his career in public service as Henderson’s city attorney. He revised the city charter and exVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00078 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ 27 ] 

tended the city’s boundaries by acquiring Federal land. In 

1968, when he was just 28, he was elected to the Nevada 

State Assembly. As an assemblyman, he introduced the first 

air pollution legislation in Nevada’s history. Two years later, 

Senator REID became the youngest Lieutenant Governor in 

Nevada history, winning election as Governor Mike 

O’Callaghan’s running mate. Mike O’Callaghan had been 

Senator REID’s mentor in high school as a teacher, boxing 

coach, and friend. 

In 1977, Senator REID was appointed chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. For 5 years, he was engaged in 

an unrelenting fight with organized crime syndicates to 

clean up Nevada’s gaming industry. In 1981, his wife—high 

school sweetheart Landra—found a bomb attached to the 

family station wagon. 

In 1982, Senator REID won the first of two elections to 

serve in the House of Representatives and then he was elected to the Senate in 1986. In 2005 he became the Democratic 

leader, 2 years later, he became the majority leader, a post 

he held until the Republicans gained control of the Senate 

last year. As the Las Vegas Sun put it, he went from being 

the underdog to the top dog. 

I have talked about Senator REID’s hardscrabble upbringing because it has made him one of the toughest people I 

have ever known. Yet he is also one of the kindest, and most 

compassionate. 

Senator REID may be the top dog, but he has always 

fought for the underdog. I think that quality is best exemplified by his advocacy on behalf of Native Americans, which 

includes helping to build the Nation’s first utility-scale solar 

project on tribal land in Nevada. I know how much he is respected in Indian country. 

Senator REID was instrumental in passing the Affordable 

Care Act, ACA, which—along with the Medicaid expansion— 

has provided health care to more than 20 million Americans. 

Senator REID’s efforts to choose qualified Federal jurists 

for the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada will be 

felt for decades after he leaves office. Senator REID has recommended and helped confirm five of the six judges currently serving on the court. As a result of Senator REID’s 

commitment to diversity, there have been numerous ‘‘firsts’’ 

for the court. 

In 1998, Senator REID recommended Johnnie Rawlinson to 

be the first woman to serve as a judge on the Nevada DisVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00079 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ 28 ] 

trict Court. At his request, she was elevated to the Ninth 

Circuit in 2000. 

In 2010, Gloria Navarro became the first Hispanic woman 

to serve as a judge on the Nevada District Court. 

In 2012, Miranda Du became the first Asian-Pacific American to serve as a judge on the Nevada District Court. 

In 2014, Richard Boulware became the first AfricanAmerican man to serve as a judge on the Nevada District 

Court. 

The Senate still has the opportunity to confirm Anne 

Traum, who would be the first Jewish person to serve on the 

Nevada District Court. 

Senator REID has fought hard on behalf of his fellow Nevadans. He has prevented the Federal Government from 

building a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. He 

authored and passed legislation establishing Nevada’s first 

national park, Great Basin National Park. He has led the 

fight to protect and restore Lake Tahoe. He prevented the removal of the Nevada Air National Guard’s C–130 aircraft 

and the closure of the Hawthorne Army Depot, and he secured over $600 million for the Southern Nevada Veterans 

Administration Medical Complex. 

When it comes to combating climate change and promoting 

the development and adoption of clean, sustainable, renewable energy, Senator REID has been a visionary. He has 

incentivized $5.5 billion in investments in Nevada’s clean energy resources through tax credits, grants, and loan guarantees. He helped to create a new fast-track permitting process 

for clean energy development on public lands. He facilitated 

the public-private partnership needed for the One Nevada 

Transmission Line, which connects northern and southern 

Nevada’s electricity grids for the first time, helping to unlock 

the State’s vast clean energy potential. While his interest in 

promoting clean energy—especially solar—may have a local 

origin, the benefits will accrue to all humanity for generations to come as we transition from our reliance on fossil 

fuels. 

Serving as the leader, whether in the majority or the minority, is a tough job. The leader has to fight the most intense partisan battles. The leader has to say ‘‘no’’ on many 

occasions. The leader has to stand up for other members of 

the party. Senator REID has been tough enough to be an extraordinary leader. If I were in a foxhole, I would want 

HARRY REID by my side. I know every other Democratic Senator feels the same way—and surely most Republicans. We 

[ 29 ] 

are going to miss HARRY REID. I wish him, his wife Landra, 

their 5 children, and 19 grandchildren all the best. 

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, at the end of each Congress, the 

Senate tradition is to pause for a moment to share our 

thoughts about those Senators who will be retiring when the 

final gavel brings the session to a close. One of those Senators who will be leaving the Senate is HARRY REID. Senator 

REID is quite a remarkable individual, and his story should 

be read and considered by students of government and history—of all ages. 

Over the years, I have spent some time with HARRY at 

Prayer Breakfasts and listened to his reflections on his life— 

personally and politically. He has lived a life that few would 

ever believe to be possible. 

HARRY makes for a great example of how to take your life 

and make the most of it. He was born in a small cabin that 

offered few of life’s comforts, but he didn’t complain about it. 

He took what he was given in life and worked to make 

things better. 

As a young man, he served as the student body president 

of his high school and drew the notice of his teachers and his 

boxing coach. He attended Utah State University, and his 

next stop was George Washington University—my alma 

mater—where he worked to earn a law degree. To make that 

possible, HARRY needed a job, and so he worked as a U.S. 

Capitol Police Officer. HARRY then returned home to Nevada 

and took up what would be his lifelong ambition, serving the 

people of his home State. 

It wasn’t long before HARRY had served in Nevada’s State 

legislature and on the Nevada Gaming Commission. When 

the opportunity presented itself, he served in the House and 

then moved on to the Senate. 

He didn’t win every election, but each disappointment only 

served to make him more determined to make a difference 

for the people of his State. His statistics are impressive— 

more than 30 years in Congress, serving under five Presidents, and being a part of both the minority and majority. 

And all the time, HARRY has found ways to pursue and support agendas to benefit the people of Nevada. 

One of my favorite memories will always be the work 

HARRY and I did to enable the LDS Church to purchase a 

site that has a great deal of historic significance to them. 

The legislation had already passed the House, but was stuck 

in the Senate as some concerns were raised. HARRY knew 

what he needed to do to make it possible for the bill to clear 

[ 30 ] 

the Senate, and together we figured out a way to make it 

happen. Today Martin’s Cove is a popular site that draws 

large crowds every year. 

This is one of those moments most of us thought would 

never happen. It seemed like HARRY REID would always be 

in the Senate. He has not only left a remarkable record, he 

also seems to be the last of an era. I have no doubt those 

who will take up his position in the years to come will do a 

good job and get results, but they will never do it ‘‘like 

HARRY did.’’ He will forever stand as a unique mix of personality, character, history, and background. 

Diana joins in sending our best wishes to HARRY and his 

wife, Landra. Together they have been quite a team and 

have accomplished a great deal. We didn’t always agree on 

the issues, but one thing can be said: If you had a tough battle before you and you needed someone by your side who 

wouldn’t give up until the battle was won, HARRY was the 

kind of guy you would want in the fight. If you were on the 

other side of an issue, you would always prefer someone like 

HARRY would not be opposing you. 

Thank you for your service, HARRY. You have left an example that will inspire and encourage others in the years to 

come. Whenever faced with an impossible task, people will 

remember you and realize that with some creativity, determination, and an understanding of the rules of the Senate, 

much can be done. 

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, as a young man growing up 

in Searchlight, NV, HARRY REID was an accomplished amateur boxer. During his 30 years of service in this Chamber, 

Senator REID has demonstrated time and again the qualities 

of skill, hard work, and determination, that he learned in the 

ring all those years ago. 

Prior to joining the Senate in 1987, Senator REID established a deep commitment to public service in the House of 

Representatives and in State and local offices. Before that, 

he served Congress and supported his young family working 

nights as a Capitol Police Officer while attending law school 

at George Washington University. As a Senate leader, serving as Democratic whip, majority leader, and, currently, 

Democratic leader, he has been a formidable advocate for his 

caucus. 

In the Senate, Senator REID has been a passionate voice 

for education, environmental protection, health care, and renewable energy. His commitment to those who serve our NaVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00082 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
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tion in uniform is evident through his support for military 

readiness and for our veterans. 

The great Jack Dempsey defined a champion as ‘‘someone 

who gets up when he can’t.’’ In his many years of service to 

the people of Nevada and to our Nation, Senator HARRY REID

has proven himself to be a fighter who always answers the 

bell. I wish him and his wife, Landra, health and happiness 

for many more years to come. 

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I have had the honor and 

privilege of serving with HARRY REID for all of my 16 years 

in the Senate. He has been a resolute leader for our caucus, 

a fearless legislator who has brought landmark legislation to 

the floor and a tireless advocate for Nevadans and all Americans. More important, I am proud to call HARRY a friend. 

We all know the story of HARRY’s journey to elected office 

from that small mining town in Nevada. The humble way he 

grew up inspired him to help others who faced similar hardships his family had faced. He carried that perspective with 

him from Searchlight, NV, to the Halls of the Capitol, where 

he became a champion for causes meant to improve the lives 

of all Americans. 

HARRY is a fighter. That has been said by so many of his 

friends and colleagues over the years, and it is truer of him 

than almost anyone I have ever worked with. That title, of 

course, has more than one meaning for HARRY. His years of 

amateur boxing taught him strategy and relentless willpower 

in the face of his opponents. His years in the Senate have 

been no different. He has had to fight for historical legislation in an increasingly vitriolic political climate, things like 

the Affordable Care Act and the stimulus bill, legislation 

that gave millions of Americans hope for their futures. 

HARRY has also been a very powerful ally for me and my 

fellow Floridians, specifically in the fight to protect the 

State’s fragile environment. He has always been right there 

with me in pushing for Everglades funding and vigorously 

defended our coastline from drilling proposals that threatened Florida’s economy and unique environment. 

His leadership has been a source of guidance and great 

strength for me during my time in the Senate. I am honored 

to have served with him and wish him and his family well 

in his retirement. 

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I wish to recognize the many 

accomplishments of my friend, Senator HARRY REID, my colVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00083 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ 32 ] 

league from Nevada, during his storied career in the U.S. 

Senate. 

Growing up in a modest household without an indoor bathroom, hot water, or a telephone, HARRY learned the values 

of family, faith, and education. HARRY understood that it is 

the most vulnerable in society that need the strongest champions, someone to fight for them. 

HARRY’s service to the people of Nevada began long before 

he came to Congress. After attending law school at George 

Washington University, Leader REID returned home and 

served as Henderson’s city attorney. At the age of 28, he was 

elected to the Nevada State Assembly. Two years later, 

Leader REID became the youngest Lieutenant Governor in 

Nevada history. HARRY experienced political losses early in 

his career, but he never let that hold him back. After 5 years 

as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, HARRY won 

election to the U.S. House in 1982. He served two terms before winning his first U.S. Senate race in 1986. 

HARRY’s stint as an amateur boxer taught him to never 

back down from a fight, no matter how big. Throughout his 

Senate career, the people of Nevada have been able to count 

on HARRY to fight for them. 

He has spearheaded investments in clean energy, established Nevada’s first national park, Great Basin National 

Park, and led passage of the post-9/11 GI bill of rights. 

As majority leader, he shepherded landmark legislation 

through the Senate—the Affordable Care Act, Wall Street reform, the Recovery Act, and many more. Despite the powerful interests lining up to defeat these efforts, HARRY didn’t 

back down. He worked hard and got things done. As a result, 

millions of Americans have health care. 

We have fought our way back from the great recession of 

2008. Consumers now have more protection against powerful 

companies. It is fair to say, HARRY’s leadership has improved 

our country and our families’ lives. 

Today I want to focus on a few issues where I was particularly proud to have worked with him. Leader REID has been 

a longtime champion for the Filipino World War II veterans. 

This group of over 260,000 Filipino veterans answered President Roosevelt’s call during World War II and fought heroically under the U.S. flag. Unfortunately, they have had to 

endure another fight over the course of seven decades—the 

fight for the recognition and benefits they were promised. 

Leader REID has been at the forefront of this fight. He has 

helped secure compensation from the Department of VetVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00084 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ 33 ] 

erans Affairs. We have worked together to reunify the remaining veterans with their children. Just last week, the 

House passed and sent the President my legislation awarding Filipino World War II veterans the Congressional Gold 

Medal, the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow. Leader REID was instrumental in getting this bill through the 

Senate, and I deeply appreciate his support. 

Nevada is home to a vibrant Filipino-American community. Leader REID is deeply familiar with the experiences 

and struggles of Filipino veterans and their families. He 

worked with Hawaii’s late Senator Dan Inouye to create the 

Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund within the VA 

in 2009. The fund’s creation was a significant step forward 

in recognizing the dedicated service and sacrifice of these 

veterans. I was proud to have Leader REID join me in our 

successful effort to secure appropriations language prohibiting any attempts to direct these funds to other programs. 

This past May, the Obama administration finalized a parole program that would allow family members of Filipino 

World War II veterans to come to the United States to be reunited with their aging parents and siblings. These veterans 

had already waited decades to be reunited with their children in the Philippines. 

Speaking at my press conference announcing the program, 

HARRY honored the veterans’ sacrifice saying, ‘‘in those islands where MacArthur left, the Filipinos were left there 

with some of our troops and they fought valiantly and were 

not recognized.’’ 

Finally, I want to highlight Leader REID’s work on immigration. In 2009, while campaigning in Nevada, a young 

woman named Astrid Silva slipped a note to HARRY. Astrid 

was brought to the United States when she was 4 years old. 

Unable to work legally, Astrid babysat to earn money. She 

excelled at school but feared deportation if she applied to college. In the following years, Astrid and HARRY corresponded, 

and he learned of the hopes, dreams, and struggles of the 

DREAMers. 

In a 2013 interview hours before the Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform, HARRY said, ‘‘This is why I 

did this . . . because of some things she said.’’ 

Later, when speaking on the floor before the vote, HARRY

said, ‘‘I appreciate every one of those letters she sent me, because each was a reminder of what is at stake in this debate.’’ A testament to HARRY’s character, even while serving 

[ 34 ] 

in one of the most powerful roles in Washington, HARRY

never forgot who he was fighting for. 

Aloha, HARRY. As we say in Hawaii, a hui hou, ‘‘until we 

meet again.’’ 

FRIDAY, December 9, 2016 

PRAYER 

The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the following 

prayer: 

Let us pray. 

Great and eternal God, we refuse to forget Your generous 

blessings that bring joy to our lives. You satisfy us with good 

things in every season. We particularly thank You for the 

laudable life of former Senator John Glenn. 

Lord, You have not dealt with us according to our sins. 

Continue to sustain our lawmakers. Remind them that their 

days are like grass, which flourishes and then disappears. 

May they find sustenance in Your steadfast love, striving to 

please You in all they do. Give them the wisdom of a reverential awe that will trust the unfolding of Your majestic 

providence even when they do not understand Your movements. 

Lord, we thank You for the faithful service through the 

decades of Your servant, Senator HARRY REID. As he prepares to transition from the legislative branch, give to him 

and his beloved Landra fair winds and following seas. 

We pray in Your great Name. Amen. 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. . . . Madam President, I will close my 

remarks by turning to some of our retiring Senators and 

speaking briefly on each one of them. 

We had a beautiful portrait unveiling for Leader REID yesterday. He has been a leader who takes all ideas into consideration, even those of newer Members. 

In January 2007, I began working on ethics reform, and, 

in fact, I asked him if that would be an important priority 

when he took over as leader. It was S. 1, and one of the first 

bills we passed. 

Senator REID didn’t give new Members the opportunity to 

lead just on big bills. When a little girl in Minnesota named 

Abbey Taylor was maimed while swimming in a pool with a 

defective drain, Leader REID stood by my side and helped me 

[ 35 ] 

work with Republicans to get a bill passed in honor of Abbey’s memory and final wish. 

I met this little girl in the hospital. She went on to live 

for a year. She had been swimming in a kiddie pool when 

her intestines were pulled out by a defective drain due to the 

way it was installed. 

Her parents never gave up. Scott Taylor, her dad, called 

me every single week to see what was happening with the 

bill. Honestly, again, the bill was moving around and hadn’t 

had any action for years. Ted Stevens, who at the time was 

a Senator from Alaska, helped me. In the end, it was Senator REID, working with others, including Senator Lott, and 

we were able to get that bill on another bill, and we were 

able to pass it. 

To this day my proudest moment in the U.S. Senate was 

calling Scott Taylor and telling him that bill had passed, and 

then last year hearing from the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in the Commerce Committee that not 

one child has died because of a defective drain since that bill 

passed. That bill, by the way, was named after James 

Baker’s granddaughter, who had also perished in a pool incident. That is an example. I don’t think it would have happened if HARRY REID hadn’t been one of our leaders. 

Another example is when we were trying to build a bridge 

to Wisconsin, Senator Johnson and I were working on that 

issue along with House Representative Bachmann, Representative Duffy, and Senator Franken, and we had to get 

everyone signed off on an exemption to the Scenic Rivers 

Act. It was a Saturday, and no one was left in the Senate 

except two or three Members, and I had one Member I 

couldn’t reach who had gotten on a plane, but we thought we 

could still reach him so I could get the last signoff to get the 

bill done. HARRY REID had just found out his wife had breast 

cancer and was waiting at home, but he wouldn’t go home. 

He insisted on presiding for me. The leader of the Senate sat 

in the Presiding Officer’s chair so I could be back in the Republican Cloakroom trying to reach the Senator. That happened. 

We didn’t get the bill done that day, but the minute we got 

back in January, Senator REID worked with Senator McConnell, and we were able to get that on the agenda and get that 

exemption. That bridge is going up as we speak. It is a massive bridge that had to be built because the other bridge was 

so bad it closed down all the time. People would literally 

[ 36 ] 

cross their fingers when they went over it. That is Senator 

REID. 

A lot has happened since he first came to work in Congress as a police officer in the Halls of the Capitol. But one 

thing has stayed the same about Leader REID—the true spirit of him. It is the considerate leader who will sit up at the 

presiding desk just to help a freshman pass a bill that is important to her and her constituents. It is the kind of person 

who takes the time to talk to a little boy with leukemia and 

show him his favorite pictures right in the middle of the 

budget debate. That happened to me with a kid I brought in 

his office from Minnesota. It is the humble Senator who 

never forgets that he came from Searchlight, NV, and always 

serves with his home in mind. 

Thank you, Senator REID, for your service. You will be 

missed. . . . 

So we are going to miss Senator REID, Senator Mikulski, 

and, also, Senator Boxer. 

Mr. MCCONNELL. . . . It goes without saying that keeping 

the Capitol running is a vast undertaking. It requires a passion for service, round-the-clock work, and great sacrifice by 

everyone employed. The legislative process simply wouldn’t 

be possible without the dedicated work of so many. On behalf 

of the Senate, I would like to acknowledge their efforts and 

say thank you to the following: 

To my leadership team for their wise counsel; to our committee chairs and ranking members for so much great work 

over the past 2 years; to the many colleagues in both parties 

for working so hard to make this Senate a success; and, to 

those we are saying farewell to—Senators Coats, Boxer, Mikulski, REID, Vitter, Kirk, and Ayotte—for your service to 

our country, I say thank you. . . . 

Let me also again recognize the Democratic leader for his 

more than three decades of service. As I said yesterday, 

HARRY and I clearly have had some different views on many 

things throughout the years, but we have shared similar responsibilities as the leaders of our respective parties, and I 

think we can both agree that none of this would have been 

possible without the support of our staff. I want to recognize 

HARRY’s team, past and present, and thank them for many 

years of partnership with my office. 

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, today I wish to pray tribute 

to a selfless public servant, a committed leader, and a dear 

friend: Senator HARRY REID. 

[ 37 ] 

Growing up in the small town of Searchlight, NV, Senator 

REID was no stranger to hardship. His father suffered from 

severe depression and his mother worked long hours as a 

laundress to help support their struggling family. The Reids 

lived in a tiny tin shack with no toilet or telephone. They 

had limited access to schools, health care, and the basic comforts of modern life. 

From his hardscrabble youth, HARRY developed a fighting 

spirit that would later define his career in public service. 

That spirit was cultivated by his high school boxing coach, 

Mike O’Callaghan, who would later become Nevada’s 23d 

Governor. More than a coach, O’Callaghan was a mentor. He 

taught Senator REID his first lessons in civics and raised 

HARRY’s vision of what he could accomplish, encouraging him 

to pursue higher education and a life in politics. 

Senator REID graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Utah State University and would later earn 

a law degree from George Washington University. While still 

a law student, Senator REID worked nights as a U.S. Capitol 

Police Officer to pay his way through school. Shortly after 

finishing his law degree, he returned to Nevada where he 

began climbing the ladder of State politics. Senator REID

served as a city attorney, a State assemblyman, a Lieutenant 

Governor, a gaming commissioner, and a Congressman before being elected to the Senate in 1986. 

Here in the Senate, HARRY distinguished himself as a nononsense legislator whose unmatched work ethic and fiery 

commitment to principle stood out among his peers. As a 

young boxer, HARRY was renowned for being tough and tenacious in the ring; as a rising Senator, he was equally steadfast and determined. 

Having spearheaded the passage of several high profile 

pieces of legislation, HARRY quickly won the respect of his 

colleagues and earned a spot on the Democratic leadership 

team. He served for many years as the Senate Democratic 

leader. Regardless of the ranks he has achieved, HARRY’s 

first and foremost commitment has always been to the people of Nevada. 

Despite his years in Washington, HARRY never actually 

left Searchlight; he simply carries it with him wherever he 

goes. He holds close to his heart the painful memory of growing up in a dusty mining town with little hope and limited 

opportunity. He embraces the harsh experiences of a childhood spent living in poverty and draws upon them to fuel his 

work in the Senate today. In his decades-long effort to emVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:15 Jun 07, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00089 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23052.TXT KAYNE
[ 38 ] 

power society’s most vulnerable, he has never forgotten 

where he came from or whom he fights for. He has never forgotten Searchlight. 

Perhaps this is why he eschews the trappings of public office and frequently skips the galas, gaudy dinners, and other 

extravagant affairs that are part and parcel of the Washington social scene. Perhaps this is why he avoids TV interviews and rarely ever spends more than 10 minutes at a political fundraiser—because, at the end of the day, no matter 

the titles he receives or the awards he is given, he will always be that little boy from Searchlight. 

Senator REID is among the most grounded of legislators. I 

have always had the deepest admiration for his humility, 

kindness, and compassion. Although he and I have often disagreed on the issues, we have always agreed on the values 

that make life worth living: namely, God, family, and service 

to country. Over many decades in the Senate, he has served 

our Nation exceptionally well. Although he will be missed in 

this Chamber, he has earned well-deserved golden years in 

his beloved home State of Nevada. I wish HARRY, his wonderful wife, Landra, and all the Reid family the very best. 

Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the 

service of my friend, the Senator from Nevada, and the 

Democratic leader, HARRY REID. Senator REID’s career on 

Capitol Hill began long before any of us. 

Back in 1961, Senator REID came to work at the U.S. Capitol for the first time, though not as a Member. 

While Senator REID was working his way through law 

school, he spent his nights as an officer for the U.S. Capitol 

Police, the force that protects the U.S. Congress, in order to 

support his family. 

Senator REID is an inspiration to us all and an incredible 

fighter. 

By the way, I do mean that literally. We all know about 

his early career as a boxer. 

In fact, two champion ‘‘Boxers’’ in the Senate are retiring 

at the end of this session, and we are going to miss both of 

them. 

I also mean that HARRY REID never gives up. 

When he was in high school, he hitchhiked 40 miles twice 

a week so he could get an education. 

When he and his wife Landra fell in love—he was told by 

her family that they could never be together. They have had 

a lifelong love affair and are so proud of their five children 

and now their grandchildren. 

[ 39 ] 

From the beginning in public service, Senator REID has 

fought for the best interests of the people of Nevada and the 

American people. 

In the Nevada State Assembly, he wrote Nevada’s first air 

pollution legislation and worked on issues like consumer protection and public land usage. 

As chair of the Nevada Gaming Commission, he ignored 

threats and cleaned up the gaming industry. 

Since being elected to the Senate in 1987, Senator REID’s 

accomplishments are almost too numerous to count. The list 

goes on and on. Through it all, he has never ever given up. 

He has fought to defend the environment of his beautiful 

home State. 

He made strides in combating ALS—writing legislation 

creating a registry that provides researchers with the critical 

knowledge they need to combat that terrible disease. 

He has shepherded some of the most critical legislative accomplishments in the past 8 years through the Senate. 

He led the effort to create and pass the American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act, saving millions of jobs. He helped our 

economy begin to recover. 

He was responsible for making sure the ACA passed in 

2010. So many people have gotten the care they have needed, their lives have been saved, by the work that he has 

done. 

As leader of the caucus, he has been responsible for bringing so many of us into this Chamber. 

He said it himself: ‘‘You have to stand up, even when you 

think you’re not gonna win, if you think something’s right.’’ 

He stood up. He fought the good fight. He fought for all 

of us. I know that he still has so much to give. 

Senator, thank you for your incredible service. Thank you 

for being such a generous and wonderful friend to me and to 

my family. I wish you, Landra, and your family many more 

years of happiness and good work. We will all miss you dearly. 

Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, as this eventful 114th Congress draws to a close, today I wish to honor a number of our 

colleagues who will be ending their service in the Senate. I 

was a newcomer to the Senate at the beginning of this Congress and the only Democrat in the freshman Senate class 

of 2014. I am eternally grateful for the guidance and wisdom 

of my fellow Senators, particularly those with decades of experience fighting for the American people. Constituents, colleagues, and historians will recount their accomplishments 

[ 40 ] 

for years to come, but I will take a few minutes now to convey some brief words of praise and gratitude. 

Mr. President, it has been a great honor to serve in the 

Senate under the leadership of Senate Democratic Leader 

HARRY REID. Senator REID has taught us all what it means 

to represent one’s State in the U.S. Senate, doing everything 

one can to fight hard for the people back home. In his nearly 

30 years in the Senate, HARRY REID has mastered the rules 

and traditions of this institution and used them to deliver 

victories for the people of his State and the Nation. 

Senator REID is always ready to lend an ear and a helping 

hand to his Democratic colleagues; yet he listens most intently to his constituents. He never stops thinking about how 

to ensure that they have access to well-paying jobs, health 

care, education, and a better future for their children. Senator REID has supported economic development and infrastructure investments that have created jobs throughout the 

country. 

After the 2008 financial crisis, when millions of homes 

were under water and the existence of the American auto industry hung in the balance, Senator REID helped craft a compromise to begin our economic recovery. I am grateful for his 

strong support of the American auto industry during this crisis, which helped us pass essential legislation to restructure 

Michigan’s automotive manufacturers and rebuild our communities. I was also proud to work with him and other leaders on the Dodd-Frank Act, which holds big banks accountable and helps safeguard American families to prevent another crisis and build a healthier economy. Senator REID’s 

contributions are too many to name, from advancing affordable health care coverage for millions of Americans, to defending labor protections and our social safety net. Through 

it all, Senator REID has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the details of policymaking and to his constituents. 

Senator REID’s legacy and the memory of his tireless work 

ethic will continue to inspire us to keep working hard, like 

our constituents do every day, to make their lives better. 

Senator REID understands and reminds us all that hard 

work, faith in each other, and faith in our country are what 

allow us to endure and improve as a nation. I thank Senator 

REID for his great service, his guidance, and the conviction 

with which he leaves us as our country continues to move 

forward. . . . 

[ 41 ] 

It has been a privilege to work with such talented and 

committed colleagues. I wish them all the best in this next 

chapter of their lives and thank them for their work. Thank 

you. 

ORDER FOR PRINTING OF SENATE DOCUMENTS 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 

that there be printed as a Senate document a compilation of 

materials from the Congressional Record in tribute to retiring Members of the 114th Congress, and an additional Senate document a compilation of materials from the Congressional Record in tribute to the President of the Senate, Joe 

Biden, and that Members have until Tuesday, December 20, 

to submit such tributes. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

ORDER FOR PRINTING 

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 

that any tributes submitted by December 20, 2016, as authorized by the order of December 10, 2016, be printed in the 

January 3, 2017, Congressional Record of the 114th Congress. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

Æ