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.
“Remembering Jean Rounds (Executive Session)” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the in the Senate section section on page S7690 on Nov. 3.
The Department handles nearly all infrastructure crisscrossing the country. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department should be privatized to save money, reduce congestion and spur innovation.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Remembering Jean Rounds
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, let me begin this morning by saying how sorry we are to hear the news about the loss of the former First Lady Jean Rounds of the State of South Dakota.
Mike and Jean have been friends of ours for many, many years. I was involved in Senator Rounds' first campaign for office when he ran for State Senate back in 1990. I have known Jean since I worked in the administration of late Governor George Mickelson along with her at the Department of Transportation, and I just can't tell you what a loss it is for the State of South Dakota.
She was an individual who carried herself with incredible grace, always kind, had a humility about her that I think people just found infectious. She was very down-to-earth. She never lost that. As a First Lady, she conducted herself in a way that represented a great model for the State of South Dakota, both in her character and her conduct. The style, the way in which she has served as First Lady, is something that I think made every South Dakotan proud.
So, today, along with all South Dakotans, Kimberley and I mourn her loss. We lift up the Rounds family in our prayers, and I hope and pray that through this time they will feel God's grace and comfort in new and profound ways. But just a tremendous loss, and I know for my colleague Mike Rounds, who has been a great partner of mine--we have been involved in politics together now, in South Dakota, for over 30 years--that he, too, is going to need our support and our prayers in the days ahead.
This is a tough job under ordinary circumstances, but with the burden that he has been and will be carrying now into the future, it is going to be really important that we do everything we can to support him and stand with him, and today especially with him and his family.
