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Floor Speech
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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, 26 years ago, almost to the day, I came here to the Senate floor to speak about a mom in Washington State and a member of my staff. Mary Glenn had come to Congress with Senator Feinstein, a few years before, to share the story of her son Shaun, who was tragically killed by gun violence, and to advocate for change.
As a mother myself, I couldn't imagine the pain that she had gone through, but I could absolutely recognize her passion and her resolve to respond to challenges and hardships, not by getting discouraged but by getting determined to make a difference.
So not long after Mary brought her story here to the Senate, I brought Mary herself onto my team in Seattle, in September of 1995, and it was the best decision I could have made.
Over her 31 years on my team, Mary has handled well over 20,000 constituent cases. That is astounding--20,000. Each case represents an individual or a family seeking help, usually under difficult circumstances. Mary gave everyone who reached out compassion, and she got them results: helping people who were struggling to keep their utilities on and connecting them with social services that could assist them; helping families stay in their homes and fight off eviction.
And no one--absolutely no one--could do more to help seniors get their Social Security and Medicare benefits than Mary Glenn. In some cases, Mary helped people finally get hundreds of thousands of dollars they were owed by the government.
We are talking about life-changing and lifesaving victories for people back in my State.
I remember, during the 2008 economic crisis, she saved so many families from losing their homes that we heard lobbyists here in DC were complaining about her for being too effective. My response to that: Too bad.
Whatever the case, whatever the challenges, Mary has never been afraid to go against big Agencies, navigate complicated systems, or even go toe to toe with powerful special interests.
Now, after many years and countless victories for Washington State families, Mary is moving on to a well-earned retirement. We all wish her the best as she spends more time with her family--her daughter Tiffany, her son-in-law Jon, and especially her grandkids Adalyn and Ellis--and more time at Dawson's, her home away from home.
We are all going to miss her dearly at our office because Mary is more than a trusted resource for our constituents. She is also an invaluable resource to everyone she works with, someone we all turn to for her knowledge, her advice, and her guidance. She exemplifies a true commitment to public service.
When I came to this floor to share Mary's story all those years ago, I came here to speak about a mom who had the strength to speak out after a painful tragedy. Today, I am speaking about a mom but also a grandma, an incredible champion for Washington State families, and a friend.
Mary, thank you. I know Shaun would be so proud of everything you have done to fight for change. You have helped so many families through your hard work, and you have inspired so many people through your resilience, including me.
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