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Floor Speech

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Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I will be brief, but I just want to add a word.

A lot of us in this body sometimes complain about this job, whether it is the schedule or whether it is the lack of resources, the amount of time. And what has always struck me about Jon Tester--I mean, a lot of us in this business, we wonder about authenticity. So there isn't any Senator, either side of the aisle, who is more authentic and more true to who he has been and will be and will always be than Jon Tester.

The fact that we have also--to echo what Cory said, I have not invaded Dylan's house, but I have invaded Jon and Sharla's house a number of times. And whenever I would think about the challenges of this job, bitch and moan, I always came back--and I talked to other Senators on this; I have talked to many folks around the country. When I think about somebody who defines public service in the 21st century, there is one person that comes to mind--somebody who was a teacher, a musician, a farmer; somebody who had to get up at 3 o'clock in the morning to drive a couple hours to get on not one plane but two, to shlep back here for sometimes a week of nothing votes and then climb back on that flight to go back and still maintain that farm--I can't say that, as a guy who lives 20 minutes away. I can't say that in terms of somebody who doesn't have the kind of personal financial resources but never raised a word of complaint through his years of service.

So echoing what others said and will continue to say, any time I doubt my commitment or any of our commitments, I ask you all: Think who defines public service. I think that person is Jon Tester.

(Applause.)

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