With Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Springfield) on the cusp of ending his 12 years of service to Missouri in the U.S. Senate, he delivered his farewell address to that body Tuesday afternoon. The address also was carried live on C-SPAN.
Blunt reflected on his political career in the roughly 15-minute address, thanked Missouri voters for electing him to office and also called on his Senate colleagues to help bring about a “more perfect Union.”
A major theme of Blunt’s speech was bipartisanship. While Blunt is one of the Senate’s more conservative members, he highlighted being able to work with Democrats to pass many bills, including Patty Murray of Washington, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Amy Klobuchar of 1Minnesota, Chris Coons of Connecticut and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
“You don’t have to agree on everything to work together,” Blunt said. “You only have to agree on one thing.”
Blunt highlighted his fellow retiring Republican Senator, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, as another who found common ground with another Senator across the aisle.
“(Inhofe) pointed out (in his own farewell speech) that he’d found somebody that he didn’t agree with on hardly anything — Barbara Boxer (of California) — and they came up with public works bill after public works bill,” Blunt said.
Blunt highlighted his work on behalf of the National Institute of Health and also his efforts to deal with the opioid crisis and mental health issues. He also had words of praise for many of his Senate colleagues with whom he also served in the House of Representatives, like Brown, John Thune of South Dakota and Ben Cardin of Maryland.
“Together we faced big challenges,” Blunt said.
Blunt also expressed gratitude to his wife, Abby, and his family, and also thanked Missouri’s voters.
“To get all of that done, so many other people have to make it possible,” Blunt said. “All of us appreciate every one of our families. I think we all appreciate each other’s families because better than anybody else, we know what families mean and how important it is that your family’s part of this.”
Blunt received a standing ovation from his fellow Senators at the conclusion of the speech.
“What we do here is more important than who we are,” Blunt said as he concluded his speech.
Blunt’s retirement will cap a political career that has spanned nearly half a century.
Blunt’s career began in 1973, when he was appointed county clerk and chief election official of Greene County, a position he held for 12 years. He debuted on the state political stage in 1980, winning the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor, but lost in November of that year to Democrat Ken Rothman
Four years later, Blunt was elected Missouri’s Secretary of State, the first Republican elected to the position in 50 years, and was re-elected in 1988. He made an unsuccessful run for Missouri governor in 1992, losings the GOP primary to William Webster.
Four years later, Blunt made a comeback, as he was elected to represent Missouri’s 7th District, which includes Southwest Missouri, in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served seven terms in the chamber, including three terms as the Republican Party Whip from 2003 to 2009.
Blunt ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Christopher “Kit” Bond in 2010, successfully winning election to the Senate. He was elected vice-chairman of the Senate Republican Conference in 2011 and was elected as chairman of the Policy Committee in 2019.