Mr. President, I am going to talk about my friend, Senator Donnelly— also someone who made extraordinary contributions to his State, the State of Indiana, as well as to our country. Indiana holds a special place in my heart. My husband, John, was born there. His parents met in a ballroom dance class at Ball State, of all places. Our States share a lot of confusion because people always seem to not be able to tell the difference between Indianapolis and Minneapolis. There is a difference. We share some thriving metropolitan areas and a lot of tech jobs, things like that, in our two major metropolitan areas, but we also share rural areas.

Whenever I visited Indiana—and you know how much Indiana loves cars— well, Joe Donnelly loves driving. I have been with him in South Bend, where he went to school at Notre Dame, close to where he lives in Granger. Actually, I will never forget one time when I was in Indianapolis for something, and Joe drove all the way just to accompany me on this trip. He was by himself, drove down there, and drove me around to these campaign events. He always had his lunch bag with him just in case he needed some lunch—a paper bag—but then he decided he would treat me to his favorite lunch stop, Panera Bread.

He also believes in a simple idea about public service; that is, you don’t just go where it is comfortable, you go where it is uncomfortable. Joe Donnelly exhibits that kind of leadership by taking on the tough issues every time he can. For Joe, that has meant going to factories that have been shut down to meet with the employees or standing with former Indianapolis United Steelworkers leader Chuck Jones, who took on the President over jobs at an Indiana plant that were being sent to Mexico. Later, at his retirement party, Chuck Jones said of Joe Donnelly’s efforts on behalf of the workers: He got it done and he didn’t get the fanfare, but people benefited all the same. That is what is so special, so powerful about Joe Donnelly’s leadership. He doesn’t always get all the attention he deserves, but he has this incredible, understated strength and conviction. He has this great sense of humor that I wish everyone could see. Mostly, he has been a champion for the people of his State, whether it was farmers when he served on the Agriculture Committee—he recently worked with Senator STABENOW and others to get that farm bill done— whether it is the work he has done in the Armed Services Committee on behalf of our military, or whether it is working with our servicemembers to make sure they get the mental health care they need and deserve.

Because of Joe’s convictions, his very first bill as a Senator was the Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act, which required annual mental health assessments for all servicemembers. Because of his leadership, that legislation became the law of the land. He also teamed up with Senator Young on a bill to improve mental health services for the law enforcement officers who sacrifice so much to keep our communities safe. Joe has stood up in the fight against the opioid epidemic, passing legislation to help ensure that nonaddictive medications are developed and that substance abuse and treatment providers work in areas that have high overdose rates, like our rural communities. Joe stood up against high rates on student loans by helping our students pay for school with our Empowering Student Borrowers Act. Whenever you are lucky enough to work with Joe Donnelly, you see his heart, his effectiveness, that twinkle in his eye, and you also see his caring work that he does every single day.

One of my funniest moments with Joe is I called him once when a report came out that showed how much money people have when they are in Congress, and they always have the richest Members at the top, and you keep looking down to see where you end up. I called Joe Donnelly once and said: Guess what. We are tied. We have the same amount of money. Joe Donnelly, without missing a beat, said: I am sorry. I am sorry for you. In any case, that was him.

Earlier this year, Senator Donnelly was at a practice for the Democrats on the congressional baseball team. He was chatting with Congressman Steve Scalise, who had been a victim of that horrific shooting at a practice the year before. When asked about the majority whip’s return to the field, Joe said: It is great to see him. You know, in the end, we are all brothers and sisters. It is very sad to be losing one of my favorite brothers here in the Senate, but what I know is this: Joe Donnelly will never stop. He is going to be doing great work. He will always do great work, and we look forward to seeing him again. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.