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 Chris Gillott (Executive Session)” mentioning Bill Cassidy was published in the Senate section on page S121 on Jan. 25.
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 Chris Gillott
Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, I rise today to recognize and thank three long-serving aides who have served my office but more importantly served our Nation proudly, and they are now moving on to the next chapters of their lives.
First, Chris Gillott. Chris Gillott was my legislative director and for 8 years has been my right-hand person on policy. He never failed to take the ideas we discussed together and craft the actual policy needed to make a meaningful difference in the lives of folks in Louisiana and the lives of all Americans.
He was a master at navigating the partisan divide to find areas of consensus upon which we could build to advance real solutions. I was always struck that he was on a first-name basis with the legislative director of--and fill in the Democratic Senator's or the Republican Senator's name. You have a sense that in the era before Zoom calls, they would go out and have a beer on a regular basis, and that helped us tremendously.
We saw this fully on display recently as Chris was a central figure in the so-called 908 Coalition, which jump-started stalled COVID relief packages. And it wasn't just the relationships between the Senators but, again, as I said, between the different legislative directors from both parties in all offices.
His efforts were also central to passing legislation to ban surprise medical billing--a more than 2-year effort that will have a direct and positive impact on the pocketbooks of American families. He was crucial in our effort to make healthcare more affordable and pass generational tax reform. For every major legislative pursuit, I could rely upon Chris.
What many in Louisiana may not know is that he has also been a central figure engaged in some of the most pressing issues affecting our State, including offshore energy production, revenue sharing, energy regulation and permitting, the National Flood Insurance Program, and public works related to flood protection. These are all important to the well-being of our State and the folks who live there, as well as our entire country, and all these were regularly under assault.
Chris was a fearless advocate for energy production and for the jobs that energy production creates to not only help meet America's energy needs but to meet the individual families' financial needs. He has been on the frontlines to prevent changes to revenue sharing that would gut the money used in my State for hurricane protection, flood mitigation, and coastal environmental renewal. He has defended the National Flood Insurance Program to ensure that this critical lifeline remains accessible to people across the country and, importantly, to those in Louisiana.
Thank you, Chris, for all you have done for me and for those of Louisiana.
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