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Congressional Daily Record
This section captures a floor statement or debate entry. It mentions legislation such as Gerald E. Connolly Esophageal Cancer Awareness Act of 2025, committees such as Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, members such as Mark R. Warner.
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May 20, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextMr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today to ask unanimous consent to complete a unanimous consent request.
Tomorrow, it will be 1 year since we lost Congressman Gerry Connolly. I first met Gerry Connolly when he was a rising supervisor on the Fairfax County Board in the late eighties. Jerry took great pains to never forget his Irishness, the famous St. Patrick's Day party.
He was a fighter. He was kind and funny; but boy, you did not want to get on the wrong side of Gerry Connolly because sometimes that fighting spirit would show itself in his relentless—relentless—efforts. Getting in an argument with Gerry was not something anybody ever looked forward to.
So it was a great loss that we lost him. Literally tomorrow will be a year. But beyond the personal loss to his family and to folks like me and my friend from Virginia as well Tim Kaine, both considered him a longtime friend. And frankly to communities in Northern Virginia and beyond, Federal employees lost a leader who never, ever stopped fighting for them, never stopped fighting for their rights, never stopped fighting for their due process, and never stopped making the case to
Americans the value Federal workers bring to our everyday lives.
his work. Two days before he died, he introduced H.R. 3490, which will direct the Government Accountability Office to report on esophageal cancer in Federal employees.
esophageal cancer among Federal employees and retirees, particularly access to early screening and early treatment.
early, can help prevent esophageal cancer completely. This bill is simple. It would ask GAO to study if Federal employees who are at high risk are getting screened as early as possible to help them make sure they get the care they need as early as possible.
and Government Reform Committee and then passed by a voice vote on the floor.
bill here on the Senate floor, but before I make that request, I want to defer and yield my time to the Senator—fellow Senator from Virginia Senator Kaine.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I am so pleased to be with my colleague Senator Warner to talk about Gerry Connolly prior to offering a unanimous consent motion on this bill.
colorful guy. He studied for the priesthood to be a Maryknoll priest and then left the priesthood to marry his wife “Smitty” who studied to be a nun and then left her order.
Foreign Relations Committee, and then he went onto this wonderful career, as Mark described, on the Fairfax Board of Supervisors before eventually becoming chairman of that board and then coming to Congress.
Gerry personified a pride in Irish Catholicism. As Mark said, his St. Patrick's Day parties were absolutely legendary in Virginia, and he was a tireless advocate for so many.
its growing effect in this country is important to underline. This was the condition that claimed Gerry's life, but how powerful not even 2 days before died, he was trying to advance our understanding of this.
United States. We are not exactly sure why, but we can get more data and do more analysis of this and then provide options for care should this resolution pass.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, as if in legislation session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3490 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 3490) to require the Government Accountability
Office to produce a report on esophageal cancer, and for
other purposes.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (H.R. 3490) was ordered to a third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
Mr. WARNER. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.