Scott P. Brown

On Thursday, December 20, 2012, my father, Claude Bruce Brown, passed away. Growing up, my relationship with my Dad was a complicated one. As we both matured, our relationship, respect and love for each other also matured. He was a good man with a big heart. Our family--my wife Gail, and my daughters Ayla and Arianna--are thankful to his wife, Peggy, her family and for their unwavering love for him during his difficult final days. I will miss my father's guidance and his sense of humor.

As a result of my father's passing, I am departing Washington so that we can be together and mourn together as a family. Unfortunately, that means that on Friday, December 21, 2012, I am not present in Senate for three rollcall votes. In my nearly 3 years of service in the Senate, I have only missed one vote, and I want to be clear about how I would have voted on the measures that are before the Senate today.

I strongly support the Conference Report to accompany H.R. 4310, the Department of Defense Authorization bill, and I would have voted aye in favor of its passage. Providing the necessary resources to our men and women in uniform is critical, and as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I applaud the authors of this legislation for their work on this measure. It contains many provisions that I believe are important to both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the security of our Nation.

Additionally, I would have supported the motion to invoke cloture on the Reid substitute amendment No. 3395 to H.R. 1, the vehicle for the Hurricane Sandy emergency supplemental appropriations bill. Hurricane Sandy had a major impact on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and had a terrible toll on New York and New Jersey especially.

Finally, on the motion to waive the Budget Act point of order on a small portion of that disaster response bill that did not pertain to responding to the impacts of Hurricane Sandy, I would have voted no. I believe that funding for infrastructure improvements to mitigate the impacts of future storms is critical, but should be fully offset in the future. This is consistent with all of the new spending efforts that are considered under the bipartisan budget controls currently in place.

Madam President, I commend the minority leader for his nice tribute to Senator Snowe.

Madam President, I rise to give my closing floor speech for this session of the Senate.

From the date of my swearing in on February 4, 2010, until the last day I serve in this great Chamber, which is 1 month shy of 3 years serving, I still say and believe that, aside from my marriage to my wife Gail of 26 years and the birth of my two children, Ayla and Arianna, serving in the greatest deliberative body for the Commonwealth of the Massachusetts, in the people's seat, has been the greatest honor I ever had in my life. I thank the people of Massachusetts for that opportunity. To think that someone such as myself, whose parents were married and divorced 4 times each, who lived in 17 houses by the time he was 18 and was subjected to various forms of abuse growing up, still has the honor to serve in one of the greatest deliberative bodies, as I said, in the world is something I will not soon forget.

To the young people sitting here and who may be watching, take it from me that in this country, even when it seems that you are fighting against all odds, anything is possible for you. There are no obstacles that cannot be overcome so do not give up and always follow your dreams.

As I have said before, people have no business in politics unless they respect the judgment of the voters. If you run for office, you have to be able to take victory or defeat in a gracious manner. I do respect the judgment of the voters. I accept their decision in this election with the same attitude and sense of appreciation I held when I arrived in this Chamber almost 3 years ago.

When I was sworn in, I was the 1,914th Senator accepting the oath of office by signing the book right up at the clerk's table. There were many Senators who served before me and there will be many Senators who serve after my service is over. That my name is listed amongst them is very humbling.

To all the people of Massachusetts, I greatly appreciate the confidence you placed in me for the past 3 years in allowing me to represent them in the Senate. To my colleagues, I thank them for the courtesy and friendship they afforded me during my time here. When I arrived, I promised I would read the bills, see how they affected Massachusetts, see how they affected our country, our debt and our deficit and I would vote in an independent manner based on the merits of that issue rather than political partisan politics. I am proud I did keep that promise to be independent. I am proud my voting record has identified me as the second most bipartisan Senator in the Senate, as referenced by Congressional Quarterly, and that I was named as the least partisan Senator in the Senate by Washingtonian magazine.

It was that independent and bipartisan approach that provided me with an opportunity to stand with the President at the White House on three separate occasions in the past 2 years to see bills I had either sponsored or played a key role in securing their passage signed into law. I was honored to work with my colleagues--many who are here today and many who are listening--on both sides of the aisle on legislation that was signed into law to move our country forward, including the STOCK Act to ban insider trading by Members of Congress--I know the Presiding Officer played a key role in that as well--the hire a hero veterans bill to help our veterans who are fighting for jobs actually have opportunities to be hired by employers who are looking for those heroes; the crowdfunding legislation which will help young entrepreneurs get access to new capital and create jobs, something I hope the SEC will immediately come up with a rule on so these people can start creating jobs and raising money; legislation to reform Wall Street, where I was the deciding vote to strengthen our country's financial system; legislation to eliminate an onerous 3-percent withholding tax; eliminating a stealth tax that would have affected government contractors--that is also gone; legislation to ensure our fallen heroes receive the dignity and respect they deserve at the Arlington National Cemetery, that

is something now that is also fixed; and many other congressional actions that have made a difference not only in Massachusetts but in this great country. These are all shared successes, and I was proud to be part of each and every one of them.

I have always said in order to do our business as our country's leaders we must do our work in a bipartisan, bicameral manner to ensure the actions taken by Congress benefit all Americans, not just those of one political party or one political ideology. During my time here and now as I am leaving, I have been and still am deeply concerned about the lack of bipartisan efforts to solve our country's most pressing economic challenges and in turn move our country forward. Many times political party and personal gain is put before the needs of our country. I know we can do it better. The American people expect us to do it better. As I leave, I challenge the leadership on both sides of the aisle to make the process more open and transparent. I challenge Members to work with each other in a more open and honest manner, and I challenge the President and the congressional leadership to also work together immediately to address the concerns and needs of our country because, after all, we are Americans first and our country deserves better.

In closing, I see my staff here. Many of them were here from the beginning. They came from applicants, over 4,000, for a very select few jobs. I thank Vanessa Sinders, my chief of staff, and each and every one of the staff for the amazing work they have done in very interesting times. To come here as the 41st or the 60th Senator and have the media scrutiny and all the commentary from every special interest group around the country, in the middle of a Senate that was gridlocked--to come here and have an opportunity to make a difference and do it well without making any mistakes is something I think benefited Massachusetts but also benefited this great country. It allowed for the debate to resume once again to eliminate a supermajority so one side could ram through things in which the other side had no play or no involvement.

That is not what our country is about. That is not what this Chamber is about. We deserve better. The people of Massachusetts and the people of this country deserve better. They deserve to have their voices heard. Every person in this Chamber has one vote. To think that one side or the other, depending on who is in charge, is going to stifle that one Senator, from whatever part of the country, not to let him or her have their moment to express their views on something that is important to them and their constituency, to shut that off and put your thumb on it is not the way we should be doing it.

I am deeply concerned about any changes in the rules that are being proposed to eliminate the ability for both sides to do battle in a thoughtful, respectful manner. If you see the movie ``Lincoln,'' you see that even back then they were battling most of the time to convince each other to go one way or the other. Since when has it been a problem to have vibrant debate in the Senate, in this great Chamber? Since when? What is everybody scared about? I don't understand that. I am hopeful the leaders will come together and recognize we need to have that vibrant debate. That is what makes this Chamber unique among any other form of government around the world. To take that away and limit it I think is a big mistake.

I wish to say thank you, obviously, to the people of Massachusetts for entrusting me to sit in the people's seat for the past 3 years. I thank my colleagues who are here, with whom I have had some great friendships and opportunities to work together. As I said many times before, victory and defeat is temporary depending on what happens and where we go. All of us, obviously, may meet again, but I am looking forward to continuing on with those friendships, continuing on working with my staff.

I thank you for this opportunity to speak.