{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/video-ricketts-commemorates-lindsey-graham/", "VIDEO: Ricketts Commemorates Lindsey Graham", "2026-07-16", "2026", "2026-07", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Pete Ricketts", "R000618", "www.ricketts.senate.gov", "ricketts", "https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list&pagenum=", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today on the Senate Floor, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) commemorated the life and legacy of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).\n\n\u201cLindsey Graham was part of the glue for the Senate \u2014 not just for Republicans, but for Republicans and Democrats\u2026 When Lindsey would see an issue, he would hop on a plane and go fix it, whether it was overseas or in my home state of Nebraska,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cSusanne and I are praying for Darline, and the rest of her family, and Lindsey\u2019s staff at this tragic time. And indeed, for our entire country as we\u2019ve experienced the loss of this larger-than-life patriot, Lindsey Olin Graham.\u201d\n\nWatch the video here.\n\nTRANSCRIPT\n\nSenator Ricketts: \u201cMr. President, I rise today to talk about our colleague Lindsey Graham, who tragically passed away last weekend.\n\n\u201cLindsey Graham was the definition of the word patriot.\n\n\u201cHe loved this country and dedicated his life to serving this country.\n\n\u201cHe was from humble backgrounds.\n\n\u201cHis parents ran a bar, and again, tragically, he lost his parents at a young age.\n\n\u201cHis mom died when Lindsey was 20, and his dad died when he was 22.\n\n\u201cAnd so, as a young man, he took over the care of his sister Darline, who was only 13 years old.\n\n\u201cHe was the first in his family to go to college and then got a law degree.\n\n\u201cHe joined the Air Force, and to help take care of his sister, he adopted her so she could get his Air Force benefits.\n\n\u201cHe served our country in the Air Force, the National Guard, and the Air Force Reserve.\n\n\u201cTotal of 33 years, retiring with the rank of colonel and a Bronze Star.\n\n\u201cHe began his career in politics in 1992 in the South Carolina Legislature and got elected to the U.S. Congress \u2014 the House of Representatives \u2014 in 1994.\n\n\u201cHe was the first Republican to be elected from his district since 1877.\n\n\u201cHe served in the House for eight years and then came to the Senate in 2002, taking over for Strom Thurmond.\n\n\u201cAnd he has been a dynamic personality in this body.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019ve had the privilege to get to know him and call him my friend.\n\n\u201cLindsey Graham was part of the glue for the Senate \u2014 not just for Republicans, but for Republicans and Democrats\n\n\u201cHe worked across the aisle.\n\n\u201cJust a few days ago, my colleague from Delaware was talking about how he worked with Lindsey Graham on a number of different items.\n\n\u201cOne was a conservation fund that also fights terrorism.\n\n\u201cHe remarked that Lindsey, in his way, was able to boil down why this was so important.\n\n\u201cAnd had hats created that said, \u2018Good for animals, bad for terrorists.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd that was very typical of Lindsey because he could boil things down very simply to be able to make a point, almost like a country lawyer.\n\n\u201cHe\u2019d say, \u2018How many people think that for example if Iran had a nuclear weapon, they\u2019d use it on us? Raise your hand.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey\u2019d raise their hands.\n\n\u201cAnd he\u2019d say, \u2018How many people think it would be bad if they got a nuclear weapon?\u2019\n\n\u201cOf course, all those people would raise their hands.\n\n\u201c\u2018How many people think we should stop them from getting a nuclear weapon?\u2019\n\n\u201cThey\u2019d raise their hands.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the simple way that Lindsey would make his point.\n\n\u201cHe was super smart and had an incredible sense of humor.\n\n\u201cIt was not often fun if you were on the other side of that sense of humor sometimes.\n\n\u201cAt one of our Budget Committee hearings, Lindsey Graham was presiding, and we had one of our members who was going through all sorts of points and charts and so forth.\n\n\u201cWhen the presentation came to an end, Lindsey Graham said something to the effect, \u2018Well, next time we\u2019re going to record that, and we\u2019re taking it down to Gitmo because it\u2019ll be more effective down there.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo, you wanted to make sure that you were talking to the right audience and making your points quickly with Lindsey.\n\n\u201cHe was also very charming and was very direct.\n\n\u201cWhen he would go talk to foreign leaders, he would be able to get across those simple ideas the way he did with audiences back at home.\n\n\u201cAnd be able to express directly through humor, through charming them.\n\n\u201cTo help them understand where their interests were aligned with our interests.\n\n\u201cHow we needed to work together to keep the people of their country safe and the people of our country safe.\n\n\u201cLindsey was very clear-eyed about the dangers of dictators like Vladimir Putin.\n\n\u201cHe understood that when Putin is losing, we\u2019re winning.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re safer.\n\n\u201cHe was appalled by the invasion of Russia into Ukraine.\n\n\u201cThat unprovoked aggressive attack.\n\n\u201cHe was a fierce advocate for supporting Ukraine, not only because of the injustice of what Russia is doing to Ukraine, but because Lindsey understood what the threat to the United States and the people of American would be if Putin were successful.\n\n\u201cIf they\u2019re successful in Ukraine, they\u2019re going to go after a NATO member.\n\n\u201cAnd then we will have boots on the ground in Europe.\n\n\u201cLindsey was trying to keep us safe by advocating for the Ukrainians.\n\n\u201cWhen Lindsey would see an issue, he would hop on a plane and go fix it, whether it was overseas or in my home state of Nebraska.\n\n\u201cHe came to Nebraska several times.\n\n\u201cI love the man.\n\n\u201cI had the privilege of spending time with him here over the last three and a half years.\n\n\u201cHe liked Coke Zero and Riesling Wines.\n\n\u201cHe was charming, funny, intelligent, and dedicated to this country.\n\n\u201cOur body and this country are losing a lot with Lindsey Graham.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re losing some of the humor we have.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re losing some of the glue that holds us together.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re losing a fierce patriot, and our country is the worse off for it.\n\n\u201cSusanne and I are praying for Darline, and the rest of her family, and Lindsey\u2019s staff at this tragic time.\n\n\u201cAnd indeed, for our entire country as we\u2019ve experienced the loss of this larger-than-life patriot, Lindsey Olin Graham.\n\n\u201cLindsey, I know you\u2019re looking down on us from upstairs, and you\u2019re going to do your best to guide us from up there.\n\n\u201cWe really, really miss you.\u201d", 1, "2026-07-17T07:15:58Z", "2026-07-17T07:17:05Z"]], "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.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/video-ricketts-commemorates-lindsey-graham/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.335784025490284, "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"}