This is not an official government website.
© 2026 PLEJ LC. All rights reserved.
Congressional Daily Record
This section is a tribute, commemoration, or district-facing statement. It mentions members such as Cory Anthony Booker.
Issued
June 18, 2026
senate side of the record
People
1
Linked members mentioned in this section
Legislation
0
No linked legislation in this section
Committees
0
No linked committees in this section
Senate Holds
0
No hold activity linked here
Source Document
Connected Data
People mentioned
Source Control
Reader mode is for comprehension. The linked government PDF is the official published source.
Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextMr. President, I stand here with joy and sadness. I stand here with humble gratitude that I cannot express.
have worked with in my life and one of the more extraordinary members of my staff, whose today is her last day. That person is my dear, dear friend Sarah Rojas.
She is our utility player. She has been a special assistant to the director of special projects, acting communications director twice, to legislative director, to deputy chief of staff, to one of my most trusted counsels. She has played every position imaginable.
to and someone that everyone genuinely considers, like I do, that she is a friend, someone you can lean on.
knew how incredible of a public servant she is and has been to New Jersey's interests. She is one of those people who, for millions of people in my State—her labor, her work, her counsel have made things better for New Jersey.
To me, I don't call her Sarah; I call her, usually, Rojas.
I am in public. I am in the light. I get jeers and applause. I get recognition and calls to do better. But I stand strong through it all because of the people around me, the people who encourage me, who keep my feet on the ground, the people who don't let my positive press get to my head or my negative press get to my heart. Sarah has been one of those great ballasts in my life—keeping me balanced, keeping me grounded, keeping me inspired and encouraged.
She has superpowers, to be honest with you. One of them is her empathy. One of them is her capacity to care. One of them is her ability to make everybody around her feel her love.
although a consolation I get is that she is going to be in Jersey. I love the fact that she is going home.
her incredible family. I want to thank her husband Nick—not just for rescuing her from those days when she was a single woman; I want to thank her husband Nick for being the rock in her life that has made her stronger for us all.
Chris and Joy, thank you for raising such an extraordinary child.
I love what James Baldwin said. He said that children are never good at listening to their elders, but they never fail to imitate them. Sarah is who she is because of her parents.
Her sister Emily, I am grateful for as well. I have a sibling—two siblings, actually, and they are also part of that circle of support. I want to thank her for that.
for the latitude when she has had to work late hours, for showing up when I have had to take her away from perhaps the center of her life, which is Sadie.
video. I don't know if you will understand it in the present moment, but I hope you are going to look back and hear what I say to you, Sadie.
Sadie, you should be proud of your mom. You should be in awe of her. Sadie, your mother is one of the more phenomenal people I know, and that makes me confident you are going to be phenomenal, too, Sadie. You have a rock star mom—maybe not known by millions, but to all who know her, she is a star that illuminates not just your life but all of our lives.
Gloria was this extraordinary trailblazer. It is another reason why I know how she got to be so great—how Sarah did. Gloria was the first Latina broadcast journalist in New York. She was a big deal. But she once said that the big news stories are not always the most satisfying; it is the little stories where you can really make a difference.
It is this idea that is such a human thing. It is this idea in life that is just so true, that the smallest things we do often matter the most. Every interaction, every conversation, every person you encounter, making them feel seen, making them feel valued, making them feel worthy, that is the legacy we can leave.
carrying forward, this understanding that in most days of our lives, the biggest thing we can do will most often be a small act of kindness, decency, and love. If you live every day of your life with that kindness, with that decency, with that love, you will make a change in this world that you cannot even fully appreciate or understand.
showing up fully herself, with unapologetic empathy, with courageous compassion, with remarkable consistency. Every day that I have known Sarah Rojas, as we tried our best to serve the State of New Jersey, every day, she illuminated our lives.
continue to serve, continue to make change, and continue to make a difference. But on this day, your last day serving in the
U.S. Senate, I want you to know that you are loved; I want you to know that your grandmother in Heaven, that your daughter as she grows, that your parents and all of us who love you, we recognize you, we celebrate you, and we thank you for showing a level of patriotism that is the core of what we have talked about for years—that patriotism is love of country and you cannot love your country unless you love—truly love— all your country men and women.
Thank you, Sarah, for 13 years of service. Thank you for loving and living so large. Thank you for making an indelible difference in your service to the U.S. Senate.