In Senate Floor Speech, Blumenthal Congratulates UCONN Men’s Championship Basketball Team

(Washington, DC) – In a Senate floor speech today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) congratulated the University of Connecticut (UCONN) men’s basketball team for winning the NCAA tournament last night, defeating the University of Kentucky Wildcats by a score of 60-54. Full text of Blumenthal’s floor remarks are below:

Mr. Blumenthal: I want to begin by remarking on the extraordinary and remarkable triumph of the UCONN men's basketball team last night, a victory that really is beyond my words to describe in the achievement it represents for those players, for the school, for the coach, Kevin Ollie, and for the entire university, really, in the face of last year's disqualification, unfair and unjustified, in my view.

I am so proud of our team and the University of Connecticut for its steadfast and relentless pursuit of this national championship, which last night culminated in a huge and joyous triumph, felt throughout Connecticut and in fact throughout the country.

And I will be commenting in greater length and depth on what this achievement reflects in the University of Connecticut, what it means in college athletics and what lessons we can take from this great triumph.

In the meantime, I am wearing my University of Connecticut tie with the emblem of the Huskies because last night's triumph is only a prelude to tonight. UCONN is rolling with momentum to two national championships. The women, I believe, will prevail tonight, and I expect to collect on another debt, the debt owed to me already by my colleagues from Kentucky, I think will be supplemented tomorrow, and I will ask that my [Kentucky] colleague, Senator Paul, wear this tie if only for a brief moment, and demonstrate who was the better team last night. Both great teams, but Connecticut was the greatest.

Footage of Blumenthal’s floor speech can be found by clicking here.