Cloture Motion

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I appreciate the Presiding Officer, my dear friend, and I think he and I are very aware of this. If you ask the average person who knows about their Federal Government how many people are in the U.S. Senate, their answer is going to be 100, and they would be wrong. There are 100 Senators, but as the Presiding Officer and I both know, there are thousands of people who work in the U.S. Capitol for the U.S. Senate. This is a larger body of people who are critical to keeping this institution running.

There are amazing folks who work here in the U.S. Senate. If you take the time to talk to them, you will hear stories that make you feel proud to be an American--from literally the people who are keeping the pipes under this place functional, who keep this place and its history and its heritage preserved. There are people on staffs who make sure the floor runs smoothly so Senators can present bills and ideas. This is an extraordinary collection of Americans who takes part in what is a hallowed and civic institution.

But, perhaps, when people look at the floor, there are two Senators here, but there are probably 30 or so people on the floor right now, not to mention those working in the cloakrooms. But often, when people turn on their TVs and happen to catch it on C-SPAN--hi, Mom, who watches a lot--the folks they probably most overlook are the people I think bring an energy, an excitement, and an enthusiasm to this place, and those are the pages.

Now, I can't even get my mind around, when I meet these young people, taking a year--or, excuse me, a semester--off of your normal track--all your extracurricular activities, from all of your friends--traveling from all over the country and coming here, not just to work a full-time job amidst these hallowed halls, but also to hold a full-time schedule of classes.

I look at these teenagers, and I feel this utter sense of just sympathy for them because they are grinding in ways that a lot of Senators don't do. Think about this. They work on the floor of the Senate, which is a demanding job, doing critical work. Then they go home and study. Then they wake up sometimes at 5 o'clock in the morning to take classes in things that I am not sure if every Senator can still pass--calculus, for crying out loud. They do their academic work, and they do their service for their country. So it takes a special breed to do something so irrational with their teenage years.

I get a chance every time--all of us Senators get a chance--to engage with them and meet them, and I just want to take this moment, on the last day that they are here, to just say some things particularly about this class.

Mr. President, this class is the most awful group of joke tellers I have ever met.

(Laughter.)

I mean, their jokes are so particularly bad that I have never used it to describe such a page class. They are not just bad; they are painfully pathetic. Their jokes are pugilistic and pugnacious. Their jokes are pukeworthy. Yes, this is the first time in American history that word has ever been used on the Senate floor--``pukeworthy.'' The truth of the matter is they have a gene in their bodies that prevents them from having good senses of humor, and I make that clear: They need to work on this, or they may not make it in life.

But I will say something about this class that I think that the Presiding Officer may have noticed and definitely a lot of the staff who serves on the floor. I was literally struck, when I came in on the first day and started engaging with them, as I often do, that there was something special about this class, because it is the value I most admire in anybody that I meet. In this class, whether they are pages who serve on that side of the aisle or on this side of the aisle, I found them immediately to have this important superpower for coping in life, and that is that this page class is kind. They really are good people. I have to say that that is how I will remember this class. I will try desperately to forget their bad jokes. I will always, though, remember their kindness.

I want to tell this page class that you brought something special to this floor; that you all contributed more than you probably realize; that you, in your humility, probably underestimate the impact you bring to this place. I know you are going to have special memories here. In fact, it is amazing, as I feel sometimes just as a Senator, that we all had a chance in our service together in the Senate to be on the frontlines of history, to witness some of the greatest debates of humanity right now. You heard one from the Presiding Officer, who just spoke, and who spoke to issues that go to the heart of what this country is about, what this country stands for, what this country will do. That was a privilege that you were a part of.

But, to me, what I think is important about the role that you have played in the short period of time that you have been here is the fact that I think you remind a lot of us who are two and three and four times your age that, when you still come in here, despite how tired you are, and still have that look of wonder about this place, you help us to remember what a privilege it is to be here.

So I just want this class to know that it has been my privilege, as one Senator, who, I believe, probably speaks for most--that it was a privilege to serve with you in the United States of America.

I hope you remember that the highest calling of citizenship is service; that this is not your last time that you answer that call whether it is in your communities, your neighborhoods, whether it is to your States or to this Nation. I hope that you always aspire to show your patriotism not by what you say but by what you do.

And, dear God, don't let a harsh world--a world that can be mean-- ever stop you from being as kind as you were on the day that I first met you.

I love that story about the man who goes up to a young person and says: What do you want to be when you grow up?

And the confident young person looked at them and simply said: I want to be kind.

I think you guys already have achieved one of the greatest callings for people, which is to be good to one another. In fact, I look at our political climate in America, and it is often not a good demonstration of that high human virtue. So I want to thank you for your kindness. I forgive you for your bad jokes, but most of all, I hope that you will not change that spirit that resides in your hearts.

Thank you for your service here to the U.S. Senate. What an honor it has been to be with you.

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