Jon Tester

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call with respect to the Murillo cloture motion be waived.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor a truly remarkable public servant.

For more than 40 years, my friend Mike McGrath has served the people of Montana and the people of the United States of America with distinction. Next month, he will leave active public service, retiring after 16 years as the chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court.

For many, that accomplishment alone would represent a lifetime accomplishment. For Chief Justice McGrath, it was the continuation of a career dedicated to justice and to public service. Raised in Butte, a proud product of Butte Central High and an Air Force veteran, Mike McGrath took his first job in Montana State government in 1977 as an assistant attorney general and after 4 years, was elected to his first of five terms as Lewis and Clark County attorney in 1982.

During this time, as he and his wife Joy raised their family in Helena, Mike showed himself not only to be a skilled prosecutor, but an inspirational mentor to attorneys and young people across Montana.

It was natural then when the State called him to serve in a bigger role by electing him twice to serve as attorney general, where he played a key role in the early war on methamphetamines and worked on many environmental issues including the historic removal of the Milltown Dam at the confluence of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork Rivers.

Chief Justice McGrath leaves public office having made a real difference in the judicial system in Montana, in public policy, and in his profession. Few can match this record of success, and on behalf of a grateful State, I thank Mike and his family for the sacrifice, commitment, and care that went into every day of this service to our communities.

God bless you, Mike. God bless your family, and God bless America.