mr. markey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator for massachusetts. mr. markey: mr. president, i would ask for a cessation of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, it s my pleasure to honor my good friend and my colleague, senator cory gardner. cory and i were friends in the house of representatives, and our friendship deepened in the senate, especially after he took the reins as chair and i as the ranking member of the subcommittee on east asia of the senate foreign relations committee in the 115th congress. we were unlikely partners in a lot of ways. he is a conservative republican, and i am a liberal democrat. i know that tom brady is the best quarterback ever. he just might say that it s john elway. but like me cory is a privatist and we did find common ground. we were a two-man wrecking crew. gardner-markey collaborated on such hits as the asia assurance initiative act, sw