{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=D7B14064-6B26-4CAA-9A1A-6D0EA287BE82", "On MSNBC, Portman Discusses the Legacy of American Hero & Ohio Legend John Glenn", "2016-12-09", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "OH", "Rob Portman", "P000449", "www.portman.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "During an interview today on MSNBC\u2019s Morning Joe, Senator Portman discussed the legacy of his mentor, astronaut and former Senator from Ohio, John Glenn, who passed away yesterday at the age of 95. Portman partnered with him on projects and legislation while they served together in Congress, and worked with him and served on his advisory board at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University.\r\nTranscript of the interview can be found below and you can watch the interview\u00a0here.\r\nAnchor: Senator, you hold the now late Senator John Glenn\u2019s Senate seat.\u00a0how do you even begin to\u00a0describe his legacy?\u00a0\r\nPortman: Oh, gosh.\u00a0first, very humbling to hold his\u00a0seat.\u00a0I called him a couple weeks ago\u00a0and asked him to walk down the\u00a0Senate aisle with me during my\u00a0swearing in on January 3rd.\u00a0You know, sadly, he won\u2019t be\u00a0there.\u00a0But what a great honor to hold\u00a0the seat.\u00a0He was an American icon.\u00a0His life is the history of our country in many respects.\u00a0You know, I\u2019m old enough, as you\u00a0are not, Mika, to understand\u00a0what happened back when he\u00a0splashed down with Freedom\u00a07, and it changed the\u00a0dynamic at that time. The Soviet\u00a0Union, and the United States were\u00a0in a space race.\u00a0He was the first man to orbit,\u00a0first person to orbit the globe. And you recall he was about 40\u00a0years old at the time, and he\u00a0came to Congress to speak to a\u00a0joint session.\u00a0Imagine that.\u00a0That\u2019s what kind of a hero he\u00a0was. But his life before that was heroic.\u00a0He was a fighter pilot, highly\u00a0decorated. After that, of course an United States Senator. I worked with him when he was in\u00a0the Senate, and I was in the House.\u00a0I was on his board at the Glenn\u00a0School, now the Glenn College which was his great\u00a0pride in his later years. So\u00a0an amazing guy, and incredible\u00a0history.\u00a0\r\nAnchor: Well, and we\u2019re so grateful\u00a0and so much better for his\u00a0service to this country on so many fronts, and we\u2019re\u00a0blessed for that.\u00a0We thank you so much for your\u00a0service to the country, and\u00a0thank you for being with us, Senator Portman.\u00a0\r\nYesterday, Portman released a statement on the passing of Senator Glenn, spoke with Fox\u2019s Neil Cavuto, and later on the Senate floor about the life of Senator Glenn.\r\n\u00a0\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=D7B14064-6B26-4CAA-9A1A-6D0EA287BE82"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6112199518829584, "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"}