Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act--Motion to Proceed--

Floor Speech

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Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I come here today to commemorate the retirement of one of my longest serving staff in my time in the Senate, Debra Jarrett.

She has been my administrative director for the last 9 years. She has worked in the Senate for 29 years. I was looking it up on the internet earlier today. To give you an idea of how long ago 29 years was, that was the year that ladies were getting ``Rachel'' haircuts because ``Friends'' was one of the most popular shows on. Jennifer Aniston was rocking the ``Rachel'' haircut. Boyz II Men was topping the charts. It was a long time ago. Debra really quickly demonstrated that this was probably the right place for her to start her career; and, today, we are looking at her turning another chapter.

My staff put together some comments that I am being loosely advised by. They said it was a bittersweet moment. Well, I personally think it is bitter. I am sure it is sweet for Debra, the person who is going to be retiring. I think it is probably a violation of the rules to point back here where Debra is sitting, so I am not going to do that. But if it wasn't a violation of the rules, I would point there. That is Debra, sitting here behind me on my wing, which she has been several times before.

When you come to the Senate, the amazing thing about coming to the U.S. Senate--I came in 2015--is they say, you know, ``Congratulations.'' They swear you in. They give you an allocation of money to run your operations. North Carolina has got about--almost 11 million people, so that dictates how much money you have to set up a State operation and a DC operation, but that is it. Your personnel practices, who you hire, how you provision computers--basically the whole running of the business operation; there is not some special department there--that is something you have to do. So one thing you learn very quickly is to find a highly competent person to do that, and I was blessed to have the opportunity to bring Debra in.

I said she has been in my office for 9 years, and she has been in the Senate for 29 years. I should start by saying she was born and raised in St. Joe, IN, population 460. Then she started to work for Dan Coats, the Senator from Indiana, as his legislative aide back in 1995. Then, in 1999, she joined Senator Judd Gregg as a special assistant. She was promoted to office administrator a year later, and she worked for Senator Gregg for 12 years. Then, when Senator Gregg retired, New Hampshire adopted her; and Kelly Ayotte, who was also a Senator from New Hampshire, brought her in as the director of administration. She did that for 4 years and then finally came to work for me.

Debra is somebody--and I do mean this. Even as a U.S. Senator, there are some people who scare me, and Debra is one of them because she is so on point for everything that we do whether it is the efficiency of our office or our fiscal conservative policy. We spend just enough, and we do return some of our office proceeds to the Treasury every year. We don't spend all of the money that we are allocated. Debra oversees all of that, but she oversees so much more.

You will hear--and I don't know. This may be common in other offices, but everybody in my State operation, about half my staff--about 30 of the 60 staff that I have working full-time are down in North Carolina-- are as likely to have an endearing comment to make about Debra as people who see her every day up here in DC. And I mean everything. I mean, it could be telling staff, including my chief of staff, to understand our retirement system and how you can get the Federal match; getting these young people to think about their futures at such a young age; making sure that they go through open enrollment and get their health plan options renewed. With all the sorts of running of the office, Debra is on top of all of that.

But I think what makes her really interesting or makes it even more interesting is how she is, on any given day, likely to come up to me or my chief of staff or my legislative director and say: You need to check in on--fill in the blanks. You know, this person has just come in. They look like they are trying to get used to working in a Senate office-- getting them settled down. She is watching every single aspect of this office and the health and hygiene of all the staff.

She has decided to retire after being vested for--almost 2 years now? You are not supposed to talk to me, but thank you for that--for almost 3 years now.

So 3 years--I got her to break a rule of the Senate floor, which is probably the coolest thing I could have possibly done if you know how rules-oriented Debra is. But she has been working with us, having the option to leave. She has just continued to work, and thank goodness, because we have gotten so much more out of Debra over the last 3 years and, certainly, over the last 9 years that she has been in my office.

I have staff up in the Gallery. I don't think I am supposed to recognize them either, but they are here as a testament to how special and how important she is to our Senate office.

Now, Debra is going to retire, but she is young, and I expect that she is going to go off and do other things. One thing I hope she does, if she decides to go back to Indiana, is to make sure that she is still a part of the Tillis family.

And I thank you for your service.

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