Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I want to begin by thanking my colleagues--all of them--for their unbelievably generous comments to me personally, in the committee, on the floor, and in the halls and at meetings over the course of the last weeks. I will always be grateful for our friendships.
I thank my wife Teresa, who is here with us, and my entire family for their unbelievable support through this journey.
Five times Massachusetts has voted to send me to the U.S. Senate. Yesterday, nearly three decades after the people of Massachusetts first voted me into this office, the people with whom I work in the Senate voted me out of it. As always, I accept the Senate's sound judgment.
