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



                       Tribute to Joe Manchin III

  Mr. President, now, while we are on the topic of reaching across the 
aisle, I would be remiss if I didn't speak on the incredible career of 
my great friend Joe Manchin and maybe the only person I can say that I 
had a direct role in personally bringing to the Senate.
  Joe and Gayle and Lisa and I have been friends since we were 
Governors together. And I remember how when Senator Byrd had passed, to 
fill the vacancy and he thought about running, I encouraged him, like, 
come on up, Joe; we can get things done. And I knew, because of his 
incredible position of putting points on the board for West Virginians 
and his ability to stick to his guns, that he would get things done.
  And much like Mitt, Joe is also a tireless defender of what he 
believes in. Folks like to speculate how he would vote or what he would 
do. But I never thought it was all that hard to figure out what Joe 
Manchin was going to vote for or where he was going to come down. All 
you had to do was listen to what he said. And if he thought it was in 
the best interest of the folks in West Virginia, he would be for it, no 
matter how much grief he took. It was always as simple as that.
  You know, it was a bit of a common refrain in this town for a while, 
the joke was Joe was one of the most powerful people in America. You 
know, it worked as a joke because it actually had a lot of truth to it. 
Bill after bill, Joe got a lot done on the infrastructure law and all 
these bipartisan deals. I remember his relentless fight for making sure 
that America would stand up and keep the promise made by Harry Truman 
to our miners in terms of their pensions. I was very proud of being one 
of his wingmen on that.
  But what he is going to be, I think, at the end of the day, 
remembered for--and boy, did he get a lot of grief on this as well--was 
passing one of the most seismic energy laws in our country's history. 
Getting that bill done is not only about our energy in our country, but 
he literally helped move the rest of the world toward a cleaner, 
carbon-free environment.
  Yes, he believes that there is going to be a transition. Yes, he 
believes you can't get rid of some of our existing sources. But without 
the IRA, the fundamental movement that is already going to generate a 
trillion dollars of activity wouldn't have happened, the Inflation 
Reduction Act. And, boy, he paid a price for this, in making sure that 
America becomes energy independent and moves to be more carbon-free and 
at the same time also finally put in place an ability to start 
negotiating drug prices. That law would not be law without Joe Manchin.
  I believe it is a transformative, once-in-a-century piece of 
legislation. It is saving money for seniors in West Virginia and for 
seniors across the country, and it all was due to Joe Manchin. I could 
go bill after bill. And Lord knows, there have been times I have 
disagreed with him.
  And I hope, Joe Manchin, after all this, you will realize that, 
coming here to this Senate, you did make things happen; you got things 
done. And our country and West Virginia are better for it.