McConnell Pays Tribute to Departing Assistant Secretary of the Senate Mary Suit Jones
‘A rock-solid administrator. A consummate professional. She is that good… The whole Senate thanks Mary for her excellent service. We wish her, her husband, and their kids all the best in the exciting new chapters ahead.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Assistant Secretary of the Senate Mary Suit Jones:
“As I’ve mentioned, it’s customary for some top Senate staff positions to see new faces when party control changes hands.
“Today, it is my honor to pay tribute to Mary Suit Jones, a huge asset to this institution who’s become an institution herself.
“Tomorrow, Mary will finish her second separate run as Assistant Secretary of the Senate and conclude a Senate career that has spanned more than a quarter of a century.
“I first met Mary Jones in the mid-1990s, when we brought her on board to help manage my office. Neither I nor Mary’s colleagues back then could have predicted that, nearly 30 years later, she’d depart as one of the most senior officers in this entire place.
“But the truth is, if you’d told us, nobody would have been even a little surprised.
“I’ve entrusted Mary with a lot of different responsibilities over the years. She served as our office manager just a few years out of college.
“She came with me to the Rules Committee, first as Deputy Staff Director and then the top job. Senator Frist had the good judgment to ask her to be Assistant Secretary in the early 2000s.
“Then she returned to Rules and resumed serving as our side’s Staff Director under Senators Bob Bennett, Lamar Alexander, and Pat Roberts.
“And finally, she generously brought all this expertise and institutional knowledge back to the Assistant Secretary role six years ago.
“In her first job, in my office, Mary organized one team of people and our infrastructure. In her current job, she’s overseen 26 departments and scores of Senate staff, pushing resources and guidance down and pushing information up.
“In between, at Rules, she tackled things like helping run presidential inaugurations.
“Through it all, I cannot name one time when Mary Jones did not deliver. She is consistent, competent, and completely reliable.
“No wonder her name has become a kind of catchphrase across the Senate when anyone’s trying to track down some key piece of wisdom or is puzzling over how to get something done.
“Let’s ask Mary Jones.” “Have you checked with Mary Jones?” “I think Mary knows all about that.”
“Everyone from junior staff to senior Senators — Republicans and Democrats — have been able to count on Mary for expertise and execution.
“On a million different subjects, she knows the answer to the question you’re going to ask before you’ve even finished asking it.
“A rock-solid administrator. A consummate professional. She is that good.
“I’m sorry to see Mary depart the Senate. But she’s given generously to this place.
“She’s certainly earned the opportunity to apply her many talents to some new challenges — and perhaps knock a few miles off her famously epic commute while she’s at it.
“The whole Senate thanks Mary for her excellent service.
“We wish her, her husband, and their kids all the best in the exciting new chapters ahead.”
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