May 19, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 94 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page S2484]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MIKE DiSILVESTRO

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I would like to echo the kind words 
said by the majority leader about Mike DiSilvestro as he prepares to 
head into retirement on Friday after 37 years of service to the U.S. 
Senate.
  Mike serves as director of the Office of Senate Security and is in 
charge of the secure facility here in the Capitol where Senators can 
receive classified briefings and review sensitive documents. There are 
very few individuals who have given as much time and attention to this 
institution as Mike with so little recognition or fanfare--such is the 
nature of the job--but on the cusp of his retirement, I hope he will 
allow us to pay him a few compliments.
  Mike's counsel is wise. His word can be trusted implicitly. His focus 
is always on serving the institution, never on politics or party. His 
judgment and guidance have always been excellent, and he did not rely 
on subtlety. When you walk into the Senate's secure facility, you pass 
a World War II-era poster reminding you that ``loose lips sink ships.'' 
His job has had many difficult responsibilities, and Mike was never 
more valuable or trusted than in difficult times.
  He tracked down absent Senators on 9/11. He comforted terrified staff 
waiting to be decontaminated after ricin was discovered in Senator 
Frist's mailroom. During the anthrax incident, he donned a biohazard 
suit and entered the contaminated Hart building to retrieve vital 
documents from Senator Daschle's office. Even now, in the middle of a 
public health crisis, Mike has faithfully reported to duty to make sure 
this institution is able to complete its constitutional work.
  I know he is finding this attention on the floor today uncomfortable. 
I don't know if he is still here. Yes, sorry for all the flattery, but 
it is well deserved. He is accustomed to working entirely outside the 
limelight. He will never be quoted in the paper, and I suspect he will 
never write a tell-all book about his time in the Senate, but for those 
of us here, Senators and staffers alike, we will long remember his 
sense of humor, his devotion to family, his work ethic, and his strong, 
principled leadership.
  There are only a very few staffers who are both known and respected 
by every single Senator. Mike is one of the few. His absence will be 
felt by all of us.
  Mike, I wish you well. I hope you finally get to play all the golf 
you want, complete the Appalachian Trail, and that you enjoy every day 
of your well-earned retirement. Congratulations.
  I yield the floor.

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