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Sen. Roy Blunt gives farewell speech Tuesday, urging bipartisanship among parties

Posted at 6:04 PM, Dec 06, 2022
and last updated 2022-12-06 19:17:16-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R - Missouri) bid farewell to Congress on Tuesday.

Blunt addressed his final days in Congress with a 20-minute speech, which you can view on his Youtube page.

During his farewell, he urged his Republican colleagues to work bipartisanship with the Democrats.

"You don't have to agree on everything to work together," Blunt said in his address. "You just have to agree on one thing. And if you find that one thing you agree on, and frankly, particularly if you're successful, both members working together and their staffs think we could do that again."

Blunt started his campaign for senator in 2009 after then-incumbent Kit Bond vacated his seat. He won the primaries in 2010 and later defeated then-Democratic candidate Robin Carnahan in that year's midterms.

In 2016, Blunt won re-election over then-Democratic candidate Jason Kander. He announced that he would not run for reelection five years later.

Before becoming senator, Blunt was a longtime member of the House of Representatives, representing Missouri's 7th District from 1997-2011.

During his time in Congress, Blunt held many roles, including House Majority Leader and chair of the Senate Rules Committee and Senate Republican Policy Committee.

Despite being a Republican senator, Blunt had shown throughout his career to be able to work bipartisanship. In one of his final acts as a member of the U.S. Senate, Blunt led the effort to pass bipartisan bills on same-sex marriage and infrastructure.

Blunt is set to retire on Jan. 2, 2023. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is set to succeed him as senator on Jan. 3.

Schmitt claimed the senate nomination in November, beating Democratic candidate Trudy Busch Valentine in the midterms.