Cloture Motion

Floor Speech

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Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, today I have the distinct honor of recognizing Mike DeVries of Fergus County as Montanan of the Month for his dedication to serving his community and his courage during the Denton fire this past December.

Mike joined the volunteer fire department shortly after moving to Denton with his family back in 2004 and has been loyal to the department and community ever since, serving as chief for 11 years.

On December 1, 2021, Mike's love of his community and resolute leadership was on full display. As the West Wind fire tore through the town of Denton, Mike acted swiftly to maintain incident command and ensure the safety of his firefighters and members of the Denton community.

As Montana suffered a terrible fire season in 2021, Mike not only coordinated aid and resources, he showed care and compassion to his fellow residents of Denton and the surrounding area.

He met with folks who were impacted by the fires and connected personally with all the local firefighters and community members who showed up to help.

Serving as the Denton fire chief is just one of the ways Mike gives back to his community. He is also on the elder board of the Denton Bible Church and has served several terms on the town council.

As a volunteer fire chief, he has spent countless hours training, traveling, and managing the department.

His son Joel says that Mike is held in high regard by other firefighters as he works to build relationships between Denton and surrounding departments.

While Mike is quick to give credit to his crew, he deserves recognition for his leadership during the 2021 fire season, loyalty to the Denton Fire Department, and compassion for his community.

Mike, keep up the great work. You do make Montana proud. Tribute to Karen Pfaehler

Mr. President, today, I have the honor of recognizing a staff member who has turned into family over the years.

Karen Pfaehler is truly one of a kind. She has set the standard for constituent recognitions in Montana, and now it is my turn to recognize her as she retires after many years of service to Montana.

Karen got her bachelor's degree in elementary education and psychology and was hired to work as a military aerospace program manager and contract analyst in Denver, CO.

As fate would have it, she met the love of her life, Gus Pfaehler, at a sales convention.

They moved to Hong Kong for his work and lived there for many years. Later, while living in Bangkok, Karen volunteered and ran the charity division of the American Women's Club. The organization's philanthropic arm gave donations, mostly to Peace Corps volunteers and orphanages.

Karen also enjoyed entertaining Ambassadors and dignitaries for various functions and events.

It was in Hong Kong that Karen and her husband raised their daughter Jaclyn, the pride of their lives.

After their time in Bangkok came to a close, they moved stateside to Salt Lake City, UT.

Once Gus retired from his corporate role, they decided to call Bozeman, MT, home, and it was here that Karen was able to pursue her passion of events and events planning and politics. Her skills were highly sought after, and soon she became a mainstay in Montana political events. In fact, in 2015, she signed on with my team and, lucky for us, she decided to stay.

Karen and her sidekick Winnie, her dog, have spent countless hours combing through every detail of Montana news and headlines, catching every outstanding Montanan.

Karen has worked tirelessly, making sure all Montanans are honored for their heroism, their anniversaries, their birthdays, and, of course, she planned all of our events.

One story in particular that comes to mind was when she received word a large gathering was coming to one of our instate offices. Karen wasted no time getting the details ironed out and created a welcoming experience for our visitors and even had breakfast treats for everybody. It was a wonderful gathering thanks to her hard work and her dedication.

Karen, your expertise and attention to every detail will be missed. The charisma, the positive attitude you bring to everything you do, is highly regarded by all of your peers and by me.

Thank you for your years of service to the great State of Montana. We wish you well on your next chapter of being a full-time grandma. God bless you. Nomination Of dara Lindenbaum

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