On Senate Floor, Portman Delivers Farewell Address, Highlights Successes and Urges Bipartisanship

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) delivered his formal farewell speech on the Senate floor and reflected on his time in Washington, D.C. serving in the House of Representatives, Senate, and two Cabinet-level positions. Portman talked about his mission throughout his career of delivering bipartisan results through effective servant leadership and what he and his colleagues on both sides of the aisle have been able to accomplish. Portman discussed notable bipartisan legislation he’s worked on recently including the infrastructure bill, semiconductor manufacturing with the Chips + Science Act, and the Respect for Marriage Act just to name a few.   

A member of various committees and bipartisan “gangs,” Senator Portman has been able to break through the gridlock in a deadlocked Congress to get results. An independent voice for the people of Ohio, Portman had 82 bills signed into law by President Trump, 68 under President Obama, and more than 40 thus far under President Biden.

Senator Portman thanked his colleagues, staff, friends and family, and Ohio for giving him the honor of serving the Buckeye State. Most importantly, he thanked his family and especially his wife Jane of 36 years. Portman stated he intends to stay involved in public service, and will always push for bipartisanship to move the ball forward for the American people.  

A transcript of his remarks can be found below and a video can be found here.

“Mr. Portman: Mr. President, 12 years ago I stood on this Senate floor for my maiden speech. I was new to the Senate, but I had a sense of what I thought was possible to achieve for my constituents in Ohio having served in the house for twelve years and in two Cabinet-levels jobs in the Bush 43 administration. In that speech, I talked about the interest in solving problems and working across the aisle to tackle big issues facing our country. That's what we've tried to do. 

“We've had some successes and some disappointments, but through it all, I have always considered it a great honor to be given a chance to represent my neighbors, the people of Ohio. 

“My team and I have viewed it as a sacred trust to do all we could while we had this temporary privilege. Our commitment was to move the ball forward whenever possible for our great country and for the families who represent it. And through our legislative and oversight results, I believe we have honored that pledge. It has been a team effort. I've been blessed with an awesome staff sitting behind me today, some amazing Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle willing to find common ground, and friends in every corner of Ohio whose input helped me to represent our diverse state. 

“I think most importantly an understanding family, and a partner in all things, Jane Portman. All of us get asked what inspires someone to get into public service in the first place? In my family, my mom Joanne taught by her example that serving others was our duty.  We had no choice and through their own volunteer work my brother and my sister have helped change lives. I respect that. And I respect all the caring and giving Ohioans who do that. I chose to serve in a different way, which involved the rough and tumble of politics. Not for everybody, but also a way to help others. Another impetus for getting involved in politics was my father, Bill Portman. 

“Even though he was a small business guy, he thought I was absolutely crazy to get into this line of business. 

“When I was a kid he gave up his safe job as a forklift truck salesman for a bigger company to live out his own American dream and start his own business.

“He took a big risk.  He gave up health care, gave up a retirement plan, and five people, my mom was a bookkeeper, started Portman Equipment Company, with lots of debt. They actually lost money the first few years, but he never gave up on his dream and eventually through hard work and integrity found his niche. My brother, my sister, and I all worked at Portman Equipment Company in high school and college. By the time my dad retired, my brother took over the company there were almost 300 people who worked there. 

“Keeping that American dream alive and creating the conditions to let that next Bill Portman take that risk -- to build his or her dream and in doing so helped so many families and helped so many communities has really been my north star, that's what guided me. My dad played a special role in my decision to run for the United States Senate. As you’ll recall a couple of years before 2010, we had the great recession. Our country went through some tough times. 

“I had stepped away from public service at that time. I was back in the private sector thinking that I would probably not ever run again. Then my friend and mentor Senator George Voinovich surprised all of you here in the Senate, as well as his constituents in Ohio, and decided to retire and Jane and I began thinking about it and traveling around and talking to people. Across Ohio people told me about the real-world ramifications, about the policy decisions being made here in Washington and how it affected them. 

“And I remember in early 2009 asking my dad, if he would do it again, would he take that risk and start a business from scratch? His answer was troubling. He said you know he just wasn't sure. And he listed higher taxes that were being talked about, more health care costs, more regulations. He said I just don't know if it would be worth it. That conversation with my dad was part of what drove me to run for the Senate. I believed the country needed leadership to drive policy in a direction of more economic growth and more opportunity, to help more people achieve their American dream. 

“Not many people these days would say that politics is an honorable profession. A recent poll showed 20 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. And I guess we all give people reasons to be skeptical. Especially when we seem too political and partisan gridlock keeps us from solving problems people care about like the energy crisis and what's happening on our southern border. 

“But I know it doesn't have to be that way. Politics at its best can be honorable. It’s about finding common ground to help people. We all have our own views and that's fine and as elected leaders we certainly have a responsibility to represent our states and our constituents. But I think sometimes we forget we were hired to do our best to find that common ground and to achieve results. That's what we were hired to do. 

“When I need to be reminded about that, I think about my political mentor, George H.W. Bush, who gave me my first job in politics. First on the campaign trail and then in his White House. To him, public service was absolutely a noble calling a, way to serve. And he helped young people like me see that by his example. 

“In working for his son George W. Bush, I witnessed that same commitment to public service. In my Senate office, as these folks behind me can recite, we have a mission statement and we developed it together. It says the following: ‘Our mission is to deliver bipartisan results through effective servant leadership with integrity, selflessness, and excellence so all Ohioans can reach their God-given potential.’ 

“What is servant leadership? 

“I think it begins with the respect for constituents by listening to them and understanding their concerns and whenever possible delivering those results for them from casework to legislation. During my time in the Senate, I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish for Ohio and the country by trying to follow that formula. 

“I'm told by my staff today as of this week, over the past 12 years there were 195 bills that I have authored or coauthored that have been signed into law. By definition almost all are bipartisan and the product of the back and forth it leads to that common ground. 

“Not all these bills are monumental – I’ll say that. And my constituents will never hear about the vast majority of them because they aren't controversial and therefore the media doesn't cover it. But they make a difference. 

“As an example, a bill I wrote with Senator Hassan is on the president's desk. About early hearing detection. Not the most pressing issue to many people but to the Ohio family whose child’s hearing loss will be diagnosed early, it could be life-changing. These accomplishments are a  testament to the willingness of members and staff on both sides of the aisle to find a way to achieve mutual objectives by listening and respecting to different points of view. By doing that even during a time when there is trust and dysfunction, we've been able to achieve a lot together. 

“Today I want to touch on a few of those areas. Don’t worry, it’s not going to be 195, but a few of them. Thanks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez and Ranking Member Risch for working with me on a number of bills including the establishment of the Global Engagement Center with Senator Murphy that’s combatting the growing threat of disinformation and propaganda. 

“Thanks to the leaders of the Finance Committee, Chairman Wyden, and Ranking Member Crapo for working with me on so many bills, including working this week with my friend Ben Cardin on our retirement bill. Senator Cardin thanks for being my partner for over 20 years on successfully expanding retirement savings and a bunch of other issues.

“From hospice to Israel to IRS reform, to affordable housing. I dragged him into IRS reform, he didn’t want to do it. 

“As the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I would like to thank my friends and colleagues and the Chairman Gary Peters. While we may hail from different states, and in fact he hails from the state to the north and as an Ohio State fan, I have to make that point, we are friends and have been able to accomplish a lot in the last couple of years from helping protect houses of worship to essential postal reform to combating cyberattacks.

“I've been proud of the work we have done at HSGAC, where I have served for the past 12 years. The bipartisan investigations I spearheaded as chair of the Permanent Subcommittee Investigations with Senator Carper, led to the end of websites like back page.com that allowed to the trafficking of women and children online. I also led efforts to ensure that our federal government doesn't allow human trafficking to occur with the influx of unaccompanied minors crossing our U.S.-Mexican border. Our bipartisan oversight on the safety of unaccompanied children crossing the border demonstrated that federal agencies must implement reforms immediately to ensure the safety and security of these vulnerable children.

“Our 18-month bipartisan PSI investigation, that detailed how drug traffickers exploit vulnerabilities in our international mail system to easily ship synthetic illegal narcotics like fentanyl from China into the United States through the Postal Service led to the successful implementation of the STOP Act. Through a bipartisan investigation, we also found that China has been targeting and stealing U.S. taxpayer-funded scientific research and intellectual property through its talent programs. 

“Essentially American taxpayers have been unwittingly funding the rise of China's military and economy over the past couple of decades while federal agencies have done little to stop it. With Senator Carper, I introduced the Safeguarding American Innovation Act. This required the federal government to take decisive action to safeguard our intellectual property. Our inventions, our research. This passed the Senate. I’m disappointed certain House members have blocked it and I press my colleagues to get it enacted in the next Congress.

“Our investigations this year also reveal China's malign influence to target and undermine the U.S. Federal Reserve. We must do more to safeguard our homeland from the threat of foreign adversaries, especially China. I appreciate Senator Heinrich for launching the intelligence caucus with me to ensure thoughtful, bipartisan policymaking on AI. Fifteen of our bills to ensure safe and coordinated use of artificial intelligence have now become law. 

“Since 2015, when my bipartisan Federal Permitting Improvement Act was signed into law as Title 41 of the FAST Act, I have worked to update our aging infrastructure and create good jobs while expanding and streamlining the permitting process. Thanks to Senator Sinema and Senator Sullivan for their passion on this issue and their leadership in passing the Federal Permitting Reform and Jobs Act, to make these key provisions of FAST-41 and the Permitting Council permanent, which speeds up the permitting process for some of the largest infrastructure projects resulting, by the way, on average a 45 percent time savings. And major cost savings. We should expand that.

“I also want to thank the bipartisan group of Senators who worked with me on the historic infrastructure bill, and a special thanks to my lead Democratic partner - Senator Sinema - along with Senators Collins, Romney, Cassidy, Murkowski, Warner, Shaheen, Tester, and Manchin.

“Every president and every Congress in modern times has talked about the need to fix our nation’s aging infrastructure.  But we worked from the middle out to form a bipartisan coalition of 69 members to go beyond the talk and make so of these needed and historic improvements to our nation’s roads and bridges, ports and rail, and upgrade our nation’s broadband system, and so much more.

“The process was almost as important as the substance. We did it by focusing on our key principles of core infrastructure only, no tax hikes, and bipartisan consensus. I was proud to team up with each of you, and I thank you for your willingness to find that elusive common ground.

“And so do people in my hometown, who have heard politicians talk about fixing the Brent Spence Bridge, which connects Ohio to Senator McConnell’s state of Kentucky. For over 30 years we’ve talked about it. It’s at the confluence of two major interstate highways, it currently carries more than 160,000 vehicles per day, which is more than twice the amount it was designed to carry.  No shoulders on the bridge because they have been eliminated to carry more traffic, making the bridge unsafe – and still congested at every rush hour. Local, state and federal stakeholders have never been able to come up with a way to solve this problem. 

“The bipartisan infrastructure law finally paves the way to fix the Brent Spence, which will not only make travel safer and easier for Ohioans but improves the movement of goods throughout the Midwest and strengthen national our economy.

“There are so many people I’d like to recognize and apologies in advance for those I know I will miss.

“Senator Blumenthal, thanks for working with me on one of the greatest humanitarian and human rights causes of the 21^st century – human trafficking. We started the caucus and have enacted a number of bills to address trafficking including ensuring justice for victims of sex trafficking and holding internet sites accountable to prevent the facilitation of sex trafficking—the one time Congress has been able to eliminate Section 230 immunity.

“Senator Whitehouse has worked with me to change the way addiction is addressed in this country by authoring the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act to provide a broad response to the opioid crisis that provides individuals with the evidence-based treatment and recovery services they need. I think looking at addiction as a disease is probably the most important thing we did in that legislation, in addition to the significant funding.

“I also want to thank Senator Blunt, who I see here, for his role on the Appropriations Committee, for funding the federal government’s addiction programs at record levels. Senator Capito has been right there with him.

“Senator Klobuchar and I worked to pass the STOP Act, effectively keeping China from shipping fentanyl through the U.S. mail. And Senator Capito and Senator Manchin have worked with me to pass important bills on scheduling fentanyl in order to make sure it’s illegal. I have been deeply and personally engaged on the substance abuse issue for over 25 years, when I founded my own anti-drug group in Ohio that has become over time a model prevention coalition, and enacted the Drug-Free Communities Act that’s helped spur the establishment of about 2,000 community coalitions around the country. By the way, I worked with Senator Grassley when I was in the House. In fact, Chuck took me to Iowa with him to help set up an anti-drug coalition there. That was almost as interesting as going as his guest to the Iowa State Fair when I was United States Trade Representative.

“Senator Shaheen, and I have worked over the years on so many foreign policy issues, as well as energy efficiency. We introduced our first energy efficiency bill in 2011 and have gotten most of it signed into law in the years since, helping reduce energy bills for families and businesses and actually reduce emissions by simply using less energy. And I thank my college classmate, Senator Hoeven, for his leadership on our energy efficiency bill and his all of the above energy approach. And mostly for helping me improve my Spanish by adding a North Dakota accent.

“I also want to thank Senator Bennett for our successful efforts on encouraging carbon capture and sequestration. Our legislation is starting to work to do that.

“I appreciate Senator Stabenow’s partnership as my co-chair on the Great Lakes Task Force. Working with her, and all members of the task force, we’ve made lots of progress fighting harmful algal blooms and invasive species and so many other issues important to our constituents along the world’s largest fresh water resource.

“Thanks to Senator Kaine, as my co-chair of the Career and Technical Education Caucus, for working with me to challenge Congress to do more to address the nation’s skills gap, and promote the JOBS Act to provide individuals with the skills they need to secure good – paying jobs. Those skills are needed out there, we need to focus more on how we ensure we’re not just spending money to send young people to college, but also getting them the industry recognized skills that they need.

“Senators Coons, Burr, and Whitehouse, as co-chairs of the International Conservation Caucus, you have been great partners over the years on our legislation to combat wildlife trafficking, conserve forests, and develop strategies to protect international treasures, like the Okavango Delta in southern Africa.

“I appreciate Senators Warner and King, and former Senator Alexander, for working with me to pass our historic Restore Our Parks Act, which is finally addressing the massive deferred maintenance backlog at our national parks so that our nation’s most treasured landscapes, memorials, and monuments can be enjoyed by visitors and generations to come.

“Because of the CHIPS and Science Act, bipartisan legislation I worked on closely with my colleagues Senators Young, Tillis, Sinema, Schumer, Intel recently broke ground on its semiconductor plant outside of Columbus – the largest investment in the history of the state of Ohio and an investment we believe will grow over time.  With the CHIPS Act now law, we can help reverse the trend of this critical semiconductor manufacturing capability being sent overseas, which will create thousands of high-paying jobs here, but most importantly to me, help strengthen our national security. 

“These remarks would be incomplete without a reference to our work on tax reform. As I mentioned when I decided to run for the Senate in 2009, Ohio was losing jobs and our economy was falling behind.  My campaign was based on a plan for jobs that focused on a number of economic policies including making our tax code competitive again for American workers and businesses.  In 2017, one of my highlights in the Senate for me was when I was able to work with a small group of lawmakers – Pat Toomey, Tim Scott, and John Thune – to help deliver on this promise with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the first time Congress had passed comprehensive tax reform in 31 years.

“It cut taxes for middle-class families, reformed our business tax code to create more jobs and higher wages for Ohio workers, and updated our international tax code to encourage employers to bring jobs and investment back to America.

“I wish it could have been more bipartisan, but frankly, much of what I led on the international side had absolute bipartisan roots – and I believe it worked. Tax reform helped usher in a time of unprecedented economic growth, felt broadly.  After tax reform and before the pandemic, we had 19 straight months of wage gains of three percent or more, well above inflation and most of those wage gains went to lower and middle-income workers. We had the lowest poverty rate since we started keeping track of it in the 1950’sand the lowest unemployment ever for women, Blacks and Hispanics. It was an opportunity economy.

“Unfortunately, many of those gains have been washed away by the pandemic and an avalanche of stimulus spending over the last two years that has fed the demand side of the economy, while supply has been constricted by COVID and regulations, particularly on energy – contributing to the highest inflation in 40 years. I hope the new Senate will have an opportunity to reset and, working with the House, make pro-growth economic policies a higher priority.

“I want to thank so many colleagues who have worked with me over the years to support Ukraine and its ongoing fight for freedom. This is an issue near and dear to my heart and to Ohio, the home of many Ukrainian-Americans and other nationality groups committed to the goal of a free and independent Europe.

“I want to thank Dick Durbin, the co-founder and co-chair with me of the Ukraine Caucus, and my Republican colleagues in the Caucus who are so passionate on Ukraine – Senators Graham, Wicker, Cramer, Cotton, Barrasso, Risch, Burr, Murkowski, Sullivan, Cornyn, McConnell, Johnson, Ernst, and others.

“And I want to thank all those who have joined me on 10 trips to Ukraine since 2014 when Ukrainians rose up to throw off a corrupt Russian-backed government and turn to us, to the West. This includes two recent sobering visits to Ukraine with Senators Klobuchar and Coons

“In 2015, I authored the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which has become the key funding account used to train and equip the Ukrainian Armed Forces. We need to continue to fund this account and lead the free world, carrying the torch of freedom.

“Since Russia’s original occupation of Ukraine escalated into a full-scale war on February 24th of this year, I have spoken on the Senate floor 27 times, every week we have been in session, about the unprovoked, illegal, and brutal invasion of Ukraine. My most recent speech was last night, so I won’t go on, but except to say we are at a critical juncture right now, and it is more important than ever that we support Ukraine. So I am going to be fighting hard for a continuation of aid to Ukraine before Christmas.

“We’ve just discussed so many examples of breaking through the partisan gridlock and getting things done. Despite these achievements, I do worry about the direction of the political rhetoric in our country. It’s important we restore faith in our democratic institutions, both for our own country’s sake and so we can continue to be that beacon of hope and opportunity for the rest of the world. We can rise above the cynicism and the dysfunction. We just talked a lot about how that has happened. We did it on infrastructure, and as I’ve outlined we’ve done it on so many areas. While I will no longer be a member of this body, I urge all of us to remember that there is more that unites us than divides us.  

“I hope that one of the things we can agree on is the need to uphold this institution and what it stands for. I strongly believe that means preserving the legislative filibuster that protects the rights of the minority in the Senate and is really the only thing that forces us to work together in a bipartisan way. The result, when we find common ground, is better legislation that will stand the test of time and not be changed every time there is a majority in this body.

“Our country and this body faces enormous challenges, whether it be our economy and record inflation, our national debt that is robbing future generations of Americans, the absence of any real border security and our broken immigration system or the looming insolvency of our entitlement programs. These issues won’t be solved by one party running over the other and imposing its will on the Senate and the country. They will only be solved by us working together in good faith.

“At the start of my remarks today I said that serving the people of Ohio is the greatest honor of my life. Over the last 12 years I’ve worked well with my colleague and friend from Ohio, Senator Sherrod Brown, on issues important to our state. Sherrod, we’ve canceled each other’s votes on many other issues where we have disagreed. I’m proud of the work we did together on Ohio issues like the Great Lakes, trade enforcement, addiction and important judicial nominations like district court judges and U.S. attorneys, like the district court judge we confirmed this afternoon.  Despite our differences, we made progress for Ohio together.  I hope that you will have the same type of relationship with my friend, Senator-elect J.D. Vance. J.D. has an impressive background of service in our military and in the private sector.

“I know he wants to make a difference in the lives of Ohio workers and families, and I look forward to watching him in action here in the Senate. I know what it’s like to be in public service with young children, so I want to wish J.D., his wife Usha and their three young children well. Jane and I support you both.

“Thanks to everyone who served on Team Portman throughout my career – in the first Bush White House, in the House of Representatives, at USTR, at OMB, and here in the Senate. We are having an alumni event tonight with a couple hundred of some of the best public servants ever assembled and Jane and I are looking forward to seeing you all there. I have an amazing Senate staff who’ve stuck with me to the end, both in Ohio and in Washington, DC, many are here in the chamber today, and I want to thank them for their hard work and dedication to getting things done.

“They work really hard for the people of Ohio and our country, and have enabled us to be so much more effective. All we accomplished would not have been possible without you. I want to thank everyone who works in the Senate and makes it function well. Whether it’s the Cloakroom staff, doorkeepers, the Capitol Police, the cafeteria workers, or the subway drivers. In a very practical way, democracy functions because of you, so thank you. I hope many of you can join us at a thank you reception for you on Friday afternoon.

“Special thanks to Leader McConnell. Mitch, I appreciate your encouragement over the years, your trust in me to take on a leadership role on important assignments, and for your commitment and devotion to this institution, and the health of our democracy.

“None of this works without a loving, supportive family, all of you know that. So, to my wife Jane and the three people in the world I am most proud of: Jed, Will and Sally. Thank you for the unconditional support and for the sacrifices you have made. I am looking forward to being home in Ohio full-time, seeing family and friends more, the Golden Lamb, our family restaurant, and getting back to the private sector. And, somehow, I hope to stay involved in the public policy issues we discussed today.

“And, finally, thank you to my Senate colleagues who made coming to work every day enjoyable and productive. Thank you for reaching out to me to work together, and accepting my offers to work with you.  Relationships matter in this place. I will miss my colleagues. One consolation that is that our retiring class consists of good friends who I hope to cross paths with again in the real world. Senators Blunt, Burr, Inhofe, Leahy, Shelby, and Toomey have all made impressive contributions in their tenure here – I’m thinking should start a Post-Senate support group.

“And come January, this place loses a great intellect and a great friend, Ben Sasse. I think, Ben, you should hold the meetings at the University of Florida if it’s okay.

“So, to all of my colleagues—I have worked with every one of you in one way or another. Thank you for that privilege and Godspeed as you continue to serve your constituents and carry the torch of freedom forward.

“Thank you.”