{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=4568F063-6114-41FF-9E49-9F4C620A5E4A", "McConnell Honors Retiring Senator Rob Portman", "2022-12-08", "2022", "2022-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Senator Rob Portman (R-OH):\n\n\u201cFewer than 40 miles from Ohio\u2019s border with Kentucky, about halfway between Cincinnati and Dayton, there\u2019s a suburb called Lebanon.\n\n\u201cThe corner of Main Street and Broadway looks much like it did almost a century ago in 1926. That\u2019s when a young couple, Robert and Virginia Jones, bought and renovated an unassuming brick building called the Golden Lamb Restaurant and Hotel.\n\n\u201cBut the Golden Lamb\u2019s modest exterior conceals major history. Its prime location on the highway between Cincinnati and Columbus made it a key stopover for important travelers. By 1926, each of our country\u2019s eight Presidents from Ohio, plus Henry Clay, plus a long list of other luminaries \u2014 every one of them had spent a night at this inn, or at least broken bread in its dining room.\n\n\u201cThe Joneses\u2019 small-town American entrepreneurial spirit wrote their family right into the history of American statesmanship. And as it turns out, that started a family tradition. Because a few years later, those newly-minted innkeepers had a daughter, Joan. And then Joan and her husband Bill had their own kids. And though Bill Portman would pass away just a few months before the swearing-in, his son would one day cap an incredible career in government by representing Ohio right here in the U.S. Senate.\n\n\u201cAs Rob explained in his maiden speech, he spent his own formative years in and around a different family business. Bill risked everything in early middle age to strike out and start a small equipment business. Joan kept the books. And the way I\u2019ve heard it, young Rob\u2019s own involvement was as hands-on as it gets. There wasn\u2019t just no nepotism, Mr. President, there was negative nepotism. One summer break, Rob was put to work grinding old paint off the trucks. Even his supervisor called it \u2014 quote \u2014 \u2018the lowest job in the place.\u2019\n\n\u201cThis team effort grew Portman Equipment from five jobs created to more than 300. Rob saw firsthand how growing prosperity, if it\u2019s done right, can create big win-wins for both small-business owners and well-paid workers.\n\n\u201cSo there were two family businesses in Rob\u2019s bloodline. A crossroads where statesman hashed out consequential discussions\u2026 and a company that created jobs and helped workers support their families. And our distinguished colleague has spent his career continuing both those things \u2014 at an even greater scale.\n\n\u201cFor decades now, from the executive branch to the House to the Senate, Rob\u2019s desk and phone line have been the site of history-changing conversations, like his grandparents\u2019 inn. And he\u2019s worked to create a national climate where millions more Main Street entrepreneurs like his father can lift up workers and communities.\n\n\u201cNow, I suspect that, from time to time, Rob\u2019s felt like law, economics, and policy may not be so different from grinding paint off rusty trucks. But the gifts and talents that our friend commands have made making an impact look easy.\n\n\u201cOur future colleague was such a top-notch lawyer that he wound up as a young associate White House Counsel, and then Director of Legislative Affairs, for President Bush 41. Then, such a whiz at the legislative process that his Ohio neighbors sent him back to Washington as their Congressman. Then, such a leader on economic policy that President Bush 43 made Rob U.S. Trade Representative and then asked him to run the Office of Management and Budget.\n\n\u201cNo wonder Rob fit right in and hit the ground running when he came to the Senate in 2011.\n\n\u201cSometimes our friend even fit in a bit too well. See, Rob has a great talent for impersonations. He\u2019d spent several presidential cycles impersonating some of our prior colleagues for Republican tickets\u2019 debate prep. Rob\u2019s talent became such an open secret that during the 2000 campaign, Joe Lieberman joked he was going to start dispatching Rob to handle campaign stops in his stead.\n\n\u201cBut the real reasons for Rob\u2019s impact are his deep knowledge, his work ethic, and his passion for finding his way to the thick of each consequential issue.\n\n\u201cOur friend\u2019s focus on growth and prosperity landed him at the center of the most consequential tax reform in a generation. Rob spearheaded the complex overhaul of international tax policy that passed as part of the 2017 bill and helped unlock a tidal wave of growth, reinvestment, and job creation.\n\n\u201cHe\u2019s spent long nights securing huge bipartisan wins on infrastructure policy \u2014 not unlike how Ohio statesmen 150 years earlier may have discussed \u2018internal improvements\u2019 around a wooden table at the Golden Lamb.\n\n\u201cBut Rob isn\u2019t just a macro-level policy whiz who focuses on the top-line numbers. As much as Rob is passionate about growing the overall pie, he also knows that rising tides don\u2019t automatically lift every boat. Sometimes Ohioans and Americans face challenges that call for a special champion. So Rob stepped up. He\u2019s been one of this body\u2019s sharpest early-warning signals on crises like opioid addiction and human trafficking. He\u2019s used Congress\u2019 investigative powers to craft solutions. And he\u2019s built the relationships to make law.\n\n\u201cThe Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act and its sequels have brought hope to families in Ohio and across the country who have battled the onslaught of opioids. The Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act forced big tech, kicking and screaming, to finally crack down on exploitation. And on, and on. From international trade\u2026 to national parks\u2026 and everything between.\n\n\u201cEven at the tail end of a long session, Rob\u2019s been known to linger even longer in the Cloakroom, patiently resolving the last few objections to some final policy he\u2019s got on the one-yard line.\n\n\u201cBut even when you get results at this scale, even when you leave Ohio and our country a better place, late-night policy vigils eventually lose their luster when you\u2019ve got an even more appealing home front.\n\n\u201cWe know Rob loves public service, but we also know that even that passion comes second to his beloved wife and partner Jane, and the three kids \u2013 Jed, Will, and Sally \u2013 who I know Rob considers his proudest accomplishment of all. For years, Washington\u2019s and Ohio\u2019s great gain have been their sacrifice. So while the Senate is sorry to lose our friend, we can\u2019t be too upset that we now have to repay the favor.\n\n\u201cRob, congratulations on your outstanding service.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:41:06Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=4568F063-6114-41FF-9E49-9F4C620A5E4A"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9677510242909193, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}