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Floor Speech

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Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, I have come to the floor today to honor one of the fiercest advocates for Illinois I have ever known: Cameron Joost.

I have had the privilege of working with Cameron for the past 7 years now, and over that time, she has been my State director, my campaign manager, my sounding board, and perhaps most importantly, my friend.

It is hard to find the words to express what Cam has meant to both my office and to me. She is an expert in everything from the nuanced politics of Illinois's smallest towns to the full range of Hill House Home nap dresses. She can tell you every detail of how the latest bill for a vote here in DC will affect Chicagoans, and she can plan the most frenetically perfect campaign RV tour that Illinois has ever seen, with 10 passengers on board ranging in age from 4 to 81 and lasting over 2 weeks. Most of all, she is our team's moral compass.

You know, all too often, when people think of American service, they only think of military service, but the truth is, service in this country isn't just limited to picking up a rifle to defend our democracy. American service also means picking up a soup spoon to feed the less fortunate, a hammer to rebuild a home destroyed by a wildfire, or, in a Cam's case, picking up a pen and notebook and going to work day after day, trying to better the lives of all those who call Illinois home. It means striving to ensure that they access the healthcare, education, SNAP benefits--you name it--that they deserve; pushing to help families recover from flooding on the Mississippi River; to help parents in Cairo get access to the safe, affordable housing their kids deserve; to help reunite Afghan refugees with their loved ones. She is ever-dedicated to serving others in every way she could.

Through it all, she has had one enduring trait: She is a problem- solver. I will never forget the first day I met her. President Obama was flying back to Springfield to deliver a speech, and I was lucky enough to catch a ride on Air Force One with the President and a few other Members of the Illinois delegation. But one thing that I knew and my colleagues did not was that it was just a one-way ticket on Air Force One. They were not flying us back, which no one else except for myself realized.

So one by one, my colleagues came up to me in the Illinois State Senate chamber, and they asked if I knew that Air Force One wasn't going back to DC and did I know how I was going to get back to DC. ``Making the 2-hour drive to St. Louis for a commercial flight,'' I told them. One by one, my colleagues followed up with ``Oh. Well, in that case, can I catch a ride with you?'' Of course I said yes, but I wasn't the one in charge of logistics or the driving. My scheduler in DC quickly reached out to one of our brandnew staffers. It was actually this staffer's first day on the job, but she was based nearby, and she had a car, a Toyota Corolla.

That was how Cameron Joost learned that not only would she be meeting me for the first time that afternoon, but she would also be in charge of driving four Members of Congress--or roughly a quarter of the entire Illinois House delegation--the 100 miles across State lines. And, oh yeah, it was in the middle of a snowstorm, and we were all the female Members of the delegation. Somehow, she got us there. Somehow, she didn't lose a single one of us. And we didn't make it easy for her. That tells you a lot of what you need to know about Cam--nerves of steel. She can handle whatever you throw at her, always doing so with the best of intentions and biggest of smiles.

In the next few weeks, Cam will move on to help lead Illinois' Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, where she will continue a career-long mission of looking out for others. While I am sad our office will no longer have Cam to ourselves, I am so, so excited to see all the good she is about to do in Springfield.

Cam, I could go on for hours about all you accomplished as our State director. Please just know this: You have made a difference. You have changed lives. And you have probably saved lives through your efforts. Through your leadership, countless veterans have received the vital healthcare and benefits they have earned, and countless families have gotten Social Security checks they desperately needed or have been reunited with loved ones who were stranded across borders or have gained access to a hot meal or a warm bed.

You have made Illinois proud. You made us all proud. I will miss you dearly, but I can't wait to follow your next steps--no longer as your boss but as your biggest fan. And I hope you will forever be willing to give me a ride in the middle of a snowstorm.

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