TRIBUTES TO HON. DAVID VITTER 

David Vitter 

U.S. SENATOR FROM LOUISIANA 

TRIBUTES 

IN THE CONGRESS OF 

THE UNITED STATES 

UNUM

E PLURIBUS


congress.#15
David Vitter 


23053.001
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 2017

S. DOC. 114–24 

Tributes 

Delivered in Congress 

David Vitter 

United States Congressman 

1999–2005 

United States Senator 

2005–2017 

÷ 

Compiled under the direction 

of the 

Joint Committee on Printing 

[ iii ] 

CONTENTS 

Page 

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

Farewell Address ...................................................................................... vii 

Proceedings in the Senate: 

Tributes by Senators: 

Boozman, John, of Arkansas ..................................................... 15 

Cardin, Benjamin L., of Maryland ............................................ 12 

Cassidy, Bill, of Louisiana ......................................................... 5 

Cornyn, John, of Texas .............................................................. 8 

Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming ................................................... 10 

Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah ........................................................... 11 

Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont ................................................... 8 

McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky ............................................... 3, 5, 11 

Peters, Gary C., of Michigan ..................................................... 14 

Portman, Rob, of Ohio ............................................................... 15 

Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island ...................................................... 7 

Vitter, David, of Louisiana ........................................................ 5, 7 

[ v ] 

BIOGRAPHY 

U.S. Senator DAVID VITTER was a bold, conservative reformer who worked to solve the most significant problems 

facing our State and our Nation with Louisiana common 

sense. 

Senator VITTER believed that the Federal Government was 

too big, too bloated, and too involved in Louisianians’ daily 

lives, and he focused on taking practical, mainstream steps 

to cut spending, reduce the deficit, and put government back 

in its proper role. 

He was a champion for Louisiana jobs that depended on oil 

and gas drilling, the leader of a Congressional coalition to secure our borders and stop illegal immigration, and an outspoken fighter for reforming the Army Corps of Engineers to 

ensure better hurricane and flood protection. 

Senator VITTER fought against Washington bureaucracies 

that placed themselves between patients and their doctors, 

and against government agencies that destroyed jobs by piling burdensome regulations on small businesses. He believed 

that Washington needs the same commonsense approach 

that is found around Louisiana kitchen tables. 

Senator VITTER was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1999. He was elected to his first term in the 

Senate in 2004, and overwhelmingly reelected in 2010. 

DAVID and his wife, Wendy, have four children and live in 

Metairie. 

[ vii ] 

Farewell to the Senate 

Monday, December 5, 2016 

Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the 

Senate floor for the last time. I am not generally big on nostalgic reminiscences, but I would like to briefly reflect on 

what is clearly the greatest honor of my professional life— 

my 12 years in the U.S. Senate and 51⁄2 years in the U.S. 

House of Representatives and the enormous honor of serving 

the people of Louisiana to whom I will always be so deeply 

indebted. 

In some ways it seems like just yesterday that I was on 

the floor of the U.S. House being sworn in, surrounded by 

our very young children, except for Jack, who wasn’t born 

yet. I said then: ‘‘I am honored, humbled, awestruck to stand 

before you today.’’ I stated my simple goal: to become at ease 

and comfortable as I learn the ways of Congress, as I hopefully become an effective Representative and respected colleague and friend, but never to become so at ease and comfortable that I lose these feelings of honor, of humility, of 

awe, and, believe me, I haven’t. 

My very first year in the Senate was a very memorable 

one. That year Louisiana was struck by Hurricanes Rita and 

Katrina. After the initial shock of those cataclysmic events, 

I realized that for quite some time, my priorities as Louisiana Senator would be dominated by the desperate need to 

rebuild our State, including dramatically improving our hurricane and flood protection and restoring our coastline. 

Katrina’s devastation was hard to imagine, destroying 

much of southeast Louisiana and coastal Mississippi. Less 

than 1 month later, Hurricane Rita slammed into southwest 

Louisiana as another one of the most intense hurricanes in 

history. I immediately went to work with Senator Landrieu 

and the rest of our Louisiana delegation as well as my good 

friends Thad Cochran, Trent Lott, and others to secure the 

necessary disaster recovery assistance and also to make reforms to the Army Corps of Engineers to better protect our 

families and communities from future natural disasters. 

[ viii ] 

Louisiana has continued to face and survive other major 

disasters, including Hurricane Gustav in August and September 2008, Hurricane Ike in September of that same year, 

Hurricane Isaac in 2012, the Red River flooding in northern 

and central Louisiana, and the 1,000-year-flood event in 

greater Baton Rouge and Acadiana this past August. 

As if all of that weren’t enough, in April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 men and devastating our coastline. The disaster, followed by the horribly misguided offshore drilling moratorium 

President Obama put in place, caused economic and environmental chaos in Louisiana. 

Once again, I immediately went to work with so many others to increase and improve safety measures and reopen the 

Gulf of Mexico to energy exploration and put people back to 

work. We introduced legislation to dedicate a majority of the 

BP penalties toward restoring coastal ecosystems and economies damaged by the spill. It was an uphill battle to ensure 

Louisiana was fairly compensated, but we did, and we 

achieved substantial wins, including passage of that critical 

RESTORE Act that I described. 

During the recovery fight following each of these disasters, 

I found that the most effective leadership involved communicating clearly and employing solutions based on Louisiana 

common sense, and what always inspired me and kept me 

going was the unbelievable resilience, faith, and determination of my fellow Louisianans. Their strength and optimism 

have been oh so powerful reminders of how blessed I have 

been to serve them. 

On a host of other important issues, I always sought to 

further two sets of political values, really modeled after my 

two favorite Presidents, Ronald Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt. I always strove to further the Central American tradition of limited government and individual freedom, and I 

was never afraid to shake things up, to demand needed reforms to ensure that leaders in Washington served the 

American people and not the other way around. 

I have had the honor of protecting Louisiana’s traditions 

and proud heritage while here in the Senate. Louisianans 

love the outdoors and want strong environmental conservation and sportsmen’s policies to maintain that culture, and 

that certainly includes securing the rights afforded to each 

American by the Second Amendment, which I have fought to 

do. 

[ ix ] 

Louisianans respect the sanctity of life, which has been 

one of my top priorities while serving in Congress. I have introduced many bills that end taxpayer funding of abortion 

and abortion mills and have proudly stood in the defense of 

life. 

When it comes to our Nation’s immigration policies, I have 

been an advocate for targeted reforms that fix the immigration crisis, starting with border security and enforcing the 

immigration laws already on the books. I fought President 

Obama’s unconstitutional attempts to implement executive 

amnesty, which only encourages more immigrants to come 

here illegally and insults the millions of fine immigrants who 

do follow U.S. law. 

I was also the first to introduce legislation in 2007 to end 

dangerous sanctuary city policies and have continued to do 

so each Congress since. I have also been critical of too big 

to fail in the banking sector and have found banking reform 

to be an area in which Republicans can absolutely find common ground with Democrats. That is where I found success 

in passing into law specific measures that restrict too-big-tofail and tax-funded bailouts. Also during my time in Congress, I have introduced several important government reform bills so we can get back to the best traditions of our democracy, which includes electing citizen legislators, making 

sure they don’t make themselves into a separate ruling class, 

and advocating for term limits so individuals don’t remain in 

office for an eternity. 

Americans of all backgrounds think Washington is on a 

different planet and Members of Congress just don’t get it. 

That is why I fought to end Congress’ automatic pay raises 

each year. I first introduced that language in 2009, and the 

raises have been successfully blocked each year since. Congress can be an effective representative body only when it 

lives under the same laws it imposes on the rest of the country, and one major way to support that is through term limits. When I was a member of the Louisiana State legislature, 

I was successful in establishing legislative term limits there, 

and I have offered the leading term limits measure for Congress here, as well as imposing it on myself. 

I fought for commonsense legislation that helps all Americans have access to high-quality and affordable health care. 

That includes the work to dismantle Obamacare and replace 

it with patient-centered health care reform, which I am very 

hopeful the incoming Trump administration will achieve. In 

the meantime, I have been fighting to end Washington’s exVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:18 Apr 25, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23053.TXT KAYNE
[ x ] 

emption from Obamacare, an illegal Obama administration 

executive order that allows Washington elites to avoid the 

most inconvenient, expensive aspects of the Affordable Care 

Act by giving themselves taxpayer subsidized health care 

through an exchange meant solely for small businesses. Also 

in the health care arena, I was able to pass into law the bipartisan Steve Gleason Act of 2015. It provided immediate 

relief for patients who have been denied access to life-saving 

and life-altering medical equipment. It was about a 2014 

Medicare policy change that we had to reverse. Our bill allowed these patients to have access to medical equipment 

that truly empowers them, that is a true lifeline, and it 

changes their lives absolutely for the better. 

I have also fought against large drug manufacturing lobbies to allow for reimportation of safe and approved prescription medicine from other countries, which gives patients, especially our seniors, relief from rising health care costs. 

I have been honored to serve in the Senate in additional 

ways as well, including as a top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee and most recently as 

chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. I am very proud to say that we have accomplished so many of our goals in those two roles. 

We worked in a bipartisan fashion on EPW to pass several 

major pieces of legislation, including the Water Resources 

and Development Act of 2007 and the even more significant 

WRDA of 2014, several reauthorizations of the highway bill, 

the bipartisan and historic rewrite of the 40-year-old Toxic 

Substances Control Act, which began as conversations between Senator Frank Lautenberg and myself, a partnership 

which Senator Tom Udall continued after Frank’s unfortunate passing. 

We were also able to hold the administration accountable 

by conducting investigations into some outright corruption 

within the Obama EPA, and we advanced key transparency 

initiatives that shed light on government’s attempts to implement policies that were not based on sound science or 

strategic needs. 

As chair of the Small Business Committee, I have been advocating to make sure the voices and concerns of small business owners across the country are heard in Washington. We 

have held 23 hearings here, 18 field hearings, numerous 

roundtable discussions. We have heard testimony from over 

175 witnesses, usually about the disastrous negative effects 

of Obama policies like the new waters of the United States 

[ xi ] 

rule, key and disastrous effects on small businesses and job 

creators and their employees. 

At the very same time, we found common ground with 

Ranking Member Shaheen and other Democrats on the committee. During my tenure as chair, we passed 32 bipartisan 

bills out of the committee, which is 22 more than my predecessors did over a much longer period, and 8 of our bills have 

passed through the entire legislative process and have been 

signed into law. 

These accomplishments are but a fraction of the years of 

hard work my staff and I have dedicated to the people of 

Louisiana and, indeed, the American people. I have worked 

hard to be a champion for them because the government 

should serve the taxpayer and not the other way around, and 

that includes by working hard to stay in touch through 398 

townhall meetings, at least 5 in each parish of Louisiana, 

through 231 telephone townhalls, and through active, energetic casework and constituent service. 

Clearly what I will treasure most about my service here is 

the people with whom I have been honored to serve; my colleagues, including my fellow Louisianian Senator Bill 

Cassidy, mentors like former Senator Rick Santorum and 

Senator Jeff Sessions, and most especially each of the dedicated people who have been part of Team Vitter. I have come 

to the Senate floor several times this year to thank key departing staff members. 

That is for a very simple reason. My staff has been the key 

ingredient—the key—to every success we have enjoyed together in public service. Wendy and I consider them a part 

of the family. I truly thank my staff again for their tireless, 

dedicated service to Louisiana. I am so very grateful. Wendy 

joins me in that. 

I want to specifically recognize some of our leaders: my 

chief of staff, Luke Bolar; my legislative director, Chris Stanley; my wonderful finance director, Courtney Guastela; our 

State director, Chip Layton; and committee staff director, 

Meredith West; our grants coordinator, Brenda Moore; my 

media head, John Brabender; senior infrastructure policy advisor, Charles Brittingham; my senior economic adviser, 

David Stokes; campaign treasurer Will Vanderbrook; and 

communications director, Cheyenne Klotz. 

I know a few of our other former senior staff members are 

here or are watching, like Mac Abrams, Joel DiGrado, Bryan 

Zumwalt, Travis Johnson, Kathryn Eden, and Michael Wong. 

Last, and obviously not least, is my beloved family. My five 

[ xii ] 

wonderful brothers and sisters, our children, their children, 

the extended family, led by the ultimate leader of Team 

Vitter, my wife Wendy. 

I can never thank them enough, and certainly I can never 

ever thank Wendy enough. Through it all, Wendy has been 

so enormously patient and supportive and understanding, 

not to mention being the life of every Team Vitter party, 

leading the rounds of Fireball shots. She and our daughter 

Lise are in the gallery today. I thank them and Sophie, 

Airey, and Jack for decades of love and support. Lise, up 

there, was in my arms as a 2 year old when I was first 

sworn into the House of Representatives and made those 

previously quoted remarks: ‘‘I am honored, humbled, awestruck to stand before you.’’ She has changed some, but as 

I said at the beginning of my reflections, those feelings certainly have not. 

I would like to close as I did that day in the House over 

17 years ago; that is, simply by recognizing the wonderful, 

loving forces that have brought me here today: God, family, 

led by my parents up above, and my wife Wendy, staff and 

friends, and of course the wonderful people of Louisiana. 

They are here with me today. They are here with me always. 

I thank them from the depths of my heart. 

For the last time, I yield the floor. 

TRIBUTES 

TO 

DAVID VITTER 

[ 3 ] 

Proceedings in the Senate 

THURSDAY, December 1, 2016 

Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, after two terms in the 

Senate and more than two decades of public service, our 

friend and colleague Senator DAVID VITTER will be leaving us 

at the end of his term. I would like to say a few words before 

he does. 

Our friend from Louisiana is the first Republican Senator 

popularly elected from his home State. It is an impressive 

achievement that history will long record. Senator VITTER

had little opportunity to celebrate at the time. Hurricane 

Katrina hit just a few months after he took office. It was a 

catastrophic natural disaster that presented massive and immediate challenges for Louisiana. 

Our colleague did not miss a beat. Back home, he and his 

team worked tirelessly to set up mobile offices. Here in the 

Senate he fought hard to bring aid to those in need. It underlined something we have all come to know about Senator 

VITTER: He is passionate about his home State. That has 

been a constant throughout his career. He simply loves Louisiana. He loves the richness of its history, loves the richness 

of its culture, loves the richness of its food, too—crawfish pie 

etouffee and several other things I can’t pronounce. Senator 

VITTER loves it all. 

He flies home just about every chance he gets. When he 

was younger, he turned down offers from Harvard and Yale 

to study law in the Pelican State. This is after he spent some 

time in Cambridge, MA, and Oxford, as a Rhodes scholar, by 

the way—pretty impressive—so perhaps it was born of a 

simple lesson: You’re just not going to find alligator sauce 

piquante anywhere else. 

Nor are you likely to find many Saints fans, certainly none 

as enthusiastic as our colleague. You will find Senator 

VITTER glued to a television every football Sunday. If the 

Senate is in session, he will watch between votes in the 

Cloakroom behind me. He has been a diehard fan of the 

Black and Gold for as long as he can remember. It was not 

[ 4 ] 

as though he had much choice, of course, growing up in the 

Big Easy, but he has stuck by his team through thick and 

thin—often thin. It is what made the Saints’ eventual Super 

Bowl win in 2010 that much sweeter. He called it a dream 

come true. 

This tenacity and determination carries over to his political career as well. Whatever the issue, Senator VITTER’s 

staff says he is always looking for solutions that can improve 

the lives of Louisianans. They say he is always ready to roll 

up his sleeves and stay the course on legislation that will do 

just that. 

Senator VITTER has worked hard to protect his constituents from the effects of hurricanes and floods before they 

occur and to rebuild when they do. He has taken the lead on 

important initiatives to reform the Army Corps of Engineers 

and improve our Nation’s waterways. 

Most recently, he helped to pass the first significant reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act in nearly four decades. Senator VITTER was a critical player throughout, working across the aisle with our late colleague Senator Lautenberg and then Senator Udall to steer this much needed legislation to passage and eventually law. 

Senator VITTER says he believes his most important job is 

to keep an open-door policy for constituents who need help. 

I know he would tell you that, although it may not be the 

most publicized part of the job, he considers it the most fulfilling. 

He still remembers the woman in desperate need of a liver 

transplant. With the help of his office, she got it. He still remembers the veteran who needed an operation to save his 

leg and his life. With the help of Team Vitter, he received 

that too. 

Senator VITTER will never forget the countless families in 

need of assistance following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 

the oilspill, and recent flooding. He has seen first hand the 

life-changing, even life-saving impacts constituent casework 

can have. It is what inspired him to compile these powerful 

stories and best practices into a constituent service guidebook that will help guide his successor from day one. 

Of course, none of this would have been possible without 

a great staff, and Senator VITTER has built a strong team 

that is as committed to the people of Louisiana as he is. It 

is tight knit. It is loyal. It is a group of men and women who 

know they have a boss who takes genuine interest in their 

[ 5 ] 

success, who trusts their judgment, and who is always eager 

for their input. 

Senator VITTER awards a Reform Trophy each week to the 

staffer with the best new policy idea. He truly believes in a 

heavy dose of competition. That includes when his son Jack 

is in town. Staffers can expect to be enlisted in an entirely 

different competition then; it is called Office Olympics. Team 

Vitter knows to bring their A game when Jack is around. 

They also know to bring their sense of humor. It turns out 

Jack is a bit of a prankster. I hear you don’t want Jack laying hands on a Post-it note or a roll of aluminum foil when 

he is in the office, but lifelong memories are often made 

when he does just that. 

It is these relationships and it is this capacity to make a 

difference for the people of Louisiana through constituent 

service and the legislative process that I am sure our colleague will miss most when he leaves the Senate. 

Senator VITTER may be retiring from his post in this 

Chamber, but we know he will continue to look for ways to 

serve the State he loves so much. Today we join with his 

team and his family in recognizing his many years of service. 

I know each of us is looking forward to seeing what else our 

colleague is able to achieve on behalf of Louisiana in the 

years to come. 

Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, if the majority leader will 

yield for one moment, I want to thank the majority leader 

for his very kind words. Serving in the Senate for two terms 

has been the highest honor of my professional career. I have 

enjoyed it so much and have been honored by the relationship with all of my colleagues, certainly including the majority leader. I will have a few more reflections next Monday, 

but I sincerely thank him and also congratulate him for getting the Senate, particularly in the past 2 years, back to 

working order and some of its best practices. Not as a Member but as a cheerleader on the outside, I will be very much 

looking forward to even greater successes this coming Congress. 

Mr. MCCONNELL. I thank my colleague. 

MONDAY, December 5, 2016 

Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I have the honor to recognize and thank my colleague and friend, the Honorable SenVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:18 Apr 25, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23053.TXT KAYNE
[ 6 ] 

ator DAVID VITTER, for his 25 years of service to Louisiana. 

Our State has been fortunate to have him as its voice and 

advocate in this Chamber for the past 12 years. 

On a personal note, when I arrived at the Senate, DAVID

worked with me, sharing with me some of the privileges that 

normally he, as a senior Senator, could have kept all to himself. With great graciousness, he worked with me and said, 

‘‘Listen, this is how I think the process should be set up. I 

would like you to have some of this privilege as well.’’ I will 

do the same with whoever replaces DAVID. He has set a pattern that, again, by his graciousness and magnanimity, deserves repetition. 

As a new Senator, I was fortunate to have him as a resource for advice and knowledge that comes from time and 

experience in this body. There are some things that happen 

here that you have to kind of have experience to follow. 

DAVID had both the experience, the sharpness, and the insight to recognize. 

I again look forward to sharing what he has taught me 

with whoever takes his place. I will note, as DAVID did, he 

helped lead our State through some of our worst times. From 

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to the great flood of 2016, all of 

the way in between, DAVID has worked hard to make sure 

Louisiana and the people of Louisiana have what they need 

to recover. 

The hallmark of Senator VITTER’s tenure is that he has always cared deeply about our State, constantly looking for 

what he could do that would benefit our State, not just in 

the short term but doing that which is consistent with his 

principles to help Louisiana and the United States thrive in 

the long term. 

He has been on the side of that family whose father goes 

for 2 weeks, works on an oil rig in the middle of the Gulf 

of Mexico, working hard so his family has a better future. 

DAVID has been on the side of that mom juggling two jobs 

to earn enough to make sure her children’s needs are met. 

A recent example—again for the short-term and long-term 

perspective DAVID handled so well—he stayed persistent for 

years working across the aisle, first with Senator Frank Lautenberg, then Senator Udall, to pass the much needed reform 

of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the first reform of its 

kind in 40 years. 

This reform protects both the workers—those people on 

that rig, perhaps, at least the people who would be processing the products of that rig—but also gives the manufacVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:18 Apr 25, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23053.TXT KAYNE
[ 7 ] 

turers of Louisiana and across the country the certainty they 

need to expand their businesses and create more jobs. 

On a lighter note, DAVID is a great Saints fan. We in Louisiana kind of liked the fact that when the slogan ‘‘Who Dat’’ 

came up spontaneously, and people started to put it on their 

shirts and the NFL was going to go to court to stop this from 

happening, DAVID wrote a letter to Roger Goddell. The letter 

started off by saying: ‘‘Who Dat.’’ So speaking truth to power 

on behalf of the ‘‘Who Dat Nation’’ is one credit of his. 

Similarly, DAVID was tweeting before our President-elect 

made it perhaps as high profile. I remember during the 2013 

Super Bowl in New Orleans—and again the context of this 

is, the Saints had just been punished—of course Saints fans 

think unfairly—by Roger Goddell. So during the 2013 Super 

Bowl in New Orleans, when the power went out, DAVID’s 

tweet, without missing a beat said: ‘‘Like most Saints fans, 

I am immediately assuming Roger Goddell is the chief suspect for the power outage.’’ The quick-witted quip cut to the 

emotion of the ‘‘Who Dat Nation.’’ 

As the 114th Congress comes to a close, the Senate will be 

losing an important Member. DAVID brings a sound, strategic 

mind to this Chamber that will be missed. I wish him, 

Wendy, their children, Lise, Sophie, Airey, and Jack, the best 

of luck in their journey forward. On behalf of all Louisiana, 

I say thank you. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana. 

Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Louisiana for his very kind remarks. More important, I want to 

thank him for years of great partnership, great work on behalf of Louisiana. I know he will make an outstanding senior 

Senator. Thank you. 

I yield the floor. 

THURSDAY, December 8, 2016 

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 

[ 8 ] 

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, DAVID VITTER and I served together on the 

Armed Services Committee, and we continue to serve together on the Banking Committee. As a senior member of 

the Environment and Public Works Committee, he has been 

very critical in ensuring that we continue our commitment to 

infrastructure. Infrastructure is a word now that is getting 

a lot of attention. Years ago, DAVID was interested in that, 

not only interested but instrumental in making sure we did 

our best to keep up with infrastructure so that we could 

have a productive America, so that people could enjoy the 

benefits, and so that we could be competitive in a global 

economy. 

He has done a great deal. One area where we also shared 

an interest is his Home Owner Flood Insurance Affordability 

Act, which became law in 2014. This was critical not just to 

Louisiana but to every coastal State, including Rhode Island. 

His energy, his commitment, and his dedication made it a 

success. I want to thank him for that, and I wish him well 

as he goes forward. . . . 

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, I would like to briefly recognize the service of retiring Senator DAVID VITTER. Senator 

VITTER has served the people of Louisiana in Congress since 

1999, through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, across 

three different administrations, and through countless debates. As he retires from the Congress after nearly two decades of service to Louisiana, I wish him, his wife, Wendy, 

their four children and his entire family all the best in the 

next chapter. 

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I know it is always difficult 

to come to the floor and talk about the departure of our good 

friends and valued colleagues. The word I have heard mentioned the most this week is ‘‘bittersweet’’—people looking 

forward to the next chapter of their lives but regretting the 

fact that good friends and valued colleagues are moving on 

[ 9 ] 

to the next chapter of their lives. Every other December, we 

find ourselves bidding farewell to some of our most admired 

and respected Members. Today I wish to speak briefly about 

four of them, starting with our good friend from New Hampshire, Senator Ayotte. . . . 

Mr. President, I would also like to say a few words about 

the senior Senator from Louisiana, DAVID VITTER. Back in 

the 113th Congress, in 2013, I began my tenure as the Republican whip, and at the same time I invited Senator 

VITTER to serve the conference as a deputy whip. One thing 

we always know about DAVID VITTER, whether you are a colleague, a staffer, or a constituent, is that no matter what, he 

is going to have thought carefully about the issue in ways 

that perhaps surprise many of us, and when he has something to say about an issue, it is always something worth listening to. I can’t say that about all of us, but certainly Senator VITTER adds to the value of our deliberations every time 

he speaks. 

Of course, nothing is closer to his heart than the people of 

Louisiana, and what he has done diligently and faithfully 

here is serve the people of his State. I have had the pleasure 

of working with him on issues we share in common, like 

coastal protection issues that affect both of our States with 

our gulf coast. 

Senator VITTER was sworn into office the same year Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. As a matter of fact, for a 

time, he and his family literally lived outside the Houston 

area because of the devastation wrought by that terrible hurricane—a storm that FEMA called the ‘‘single most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history.’’ Katrina did billions of dollars’ worth of damage, killed almost 2,000 people, 

left thousands without a roof over their heads, and cut the 

population of New Orleans in half. About 100,000 of those, 

I am told, made permanent residence in Texas, having had 

their homes destroyed. 

I know Senator VITTER took this devastation as a personal 

challenge. He hit the ground running. When the people of 

Louisiana needed him most, he worked at every level of government to bring them together and get the help they needed. Of course, just a few years after Katrina, Hurricane Ike 

pummeled its way through the gulf coast of Mexico before 

making landfall on the Texas coast. So I have had a number 

of opportunities to work with Senator VITTER not only on recovery efforts for our States but to make sure our commuVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:18 Apr 25, 2017 Jkt 098900 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE16\23053.TXT KAYNE
[ 10 ] 

nities along the coast stand ready to help each other and 

particularly as we prepare for future storms. 

I wish him and his wife Wendy and their entire family 

well as they look to more adventures and more opportunities 

to serve. I have no doubt he will continue to take his passion 

for helping the people of Louisiana with him wherever the 

future may lead. . . . 

Let me close by saying thank you again to our friends Senator Kirk, Senator VITTER, Senator Coats, and Senator 

Ayotte for the indelible mark and contributions they made to 

the Senate and my sincere appreciation for how they have 

faithfully served our country. I am grateful for their friendship and wish them and their families well as they tackle 

new ventures ahead. 

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, each year at the end of the Congress, it has been a tradition for the Senate to pause for a 

moment to express our appreciation for the service of those 

Members who will be retiring. One of those who will be leaving this year is DAVID VITTER. 

DAVID will be a loss for my party’s membership in the next 

Congress because he was a hard worker and we could always 

count on him for his support of our conservative positions. 

Simply put, he made the most of the terms he served and 

made an important difference on a number of issues. 

Over the years, DAVID would study each bill in committee 

and on the floor carefully to determine how those who would 

fall under its provisions would be affected. He had a good 

sense of what needed to be strengthened or tweaked to make 

legislation more effective and less costly. The people of Louisiana and the Nation have had a friend in him, and they 

greatly appreciated how well he looked out for them. 

One issue that drew DAVID’s and my attention was 

Obamacare. We both had a lot of concerns about how it 

would work and whether or not it would provide the kind of 

care its supporters promised. That is one of the reasons why 

I hate to see him leave. We have a lot of work to do on 

health care, and DAVID would have been someone who could 

help with the heavy lifting. 

DAVID also chaired the Small Business Committee in this 

Congress and was able to put forward some ideas to preserve 

jobs and businesses. I have been proud to work with him in 

that effort. 

In short, Senator VITTER has had a remarkable career and 

has done his best to serve the people of his State and champion the issues that were of importance to them. 

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Now DAVID has decided to end his Senate career and take 

on some new challenges. I have no doubt that his skills and 

his background will lead him down a new path to help the 

people of Louisiana. I wish him well and look forward to seeing what he will do. 

DAVID, Diana joins me in sending our best wishes and our 

appreciation for your service, as well as that of your family. 

Together with Wendy, you were able to make a difference 

that will last for a long time in the Senate and in Louisiana. 

It is good to know you won’t be far away and we can get in 

touch with you whenever we need your advice. 

FRIDAY, December 9, 2016 

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. . . . 

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, today I pay tribute to the senior Senator from Louisiana, my friend DAVID VITTER. Over 

more than a decade, I have had the privilege to get to know 

DAVID as a colleague and a friend. When he retires in January, he will be greatly missed. 

DAVID is a New Orleans man, born and raised. In his 

younger years, he achieved impressive academic feats, graduating from Harvard and earning a Rhodes scholarship to 

study at Oxford. As he is fond of telling, after his time in 

England, he applied to three law schools—Harvard, Yale, 

and Tulane—and chose to attend the best of the three: 

Tulane. 

Just a few years later, he won a seat in the Louisiana 

House of Representatives. There, he earned a reputation as 

an ethics crusader—a reputation that has stuck with him 

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throughout his career. Many observers credit him in no 

small part with the transformation of his home State’s politics—once famously dominated by colorful but ethically questionable characters—and he should be rightfully pleased at 

the fruits his efforts bore for the State he loves. In Washington, his work to strengthen ethics laws at the Federal 

level may not have always made him the most popular 

among his colleagues, but they reflect the same spirit of reform and willingness to stand up for what he believes in that 

have been the hallmarks of DAVID’s career. 

On the legislative front, DAVID has been a champion for 

his conservative values and his beloved Louisiana. Taking office in 2005, he almost immediately was faced with one of 

the greatest crises any Senator in my tenure has had to confront: Hurricane Katrina. As his State has faced Katrina’s 

devastation and other natural disasters, Louisianans could 

always count on DAVID to deliver for them, no matter what. 

Throughout, DAVID mastered the skill of fighting as hard as 

anyone when the situation called for it—as he did as the top 

Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, pushing back against the overreach of the EPA—and 

then turning right around and making partners of those who 

were his most entrenched opponents—as he did by working 

with liberal Democrats to update the Nation’s water infrastructure and pass a once-in-a-generation reform of the Nation’s toxic chemical laws. 

DAVID’s work in the Senate has produced an impressive 

legacy for him and for Louisiana. As he embarks on his next 

chapter, I send my best wishes to him, his accomplished and 

lovely wife, Wendy, and his four children. 

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, much of the time here in the 

Senate, we are engaged in pretty fierce partisan battles. I 

would like to take a break from that for a moment and talk 

about the four Republican Senators who will not be back 

when the 115th Congress convenes next month. While we 

may have different political philosophies and policy prescriptions, I respect and admire each of them, and I will miss 

working with all of them. . . . 

Mr. President, Senator VITTER is probably one of the most 

conservative Senators and yet has a long record of bipartisan 

accomplishments on behalf of his home State and the Nation. 

I have enjoyed serving on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, which he has chaired for the past 2 

years. During that time, the committee has reported nearly 

30 bills, 8 of which have been signed into law so far. One of 

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those bills, Senator VITTER’s Recovery Improvements for 

Small Entities After Disaster Act—the RISE After Disaster 

Act—will help small businesses recover from disasters more 

rapidly. Considering that small businesses are major employers and the linchpins of their communities, helping them to 

recover is crucial. 

Senator VITTER is a Louisiana native, born in New Orleans. He was an excellent student and went on to earn his 

A.B. from Harvard. He attended Oxford University as a 

Rhodes scholar, earning a B.A., and then he earned his law 

degree from Tulane. He was elected to the Louisiana House 

of Representatives in 1992; in 1999, he won a special election 

to succeed then-Representative Bob Livingston to represent 

the State’s First Congressional District. He was reelected in 

2000 and 2002 with more than 80 percent of the vote in each 

instance. In 2004, he won the Senate seat being vacated by 

John Breaux. That election was historic; he became the first 

Republican in Louisiana to be popularly elected as a U.S. 

Senator. The State’s last Republican Senator, William Pitt 

Kellogg, was chosen by the State’s legislature in 1876, back 

before the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was 

adopted. Senator VITTER was reelected in 2010 with 57 percent of the vote. 

Senator VITTER has had a productive career as a legislator. 

On June 22, 2016, President Obama signed into law the 

Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century 

Act, which amends the Toxic Substances Control Act, TSCA, 

the Nation’s primary chemicals management law. Senator 

VITTER was the lead Republican sponsor of this measure, 

working first with our beloved former colleague, Senator 

Lautenberg, and then with Senator Udall. The new law, 

which received bipartisan support in both the U.S. House of 

Representatives and the Senate, will make it easier for the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, to review the 

safety of chemicals already on the market and the new ones 

being developed, and it provides a stable source of funding 

for EPA to meet the law’s requirements, a huge step forward 

with respect to chemical safety. 

Senator VITTER has been instrumental in developing and 

passing important public works bills, including the current 

Water Resources Development Act, WRDA, reauthorization. 

While he has been an architect of our Nation’s infrastructure 

policies, he has also been sensitive to the concerns of his 

home State. Thanks to his involvement in the past several 

surface transportation bills, Louisiana is no longer a ‘‘donor’’ 

[ 14 ] 

State with respect to the highway trust fund; the State receives $1.06 in spending for every $1 it sends to Washington 

in gasoline taxes. Senator VITTER was stalwart when one of 

the Nation’s worst natural disasters—Hurricane Katrina— 

devastated Louisiana and the rest of the gulf coast in 2005 

and again in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon oilspill 

in 2010. He coauthored the RESTORE Act, which directs 80 

percent of the Clean Water Act fines levied against BP—$5.5 

billion—to the States whose fisheries, shorelines, and economies were decimated by the spill. 

Senator VITTER has numerous other legislative accomplishments. To mention just a few, he authored the Steve Gleason 

Act, which helps people afflicted with diseases such as 

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, by making it easier for 

them to acquire speech-generating devices. He reformed the 

Federal Reserve Board by putting in place the requirement 

that at least one sitting board member must have community banking experience. He successfully elevated Barksdale 

Air Force Base’s Global Strike Command to four-star general 

status. 

I mentioned a moment ago that Senator VITTER is a conservative. He and I have vast differences of opinion on many 

issues. But that is OK; that is the nature of the Senate. The 

genius of our system of government is that it allows—and 

encourages—people with different points of view to come together and agree on legislation that moves our country forward, and that is something Senator VITTER has been able 

to do over his career. I send my best wishes to Senator 

VITTER, his wife, Wendy, and their children Sophie, Lise, 

Airey, and Jack. 

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 

for years to come, but I will take a few minutes now to convey some brief words of praise and gratitude. . . . 

Mr. President, in a Congress where bipartisanship is all 

too rare, I have been honored to work with many Republican 

colleagues on commonsense, bipartisan solutions. Senator 

DAVID VITTER has served as chairman of the Senate Small 

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Business Committee, of which I am a member, and has been 

a consummate partner on issues affecting Michigan’s small 

businesses. On the Small Business Committee, we have been 

able to pass significant legislation to ensure that small businesses have the resources they need to compete, expand, and 

give back to their communities. We extended the SBA 7(a) 

Federal loan program to provide thousands of small businesses with financing at no cost to American taxpayers. Together, we introduced legislation that will provide patent 

education to small businesses. We also introduced legislation 

that will help small businesses plan for and protect against 

cybersecurity attacks. I am glad to have colleagues like Senator VITTER who believe that no issue is too small when it 

comes to supporting job creation and economic growth. . . . 

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. 

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