The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TRIBUTE TO LAURA UPDEGROVE” mentioning Jeff Merkley was published in the Senate section on page S170 on Jan. 27.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO LAURA UPDEGROVE
Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I have two other team members who are leaving.
Laura Updegrove is leaving us to work with the Biden administration. She came to us after serving in various foreign policy roles at the State Department, the Department of Defense, and the White House. She joined our team 4 years ago to bring her extensive expertise to bear on our foreign policy portfolio, and I am sure glad she did.
During her tenure in my office, I have been astonished, time and again, by the depth and breadth of her knowledge, her work ethic, her strong organizational and management skills, and the way she approaches each and every task with a very positive attitude. Those traits make her not only a top-notch legislative staffer but a terrific partner as we work to address a variety of issues.
On two occasions, we had the chance to travel on international issues--one trip to many different countries in Africa to better understand the root causes and impacts of the four famines on that continent and to understand how American policy could be changed to assist in these desperately difficult situations.
Then, some years ago, we had the genocide carried out against the Rohingya people in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi came and spoke to the United Nations, and she said: We have nothing to hide. Come and see for yourselves. So Laura went to work in organizing the congressional response, the congressional trip. We really thought we were going to see exactly what had gone on in those villages, and she worked incredibly hard to arrange everything from boats to helicopters to get us to the right places. Then, the day before we left, Burma denied us the ability to see those villages.
We had backup plan after backup plan to explore what had happened both in Burma and the conditions at the refugee camps in Bangladesh. She reworked everything in a short period of time to direct attention by our congressional delegation and through our delegation to the world to the traumatized, difficult circumstances of a community that was the subject of genocide by Burma. Again, the whole goal was to figure out how the United States could do more to help. Laura really understood and cared about and helped with the plight of people in some of the most difficult circumstances around the world.
The same passion and dedication and strategic thinking that Laura dedicated as a policy staffer are also what have made her an outstanding legislative director for the past 2 years. She has not only continued to lead our efforts on critical issues from rules reform to social justice but has been a daily example of the power of teamwork and mentorship to other staffers.
Her departure is a big loss for Team Merkley but a really big win for the Biden administration, particularly the State Department, where she will be able to utilize her enormous talents on behalf of our country and on behalf of our country's building a better world.
Laura, we wish you all the best.
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