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Floor Speech

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, as we saw Senator Peters' emotion about our dear friend, I saw that emotion well up in the eyes of so many of her staff, even before she started to speak, and I think that is because of the love that Debbie has engendered for so many years with this staff. And it is such a tribute to you, Debbie, that they came from all over the place to see you--from the past, from the present, from Michigan. So that is a lasting legacy.

Another legacy I was thinking about is that incredible portrait in the Agriculture room--and I see Senator Smith, who sits in that room with me--of you surrounded by fruits and vegetables, as you should be. And it is the first portrait of any chair of the Agriculture Committee that is surrounded by fruits and vegetables, and that is a tribute to you because you got that done for America.

I think about the persistence that Gary just spoke to, that persistence always with a smile, always with lipstick, always focused on getting things done. And that is something that I think, when a lot of us wake up and things are down, to remember that smile and how persistent you were to get those things done is something that will inspire all of us.

And, as you mentioned, with Elissa Slotkin, this incredible new leader coming to the Senate, you made sure that your legacy carried on with her election. So we thank you for that.

I have had the great privilege of watching you stand up firsthand in those Agriculture rooms and hearing rooms to stand up for nutrition like no one really has ever done before in a leadership position in that committee; how you have stood up for our farmers, yes, but also for the people that rely on getting that affordable food; your standing up for the autoworkers, I think, in the wayback zone, when you stood up at that horrible time for the industry and you were there for them; the investing in mental healthcare.

You mentioned one of my favorite stories, and that story is, yes, rather hilarious because Debbie, I want you to picture, was one of the few, if not the only, women in the room, one of two--as the Presiding Officer knows, Debbie will be one phone call away to correct us on what we have to say; at any time, we know whom to call--one of two women in that room. And as the male Senator was saying, ``I don't know; I wouldn't need those benefits,'' it was Debbie who said, ``I bet your mother did.''

And the point of that story was actually more than just the moment and that she got those benefits in; it was also that she was one of the first women in such a leadership role.

There are a few here today, including Senator Murray. We think back to Senator Mikulski and others. But Debbie carried on that mantle, and she did it so well in leadership in the Senate and through her work chairing the committee.

But we all know that her work didn't end in this place. She also led on agriculture and other issues worldwide. I will never forget that she led the first all-women's trip to Africa, and we made stops in Senegal and Ethiopia and Tanzania.

And in my closing story here, if you remember, Senator Stabenow, the woman in Ethiopia, the farmer. She had a little plot of--she was raising teff, and she was alone. Her husband had died, and she was raising a number of kids by herself. And she had become a leader on sanitation for the area, and she had this little graph up on the wall, provided by one of our foundations, that showed her hut in the middle with a star on it.

And we were all asking these Senator-like questions about her crops and about her challenges of the walking 2 hours to fill the water every single day. And finally someone asked: What is your biggest challenge?

And here is this woman in this little hut with only one solar panel, walking 2 hours every day, and she says: Challenges? And she points to this chart of her hut and says: I have no challenges. I am a leader.

Debbie Stabenow is a leader, and she has gotten through a lot in the early days of women getting elected to these jobs. To be able to get here in the first place and then to be able to rise to where she is has been an incredible tribute to her perseverance, to her incredible staff, and to the people of Michigan.

We thank you, Debbie. We know you are only going to be a phone call away. And for those of us on the Ag Committee, all we have to do is look up and see your smiling face among those fruits and vegetables. Thank you for your service.

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