In a race that was decided by 83 votes. picking up a 707 vote swing from one race to another was a major deciding factor in my victory. Marilyn helped open the door for me in 2006. which I will never forget as long as I live. The one time in office Marilyn called me about a vote. she asked me to cosponsor a bill which would provide for more visas to Iraqi interpreters who. as the US troops were being drawn down at the end of the conflict. were being left behind. What was so telling about her request is that there was probably no one I knew who was more passionately opposed to President Bushs decision to take us into the war in Iraq. Nonetheless. her opposition to the war did not blind her to the human consequences of people who were selflessly trying to help our troops communicate in a foreign environment.