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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want to take a moment to say a special word of thanks to a former member of my staff who has meant a lot to me and has performed great service in my office.

Corey Tellez was part manager and part legislative magician. She was also my deputy chief of staff. She was one of the first persons I would reach out to. She seemed to always find a way to translate big ideas into legislation and then legislation into law.

Corey is driven by solid values. She has a special talent for management and organization. Every Senator should be so lucky to have a Corey Tellez on their staff.

Corey joined my staff nearly 11 years ago as my economic policy adviser. Her first assignment was to help craft and build support for a bill called the Marketplace Fairness Act. Here was the goal: give Main Street businesses across America, mom-and-pop shops, a level playing field on which to compete against the giant online retailers by giving States the option to require out-of-State businesses to collect sales tax on online sales, the same way local businesses do.

The big online retailers resisted. Corey would not back down. She worked with the staff in the offices of our main cosponsors--Senators Mike Enzi, Heidi Heitkamp, and Lamar Alexander--and together they came up with a solution that won support on both sides of the aisle and even won the support of some of the giant retailers.

In 2013, the Marketplace Fairness Act passed the Senate. Corey was still working on getting the bill signed into law when, to our surprise, in 2018, the Supreme Court issued a ruling negating the need for it by giving the States the same option our bill created.

Corey had made her mark, and she became a critical part of our legislative team. Six years ago, I moved her up to be my legislative director. Three years ago, she became my deputy chief of staff.

At the end of last year, to my disappointment, she announced she was moving on from the Senate for a new opportunity, working for the Department of the Treasury in their congressional relations office. She is returning to the field she loves, with a special emphasis on international economic policy. I have no doubt she is going to be successful just as she was in the Senate.

Corey first came to the Hill 15 years ago, working in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as an intern to the office of Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas. She already had a degree in political science and history and a law degree from the University of Illinois.

She worked on the House side as a legislative assistant for Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York and as deputy chief of staff and counsel for Representative Debbie Halvorson of Illinois.

It is an impressive resume, but I think that Corey has put as much effort and passion into advancing the careers of others as she has her own. My own staff is filled with talented men and women whom she encouraged and gave a chance to grow professionally.

There is a danger, when you work with policy and dry legislative text for a long time, that you might forget the people whose hopes and dreams ride on the laws we enact. That never was a problem for Corey. While growing up, Corey's mom was a single mother.

She views every bill and every initiative through the eyes of a proud, hard-working American, just like her mom. Basically, she has two basic questions when it comes to these issues: Are they true to the Constitution? Do they treat working families with fairness and dignity? That was her litmus test for any legislative undertaking. I can't think of a better one.

Since joining my staff, she became a mother too. She and her husband are parents to a little daughter, Elliott.

With her move to her next exciting assignment, I want to say again: Thank you, Corey, for all that you have given our office, the Senate, and our State of Illinois. I am wishing you the very best of luck in your new position.

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