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Floor Speech
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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today as the current chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies because I want to pay tribute to the clerk who has worked with me for the last 6 years but who has been in public service here for the Federal Government for 27 years, including 26 years of service in the U.S. Senate, and that is Jean Toal Eisen, who is going to be retiring from the Federal Government.
And Jean is here along with two other members of the staff of the CJS Subcommittee, Blaise Sheridan and Michael Bednarczyk, as well as three members of my staff, Ariel Marshall, Janelle DiLuccia, and Chad Kreikemeier, my chief of staff.
We are here because we think it is important, and I especially think it is important to recognize the people who make this body run. And it is people like Jean, who have dedicated their whole careers to this institution, who allow us to--who mean that we can, on occasion, get things done that make a huge difference for the people of this country.
And I know I speak for all the members of the Appropriations Committee and its staff when I say that Jean will be sorely missed.
Just last week, as I looked at the breathtaking images captured from NASA's James Webb telescope, I thought about Jean. It is no exaggeration to say that those images exist, in no small part, because of her work on this subcommittee. And they serve as a fitting capstone for her distinguished career.
And, of course, then I thought about other ways that Jean's influence will endure, ensuring millions of people will get access to broadband because of her work on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act--and there were many late nights that she and other members of my staff and Senator Collins' staff worked with the Commerce Department to try and ensure we could get those broadband sections done--and then also helping survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse receive access to critical services because of Jean's successful efforts to release more resources from the Crime Victims Fund. In fact, every year that I have been chair of Commerce, Justice, and Science, because of Jean's efforts, we have maximized funding in the Office of Violence Against Women so that each year over year we have done better.
She has also been there to ensure that the next generation of STEM innovators and leaders get record investments in the National Science Foundation and NASA. And it is really appropriate that we are considering bipartisan chips innovation legislation on the floor this week, Jean's last in the Senate, because she played a central role drafting and negotiating this critical legislation that will bolster American manufacturing and protect our national security interests.
And though Jean will no longer be in the Senate, her legacy is already felt everywhere, and the American people are better for it. Jean's journey in the Senate began as a staff assistant for Senator Ernest Hollings of South Carolina, her home State Senator.
Later, she served on the staff of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation as senior adviser and deputy policy director for Chairman Dan Inouye, before serving as deputy policy director at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
And since 2010, she has served on the CJS Subcommittee, and from 2014 to 2017, she was the deputy staff director of the Senate Committee on Appropriations for Chair Barbara Mikulski, who I know if she were here would also be on the floor to sing Jean's praises.
I have had the pleasure of having Jean as my clerk since 2017, when I took over the CJS Subcommittee as Vice Chair. And I think that words really can't capture Jean's personality, but I would be doing a disservice to this body if I didn't try to give a sense of why Jean is one of the most effective staffers on Capitol Hill.
And I think the first thing to know is that Jean always gives you the truth--whether you want to hear it or not. The second thing to know about her is that she always has a sense of humor, even when the going gets tough, and all of us who have been here through tough challenges know that maintaining a sense of humor is absolutely critical.
Her colleagues will remember her as incredibly knowledgeable, kind, and pragmatic because, at heart, Jean is a problem-solver. She understands that the U.S. Government is one of the most impressive institutions the world has ever seen, and she has dedicated her career to improving it.
Jean is also the proud mom of her daughter Pat, who is a rising sophomore at Longwood University and is, among other things, a saxophonist in the school's ``Stampede'' Athletic Pep Band.
Now that she is no longer drafting annual appropriations bills, we hope that Jean will have more quality time to spend with Pat, with her husband Pete, and with her many family members and friends and maybe even a little more time for hockey and gardening. Although if she is going to support hockey, she really needs to support the Bruins, so we are not sure how much time we want to give her for that.
But it gives me great joy to publicly thank Jean for her extraordinary work for this committee. Congratulations, Jean. Thank you for your decades of service to our country and your commitment to the U.S. Senate. Neither your expertise nor your good humor will soon be replaced, but your work will not be forgotten anytime soon.
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