Tribute to Jake Oken-Berg (Cong. Rec., Sept. 20, 2021)
Summary
This is S6546 of the Congressional Record, Senate, September 20, 2021, in a correction print with interleaved columns. The page records the vote on the nomination of Veronica S. Rossman to be United States Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit, with the result announced as yeas 50, nays 42. Under the heading Tribute to Jake Oken-Berg, Mr. Merkley bids farewell to his business liaison of 10 years, describing his work helping Oregon businesses access the economic injury disaster loans and relief programs, and his Made in Oregon manufacturing tour, with the views attributed to Mr. Merkley.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Cite this document
“Tribute to Jake Oken-Berg (Cong. Rec., Sept. 20, 2021).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-09-20-crec-2021-09-20-pt1-pgs6546-3-e523bdc5ac/
, SHA-256 338570139e3ebbd33b6b7156cd978ec0b753656151c1b5b66b519036a7896103.Full text
S6546 CORRECTION CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 20, 2021
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without issues of how to continue to pay em-
objection, it is so ordered. objection, it is so ordered. ployees or whether they had to let
f The Senator from Oregon. them go, paying rents and leases, pay-
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR TRIBUTE TO JAKE OKEN-BERG ing subcontractors and suppliers under
Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I the threat of going out of business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
come to the floor today to bid farewell So many owners and managers
the previous order, the clerk will re-
to an individual who has not only
port the Rossman nomination. reached out to my office seeking assist-
The legislative clerk read the nomi- served as a longtime staff member but
ance to access the economic injury dis-
nation of Veronica S. Rossman, of Col- a highly respected member of our
close-knit team, Jake Oken-Berg. Serv- aster loans and the Paycheck Protec-
orado, to be United States Circuit tion Program to keep their businesses
Judge for the Tenth Circuit. ing for the last 10 years as my business
liaison, Jake has been my ambassador and their employees afloat. Jake co-
VOTE ON ROSSMAN NOMINATION ordinated our response, communicating
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The to Oregon’s business community and
its leaders. Frankly, when you consider not only with the business leaders but
question is, Will the Senate advise and with the local elected officials and the
consent to the Rossman nomination? some of my positions, Jake has un-
doubtedly developed the diplomatic leaders of our business chambers. He
Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask
skills necessary to actually be an am- produced guidance. He organized
for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a bassador. roundtables. He led discussions. He
sufficient second? Jake has always approached his work served as a hotline for every question.
There appears to be a sufficient sec- with enthusiasm and a positive atti- He helped owners figure out how to ad-
ond. tude, with steadfast determination to dress unique challenges as they arose.
The clerk will call the roll. help me build and maintain critical When business owners were getting
The legislative clerk called the roll. partnerships with the business commu- turned away from their own banks, for
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the nity throughout the State and to pro- instance, Jake took the lead in devel-
Senator from California (Mrs. FEIN- vide their feedback on how we can oping alternative approaches so they
STEIN) and the Senator from Massachu- write better legislation. could get the help they needed. And
setts (Mr. MARKEY) are necessarily ab- His creative pursuit of my partner-
when specific sectors, like the live en-
sent. ship with the business community was
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators tertainment sector, which is such a
on full display when he organized our
are necessarily absent: the Senator staple of life and culture in our State
office’s ‘‘Made in Oregon’’ manufac-
from Tennessee (Mrs. BLACKBURN), the turing tour. That tour comprised many of Oregon, was left out of the list of
Senator from Louisiana (Mr. CASSIDY), trips across the State over several businesses that could receive emer-
the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. years, with business leaders, owners, gency aid, Jake made it his business to
GRAHAM), the Senator from Oklahoma and managers. Some of the most inter- get that changed. I can’t even begin to
(Mr. INHOFE), the Senator from South esting gatherings I have ever been at guess how many Oregon businesses and
Dakota (Mr. ROUNDS), and the Senator were part of that ‘‘Made in Oregon’’ workers were able to weather those
from Alaska (Mr. SULLIVAN). tour. It highlighted the contributions dark and difficult days because of
The result was announced—yeas 50, that Oregon’s businesses, manufactur- Jake’s all-out efforts.
nays 42, as follows: ers, and workers are making to our I suspect that if he was here right
[Rollcall Vote No. 366 Ex.] State and to the country, and it shined now and we asked him what, after a
YEAS—50 a light on policies that are needed to decade of service, his greatest accom-
Baldwin Hickenlooper Reed ensure American companies and Amer- plishment has been, he would say it
Bennet Hirono Rosen ican workers stay competitive in the
Blumenthal
was simply to help make Oregon a bet-
Kaine Sanders
Booker Kelly
21st century. ter place for businesses and for work-
Schatz
Brown King Schumer
Over the past decade, Jake has ers, and then he might pause and, being
Cantwell Klobuchar Shaheen helped develop policies and strategies the huge soccer fan that he is, say that
Cardin Leahy Sinema relevant to many sectors of Oregon’s
Carper Luján
a high point was when he made a con-
Casey Manchin
Smith growing economy. nection so that I could spend a day
Collins Menendez
Stabenow One such strategy has been to make with the owner of our Portland Tim-
Tester Oregon a global leader in mass timber,
Coons Merkley bers.
Van Hollen
Cortez Masto Murkowski
Warner
including the production of cross-lami-
Duckworth Murphy nated timber and mass plywood and So, Jake, thank you for giving so
Durbin Murray Warnock
Warren the research on charring and stress much to the team and to the people of
Gillibrand Ossoff
Hassan Padilla Whitehouse loads necessary to rewrite building Oregon over these last 10 years. It goes
Heinrich Peters Wyden codes. without saying that it is going to be a
NAYS—42 Another strategy has been to make monumental undertaking trying to fill
Barrasso Grassley Portman Oregon a national leader in the produc- your shoes, and you are going to be
Blunt Hagerty Risch tion of hemp for CBD, building on Or- missed by every member of our team.
Boozman Hawley Romney egon’s legal cannabis industry. We wish you the best. We look forward
Braun Hoeven Rubio Yet another strategy has been build- to continuing to follow the great
Burr Hyde-Smith Sasse
Capito Johnson Scott (FL)
ing up Oregon’s sustainable energy in- things that you will do in your next
Cornyn Kennedy Scott (SC) dustry, accelerating the development chapter for our State and for the coun-
Cotton Lankford Shelby of wind and solar and wave energy and try. We know that in whatever form it
Cramer Lee Thune supporting measures to increase the ef-
Crapo Lummis Tillis
takes, you will never stop working to
Cruz Marshall Toomey
ficiency of the manufacturing process build a better world.
Daines McConnell Tuberville to use less energy.
It is pretty staggering to think of all Well done, Jake Oken-Berg, and
Ernst Moran Wicker
Fischer Paul Young the balls Jake had to juggle at the thank you.
NOT VOTING—8 same time over those 10 years, but he The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
sradovich on DSKJLST7X2PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE
Blackburn Graham Rounds did it, and he did it making it look ator from Iowa.
Cassidy Inhofe Sullivan easy. UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 535
Feinstein Markey Our team and our State saw the
The nomination was confirmed. fruits of Jake’s decade of partnership Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, we re-
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. pay off over this last year and a half as cently marked the 20th anniversary of
HEINRICH). The Senator from Oregon. businesses throughout Oregon faced ex- September 11, a day that forever
Mr. MERKLEY. I ask unanimous tremely difficult, dark days amid the changed our Nation. This direct assault
consent that the motion to reconsider pandemic and the economic recession. on our country sparked the Global War
be considered made and laid upon the As businesses ground to a halt and on Terrorism, a war that came at great
table and the President be immediately workers quarantined at home, owners personal cost to our men and women
notified of the Senate’s action. and managers were grappling with serving in the Armed Forces.
VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 Oct 01, 2021 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD21\SEPTEMBER\S20SE1.REC S20SE1
File and source
- File
- CREC_crec-2021-09-20_crec-2021-09-20-pt1-pgs6546-3.pdf
- Size
- 223,345 bytes
- SHA-256
- 338570139e3ebbd33b6b7156cd978ec0b753656151c1b5b66b519036a7896103
- Original
- www.govinfo.gov