Mr. President, I am here to make some brief remarks about two of my favorite colleagues who are leaving us. They are both good friends of mine, both from the middle of the country, and both extraordinary leaders. I will start with my friend, Senator Claire McCaskill. Senator McCaskill and I were first elected at the same time, so we came in together. During our years of serving together, I have seen this strong, incredible woman stand up for the people of Missouri and stand up for the people of this country. We were the only two women in our Senate class when we came in.

One of my first memories of Claire, which occurred near the beginning of our time in the Senate, was that we were driving out of the Capitol together to go speak at an event. I looked out the window, and there was my husband John walking across the lawn with a pink box. She sees him, and she looks at me, and she says: What is John doing, walking across the Capitol lawn with a pink gift-wrapped box? I yelled out the car window, and I said: What are you doing with the pink box? He yelled back: It is the Senate spouse club event. I am going to Jim Webb’s wife’s baby shower. Claire looked at my husband and said, in her typical, blunt way: That is the sexiest thing I have ever seen. That is Claire. We were rejoicing together in the car at that moment, as we thought we were witnessing a milestone in Senate spouse history but also in our own histories and in the journey of having more women in the Senate.

Claire is someone who never keeps quiet, who always speaks her mind, and that is so refreshing. When she found out about the substandard care for our veterans at Walter Reed, she took it on. She was a freshman Senator, but she wasn’t quiet, and she took it on. Her dad was a veteran, and she felt that the veterans of today deserve the same quality care that he got. That is the kind of leadership she has always shown. She never backs down, especially in the face of corruption. I think a lot of that was because of her work as a prosecutor. We shared that in common. If there were rights that needed to be respected—great. If there were wrongs that needed to be righted, she was right there. She is never afraid to speak truth to power. By the way, in her own words, she is now unleashed, and I know that will continue in a big way.

Whether she is at a hearing or writing one of her famous tweets, she does it in a voice that is 100 percent authentic and 100 percent Claire McCaskill. I will never forget when she was grilling Wall Street executives at a Senate hearing for their role in the financial crisis, and she said: ‘‘You guys have less oversight than a pit boss in Las Vegas.’’ That is one example.

As Missouri’s former State auditor and as someone who worked her way through school as a waitress, Senator McCaskill has always rightfully demanded accountability for those in positions of power. We saw it again when she stood up to opioid manufacturers and distributors, investigating suspicious shipments of these dangerous drugs in communities across the country.

We saw it with her leadership in the fight against sex assault and online sex trafficking, where she worked to take on Backpage. We saw it in her fight to strengthen the role of independent watchdogs at our Federal Agencies and to expand protections for whistleblowers. We saw it every time she stood up for American consumers, highlighting the challenges that consumers often face when they get errors on their credit reports or when they have fraudulent robocalls. I would always think of how she would challenge the commonsense wisdom of her beloved mom, Betty, who is no longer with us. I had the honor to meet Betty. So whenever I would watch Claire take on these crimes—especially crimes against seniors—and speak out about them, I would always think of her mom and how her mom was such an early, powerful feminist and a woman who stood up and spoke truth to power.

Perhaps most of all, as I mentioned earlier, we saw it her work with Walter Reed on behalf of our Nation’s veterans. In addition to the work she did in calling out what was happening at Walter Reed, it was Claire who found out that contracting failures had led to thousands of graves at Arlington National Cemetery being unmarked or improperly marked. It was Claire whose legislation overhauled the IT systems at Arlington and ultimately held the Secretary of the Army accountable. That was trademark Claire: seeing an injustice, uncovering it, speaking out, and then never giving up until it is fixed. That is what she has done time and again.

What is cool about Claire, despite what I wish had not happened—that she didn’t win her election—is, she is the most resilient person I know, and she will continue to serve and continue to do that work in her way. After a former political opponent once accused her of being unladylike, she once told an Iowa audience that the traits needed to excel in leadership—to speak out, be strong, take charge, change the world—are traits she sees as very, very ladylike. Claire has shown us how to be both strong and ladylike. It has been my privilege to serve with her. I am so honored to call her friend, and I am excited about what is to come for Claire McCaskill.