[Senate Document 108-24]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]






 
                       TRIBUTES TO HON. PETER G. FITZGERALD


                                                           S. Doc. 108-24


                                 Peter G. Fitzgerald

                       U.S. SENATOR FROM ILLINOIS

                                TRIBUTES

                           IN THE CONGRESS OF

                           THE UNITED STATES







             [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7208.001
             

Peter G. Fitzgerald


                                      Tributes

                                Delivered in Congress

                                 Peter G. Fitzgerald

                                United States Senator

                                      1999-2005

                                          a
                                           


                                           


                            Compiled under the direction

                                       of the

                             Joint Committee on Printing

                                Trent Lott, Chairman
                                           
                                      CONTENTS
             Biography.............................................
                                                                      v
             Farewell..............................................
                                                                     xi
             Proceedings in the Senate:
                Tributes by Senators:
                    Allard, Wayne, of Colorado.....................
                                                                     16
                    Allen, George, of Virginia.....................
                                                                     17
                    Boxer, Barbara, of California..................
                                                                      7
                    Burns, Conrad, of Montana......................
                                                                      5
                    Byrd, Robert C., of West Virginia..............
                                                                      3
                    Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota..................
                                                                      4
                    Daschle, Tom, of South Dakota..................
                                                                  7, 19
                    Dayton, Mark, of Minnesota.....................
                                                                      7
                    Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut...........
                                                                     11
                    Dole, Elizabeth, of North Carolina.............
                                                                     13
                    Domenici, Pete V., of New Mexico...............
                                                                     15
                    Durbin, Richard J., of Illinois................
                                                                   xvii
                    Feingold, Russell D., of Wisconsin.............
                                                                     15
                    Frist, William H., of Tennessee................
                                                                      6
                    Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah.......................
                                                                     17
                    Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas................
                                                                     16
                    Inhofe, James M., of Oklahoma..................
                                                                      9
                    Kyl, Jon, of Arizona...........................
                                                                      6
                    Lautenberg, Frank, of New Jersey...............
                                                                   7, 8
                    McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky..................
                                                                 12, 19
                    Nelson, Bill, of Florida.......................
                                                                      8
                    Sessions, Jeff, of Alabama.....................
                                                                      9
                    Shelby, Richard C., of Alabama.................
                                                                      5
                                      Biography

               Peter G. Fitzgerald was elected to the U.S. Senate on 
             November 3, 1998, at age 38. He was the first Republican 
             in Illinois to win a Senate race in 20 years and was the 
             only Republican challenger in the country to defeat an 
             incumbent Democratic Senator in the 1998 election cycle. 
             For several years he was the youngest Member of the U.S. 
             Senate.
                Senator Fitzgerald served on the Commerce; Governmental 
             Affairs; Agriculture; Small Business; and Aging 
             Committees. He chaired the Governmental Affairs 
             Subcommittee on Financial Management, the Budget, and 
             International Security; the Commerce Subcommittee on 
             Consumer Affairs and Product Safety; and the Agriculture 
             Subcommittee on Research, Nutrition, and General 
             Legislation.
                A former commercial banking director and general 
             counsel, Senator Fitzgerald chaired or played a leading 
             role in investigations of Enron and corporate accounting 
             fraud, mutual fund industry abuses, chronic underfunding 
             of employee pensions, the deteriorating condition of the 
             Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, conflicts of 
             interest in the insurance brokerage industry, high fees in 
             529 college savings programs, and waste, fraud, and 
             mismanagement in various Federal agencies. He enacted 
             several measures to improve the financial accountability 
             of government agencies and departments by expanding audit 
             requirements and extending the reach of the Chief 
             Financial Officers Act.
                In 2004, Senator Fitzgerald proposed comprehensive, 
             bipartisan mutual fund reform legislation to protect the 
             household, college, and retirement savings of the 91 
             million Americans who invest in mutual funds. Endorsed by 
             consumer groups and termed the ``gold standard'' of 
             industry reform, Fitzgerald's legislation helped prompt 
             the Securities and Exchange Commission to undertake a 
             vigorous review of mutual fund oversight and regulation. 
             By the end of 2004, the SEC had promulgated final rules 
             addressing 17 of the provisions laid out in Fitzgerald's 
             legislation, including provisions on director 
             independence, fund governance, fee and compensation 
             disclosure, and a prohibition of directed brokerage. In 
             its December 2004 issue, Money Magazine wrote that 
             ``individual investors [will] lose one of their feistiest 
             defenders next month with the departure of U.S. Senator 
             Peter G. Fitzgerald.''
                Senator Fitzgerald built a reputation as an independent 
             voice for Illinois. He consistently backed efforts to 
             control spending and reduce taxes, but at the same time 
             voted for environmental and consumer protections. In early 
             2003, he passed legislation temporarily extending Federal 
             unemployment benefits.
                Continuing work on issues that occupied his attention 
             as a State senator in Illinois, Fitzgerald vigorously 
             promoted competitive bidding in government contracts and 
             opposed taxpayer giveaways to politically connected 
             interests. In 2000, he sought to impose Federal 
             competitive bidding guidelines on a large government-
             funded project in his own State. For 2 days, in a Senate 
             speech the Champaign News-Gazette called ``a wake up call 
             for Illinois taxpayers,'' Fitzgerald brought national 
             attention to numerous instances of cronyism and corruption 
             in Illinois State government.
                Senator Fitzgerald steadfastly fought political 
             corruption in both political parties. In 2001, with 
             support from President Bush, the Senator succeeded in 
             installing professional U.S. attorneys, in each of the 
             three judicial districts in Illinois, who were completely 
             independent of the State's politics. His efforts drew 
             bitter opposition from local Democrats and Republicans, 
             but won widespread editorial and public support and were 
             ultimately followed by corruption indictments and trials 
             that rocked Illinois politics. The Chicago Tribune said: 
             ``[Fitzgerald's] resolve to attack the influence peddlers, 
             the patronage powers, the well-dressed thieves who rip off 
             taxpaying commoners, has given Illinois something 
             enduring.''
               Throughout 2003 and 2004, Senator Fitzgerald aided 
             efforts led by Senator John McCain to save taxpayers an 
             estimated $5 to $6 billion by stopping an Air Force plan 
             to lease 100 tanker jets at inflated prices from the 
             Boeing Company. High-ranking Members of Congress, together 
             with Boeing's large network of lobbyists, tried repeatedly 
             to ram the deal through, but McCain, with Fitzgerald as 
             virtually his only congressional ally, fought back hard 
             and ultimately won when it became apparent that the tanker 
             deal was the product of corrupt negotiations between the 
             Air Force and Boeing.
                From his perch on the Commerce Committee, Fitzgerald 
             was active on aviation issues, with efforts to address the 
             Nation's air capacity shortage and promote greater 
             competition in the airline industry. Fitzgerald helped 
             lead the effort to build a south suburban Chicago airport, 
             as first recommended by the Federal Aviation 
             Administration in 1984. He stopped legislation which would 
             have impeded the south suburban airport and which would 
             have instead dictated the approval of a cost-inefficient 
             plan to tear up and rebuild O'Hare.
               In 2001, Fitzgerald co-authored an amendment which made 
             it difficult and unattractive for air carriers to seek the 
             Federal loan guarantees offered in the airline bailout 
             bill. As a result of Fitzgerald's language, few airlines 
             applied for the loan guarantees and taxpayers saved 
             billions of dollars.
                The Senator also focused on consumer safety issues. In 
             2000, he led a successful drive to modernize outdated 
             Federal testing and safety standards for child car seats. 
             In 2002, he drafted and President Bush signed into law a 
             follow-up measure, known as Anton's Law, to upgrade 
             Federal testing and standards for child booster seats and 
             to require automakers to improve car safety features.
                As the first Illinois Senator since 1986 to serve on 
             the Agriculture Committee, Fitzgerald worked closely with 
             the futures industry in Chicago to modernize the commodity 
             trading laws and to allow the sale of futures on 
             individual stocks. He also worked with Illinois farm 
             groups to open markets for Illinois commodities in the 
             United States and overseas, to promote renewable fuels, 
             and to provide tax relief for family farmers. He enacted 
             legislation to better enable low-income citizens to access 
             their food stamp benefits, as well as legislation to 
             require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make its 
             program benefits available over the Internet. The Senator 
             also called for reform of the Federal farm payment system 
             to ensure Federal aid goes to family farmers who most need 
             assistance, and helped pass legislation to study potential 
             improvements to farm aid programs.
                Senator Fitzgerald garnered numerous awards during his 
             Senate tenure. He regularly received top ratings from 
             taxpayer watchdog groups, including the National Tax 
             Limitation Committee, the National Taxpayers Union, and 
             the Concord Coalition. Americans for Tax Reform repeatedly 
             named Fitzgerald a ``Hero of the American Taxpayer.'' 
             Taxpayers for Common Sense gave Fitzgerald its ``Mr. Smith 
             Goes to Washington'' award for resisting the influence of 
             special interests and working to reduce wasteful 
             government spending. In honor of his dedication to 
             promoting transparent and accountable government, the 
             Better Government Association presented Senator Fitzgerald 
             with its 2003 ``Civic Achievement Award.''
                When Fitzgerald announced on April 15, 2003, that he 
             would not seek re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, the 
             headline to a Daily Herald column asserted ``Illinois will 
             be losing an honest politician in Peter Fitzgerald.'' The 
             Daily Southtown declared, ``Fitzgerald's choice a loss for 
             Illinois.'' The publisher of the Champaign News-Gazette 
             opined, ``Fitzgerald's departure a setback for the concept 
             of clean government.'' ``Illinois will miss Senator 
             Fitzgerald's independence,'' wrote The Southern 
             Illinoisan. Citing his ``savvy and independence,'' the 
             Bloomington Pantagraph said, ``we need more Senators of 
             the Fitzgerald mold.'' A column in the Chicago Tribune 
             thanked him for ``elevating courage and honesty to new 
             heights'' and concluded that ``no one person has done more 
             for political reform in Illinois than Peter Fitzgerald.''
               In the final days of Fitzgerald's career, editorial 
             boards and columnists around the State and Nation hailed 
             his service. In an editorial entitled ``Going out a 
             winner,'' the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that ``[Fitzgerald] 
             represented Illinois with honesty and dedication.'' The 
             Peoria Journal Star editorialized that the ``Senate will 
             miss Fitzgerald's intellect and willingness to take on 
             complex and often unpopular causes.'' A column in the 
             Pioneer Press said ``[Fitzgerald's] been honest, 
             steadfast, accessible, dedicated and independent,'' and a 
             piece in the Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal called 
             the Senator ``The Unsung Maverick.''
               On his last day in office, January 2, 2005, the Chicago 
             Tribune editorial page concluded that it was the ``irony 
             of Peter Fitzgerald'' that ``a Senator acclaimed for his 
             integrity, simply walks away.''
                Born on October 20, 1960, Peter Fitzgerald grew up in 
             Inverness, IL, a suburb northwest of Chicago, and has 
             lived there all his life. He went to St. Theresa's 
             Elementary School in Palatine, IL, and to Portsmouth 
             Abbey, a secondary school in Portsmouth, RI. Fitzgerald 
             attended Dartmouth College, where he majored in Latin and 
             Greek. He graduated from Dartmouth cum laude and with 
             ``highest distinction.'' In 1982-1983, Fitzgerald studied 
             at the Aristotelian University in Salonica, Greece, as a 
             Rotary Foundation International Graduate Scholar. He 
             earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan School of 
             Law. Fitzgerald practiced corporate law for 10 years in 
             Chicago, first in private firms and later as general 
             counsel for a publicly traded bank holding company. He has 
             served on the boards of directors of four banks and one 
             bank holding company.
                From 1993 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 
             1998, Fitzgerald was an Illinois State senator, 
             representing the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He chaired 
             the State government operations committee.
                In 1987, Peter married Nina (A.B., Smith College; 
             M.Sc., London School of Economics; J.D., Harvard Law 
             School). They have one son, Jake, born in May 1992. 
             Senator Fitzgerald especially enjoys playing catch with 
             Jake, an avid baseball player.
                                      Farewell
                              Friday, November 19, 2004

               Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. President, I rise with some sadness 
             on my last time to speak on the Senate floor. It is a very 
             bittersweet occasion for me because I have loved every 
             minute of the last 6 years, and I will miss this body 
             greatly. I am sure I will think about it every remaining 
             day in my life hence forward. The past 6 years have been 
             amongst the most thrilling in my life, and it has been a 
             privilege and honor to serve here.
               I rise really to thank my colleagues for their kindness 
             to me over the years and to thank my staff and my family 
             and the entire Senate staff and everyone who is part of 
             this institution for the wonderful 6 years I have had 
             here.
               I was first elected to the Senate from Illinois in 1998. 
             I was sworn in in 1999, and almost immediately thereafter, 
             the first Presidential impeachment trial in 130 years 
             began. For my first 35 days, I think it was, or 38 days, 
             on the Senate floor, I was immersed in the impeachment 
             trial of former President Clinton. Thereafter, we had 
             times of war, war in Kosovo and Afghanistan and now Iraq. 
             We had the events of 9/11. I have served in times of war 
             and peace, in times of great prosperity, as well as in 
             times of recession. I have seen a whole lot.
               What I will remember most probably are the wonderful 
             people who are part of the Senate. When I entered the 
             Senate in 1999, I came in as the youngest Member. I was 38 
             at the time. I am older now, obviously, and have probably 
             less hair and more gray hair. The oldest Member of the 
             Senate at that time was Strom Thurmond. He was 96 years of 
             age. I will never forget Strom Thurmond telling me, when 
             he was 96, about how he used to work out 45 minutes every 
             day, and I was thinking about whether I might be as active 
             as Strom when I am 96, if I make it that long. Even at 
             that age, I remember Strom giving me advice, telling me 
             about how I could help the coal industry in southern 
             Illinois. It was remarkable to meet someone like that.
               There are many who have retired. There are others like 
             Strom who have passed away. There are some giants who are 
             still with us, such as Senator Robert Byrd. One of my 
             first memories of meeting Senator Byrd is going in to talk 
             to him after I first got elected and asking him to sign 
             for me a copy of his book on the history of the Roman 
             Republic. Early on in my term in the Senate, I actually 
             read Senator Byrd's whole book on the history of the Roman 
             Republic. I have to say it is a marvelous book, and any 
             Member of the Senate who has not read that book should 
             please go out and get it because it has bountiful lessons 
             for every Member of the Senate. It traces the decline and 
             fall of the Roman Republic. It traces the decline of the 
             Republic to the Roman Senate giving up more and more of 
             its powers to the executive, finally to the point where 
             the Senate became meaningless and Rome was just governed 
             by Caesars, dictators, and kings. It is an outstanding 
             book.
               To meet the man who wrote this book and to realize that 
             book was taken from a series of speeches that he delivered 
             on the Senate floor, without notes, as to the hundreds of 
             thousands of names and dates in that book, is truly 
             astonishing.
               Senator Byrd has written a much larger four-volume 
             history of the Senate, which when I retire from this body 
             I hope to have time to tackle. But just to think of 
             someone who could be so productive not only in the Senate 
             for so long but accomplish so much in other areas writing 
             such scholarly books, I will miss people like Senator Byrd 
             and Senator Thurmond and all the others, the leaders with 
             whom I have had the privilege to serve.
               Senator Trent Lott was the majority leader when I 
             entered. For a period of time, Tom Daschle was the 
             majority leader. Now Senator Frist is the majority leader, 
             and soon Senator Harry Reid will be the minority leader. 
             Each one of those individuals is remarkable, in my 
             judgment. They have always been gentlemen of the highest 
             order, and they work very hard. They are very good at what 
             they do in representing their perspectives. They are good 
             and honorable people whom our country is lucky to have.
               Our whips on the Republican side, Don Nickles and Mitch 
             McConnell--Don Nickles has done such a good job for the 
             taxpayers of this country. It has been an absolute 
             pleasure to watch him fighting excessive spending and 
             confiscatory taxation. I have been pleased to join him 
             over and over again to hold the line on spending and to 
             vote against tax increases and for tax relief, something 
             that I view as very important.
               I am retiring at the same time as Senator Nickles. I 
             will miss him greatly as part of this body, but I hope to 
             see him often in life outside of the Senate.
               Other colleagues of mine are so important to me for 
             reasons one might not think of. I did not know what I 
             might have in common with Senator Bunning from Kentucky. 
             He was elected at the same time I was in 1998. Senator 
             Bunning is always so kind in giving me advice, as I advise 
             my own son how to practice his pitching for his Little 
             League games.
               The other night, I saw Senator Bunning in his car, and I 
             said: Jim, having been a Hall of Fame baseball pitcher--
             where else can you get that kind of advice for your son's 
             pitching lessons--I am not going to be able to ask you for 
             advice on how to coach my son on pitching.
               He said: You know what. You can still call me afterward. 
             I will always be there.
               It is comments like that and the friendships like that, 
             where I have spent so much time with the other 99 Members 
             of this body, so many late nights and long weekends and 
             sometimes retreats together, all of us really have become 
             almost kind of like a family. It is much more like family 
             than I think the media in America recognizes because so 
             often the differences between the parties or the 
             personalities get emphasized by the media. But I will miss 
             them all.
               John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Commerce 
             Committee on which I have been privileged to serve the 
             last 4 of my 6 years, a man I admire greatly. Most 
             Americans know about his heroism as a prisoner of war 
             during the Vietnam war, where he was in the Hanoi Hilton 
             for 5 years and the enemy forces tortured him, crushed his 
             bones and could never get him to buckle or back down. Few 
             men have the kind of courage that John McCain has. It is 
             not just physical courage but the courage he has had to 
             always fight for what he believes is right. Sometimes I 
             have not agreed with him, but when he believes he is right 
             he is willing to stand up to some very powerful forces 
             that often threaten him politically, but nothing scares 
             this American hero, John McCain. I am so thankful to him 
             for the opportunity he gave me to chair the Consumer 
             Affairs Subcommittee on the Senate Commerce Committee 
             where I have been able to work on child safety and booster 
             seat safety and automobiles and also to play a very 
             critical role in the corporate governance hearings that we 
             had a few years back first with Enron, Adelphia, WorldCom 
             and those other corporate scandals.
               We have also worked on aviation and transportation, the 
             Internet, telecommunications. There is never a dull moment 
             with Senator McCain chairing the committee, and for the 
             seven new Senators who are coming in who are thinking of 
             what committees they might want to serve on, that is one I 
             have always loved.
               Susan Collins, the chairman of the Senate Governmental 
             Affairs Committee--what a great American, what a hard-
             working American. We all saw that recently with her hard 
             work on putting together the intelligence bill under very 
             difficult circumstances with a very short time to work. I 
             thank her for giving me the opportunity to chair the 
             Financial Management, the Budget, and International 
             Security Subcommittee of the Governmental Affairs 
             Committee, together with my friend and colleague Danny 
             Akaka, from Hawaii, who has been my ranking member on that 
             subcommittee. Danny is such a gentleman. I tell you, I am 
             going to miss him personally, and I am also going to miss 
             the macadamia nuts that he regularly sent over to me. But 
             I may have time to visit him on a beach in Hawaii, now 
             that I think about it. Maybe that is where I will see him 
             and Senator Inouye next.
               But Senator Akaka and I were able to wake up what might 
             normally be thought of as a very sleepy subcommittee of 
             the Governmental Affairs Committee, where we dealt with 
             improving accountability of government financial 
             reporting. We increased audit requirements on Federal 
             agencies, we extended the Chief Financial Officers Act to 
             the Homeland Security Department, and we put it in to 
             apply to the new intelligence directorate. But, also, we 
             have worked very hard in that subcommittee to spotlight 
             some of the great challenges our country confronts.
               I think in that regard, with the staff on that committee 
             on both sides of the aisle being so able, we have been 
             able to put together some of the best hearings the Senate 
             has had on issues such as our defined benefit pension 
             problem in this country. The Pension Benefit Guaranty 
             Corporation has a massive deficit with no end to 
             increasing deficits on the horizon.
               We have had hearings on the government-sponsored 
             entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the 
             Homeowner Bank Boards and other entities that are 
             privately owned but have government charters, and what 
             risk they may or may not pose to the system.
               We had a series of hearings on mutual funds and the 
             problem of high fees. Mr. President, I was honored to have 
             your co-sponsorship on a landmark bill to reform the 
             mutual fund industry. While we were not successful in 
             passing that legislation this year, the Securities and 
             Exchange Commission has adopted many of the items in that 
             bill, including requiring independent chairmen of the 
             boards of mutual funds in America.
               Just this week we did a hearing on the problems that we 
             have seen in the insurance brokerage industry in which we 
             heard from experts on all sides and got Washington's first 
             perspective on the indictments that have come out of 
             Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office in New York. We 
             had a hearing on the issue of the expensing for stock 
             option compensation, which has been so actively debated 
             amongst accountants in our country.
               Finally, the Financial Accounting Standards Board is 
             going to require publicly traded corporations to expense 
             stock option compensation on their earnings statements.
               On the Agriculture Committee, if I think of the word 
             ``gentleman,'' I would think of Senator Lugar, who was the 
             chairman of the Agriculture Committee when I first came 
             in, and Senator Cochran, from Mississippi, who is the 
             current chairman of the Agriculture Committee. It is 
             regretful I will not be here a second term because I now 
             have enough seniority on the Agriculture Committee to 
             chair it in the second term, believe it or not.
               But Senators Lugar and Cochran have been a pleasure to 
             work with. We passed a number of measures to make life 
             better for our Nation's farmers, some very simple but 
             important changes allowing farmers to file all their USDA 
             paperwork on the Internet.
               We improved child nutrition and passed legislation to 
             make it easier for people who depend on government 
             assistance for their nutrition and food needs, that those 
             people through the Food Stamp Program can now get their 
             benefits across State lines--somebody who may live in St. 
             Louis and goes back and forth to Illinois, or somebody 
             living in northwest Indiana and goes back and forth to 
             Chicago.
               Also, a very important industry in my State, Mr. 
             President, and in your State as well, is the commodity 
             futures industry. In Chicago, we have the Board of Trade 
             and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. We also have the 
             Chicago Board Options Exchange. I am told, directly and 
             indirectly, in Chicago we employ some 200,000 people in 
             the futures industry.
               The Agriculture Committee has given me the opportunity 
             to work on the rewrite of our commodity trading laws. I 
             was pleased to be an active participant in the Commodity 
             Futures Modernization Act, where we first allowed the 
             trading of futures on individual stocks in this country. 
             That market is now developing. I hope to see it come back.
               I want to say some words of thanks to the senior Senator 
             from Illinois, Mr. Dick Durbin. He referred to us as the 
             political odd couple--one conservative Republican, one 
             liberal Democrat, from the land of Lincoln.
               More often than not, we probably disagreed from a policy 
             perspective on some of the key issues confronting our 
             Nation, but it never prevented us from working well 
             together. In fact, we jointly held 163 breakfasts, 
             constituent breakfasts together. Every Thursday morning at 
             8:30 when the Senate was in session, Senator Durbin and I 
             would host a breakfast, allow constituents who were 
             visiting Washington from Illinois to ask us any question 
             that was on their mind, whether it was political or policy 
             related, and we paid for the breakfast. My understanding 
             is, there are not many other examples of bipartisan 
             breakfasts where you have one Republican and one Democrat 
             who have such a weekly gathering for their constituents.
               We worked well together on the selection of judges. We 
             almost never had an open vacancy that we couldn't resolve 
             on the district courts in the northern, central, or 
             southern Illinois districts.
               Senator Durbin was terrific in supporting me in my 
             effort to clean up corruption in Illinois. One of the most 
             important things I did in that regard was to bring in 
             independent U.S. attorneys to the State of Illinois who 
             were not beholden to the political class in the State. 
             That was something new. When I went to appoint U.S. 
             attorneys, I found everybody and their brother, 
             particularly all the local politicians on both sides of 
             the aisle, trying to influence the selection of my U.S. 
             attorney.
               I didn't want to lay awake at night wondering who was 
             trying to influence my U.S. attorney, either to go after 
             someone unjustly or to protect someone wrongly from 
             prosecution. I, ultimately, decided for that reason to do 
             a nationwide search for our U.S. attorneys, which yielded, 
             I think, amongst the best U.S. attorneys anywhere in the 
             country: Patrick Fitzgerald in the Northern District of 
             Illinois, Jan Paul Miller in the Central District of 
             Illinois, and Ron Tenpas, in the Southern District of 
             Illinois. They are doing a tremendous job and no one is 
             asking whether they are influenced politically or what 
             their motivation would be. I thank Senator Durbin for 
             supporting that effort to bring independent U.S. attorneys 
             to Illinois.
               Senator Durbin is a man whose stamina, hard work, and 
             intelligence I greatly admire. He is very devoted and 
             hard-working. He travels back to his hometown of 
             Springfield every weekend. That is a harder commute than 
             my commute. I travel back to Palatine, IL, which is only 
             about 12 miles northwest of O'Hare. So I had a fairly easy 
             commute; I just had an hour and a half plane flight and 
             then a short drive and I was at my House. But Senator 
             Durbin would go back to O'Hare every weekend and then 
             catch another flight down to Springfield and he does that 
             every weekend. He is constantly back in the State of 
             Illinois.
               I think we worked well on just about everything, except 
             aviation. We had a disagreement over O'Hare Airport. I 
             think I am right. He thinks he is right. But aside from 
             that difference of opinion, it has been a pleasure to work 
             with him.
               I am sure Senator Durbin will be an effective spokesman 
             for his side of the aisle as the whip for the incoming 
             Democratic caucus in the 109th Congress. I do not 
             necessarily wish Senator Durbin success in that role, but 
             I do wish him well.
               Barack Obama, my successor, I wish him well. It was a 
             privilege to have lunch with him yesterday in the Senate 
             dining room. I served with Barack Obama in the State 
             senate for 2 years. He was coming in, in the legislature 
             in Springfield, in my last 2 years of service there. He is 
             an uncommonly bright and talented young man. He is 1 year 
             younger than I. He was the first African American 
             president of the Harvard Law Review. He is almost 
             unequaled in his potential and promise. I am confident he 
             will be a credit to the State of Illinois. I think he may 
             surprise the political pundits by voting, crossing party 
             lines at times that you don't expect him to. It may be a 
             challenge for him with Senator Durbin as his whip. But I 
             see Barack Obama as possibly being a fairly moderate 
             voice, more moderate than many people suspect.
               To my staff, many of whom are gathered in the Senate 
             Chamber, I could not have been blessed with a more 
             wonderful staff to have gotten me through the last 6 
             years. I first need to start by thanking former Senator 
             Bob Dole and the current Senator Elizabeth Dole for 
             recommending to me the man who is my chief of staff, 
             Gregory Gross. Greg worked for Senator Bob Dole when he 
             was the leader in the Senate and during his Presidential 
             campaign in 1996. He worked for Mrs. Dole when she was at 
             the American Red Cross. He is extremely bright, as Bob 
             Dole told me when I first called for a reference on Greg 
             Gross.
               Bob Dole said to me: Greg is what you call a genius. And 
             I thought, that is the kind of person I want, a genius on 
             my staff. But he is more than just a brilliant and 
             talented and knowledgeable chief of staff.
               He is also incredibly devoted and incredibly loyal, and 
             I thank him for that.
               For the first 3 years, my chief of staff was Richard 
             Hertling. He is now at the Justice Department. Richard did 
             an outstanding job in getting us up and running. It is 
             very hard when a new Senator is coming in and assembling a 
             new staff, as some of the new Senators are finding out.
               I have been blessed to have had an outstanding 
             legislative director, Terry Van Doren from Macoupin 
             County, IL, whose father owns a cattle operation in 
             Macoupin County. Terry started out doing agriculture 
             policy for me. Terry was just what the doctor ordered. He 
             had straight A's from the University of Illinois in 
             agriculture sciences. Then he got a master's in 
             agriculture policy from Colorado State University. He had 
             a 4.0 there. I was called by the dean of the University of 
             Illinois Agriculture School. He told me what an 
             outstanding young man Terry is. Terry has been 
             instrumental in agricultural policy. He has been my 
             legislative director.
               Before him, Joe Watson was my legislative director, a 
             brilliant young Harvard Law School graduate whom I plucked 
             out of the Sutter and Hopkins law firm. He is now at the 
             Commerce Department serving under Secretary Evans.
               My office manager, Sherri Hupart, has done such an 
             outstanding job; always pleasant and kind and willing to 
             help, and calm under pressure.
               Her predecessor, Tina Tyrer, came to me from Senator 
             Fred Thompson's office. She had some 20 years of 
             experience in Washington running Senate offices.
               My Chicago chief of staff, Maggie Hickey, is a one-woman 
             army, entirely devoted, very hard-working. I want to thank 
             her.
               My staff director for my Financial Management and Budget 
             and International Security Subcommittee, Mike Russell, and 
             the team he has put together, which I think enabled us to 
             do the best hearings on some of the key issues confronting 
             our financial markets in this country, I can't thank them 
             enough.
               I thank my schedulers and executive assistants, Lanae 
             Denney, Julie Cate, Julie Grisolano, and Doris Gumino. 
             Scheduler has to be the toughest job on Capitol Hill 
             because you know how busy Senators' schedules get and how 
             it is for them to hear when a Senator is tired, or 
             frustrated, or thinks he is overscheduled. Schedulers hear 
             about it. There is no question about that. I thank my 
             schedulers for being there, staying here working late into 
             the evening. They have to be here even when the rest of 
             the staff has gone home.
               My campaign manager and first communications director, 
             Mike Cys, is now in the private sector. He is brilliant 
             and energetic and enthusiastic. I thank him for all his 
             support.
               I thank my communications, legislative assistants, 
             legislative correspondents, receptionists, front office 
             and back office, duty entry personnel, the interns, the 
             kids we have had serve over the years.
               My staff handled 6,000 to 10,000 letters a week for the 
             past 6 years. The first year we came in, we were getting 
             over 10,000 e-mails a day on the impeachment. My State 
             office has handled over 22,000 individual constituent 
             cases. They conducted traveling office hours all over the 
             State, 1,574 traveling office hours in 675 towns. My State 
             staff met individually with 831 mayors and village clerks 
             telling them how to apply for Federal grants for sewer and 
             water.
               I thank the staff on the floor of the Senate: Dave 
             Schiappa, the floor staff, Myron Fleming, the chief 
             doorkeeper, the cloakroom staff, the Parliamentarians, 
             leadership and Sergeant at Arms staff, and the pages who 
             come and go every semester. I always look at them. They 
             have to get up at 5 in the morning to do school work 
             before they can come here. But they work so hard. I hope 
             their experience has been as wonderful as we want it to be 
             for them.
               And, finally, I would be remiss if I didn't thank the 
             most important people in my life, my family, my mother and 
             father, who always supported me not only through my 12 
             years in public service, but through all the years of my 
             life. It was always clear they would have been there to 
             lay their lives down for their son.

               Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield, I 
             would like to thank him for his kind words and wish him 
             very well. We have served together for 6 years. Every 
             Thursday morning when we were in session we had free 
             coffee and doughnuts, a tradition that was started by 
             Senator Paul Simon. I believe we were the only two 
             Senators, being Democrat and Republican Senators, offering 
             this opportunity for the visitors who come to Washington 
             to ask a few questions and take a few photographs. But it 
             worked very well. It became a very interesting experience 
             for Illinoisans and others coming to Washington. We did it 
             many times. It reached the point where I would give his 
             answers to the questions and he would give my answers to 
             the questions. We distinguished ourselves as being the 
             only two Senators offering free coffee and doughnuts, 
             which may account for the crowds that showed. But we did 
             that for 6 years. We have worked closely together and 
             effectively and successfully together on the appointment 
             of judges, U.S. attorneys, and many projects that were 
             local to Illinois. We disagreed on some issues but managed 
             to maintain our friendship and warm relationship 
             throughout.
               Senator Fitzgerald announced his retirement for the 
             right reasons. He said he wanted to spend more time with 
             his family. That is something which we all admire very 
             much.
               I have enjoyed serving with Senator Fitzgerald, and I 
             wish him the very best, whatever the next venture might 
             be, and I hope we will continue to work together.

               Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. President, I thank Senator Durbin 
             for the kind words. I hope to come back to his breakfasts 
             and get some of those free doughnuts myself. I won't have 
             to pay for them anymore. But I will miss it.
               I thank Senator Durbin.
               Finally, I thank my brothers and sisters--Gerry, my 
             older brother, Jim, Tom, my sister Julie. A lot of people 
             in public office worry that their siblings might embarrass 
             them. I have never had to worry because they are 
             wonderful, upstanding people, all of whom I think are 
             probably worried about what I might do that they might 
             worry about. They are wonderful people.
               I thank my wife Nina. We met together in DC, when we 
             were interns back when we were 19 years old, and after 
             college and law school we got married. I moved her, 
             plucked her from her home State of Colorado. She came to 
             Illinois. I want to thank her for her steadfast support 
             through all my years in public office.
               Finally, last but not least, I thank my 12-year-old son 
             Jake. Jake missed his father at baseball and basketball 
             games. I have been in public office for his entire 12 
             years. I am going to make it up to Jake now. I am pleased 
             that he is doing so well as a baseball pitcher. I thank 
             Jim Bunning and others for their advice.
               And finally, the people of Illinois from one end of the 
             State to the other, from Cairo in the south to Rockford in 
             the north, thank you for your kindness to me. I have loved 
             every minute of it. You gave me your trust, and I worked 
             hard every day to keep it safe.
               Thank you all. God bless. I will miss you all.


                                           

                                      TRIBUTES

                                         TO

                                 PETER G. FITZGERALD
                              Proceedings in the Senate
                                               Monday, October 11, 2004
               Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, at the close of the 108th 
             Congress, we say farewell to Senator Peter G. Fitzgerald 
             who is leaving us after one term.
               The former congressional intern, commercial banking 
             attorney, and Illinois State Senator was elected to the 
             U.S. Senate in 1998. In fact, he was the first Republican 
             in Illinois to win a Senate seat in 20 years.
               It has been a busy 6 years for Senator Fitzgerald. 
             During his brief tenure in this Chamber he served on the 
             Senate Agriculture, Commerce, Government Affairs, Small 
             Business, and Aging Committees. He was active in a number 
             of legislative areas, including mutual fund reform, 
             consumer safety protection, aviation, environmental, and 
             agricultural issues. And he actively pursued the expansion 
             of overseas markets.
               During his 6 years in this Chamber, Senator Fitzgerald 
             threw himself into some of the most challenging and 
             complex issues considered by the Senate. In 2000, he 
             attacked waste in government contracting and crafted 
             legislation to improve the process by which contractors 
             are awarded taxpayer moneys. He later worked with me to 
             address the Pentagon's ``revolving door''--an egregious 
             practice utilized by government contractors in exerting 
             influence over the contracting process. In 2002, the 
             former commercial banking attorney lashed out at Enron 
             executives who robbed thousands of workers of millions of 
             dollars of their life savings, and he later crafted 
             legislation to reform the mutual fund industry.
               Time and again he showed himself to be a Senator who is 
             not intimidated by complexity. He did not simply talk 
             about the issues of the day, he took time to study them, 
             and understand them, and then try to do something about 
             them. Time and again he demonstrated that he was a 
             workhorse, not a show horse. The Senate needs more Members 
             like him, Senators to whom we can look when confronting 
             difficult and complex issues.
               And the Senate needs more Senators like Senator 
             Fitzgerald who, on a number of high-profile issues, 
             including gun control, health care, patients' bill of 
             rights, the environment, and ANWR drilling, put the good 
             of the people of his State, in particular, and the 
             American people, in general, above partisan party 
             interests and ideology.
               In attacking political corruption and cronyism, he was 
             bipartisan, not simply in rhetoric, which is easy, but 
             rather in action, which is a good deal more difficult.
               I wish Senator Fitzgerald and his wife Nina the best as 
             they begin a new phase of their lives.
                                             Tuesday, November 16, 2004
               Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, today I want to pay tribute 
             to Senator Peter Fitzgerald as he prepares to leave the 
             U.S. Senate.
               For the past 6 years, Senator Fitzgerald has done 
             important work as a member of the Agriculture Committee, 
             on which we had the pleasure of serving together. Senator 
             Fitzgerald supported the creation of a commission to 
             investigate changes to the Federal farm payment system. We 
             share the belief that small, family-owned farms should 
             receive adequate assistance from the Federal Government, 
             and the creation of this commission has helped to ensure 
             this goal.
               I am also grateful for the support that Senator 
             Fitzgerald has shown for legislation I have introduced 
             related to the tax treatment of leasehold improvements. He 
             and I understand the need to modernize business 
             infrastructure by shortening the cost recovery period for 
             changes that commercial landlords make in space rented to 
             tenants. By reducing the cost recovery period, the expense 
             of making these improvements would fall more into line 
             with the economics of commercial lease transactions, and 
             more building owners would be able to adapt their 
             buildings to fit the needs of today's business tenants. I 
             thank Senator Fitzgerald for his strong support of this 
             important initiative.
               Senator Fitzgerald also recognizes the importance of 
             improving the overall health of Americans, and has shown 
             this through the introduction of his Healthy Lifestyles 
             Act. Encouraging physical activity is an essential 
             component in the fight against obesity, and is an 
             important tool in preventative health care. I commend 
             Senator Fitzgerald for his work in this area.
               More generally, Senator Fitzgerald has proven himself to 
             be a dedicated public servant who has served the State of 
             Illinois and the country with honor. Today, I join my 
             colleagues in paying tribute to Senator Fitzgerald and 
             wish him well in all of his future endeavors.
                                            Thursday, November 18, 2004
               Mr. BURNS. * * * I served only one term with John 
             Edwards and Peter Fitzgerald. They, too, will be missed in 
             the Senate. Their contribution was huge. * * *
               Peter Fitzgerald comes from Illinois. As to all of these 
             men, I want to say you do form relationships here, and 
             there is a certain bond that attracts us all, as we learn 
             that even though you may be on the same side of the aisle 
             or the opposite side of the aisle, one could always agree 
             or disagree without being disagreeable. That is what makes 
             the Senate a special place.
               We will miss all of these men, but I am looking forward 
             to those who take their place as, there again, new 
             relationships will be developed, a new bond dealing with 
             the old challenges of a free society, with those who love 
             the Constitution and love this country who were prepared 
             to die for it and would if asked to do so today. No one 
             doubts the depth of their patriotism nor their service to 
             their country. We welcome them as we say goodbye to old 
             friends, old relationships that will never be forgotten.

               Mr. SHELBY. Senator Peter Fitzgerald from Illinois is a 
             very young man, one of the youngest men to come to the 
             Senate. He chose to serve only one term. I think he has 
             been involved in some of the big issues of the day. He is 
             a man of integrity. He is a man who wants to do the right 
             thing. He is always going to be involved in the issues of 
             the day, as he has been.
               Peter, we wish you and your family the best as you go 
             back into the private sector where you have excelled and 
             done things so well and for so long. * * *
               We are going to miss all these Senators, on both sides 
             of the aisle, because collectively they bring a lot of 
             experience and a lot of wisdom to the Senate. They have 
             served, as I said, with distinction and honor here.

               Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, Peter Fitzgerald has devoted 
             his life to public service.
               He first ran for office before the ink on his law degree 
             had dried. And, in the last 6 years, we have come to know 
             Peter as a man of integrity, as a man of honor, and as a 
             friend.
               In the Illinois Senate, he was a staunch opponent of 
             corruption. He often had to go it alone. But he still got 
             results.
               He continued his mission in the U.S. Senate--where he 
             arrived in 1998 as our youngest Member.
               In only 6 years, he has made his mark. He helped uncover 
             the devastating corporate fraud and accounting scandals. 
             And he helped us pass tough new regulations to prevent 
             them from reoccurring.
               He has been an ardent advocate for Illinois farmers and 
             businesses, always working to make sure that markets are 
             open and barriers are low.
               Whether working to appoint honest Federal prosecutors or 
             taking a hard look at major federally supported projects, 
             he has always stood for doing the right thing.
               Peter has made sure that we have tax relief that helps 
             families and creates new jobs. And he has helped protect 
             our children with tough new child safety seat laws.
               Our Senate family will miss Peter, Nina, and Jake. They 
             have each enriched our lives, their State, this Senate, 
             and our country. And we wish them all the best in the 
             future.
                                              Friday, November 19, 2004
               Mr. KYL. Mr. President, obviously, in the brief time 
             here I am not going to be able to say everything that 
             comes to mind about the Senators who are retiring but to 
             summarize a little bit of the information for the benefit 
             of those who might be watching.
               When you have long, distinguished careers of Senators 
             and they decide not to run for reelection but leave the 
             body, there is a lot that comes to mind about their 
             service. I think it is good to remind ourselves of just a 
             few of these things because of the service they have 
             provided, both to the people of their own States and to 
             the United States. * * *
               Mr. President, my colleague Peter Fitzgerald from 
             Illinois is an extraordinarily smart and focused 
             individual who came to the Senate to represent his State 
             of Illinois and did so with great passion, enthusiasm, and 
             courage, in some cases, when he had to stand against a lot 
             of other Members who were attempting to act in ways he 
             felt were inimical to the interests of his State.
               Peter Fitzgerald, though here only one term, I think 
             will be remembered as a great Senator from the State of 
             Illinois and certainly a colleague I will miss personally.
               These are only four of the colleagues who are going to 
             be leaving us at the end of this session. These are 
             Senators whom I became particularly close to. I wanted to 
             say a word about each one of them, to wish them all the 
             very best, bid them farewell, also to know they have too 
             many friends around here to ignore. And we are going to be 
             staying in touch with every one of them.
               We thank them for their service to the people of their 
             States, to the Senate, and to the people of the United 
             States of America.

               Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, like the distinguished 
             Senator from Illinois, I take a couple of minutes this 
             afternoon to come to the floor to express in the most 
             heartfelt way, as he just has, my profound thanks for the 
             opportunity I have had to serve in the Senate.
               I congratulate him on his successful career and wish him 
             well in all of his endeavors.

               Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I would like to make some 
             comments  about  our  friends  who  are  departing  the  
             Senate. * * *
               I have to say a word about Senator Fitzgerald because of 
             some tough environmental votes. There he was standing with 
             me. I remember one time he said, I have to stand with you 
             because my son will never talk to me again. It was good to 
             work with him as well. * * *
               Thank you very much.

               Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, I want to close by 
             associating myself with the remarks of the Senator from 
             California and her regards and respect to the other 
             retiring Members.

               Mr. LAUTENBERG. I want to talk about our colleagues who 
             are retiring in a few minutes. There are a lot of good 
             people here on both sides of the aisle.
               We are going to miss all of our friends over here, but I 
             am going to miss Don Nickles. I have had a lot of fights 
             with him, but I know he always knew where he wanted to go. 
             I respected that.
               Peter Fitzgerald, newer among us, but a gentleman to be 
             noted, and Ben Nighthorse Campbell comes from a State I 
             love. I have two grandchildren there. He is a decent 
             fellow. We are going to miss all of them. I will talk 
             about them later.

               Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, while the Senate 
             is holding in abeyance for the final omnibus 
             appropriations bill that the House is getting ready to 
             file sometime tonight, I want to take the opportunity to 
             pay tribute to our retiring Senators: Tom Daschle, Fritz 
             Hollings, Don Nickles, John Breaux, Ben Nighthorse 
             Campbell, John Edwards, Peter Fitzgerald, Zell Miller, and 
             Bob Graham.
               I wish to make a speech about each one of these Senators 
             who has become a dear friend, in some cases, over the 
             years, such as Fritz and Peatsy Hollings, who took special 
             interest in me as I came to the Senate and made sure I got 
             on his Commerce Committee, which has been just an 
             extraordinary experience with him as chairman, as well as 
             with the present chairman, John McCain. * * *
               Peter Fitzgerald is a very active member of our Commerce 
             Committee, who, in the comments by his colleague from 
             Illinois, Senator Durbin, today said it very well, could 
             work so well with Members of both sides. * * *
               So for all of these names I have mentioned, in the great 
             poem ``Ulysses,'' he says, ``I am a part of all that I 
             have met,'' and I am a part of all these great Senators. I 
             am much richer for it and for having been their friend.

               Mr. LAUTENBERG. I talked before about Tom Daschle. I 
             also will discuss the rest of our colleagues who are 
             leaving the Senate.
               When the 109th Congress convenes in January, nine of our 
             current colleagues will not be here. I take a few moments 
             to pay tribute to them. Collectively, our colleagues have 
             served in the Senate for 144 years. We will miss them. * * 
             *
               Mr. President, I will talk about a couple of my friends 
             on the Republican side. * * *
               Peter Fitzgerald, the junior Senator from Illinois, like 
             me, came to the Senate after a good business career. He 
             has been here only for one term but in those 6 years he 
             established a solid reputation as an independent Member, 
             committed to doing what he thinks is right, even if it 
             puts him at odds with other members of his party.
               He and I serve on the Governmental Affairs Committee, 
             and I have been impressed by his willingness to hold 
             hearings on scandals and malfeasance in the mutual fund 
             and insurance industries. Perhaps because of his business 
             background, he understands the importance of effective 
             oversight by the Federal Government.
               I regret he is leaving. He has been a gentleman, and it 
             is too bad that we do not have more like Peter Fitzgerald. 
             He is a wonderful person to work with. He has got a ready 
             smile, and he is a gentleman at all times.
               I close my remarks by noting that these men have made 
             remarkable contributions to our society, and all Americans 
             should be grateful. I would tell those who are retiring, I 
             retired 4 years ago, and I did not like it. So here I am. 
             Perhaps there is hope for any of them who want to rejoin. 
             If you want to come back, I am here to tell you it can be 
             done. Just make sure that you get to keep your seniority.
               Mr. President, I yield the floor and thank my colleagues 
             for their indulgence while I made my remarks.

               Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, let me say--this is probably 
             the first and only time I have ever said this--I have been 
             listening carefully to my friend from New Jersey, and I 
             agree with everything he said.

               Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I want to share a few 
             remarks about our friend and colleague Peter Fitzgerald. 
             It has been a real honor for me to serve with him. We have 
             had quite different backgrounds.
               Peter grew up in suburban Chicago and attended very fine 
             parochial schools. He attended Dartmouth College where he 
             graduated cum laude with highest distinction majoring in 
             Latin and Greek. He got his law degree from the University 
             of Michigan and came from a very prominent family there.
               He is a wonderful person, a person I got to know, 
             although our backgrounds are different, I having grown up 
             in south Alabama, the son of a country store owner, going 
             barefoot and swimming in the creeks. We enjoyed talking 
             with one another. He liked Bear Bryant, and we talked 
             about a number of things.
               One thing he shared with me on a number of occasions is 
             his belief that there should be in government, in the 
             business of the United States and the State governments, 
             integrity. He talked with me about his recommendation to 
             President Bush about a U.S. attorney appointment in 
             Chicago. He wrestled with it and talked with me over a 
             period of weeks about the fact he believed that even if he 
             chose any of the very fine candidates who had been 
             discussed in Chicago, he would be choosing somebody from 
             that area that people would think was not the best, was 
             not independent, that they might be influenced by someone.
               He had a growing feeling that he should choose someone 
             from outside the area. It is an usual thing to do, but 
             that is what he did. He searched the country over and 
             chose U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald, a nonrelative, I believe, 
             who tried some of the biggest terrorist cases in New York. 
             That is who he recommended and that is who he put there. 
             Why? Because he wanted the best prosecutor with the best 
             background, with the most integrity, and total 
             independence to do the right thing there. That indicated 
             to me just how serious he was about this issue.
               When he ran for the Senate, he was in the banking 
             business, an attorney in the banking business. He promised 
             he would not involve himself and would recuse himself from 
             decisions dealing with banking. People said that was not 
             necessary. Others did not do that. He said he thought it 
             was the appropriate thing to do, and he adhered to that 
             the entire time he was here, recusing himself on a number 
             of such issues.
               He chose the higher standard, the road less traveled. He 
             did not like fraud, corruption, and abuse. As a member of 
             the Consumer Affairs Subcommittee of the Commerce 
             Committee, he took a key role in the investigation of 
             Enron and the abuses that occurred there.
               He was a constant and strong opponent of no-bid 
             contracts. He saw a lot of those in Illinois. He did not 
             like it, and he spoke out against it in a very strong way. 
             Particularly, there was a matter involving Springfield and 
             a major construction contract. He feared the good old 
             boys, those with influence and inside word, would be the 
             beneficiaries of those contracts rather than the 
             taxpayers. He thought it should be bid on a professional 
             basis, and he battled very hard for that. He did not like 
             and does not like cronyism, and he spoke out against it.
               His commercial banking experience led him to study the 
             behavior of the stock markets and brokerage firms in the 
             Federal thrift plan, which he admired greatly, saying it 
             was the most efficient and best plan for investors that he 
             was aware of because the fees and costs were so low.
               He, therefore, was a champion of integrity and full 
             disclosure of fees in the brokerage business and spoke out 
             aggressively in favor of that. Why did he say that? 
             Because he thought insiders were taking too big a piece of 
             the pie and if that money, instead of being paid out in 
             fees, sometimes never seen by the investors, had been 
             reinvested in the stocks or mutual funds, that the 
             investor would have ended up with a lot more money over a 
             lifetime, and he had charts to show it.
               He spoke out against that special interest group because 
             he believed it was the right thing to do. He believed in 
             representing the consumers, and those are the people who 
             make America go.
               He has a wonderful wife Nina who attended Smith College, 
             the London School of Economics, and Harvard Law School. 
             They have one son, Jake. He has chosen to spend more time 
             with them. We can certainly understand his decision to do 
             that.
               I also thank him for his service to the people of the 
             United States. He did so in this single term with 
             integrity, courage, decency, and a great spirit of 
             cooperativeness. I have enjoyed serving with him, as did 
             all of us in this body, and I wish him Godspeed.

               Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I know the hour is getting late 
             and others want to be heard, but I briefly want to express 
             some thoughts about our colleagues who are leaving this 
             wonderful body. Today we have heard some very compelling 
             speeches, particularly the one given by my good friend, 
             Tom Daschle of South Dakota, our Democratic leader.
               I was pleased to see so many of our colleagues remain on 
             the floor to listen to the departing Democratic leader. 
             The words he expressed about his State, his staff, his 
             colleagues, his feelings about the country, and the 
             future, are instructive. I know it can sound repetitive 
             when people hear us talk about our colleagues this way, 
             but I think it is important for the public to note that 
             while they might hear only about the bickering, the part 
             that you do not often see is the deep respect, affection, 
             and caring that goes on among the Members of this body. 
             This affection comes despite the differences that exist in 
             red States and blue States, or being strongly conservative 
             or strongly liberal.
               There is this weaving of a common denominator through 
             each and every one of us, particularly after years of 
             common service in this remarkable institution we call the 
             Senate. There is a deep and abiding respect for those who 
             have come here, those who have served here, those who have 
             tried to make a difference for our country.
               It may seem like it is inside discussion, but I hope the 
             public understands how deeply felt these comments are 
             about colleagues who will no longer have the pleasure of 
             spending each and every day in this Chamber, but whose 
             friendship and collegiality will continue in the years 
             ahead as we encounter each other in different walks of 
             life. * * *
               Mr. President, Peter Fitzgerald is also a good friend. 
             He has represented his State of Illinois and is leaving 
             after only one term.
               Again, as Senators from the opposite sides of the aisle, 
             Senator Fitzgerald and I often disagreed. We found some 
             common ground on some issues, including the Patients' Bill 
             of Rights, the gun show loophole, and campaign finance 
             reform. I wish him good luck when he returns to the 
             private sector where he has been an extremely successful 
             attorney in the banking industry. I caution him not to do 
             too well. I am on the Senate committee responsible for 
             overseeing that carefully. I say that, of course, with 
             tongue in cheek.
               I certainly wish he, Nina, and Jake all the best in the 
             years to come. * * *
               I apologize for taking this extra time. It is important 
             that the public hear Members talk about each other, even 
             those who disagreed on matters, that they understand why 
             this institution works more than 230 years after the 
             Founders created it.
               I, as a Senator from Connecticut, take unique pride in 
             the Senate because it was Roger Sherman and Oliver 
             Ellsworth, both of Connecticut, who offered at the 
             Constitutional Convention the idea of the Senate 
             representing small and large States. Arguing over a 
             unicameral system, Sherman and Ellsworth said, how about 
             having a second body with equal representation, regardless 
             of the size or the population of the State. As a result, 
             this institution was created. It has been a great place 
             that has served our Nation for so long and I am confident 
             it will in the future.
               We have been blessed by the participation of those who 
             are leaving. All of us wish each and every one of them the 
             very best in the years to come.

               Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to bid 
             farewell to the Senator from Illinois.
               Peter Fitzgerald came to the Senate 6 years ago already 
             a champion. He was the first Republican to win a Senate 
             seat in Illinois in 20 years. He was the only Republican 
             challenger to defeat an incumbent nationwide that year. 
             And upon his arrival 6 years ago, he was the youngest 
             Member of the U.S. Senate. So expectations for this new 
             Senator were high.
               Senator Fitzgerald exceeded those expectations. From the 
             beginning, he fought to cut wasteful government spending, 
             fraud at the public till, and mismanagement of the 
             people's money. He led the fight against the recent 
             corporate scandals that damaged our economy.
               Senator Fitzgerald has been a leader in bringing 
             government into cyberspace by sponsoring successful bills 
             to allow farmers to work with the Agriculture Department 
             online. He has also been a champion for improving child 
             nutrition, by making it possible for consumers to use food 
             stamps to make purchases online. He has focused on 
             consumer safety by requiring stricter standards for child 
             car seats and car safety features.
               Illinois, where Senator Fitzgerald was born and raised, 
             is the State that sent Abraham Lincoln to the White House. 
             Abraham Lincoln was one of America's greatest Presidents, 
             and the first President of the Republican Party. The great 
             State of Illinois is known as ``The Land of Lincoln.''
               But I am a little jealous of the claim Illinois has on 
             this great American. Abraham Lincoln was born in a log 
             cabin in Hodgenville, KY, my home State, and we 
             Kentuckians like to think of him as one of our own.
               I have welcomed Senator Fitzgerald to my home State 
             before, and he is welcome again in the Bluegrass State 
             anytime, especially Hodgenville.
               Senator Fitzgerald had a long career of public service 
             even before joining this body, and I have no doubt he will 
             continue to serve the people of Illinois when he returns 
             to the Prairie State. Most of all, he will enjoy the 
             company of his wife, Nina, and their young son, Jake.
               Because Senator Fitzgerald is a passionate Chicago Cubs 
             fan, I suspect Jake will be going to a lot more games. The 
             Senate's loss is Jake's gain, and a gain for the 
             Fitzgerald family and the people of Illinois. I thank the 
             Senator from Illinois for his service to his State, the 
             Land of Lincoln, and to the Nation.

               Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, It truly has been a privilege 
             to serve in the Senate with my good friend Peter 
             Fitzgerald. As many Illinois newspapers wrote when Peter 
             announced he would not seek reelection, his decision to 
             retire from the U.S. Senate is a true loss for the people 
             of Illinois. I could not agree more.
               In the 1998 race for his Senate seat, Peter proved 
             himself to be an exceptional campaigner, defeating a well-
             known incumbent in a State that had not elected a 
             Republican in 20 years. And in that year, he was the only 
             Republican challenger in the country to defeat an 
             incumbent Democratic Senator. But Peter's vision, message 
             and leadership resonated with Illinoisans, and they 
             elected him by a 6-point margin.
               Arriving in Washington as the youngest Member of the 
             Senate, Peter hit the ground running as a strong voice for 
             Illinois. He has been a steadfast advocate for taxpayers, 
             consistently backing efforts to cut wasteful spending and 
             reduce taxes. And he has been a proponent for consumer 
             safety issues, focusing on areas such as improving car 
             safety and child booster seats.
               I have the utmost respect for Peter. His courage and 
             determination, even when faced with a daunting challenge, 
             are remarkable. He has gone up against unscrupulous 
             corporations and political corruption. He has had 
             significant roles in investigating corporate accounting 
             fraud, and Peter also has fought political corruption 
             across party lines, leading the Chicago Tribune to 
             conclude that ``no one person has done more for political 
             reform in Illinois than Peter Fitzgerald.''
               I have been privileged to serve alongside Peter on the 
             Senate Agriculture Committee, working together on issues 
             important to our strong agriculture States. As an advocate 
             for increasing hunger awareness myself, I admire his work 
             to make food stamp benefits for low-income families more 
             easily accessible, including making program benefits 
             available over the Internet.
               Peter and I share many similar views, but what is not 
             widely known is that we look for the same qualities in our 
             extraordinary staff members. In fact, managing the 
             Fitzgerald office is chief of staff Greg Gross. Greg is a 
             very talented member of his team, and I can attest to this 
             because Greg also did such good work with me at the 
             American Red Cross. I thank Greg for all his counsel 
             during my first 2 years in the Senate.
               It is widely known that Peter Fitzgerald is a principled 
             and independent leader. He has time after time proven that 
             he will go against the flow, go against what is popular, 
             because he is loyal to his own ideals and doing what he 
             believes is right for the people and families he 
             represents. Peter is a refreshing elected official; a 
             devoted family man to his wife Nina and son Jake; and a 
             diligent public servant. It goes without saying, people in 
             Washington and people in Illinois will sorely miss Senator 
             Peter Fitzgerald.

               Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I take a moment to 
             recognize the contributions that Senator Peter Fitzgerald 
             has made to this Senate, to the State of Illinois, and to 
             the Nation.
               As a fellow Midwesterner, I have always appreciated 
             Senator Fitzgerald's honest and fair-minded approach to 
             the issues. From the moment he arrived here in the Senate, 
             it was clear that he would keep his own counsel, doing 
             what he thought was best for the people of Illinois 
             without regard to powerful interests on either side of the 
             aisle.
               Above all else, I appreciate Senator Fitzgerald's 
             unfailing commitment to reforming our campaign finance 
             system. He was among that steadfast group of Republican 
             Senators who stood firm in their support of the McCain-
             Feingold bill, despite enormous pressure to do otherwise. 
             His support of our bill took a great deal of personal and 
             political courage, and it is something that I truly 
             admire, and for which I will always been grateful.
               As he moves on from the Senate, Senator Fitzgerald can 
             be assured that his friends and colleagues here will long 
             remember the contributions he made, and the dignity with 
             which he served. I wish him all the best as he moves on to 
             a new phase of his career.

               Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise today to take this 
             opportunity to honor our departing colleagues who are 
             leaving the Senate. In almost each new Congress a 
             different group of 100 men and women comes together from 
             different backgrounds and political philosophies, 
             representing different interests and constituencies, but 
             through all our differences, we develop respect and 
             admiration for each other. Many times we step across the 
             aisle and work together on legislation and oftentimes 
             genuine friendships are created. As I pay tribute to these 
             departing Senators, whether they have been here one term 
             or seven, they are a remarkable group and we thank them 
             for their honorable service.
               Senator Peter Fitzgerald is retiring from the Senate 
             after 6 years of service to his home State of Illinois.
               Prior to joining the Senate, Senator Fitzgerald was a 
             commercial banking attorney and in this position played a 
             significant role in investigations of corporate accounting 
             fraud, mutual fund industry abuses, chronic underfunding 
             of employee pensions, and waste, fraud and mismanagement 
             in various Federal agencies. In 1993, he embarked upon his 
             public service work when he began serving as an Illinois 
             State Senator until his election to the U.S. Senate in 
             1998 at the young age of 38.
               Peter was the first Republican in Illinois to win a 
             Senate race in 20 years. Even though his time here was 
             brief, he has been able to establish himself as a fiscally 
             responsible Senator. He has consistently backed efforts to 
             control spending and reduce taxes. Through these actions, 
             Senator Fitzgerald has received many awards from taxpayer 
             watchdog groups such as the Americans for Tax Reform, who 
             has repeatedly named him a ``Hero of the American 
             Taxpayer.''
               While serving as chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee 
             on Consumer Affairs and Product Safety, Peter has also led 
             a successful fight to improve outdated consumer safety 
             regulations. These regulations brought about higher 
             testing and safety standards for child car seats and 
             improved car safety features that benefit all Americans.
               Senator Fitzgerald will be missed, though I'm sure he is 
             now looking forward to spending more time with his wife 
             Nina and their son Jake. I wish him the best of luck in 
             his future endeavors.
                                            Saturday, November 20, 2004
               Mr. ALLARD. Madam President, I take a moment to talk 
             about four colleagues whom I have had an opportunity to 
             serve with in the Senate. * * *
               Madam President, I want to express my appreciation for 
             the hard work of Peter Fitzgerald. I am disappointed he is 
             only serving one term in the Senate. It is a voluntary 
             decision that he made to step down after one term.
               His family has business interests in Colorado. I have 
             enjoyed working with him, particularly when we served on 
             the Agriculture Committee, and I began to respect his 
             values as well as his work ethic.
               These four individuals have distinguished themselves in 
             my mind. I have appreciated having the opportunity to 
             serve with them in the Senate, and I hold them in great 
             esteem. I wish them the very best as they pursue life's 
             journey, having served in a distinguished way in the 
             Senate. I wish them the very best and Godspeed.

               Mrs. HUTCHISON. Madam President, I rise to say goodbye 
             to several of my colleagues, dear friends and colleagues 
             with  whom  I  have  had  the  pleasure to  work  in  the  
             Senate. * * *
               It is often an uphill battle for a freshman Senator to 
             make an impact, but Senator Peter Fitzgerald, a former 
             commercial banking attorney, has chaired or led 
             investigations of corporate accounting fraud, mutual fund 
             industry abuses, chronic underfunding of employee pensions 
             and waste, fraud and mismanagement in Federal agencies.
               In 2004, he proposed comprehensive, bipartisan mutual 
             fund reform legislation to protect the household, college, 
             and retirement savings of 95 million Americans. This bill, 
             endorsed by consumer groups and reform-minded industry 
             leaders, points the way for future legislation on this 
             subject.
               The Senator also focused on consumer safety issues. In 
             2000 he led a successful drive to modernize outdated 
             Federal testing and safety standards for child car seats. 
             In 2002, he drafted and President Bush signed into law a 
             followup measure known as Anton's Law, to upgrade Federal 
             testing and standards for child booster seats and to 
             require automakers to improve car safety features.
               I wish him well in his future endeavors.
               Madam President, I will miss all of my colleagues. As we 
             take the opportunity to go forward in a new Congress, we 
             will make new friends, but we will never forget the old 
             ones.

               Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, I want to share my views, as 
             did Senator Hutchison and others, about our colleagues who 
             are leaving for new adventures in life. * * *
               I want to speak about four others, though, including 
             Peter Fitzgerald, whom I will miss. He will always be 
             known for two ideas and principles of life--honesty and 
             integrity. He has certainly fought hard for what he 
             believed was right, and you can always trust his word. * * 
             *

               Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment 
             of the Senate's time, as we near completion of our duties 
             for the 108th Congress, to honor the work and contribution 
             to the Republican Party, the Senate, and the Nation of my 
             friend, the Senator from Illinois, Senator Peter 
             Fitzgerald. Senator Fitzgerald has chosen to take his 
             youth and talents and serve in other areas outside of the 
             Senate. Our loss will be, no doubt, the gain of others.
               Senator Fitzgerald provided a good, youthful, and modern 
             face to the Republican Party. Our party will only stay 
             strong if we maintain within it our own diversity of 
             perspectives, and I am grateful for the contribution of 
             Senator Fitzgerald.
               Elected to the Senate in 1998 at the very young age of 
             38, the Senator immediately added his vigor, intelligence, 
             and experience in financial markets to address many of the 
             complicated issues faced by our government and society as 
             the Nation turned into the 21st century.
               When corporate scandals erupted early in this century, 
             threatening to undermine confidence in markets, the Senate 
             was, indeed, fortunate to be able to turn to Senator 
             Fitzgerald for his thoughtful and informed guidance. As a 
             former commercial banking attorney, he used his expertise 
             in his positions on the Commerce and Governmental Affairs 
             Committees, particularly his chairmanship of the 
             Subcommittee on Financial Management, the Budget and 
             International Security, to chair or support numerous 
             hearings to illuminate the problems and necessary 
             legislation we needed to return probity to financial 
             dealings and confidence in our markets. The modern 
             capitalist system is what provides growth and wealth to 
             all the societies of the world, and the American markets 
             are the most dynamic in the world. They are also the most 
             diversified, and the vast majority of our citizens depend 
             on them for employment, security and retirement. We owe a 
             great deal of appreciation to Senator Fitzgerald for his 
             work on corporate fraud issues, and I would like to thank 
             him, once again.
               Senator Fitzgerald is a reformer, through and through. 
             It is his dedication to our system of government and 
             economy that drove him to find ways to improve it. He 
             applied his drive to reform to consumer issues, government 
             affairs, financial management, and the complicated mesh of 
             revenue collection that is the current tax system of this 
             country. And he quite deservedly received numerous 
             acclamations from groups advocating for consumer and tax 
             reform.
               Through this all, he never lost his focus on his home 
             State. He didn't work for Illinois to get reelected, he 
             worked for Illinois because of his dedication to his State 
             and his high standards of public service. A column in the 
             Chicago Tribune, a good paper not known for being ragingly 
             Republican, commended him for ``elevating courage and 
             honesty to new heights.'' That sounds right to me.
               I will miss the presence of Senator Fitzgerald, his 
             thoughtful floor statements before this body, and the 
             impeccable manners of a gentleman that are so naturally 
             his. His State can be proud of the Republican they sent to 
             serve too briefly in this body. We will miss his 
             intelligence and dedication, and I will miss a good 
             Senator and friend. I expect that, with his relative 
             youth, we will hear much more of Peter G. Fitzgerald.

               Mr. DASCHLE. Today, I would like to say a few words 
             about eight additional Senators with whom I have served 
             these last historic 6 years, all of whom will be leaving 
             when this Congress ends.
               Senator Nickles, Senator Campbell, Senator Fitzgerald, 
             and Senator Miller, it has been a privilege to work with 
             each of you. You have each sacrificed much to serve our 
             Nation and I am sure you will continue to serve America 
             well in the years to come. * * *
               I have to be honest, Mr. President, it was not my wish 
             to depart with these fine Senators. But it has been my 
             honor and a joy to serve with them, and one that I will 
             remember all the days of my life.

               Mr. McCONNELL. We cannot conclude the 108th Congress 
             without a sense of sadness. There are many--in fact there 
             are too many--great Senators who are leaving this 
             institution. I have already had an opportunity to express 
             my goodbyes to Senator Nickles, Senator Campbell, and 
             Senator Fitzgerald.
               I also wish a happy and healthy future to our colleagues 
             across the aisle, Senator Daschle, Senator Breaux, Senator 
             Hollings, Senator Bob Graham, Senator John Edwards, and 
             Senator Zell Miller. Each of these men has made a lasting 
             contribution to this marvelous institution.

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