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Floor Speech
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Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I have a little bit of a beef here with Senator Brown because right before he spoke, I admonished him to try not to choke up during his speech, and, of course, this was a fool's errand. It was like asking the Sun not to shine; and, of course, it was highly predictable that what would cause that gravelly voice of his to get even more of a catch in it was when he was talking about his family and also about his staff--his work family.
The very first time I met Sherrod, I could see that this was a man with a huge heart and tons of energy.
I recognized in you, Sherrod, the Midwest populism that I come from, from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
I sit in the seat that was once held by Paul Wellstone, as you know, who famously said, ``When we all do better, we all do better.'' I know that has been the guiding light of your service.
There are plenty of people here in Washington watching out for the rich people, the powerful people, and the big corporations, but you have always been our guide in watching out for everybody else, the people who actually make this country work.
I saw this firsthand when you and I worked together on one piece of legislation--the Butch Lewis Act--to basically say that hard-working folks who earned their pensions, who lost their pensions through no fault of their own, deserve to be able to retire with dignity. This is, of course, one of the most important promises of organized labor--a fair wage, safe working conditions, and to be able to retire with dignity. Because of your work, I had a chance to see what that really meant for people.
I will never forget one of the first meetings I did when I first was a U.S. Senator. I went up to Duluth, MN, an old industrial community on the shores of Lake Superior. It is a beautiful community--probably not unlike Mansfield--that in some ways had seen better days, as the shipping out of jobs happened and affected them. I talked to some of those hard-working teamsters, retired teamsters, about the importance of their pension and what we were doing, what I was doing with Sherrod Brown to help to protect their pensions.
I will never forget this one woman. She described to me what it meant that she had paid in, she had done everything right, and now she was running the risk of losing that. She said to me: Tina, that is my plan A, B, and C. I don't have another plan. My other plan is to live under a bridge.
That work, just that one piece of work that you did, that you led us on to make sure those pensions were there for folks, is a legacy that all of us can aspire to.
Throughout your career, you always made sure that, while so many others were watching out for the folks who already had it pretty good, the people who make this country work had a voice.
I, too, am wearing my canary pin today, and I think that your legacy in this body will be all of us who don't forget your work but continue it.
You know, the hope that we can do better, that there is more work ahead of us, and that we have the energy for fight--I mean, hope is an act of will; it is not an article of faith. It takes the will of all of us. I know that you have inspired in all of us in this Chamber--at least many of us--the will to continue to fight with hope and optimism that we will make this country live up to its full promise.
I can't wait to see what you do next. As you have famously said--and I will leave out some of the adjectives--you are not dying here, you are just going on to the next thing. I know those of us who have heard this story are grateful that on the floor of the Senate, I am only giving an abbreviated version.
I know I am one of many who love you very much and can't wait to see what you do next.
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