Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise to honor the outgoing Canadian Ambassador to the United States, Gary Doer. Soon Ambassador Doer will return home to Manitoba, but, lucky for us, he will be a frequent visitor to Washington, DC, as the new cochair of the Wilson Center's Canada Institute Advisory Board. We are glad the Ambassador will continue to be an influential voice in shaping U.S.-Canada relations.

Over the last 6 years, I have had the privilege of getting to know the Ambassador. I knew we would get along well when I learned he was a longtime fan of Bud Grant, an incredible athlete who became the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. From a Canadian perspective, he first coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.

Bud Grant is adored in Minnesota and is still adored many years after he left coaching. In fact, it was during a recent playoff game that we remember well--in Minnesota versus the Seahawks--where Bud Grant came out in 17-below-zero weather and flipped the coin with no jacket on.

What I will also never forget is attending an event at the Ambassador's home. I walked in the door, and he had a framed photo of Coach Grant right next to a framed photo of the Prime Minister of Canada. We like that in Minnesota.

The Ambassador served for 6 years--or double-overtime, as he likes to call it. This is longer than his two predecessors combined. Ambassador Doer's long tenure and the fact that he served Prime Ministers from different political parties are testaments to his professionalism and character. Ambassador Doer is also well known in Washington for his humor and good nature, and I am sure that helps.

Minnesota shares a long border with Canada--in fact, about 547 miles. As I like to say, I can see Canada from my porch. That must be why early on in my Senate career Leader Reid asked me to head up the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group, along with Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho. Together we have come to understand what an important geopolitical partner Canada is to the United States. I am a Minnesotan who is proud to share a border with Canada. I appreciate the country's friendship, culture, and beauty.

Not only is Canada America's biggest trading partner, but it is the only country with an embassy that at one point draped a sign that said ``friends, neighbours, partners, allies.'' I will never forget how gracious Ambassador Doer was for hosting my swearing-in celebration at the Canadian Embassy in 2013. I am the only Senator in recent history to choose the Canadian Embassy as a site for my Senate reelection swearing-in party, and a lot of that had to do with the Ambassador.

President Kennedy said this to the Canadian Parliament in 1961:

Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies.

During his tenure in Washington, Ambassador Doer has been a strong champion for Canada and Canadians and an effective diplomat who gets things done. Through his successful 10 years as Premier of Manitoba and his efforts as Ambassador to engage leaders and citizens across the United States, the Ambassador has strengthened the already robust friendship and partnership between our two great nations.

His list of accomplishments is impressive. He has worked tirelessly on tourism and trade while ensuring the safety and security of the border between our two countries.

The Ambassador championed the agreement on the new bridge that will link Detroit and Windsor. This bridge is destined to become the most important border crossing between our two countries. For too long there has been complete gridlock on the bridge linking our countries. I know how hard the Ambassador has worked on the Windsor bridge, and for a while it looked as though it wouldn't get done. But the Ambassador never stopped fighting for it and refused to be satisfied until the deal was done, often using an old Gordie Howe saying that ``you don't put your hands in the air until the puck is in the net.'' That is a hockey analogy between Minnesota and Canada. The Ambassador made sure the puck was in the net.

The Ambassador was also instrumental in the U.S.-Canada preclearance agreement, a new agreement that will facilitate travel, create jobs, and encourage economic growth in both countries, while ensuring a secure border. This initiative reaffirms the commitment of the United States and Canada to enhancing security, while facilitating economic activity, and will help move more than $2 billion in goods and services and an estimated 300,000 people across the longest border in the world.

I know that the Ambassador considers it an accomplishment that he helped to eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic redtape, making it easier for businesses and agencies to operate by working to align regulatory systems and practices in health, safety, and the environment.

The Ambassador also strengthened Canada's role as a world leader in renewable energy when he worked to harmonize vehicle emission standards between our two countries, which will ultimately improve air quality on both sides of the border. In addition, the Ambassador fought for the Environmental Protection Agency Clean Power Plan, which provides Canadian hydroelectricity as a renewable energy that U.S. States can import and use to comply with new Federal emission rules.

Ambassador Doer ensured that the surviving members of the World War II joint American-Canadian First Special Service Force, nicknamed the ``Devil's Brigade,'' received the Congressional Medal of Honor for its part in ending World War II.

Like all friends, sometimes our nations have differences, but with his experience, tact, and plain-spoken pragmatism, Ambassador Gary Doer has ensured that these differences are bridged so that our two governments can move forward together.

In a 1943 address, President Roosevelt said this to the Canadian Parliament:

Your course and mine have run so closely and affectionately during these many long years that this meeting adds another link to that chain. I have always felt at home in Canada, and you, I think, have always felt at home in the United States.

Ambassador Doer, your service has added another strong and important link in the chain that connects our two countries. And as you have said many times in the past in Gordie Howe hockey terms, it is only safe to put your hands in the air after the puck is in the net.

Ambassador, you have put a lot of pucks in the net, and now you deserve a moment to put your hands in the air to celebrate your work. In hockey parlance, you have scored for your great country of Canada.

I am proud to have worked with the Ambassador during his time in the United States, and I hope he will always feel at home in our country.

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