But having the privilege of being with the people who have set such an example has been a great privilege for me. Now, if i were a producer and a director of a movie that i wa ws going to come out about the United States senate, i would want saxby to be the leading man. First of all, he looks like a United States senator, and he has that southern calm presence that most of us envy, and he just seems to fit the profile. And then he the next choice would have to be for the leading a lady, and you couldnt find a more gracious, beautiful, supportive leading lady than julian chambliss. Together they make a stunning couple. I have had the privilege of traveling with them and seeing them in different places and in different situations, and just what a tremendous gift it is to be with the both of them. So the United States senate and many of us here all of us here are going to dearly miss Saxby Chambliss. He comes from a line of distinguished senators representing the state of georgia, and as senator burr said, he fits right into that long list of people who whose tenure here has been remembered for decades and will continue to be remembered for decades. And his commitment to our men and women in uniform, his service to the agriculture community, but particularly in my experience his leadership of the Intelligence Committee has just been leadership that this country has needed in a time of dire circumstances. His work with chairman feinstein in dealing with the daily pressures and weight of responsibility that falls on the leadership and all of us on the committee but particularly the leadership has probably been as great in the last several years as anytime in history. Very heavy decisions have had to be made. And i know i sometimes stagger out of that committee thinking, this is more than i can get my mind around. This is more than i can get my arms around in terms of how do we deal with some of these threats and some of these challenges that have popped up all over the world in various manifestations. And yet the solid leadership on the republican side of Saxby Chambliss has united us in a way that has forged a real bond and a desire to work on a nonpartisan basis to live up to our responsibility to provide oversight for the Intelligence Community and to be a part of helping make those decisions that are so important and so formative in terms of how we deal with these particular issues. So i just want to thank saxby for the person that hes been, the person he is, the personnel continue to be, for the section the person that he will continue to be, for the example of his leadership and for his extraordinary leadership. And i know that the refrigerator will be stocked with cocacola. There will being georgia peanuts in his pocket, maybe a little bit of bourbon in a drawer somewhere, and hell have a tee time at augusta anytime he wants. So i just wish him the very best as he and julianne go forward with their life. Hes left his mark here and hes certain will i left his mark on me. Mr. Coburn mr. President , a lot has been said about saxby already, but i have an observation that ive noticed over the last ten years since ive been here, and its about leadership. We see elected leadership on both sides, but then you see real leadership. You see the person that people go to for advice. You see the person that people go to for counsel. You see the person that people go to for wisdom and judgment. Thats what ive noticed the last ten years. More than anybody in this body, whether its from the other side of the aisle or this side of the aisle, the person that whose counsel is most sought is that of Saxby Chambliss. Thats earned real leadership, and it needs to be recognized and honored for what it is, because p what i what it says is leadership that comes without judgment on the person thats asking the question, whats condemnation of a opinion that may be different of his. It is giving of himself to the benefit of the rest of us. Here, here, my friend from georgia. I yield the floor. Nor senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from nebraska is recognized. Mr. Johanns mr. President , today it is an honor for me to stand here and pay tribute to Saxby Chambliss. I think the first time that i really got to work around saxby i was nominated to be secretary of agriculture, and i think the first hearing saxby chaired as chairman of the Senate Ag Committee might have been that hearing. I arrived in washington. I was scared to death. I had no idea what to expect. And i met with saxby, and i knew immediately that when i was in that hearing, i was going to be treated with dignity and respect because heious wouldnt have it any because he just wouldnt have it any other way. Thats the way he did business. Fortunately, i was confirmed and that started a working relationship. In those years, i wont try to argue that we agreed on every knenuance of farm policy. Im positive there were times that saxby was convinced that i didnt understand a thing about southern agriculture, but he was patient and he was determined to represent all of agriculture, whether it was south, mi midwes, west his goal was to be a chairman of the ag committee for all of agriculture. It was in that time that a farm bill was written, and he was a tough negotiator. He had a mind in terms of where he was headed, and he was going to stand up for his people, and i came to respect him so much. It was in the senate, though, where i really began to understand his talent. I cant tell you how many times, mr. President , that weve been in a caucus meeting and somebody would ask the most intricate, difficult question relating to intelligence and National Security, and, invariably, we would turn to saxby. Saxby would stand in that quiet and forceful way that he has and walk us through the intricacies of the issues on whatever the topic was and explain it in a way that literally everybody in the room understood, got it, and walked out betterprepared to be senators with the information he had given us. But what has impressed me so much and i know i speak for my colleagues what when i say is you could do the same thing with the most intricate issue relative to farm policy or ag policy or finance or the federal budget, and he could do the same thing. The breadth of his knowledge is absolutely unbelievable. I just want to thank you, saxby, for the many times where you probably disagreed with me immensely but treated me thoughtfully and respectfully, listened to my opinion, and i saw you do that with other members in this body. And i thank you for your servi service. As one of the retiring members, i look forward to the opportunity to spend more time with you. I hope our paths cross many, many times in the future because i know i will be the better for it. God bless you, my friend. Best wishes. Nor senator mr. President . The presiding officer is noter in ohio is recognized. Mr. Portman the junior senator from ohio. The presiding officer your words. Mr. Portman us a hear mr. Portman ace as you heard, m coburn talked about leadership. They leave a huge void. Goit to know saxby when he came to the house of representatives. We game friends. We became friends. He and julianne embraced jane and me and i got to know his son and great family but i didnt eelly get know him. I really got know him when i was u. S. Trade representative and my job was to try to open up markets for u. S. Agricultural products around the world, and that required looking at something called subsidies, agriculture subsidies. This is a dangerous area in terms of politics. And mike johanns was very well aware of this, having been at my side during of many of these negotiations. But my job was to come to the Senate Ag Committee and talk about what we were up to and try to find out how much flexibility there was for us to get these market openings that were so important for our farmers and our ranchers but entailed considerable political risk. And i learned a new Saxby Chambliss there. Thats when i saw perhaps that leadership that was talked about earlier. Saxby was willing to be not just constructive but to take that risk and to be totally discrete and confidential in dealing with some very sensitive issues, and came away with a whole new level of understanding about saxby and, therefore, respect for him. And his character and his willingness to do what was right. More recently, of course, weve seen his leadership on other issues, standing up for our men and women in uniform. Ladies and gentlemen, to me, he has been the guardian at the gate, giving us all comfort as Ranking Member of the intelligence cheat. We fiscal cliff a dangerous, volatile world, and knowing that sax p by was there, cleareyed, disciplined, discrete, and able to tell it like it was and tell it like it is today, i think hes given not just us but our families and all americans considerable comfort, and i appreciate your service there and finally, his willingness to step up on this issue of our National Debt. This is, again, not an easy issue, and he joined with some colleagues here to promote some proposals. Again, my colleagues who are leaving have all done this tom coburn in particular and mike johanns but i will always have a great deal of respect for the way hes hand that issue as well. For the way hes handled that issue as well. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment has yet to be mentioned. And thats fact that he played golf with the president of the United States and managed to hit a hole in one. Now, the press report from that day says two things that are interesting. First, it says he hit the hole in one on, of course, the south course. A son of the south chose to use the south course for his hole in one. Imu, second, it says, he was choking up on a 5iron. Now, taking nothing away from this hole in one, because it sounds like it wasnt as long a shot as hes explained to me, it might have been choking up on a 5iron makes no sense for Saxby Chambliss. There is nobody more poised, more smooth. I have never seen him choke on anything. But, saxby, were sad to see you leave. But were happy for you to spend more time with julianne, the kids and your beloved bulldogs, and godspeed, my friend. I yield back. Ms. Ayotte madam president mr. President. I apologize. The presiding officer the senator from new hampshire. Ms. Ayotte mr. President , i rise to just thank my friend, saxby, chambliss. Senator coburn spoke about leadership and we are very much going to miss senator coburn, senator johanns and their leadership in this body. But what he say said is very tr. Because as someone who has only served here for four years, one of the people that has been most welcoming to me and really a mentor and a role model and someone who i have sought guidance from is Saxby Chambliss. Us a look at this body as you look at this bo this body and yk at people that you can emulate as role models, he is one of those role models. Not only is he incredibly knowledgeable on the issues that are so important to this nation and i can say having served with him on the Armed Services committee, he is one of the most knowledgeable people in this country not only on what we need to do to keep the country safe because of his role on the Intelligence Committee but also what we need to ensure that our men and women in uniform have the very best to keep our country safe, saxby has a deep, deep understanding and very much loves our men and women in uniform and has stood up for them in ensuring that they have gotten what they need to keep this country safe. From my perspective, he is someone that is going to be so missed in this body because he has understood that you can stand on principle as he has for the important challenges facing this nation, whether its keeping us safe or addressing the National Debt that threatens not only our security but the prosperity of america, but he has also done it in a way that hes been able to build relationships, relationships within our own conference in the Republican Caucus where he is a goto leader, where people like me seek his advice on how to get things done, but also as you can see here, relationships across the aisle. And as we go into the new congress, i hope as saxby goes on to do other important things with his lovely family and julianne and his children and grandchildren, that we will follow the example of Saxby Chambliss of what it means to Work Together, of what it means to be respectful of each other, to get things done for this country and to address the great challenges that saxby has done so much important work on, including keeping our nation safe and making sure that america remains strong. So, saxby, i just want to thank you for being so welcoming to me, for being a role model and for being someone who i think is an example of what it means to serve this country with distinction. Thank you. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senior senator from north dakota is recognized. Mr. Hoeven in the new congress well welcome 12 new republican senators and thats wonderful. Theyre great people, excited, enthusiastic. I think theyre going to do really wonderful things. Theres 12 new republican members coming into the new senate, and im looking, and were going to lose three of our colleagues, of our republican colleagues. And im thinking maybe thats about the right ratio. You know, its about four to one. But these are three individuals that are unbelievable in what they have been able to do in the relationships that they have built, the friendships and the work that theyve done on behalf of the American People. So, you know, im looking at that statistic and im thinking, wow, these are three great people that have done the work of many people. And theyve laid, i think, the foundation in many ways for us to get to a majority. Senator johanns, senator coburn and senator chambliss. I think theyve done a lot of that work that was required for us to get to the majority. And youve heard about the great senator from georgia, but i think the things that im going to talk about for just a minute in regard to Saxby Chambliss apply to the two individuals sitting here with him. Theyre cut from the same cloth. Senator coburn, senator johanns, true public servants. People that ran for the right reason, people that served for the right reason. I think you could ask anybody on this body on either side of the aisle, and they would tell you that these three individuals served for the right reasons and served to the very best of their ability the American People. Not just the people of their state, but the American People. And they will be remembered long after theyre here. They will be remembered because of the great, wonderful people they are and for the relationships theyve built, and for that service. So, i would echo senator ayottes comments. One of the first people senator coburn touched on to, one of the first people i looked to as a mentor when i came here, Saxby Chambliss. That doesnt seem intuitively like something you would do. Im from north dakota. Hes from georgia. Mike johanns has been a governor of mine for decades. One of the first people i looked to as a mentor was Saxby Chambliss and i dont even know why. It was one of those things that immediately you like the guy. But as you listen to him a little bit, you respected the guy. You thought this guys got something to say. He knows what hes doing. But then its that relationship thing, that thing where he goes out of his way to work with you, to help you, to understand what youre trying to do in a friendly way, with great humor. And he does it naturally. Its just who he is. Its automatic. Senator isakson really put his finger on it. Its just the way he is. Youre just naturally drawn to him. And i think you could talk to any of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle and they would tell you the same thing. Integrity, honesty, intelligence, somebody you can work with, somebody who cares, somebody whos always got the best interest of the American People at heart. I had the opportunity to work with him on the farm bill, and i was counting on senator coburn to jump in there and do it with him. But when that didnt happen right away im kidding a little bit, but we couldnt have had a farm bill without senator chambliss. And when you think how difficult it is to move legislation like that, particularly over the course of the past year, and you realize that a farm bill really isnt so much a republicandemocrat thing. It really isnt. I mean, thats not how if you look at how a farm bill works, thats not the makeup. It really comes down to people who know and understand agriculture, who understand the importance of a good farm bill to our farmers and ranchers, but understand also that our farmers and ranchers across this country create the highestquality, lowestcost food supply in the world. And its not perfect but every American Benefits every day from the highestquality, lowestcost food supply in the world. And so when i think of my state of north dakota or senator coburns great state of oklahoma or senator johanns state of nebraska, we all produce all of these different ag products. We raise all these crops. We raise all these animals. And theres so many people out there, so many farmers and ranchers, they dont know Saxby Chambliss. They dont know him. But ill tell you what, they owe him a great big thank you. They really do. Because without him, we wouldnt have a good farm plan for this country. And the reality is its not just the farmers and ranchers. Thats whats true for so many, many people across this country. They may not know Saxby Chambliss, but they owe him a lot. Hes somebody who epitomizes the very best of this institution, and i know his wife julianne is here, and i have to admit when i first met her, i thought it was his daughter. But because shes so young and beautiful. Teasing a little. But shes fantastic. And same thing. She was immediately a friend a