[Pages S6944-S6945]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Tribute to Kyrsten Sinema

  Mr. President, I am going to go a little bit further south, to Mitt's 
southern neighbor, Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Senator Sinema is also 
departing the Senate after a storied 6 years.
  Kyrsten also worked together on all of these bipartisan efforts, 
particularly the infrastructure bill, where she and her friend Rob 
Portman were the leaders of our group and on so many other notable 
compromises--yes, compromises--over time in Washington. Kyrsten was a 
former social worker, an incredibly fast runner, and a tireless 
independent advocate for Arizonans. Senator Sinema always made a splash 
and often, at the end of the day, won her battles.
  But for all the ink spilled on Kyrsten, what I think a lot of people 
failed to see is her incredible ability to talk and build relationships 
with everyone. There have been so many times--not just on the big 
bills, candidly not just at the behest of Democratic leadership, but 
candidly on the behest of some of our Republican friends, to say this 
Senator is being particularly challenging on this bill or on this 
issue. I think there was probably no one who got sent into those kind 
of negotiations or ``Can you work to get this Senator or that Senator 
to release their hold?''

[[Page S6945]]

  She has worked with folks all across the political spectrum. And when 
talks broke down, as they often do in these negotiations, she had an 
incredible ability to keep reaching out and engaging with everyone and 
anyone. I will deeply miss her ability to reach across the aisle and 
get things done for Arizonans.