[Senate Document 108-27]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





                                                           S. Doc. 108-27


 
                     TRIBUTES TO HON. ZELL MILLER


                                           

                                     Zell Miller

                       U.S. SENATOR FROM GEORGIA

                                TRIBUTES

                           IN THE CONGRESS OF

                           THE UNITED STATES

[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]




Zell Miller


                                      Tributes

                                Delivered in Congress

                                     Zell Miller

                                United States Senator

                                      2000-2005

                                          a
                                           


                                           


                            Compiled under the direction

                                       of the

                             Joint Committee on Printing

                                Trent Lott, Chairman
                                           
                                      CONTENTS
             Biography.............................................
                                                                      v
             Farewell..............................................
                                                                    vii
             Proceedings in the Senate:
                Tributes by Senators:
                    Allard, Wayne, of Colorado.....................
                                                                     22
                    Allen, George, of Virginia.....................
                                                                     23
                    Burns, Conrad, of Montana......................
                                                                     13
                    Chambliss, Saxby, of Georgia...................
                                                                      3
                    Cochran, Thad, of Mississippi..................
                                                                     20
                    Domenici, Pete V., of New Mexico...............
                                                                     20
                    Frist, William H., of Tennessee................
                                                                     17
                    Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah.......................
                                                                     25
                    Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas................
                                                                     22
                    Kyl, Jon, of Arizona...........................
                                                                     18
                    McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky..................
                                                                  8, 26
                    Nelson, Bill, of Florida.......................
                                                                     19
                    Nickles, Don, of Oklahoma......................
                                                                     14
                    Santorum, Rick, of Pennsylvania................
                                                                     23
                    Sessions, Jeff, of Alabama.....................
                                                                     10
                    Shelby, Richard C., of Alabama.................
                                                                     17
             Proceedings in the House of Representatives:
                Tributes by Representatives:
                    Isakson, Johnny, of Georgia....................
                                                                     27
                                      Biography

               After serving two terms as one of the Nation's most 
             popular Governors, Zell Miller was elected to the U.S. 
             Senate in 2000 and quickly established himself as a strong 
             voice for the conservative, commonsense approach to 
             issues. Though he is a lifelong Democrat, Miller kept his 
             pledge to serve all 8.5 million Georgians and no single 
             party in the Senate. He chides the National Democratic 
             Party for putting partisanship ahead of the people in his 
             best-selling book, A National Party No More: The 
             Conscience of a Conservative Democrat. In the Senate, 
             Miller regularly reached across the aisle to work with 
             Republicans to cut taxes, improve education, confirm the 
             President's nominees, and strengthen national security by 
             giving the Commander in Chief his full support in Iraq and 
             in the global war on terrorism.
               Miller also introduced legislation to crack down on 
             illegal aliens, to strengthen the Montgomery GI Bill for 
             soldiers, to demand more accountability from CEOs, to 
             improve conditions in the Southern Black Belt and to 
             significantly increase FCC fines for indecent broadcasts. 
             Miller also focused on Georgia's top industry--
             agriculture--through his membership on the Senate 
             Agriculture Committee and through working with fellow 
             Southeastern Senators to improve conditions for Georgia 
             farmers. Miller also served on the Banking and Veterans' 
             Affairs Committees.
               The native Georgian served in elective office in six 
             different decades, beginning with mayor of his hometown of 
             Young Harris, GA, in the late fifties. When he was elected 
             to the U.S. Senate to serve the remaining 4 years of the 
             late Senator Paul Coverdell's term, Miller became only the 
             third Georgian--following Richard B. Russell and Herman 
             Talmadge--to be elected as both Governor and Senator. As 
             Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, Miller gained 
             national prominence for passing the Nation's first two-
             strikes-and-you're-out law against violent felons, for 
             starting the Nation's only voluntary pre-kindergarten 
             program for 4-year-olds and for creating the nationally 
             acclaimed HOPE scholarship, which has transformed 
             education in Georgia and which many other States have 
             sought to duplicate.
               The Washington Post in 1998 called Miller the most 
             popular Governor in America, and Governing Magazine named 
             him Governor of the Year in 1998. His program was dubbed 
             by the Los Angeles Times as ``the most far-reaching 
             scholarship program in the nation,'' and his pre-
             kindergarten program won an award for innovation from the 
             Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Throughout his 
             career, Senator Miller has credited two major influences 
             for his success: his strong mother and the U.S. Marine 
             Corps. Born February 24, 1932, in Young Harris, GA, Miller 
             followed his parents' footsteps into the teaching 
             profession and into politics. He was raised by his single 
             mother after his father died when Miller was only 17 days 
             old. Miller gets his work ethic and his appreciation for 
             the arts from his mother, Birdie Miller, an art teacher 
             and one of Georgia's first female mayors. She hauled 
             stones from a mountain creek to build the family home that 
             Miller still lives in today. Though he never knew his 
             father, Stephen Grady Miller, Senator Miller followed in 
             his father's footsteps by becoming a University of Georgia 
             graduate, a history professor at Young Harris College and 
             a State senator.
               Miller's passions are history, baseball and music. He is 
             a walking baseball encyclopedia who is equally at home at 
             the Grand Ole Opry or Symphony Hall. He has written six 
             books, including Corps Values: Everything You Need To Know 
             I Learned in the Marines. Miller has been married to 
             Shirley Carver Miller since 1954. They have two sons, 
             Murphy and Matthew, four grandchildren and four great-
             grandchildren. He also has two yellow Labs, Gus and 
             Woodrow, named after characters in one of his favorite 
             books, Lonesome Dove.
                                      Farewell
                             Thursday, November 18, 2004

               Mr. MILLER. Mr. President, I have listened with a 
             grateful heart to the generous words of my colleagues, the 
             Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] and earlier this 
             morning the Senator from Alabama [Mr. Sessions]. I will 
             remember and cherish those words as long as I am on this 
             Earth. I thank each of them for their friendship.
               I see my good friend from Montana [Mr. Burns] on the 
             floor. I thank him, a fellow marine, for his friendship.
               This means more to me than I have words to express. I 
             did not come to this Senate expecting events to unfold as 
             they have. I guess I am living proof that politics is not 
             an exact science.
               In Shakespeare's ``Hamlet,'' his friend Laertes went off 
             to college and his father Polonius gave him the usual 
             advice that you give when your sons go off to college. 
             After all the words of caution that I hope fathers still 
             give their sons, Polonius ended with these words:

               This above all: to thine ownself be true,
               And it must follow, as the night the day,
               Thou canst not then be false to any man.

               I have always believed that and I have tried to live 
             that.
               I have had a most blessed personal life--personal and 
             political. Since 1959, voters in Georgia have been putting 
             me in one office or another, and I am deeply grateful to 
             them.
               God has richly blessed my personal life. My wife Shirley 
             has been the perfect partner for over 50 years. She has 
             been my companion, my critic, my crutch. We have two 
             wonderful sons, Murphy and Matthew, and our daughters-in-
             law and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. We 
             are very blessed.
               If he had lived, Paul Coverdell would be ending his 
             second 6-year term. As I told some of my colleagues last 
             night, not a day has gone by since I have been here that I 
             have not thought of this good man who left us so suddenly 
             and so tragically.
               My most fervent hope during these 4\1/2\ years has been 
             that Paul would be pleased with the way I have served and 
             finished out his term. I know Paul is pleased, as I am, 
             that our mutual friend Johnny Isakson, one of the finest 
             public servants I have ever known, will soon be our 
             successor in this great body.
               I also wish to say what an honor it has been to serve 
             the last 2 years with my colleague from Georgia, Senator 
             Saxby Chambliss.
               Now as this page turns on the final chapter of my career 
             as a public servant, I cannot help but remember how it was 
             in that first chapter of my life. Growing up in a remote 
             Appalachian valley, we lived in a house made of rocks my 
             mother gathered from a nearby creek with only an open 
             fireplace for heat, no indoor plumbing, no car, no phone, 
             and no father.
               On summer nights before the TVA dammed up the Hiawassee 
             River and brought electricity to that Appalachian valley, 
             after the Moon had come up over the mountain, the 
             lightning bugs were blinking, while the frogs croaked down 
             at the creek and the katydids sang, every once in a while 
             a whippoorwill's lonesome cry could be heard.
               I remember after my mother had finally quit working and 
             was getting us quiet and ready to go to bed, we would play 
             a game. The game would start when the headlights of that 
             rare car would penetrate the darkness, maybe once every 
             half hour or so on that narrow strip of asphalt across a 
             big ditch in front of our house. We would stare at the 
             headlights of the car as it made its way around the steep 
             curves and finally over Brasstown Mountain. We would count 
             and see how long it took from the time it went by our 
             house until its taillights would disappear through that 
             distant gap and was no longer a part of that one and only 
             world I knew.
               It was often at this time my mother would laugh and say, 
             ``You know what's so great about this place? You can get 
             anywhere in the world from here.''
               That world has turned many times since I first traveled 
             that narrow road through that gap and out of that valley. 
             It has been a long road with many twists and turns, ups 
             and downs, bumps, and, yes, a few wrecks, a road that 
             twice carried me to the highest office of the ninth 
             largest State in this Nation, to all the continents and 
             famous cities of the world and, finally, to the Senate.
               So I leave this Senate, knowing that once again my 
             mother has been proved right. One could get anywhere in 
             the world from that little mountain valley and back again. 
             Everywhere I have ever been really was on my way back 
             home.
               I thank all of you. I thank my family. I thank my very 
             special staff that has stayed with me through thick and 
             thin. I thank my friends and especially my God. It has 
             been one heck of a ride.


                                           

                                      TRIBUTES

                                         TO

                                     ZELL MILLER
                              Proceedings in the Senate
                                            Thursday, November 18, 2004
               Mr. CHAMBLISS. Madam President, I rise this morning to 
             pay tribute to a very special friend of mine and a friend 
             of Georgia's and a friend of the United States of America. 
             We are in what we think are our last couple of days of the 
             108th session. That being the case, this will be the last 
             few days that Senator Zell Miller will be in Washington in 
             his capacity as the senior Senator from our great State of 
             Georgia. I want to take a minute just to talk about this 
             man who has been such an inspiration to any number of 
             politicians and others in my State relative to his public 
             service to our State and to our country.
               Zell Miller was born in a little town called Young 
             Harris, GA, which is in the mountains of north Georgia, 
             one of the most beautiful parts of our State. His father, 
             unfortunately, died when he was 17 days old, so he was 
             raised by his mother, whom he has repeatedly talked about 
             in the books he has written as well as in his speeches. 
             His mother Birdie was the most influential person in his 
             life. She did a heck of a job with Zell Miller as a young 
             man and remained an inspiration to him throughout his 
             adult life, and particularly in his life as a public 
             servant to our State.
               Zell did one of the best things any man can do; and that 
             is, he married way over his head early in his life. He 
             married his sweetheart, Shirley. Before he went into the 
             Marine Corps, he tells the story about leaving for boot 
             camp and he was afraid when he got back she might not 
             marry him, so while they were in the mood they ran over to 
             South Carolina, which is not far away from his hometown of 
             Young Harris, and got married; and they have had decades 
             of glorious years together. They have two wonderful sons 
             and four grandchildren and now four great-grandchildren 
             whom the two of them have enjoyed. Now he will have even 
             more of an opportunity to spend time with them and enjoy 
             them even more.
               Zell entered the Marine Corps at an early age. Again, as 
             he has repeatedly said in his books, as well as in his 
             speeches, it is the best thing he ever did in his life 
             from the standpoint of straightening him out. All of us go 
             through difficult times in our early years, and there are 
             specific instances that make us what we are and sort of 
             chart the course for where we are going to be in future 
             years. Zell has been very open about the fact that the 
             Marine Corps is the institution that really put his mind 
             in the right frame that it needed to be for his adult 
             years.
               Zell began his educational career at Young Harris 
             College following his tenure in the Marine Corps, and then 
             ultimately graduated from the University of Georgia, which 
             happens to be the same institution of which I graduated. 
             Again, having a colleague such as Zell to look to as a 
             fellow alumnus is a great privilege.
               Zell then began a teaching career, and also very shortly 
             entered a public service career. He served two terms as a 
             State senator from his home county area of Young Harris. I 
             think that was the foundation for what was going to 
             ultimately become an outstanding career for him in public 
             service. Like all of us, he suffered defeat as well as 
             victory. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of 
             Representatives twice. Having run for Congress myself, and 
             lost the first time, I know it is not much fun, but you 
             also find out it is the greatest experience of your life. 
             You meet the nicest people in the world, and you get a 
             real sense of the fact that there are just literally 
             thousands and thousands of people in that congressional 
             district who have the same beliefs and philosophy that you 
             do, so you want to continue to make a difference.
               Even though Zell lost those races when he ran twice, 
             that did not deter him from continuing in public service. 
             He served as our Lieutenant Governor for four terms, 16 
             years. He just did a masterful job. The Lieutenant 
             Governor in Georgia has a little more power than some of 
             the Lieutenant Governors in other States around the 
             country. He presided over the State senate, and in that 
             capacity had the obligation and the power to appoint 
             committee chairmen and to be involved in legislation from 
             a direct standpoint. He did an outstanding job as 
             Lieutenant Governor.
               Following those four terms, he ran for Governor and, in 
             1990, was elected Governor of our State for the first of 
             his two terms. In 1990, he campaigned on the fact that if 
             we were going to have a State lottery, he wanted to make 
             sure the funds that were generated by that lottery were 
             used for one purpose, and one purpose only, and that was 
             to improve the quality of education in our State.
               I have to say if there is any one man who is responsible 
             for the improvement of the quality of education in my 
             State of Georgia, it is Zell Miller because he not only 
             campaigned on doing that, he made absolutely certain all 
             the funds generated from that State lottery went to 
             improve the quality of education.
               He is the father of the HOPE scholarship. It is kind of 
             interesting, in every campaign now, every statehouse 
             campaign and gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial 
             race now, those folks who have been involved in State 
             politics for a while who are running for those races all 
             claim responsibility for the HOPE scholarship. But 
             everybody knows that the father of the HOPE scholarship, 
             the person who was responsible for its passage and 
             implementation, is Zell Miller.
               The HOPE scholarship is a provision in our law which 
             says if you graduate from a high school in Georgia and you 
             have a B average, you can go to any State institution that 
             you are successful in applying to and getting into, and 
             your tuition will be paid for. As long as you maintain a B 
             average, that tuition will be paid for throughout your 
             college career. It has been one of the best things we have 
             ever had happen in our State.
               We have been successful keeping our top students at home 
             and attending our State universities. One of the main 
             reasons is the HOPE scholarship. We have kids who might 
             otherwise go to a school in the Northeast or the West 
             Coast that has a much greater national reputation, but 
             they do not give the scholarships like the HOPE 
             scholarship to all their students who maintain those 
             averages.
               So Zell Miller has been primarily responsible for 
             keeping an awful lot of the top kids graduating from our 
             public institutions as well as our private institutions in 
             Georgia at our State institutions. As a result of that, we 
             have seen the average SAT scores at the University of 
             Georgia, for example, rise every single year since the 
             HOPE scholarship went into effect. I do not know what the 
             exact number is for the entering class this year, but I 
             have confidence in saying the average SAT score for the 
             entering freshmen class at the University of Georgia this 
             year is well in excess of 1250, probably closer to 
             something in excess of 1300. At Georgia Tech it is higher 
             than that. And in other institutions we have seen the same 
             impact. We are simply getting the brightest and the best 
             because of Zell Miller and his commitment to the people of 
             Georgia and his commitment to increasing the quality of 
             education in our State.
               As Governor, he put into effect a voluntary pre-K 
             program for 4-year-old kids. All of us know that the 
             earlier we involve our children in the education process, 
             the more likely they are to come out, at the end of the 
             day, with a better education. It is one of the best things 
             we ever did from the standpoint of putting our kids in 
             touch with the school system at an early age. And it has 
             worked.
               I could go on and on talking about the things that 
             Senator Miller did as Governor, but I want to sum it up 
             with two anecdotes.
               First, he was committed to ensuring that the education 
             of the children of our State improved every year he was in 
             public service. I will never forget his last 4 years. I 
             remember specifically because my wife was a teacher in the 
             public school system at that point in time. We were ranked 
             49th out of 50 with respect to the average teacher 
             salaries. Zell Miller put into place a salary increase--
             and he made a commitment to the teaching community and 
             made a commitment to the legislature that they were going 
             to have to abide by this. He was going to provide a 6-
             percent increase in teacher salaries every year for his 
             last 4 years, about a 25-percent increase for teacher 
             salaries across the board. He not only made the 
             commitment, but he did it. We went from 49th in average 
             teacher salaries to somewhere in the high twenties over 
             the 4 years of Zell Miller's last tenure as Governor of 
             our State.
               He also made a commitment to the people of Georgia that 
             if you elect me for 4 more years, then I am not going to 
             be just your average Governor and put it on cruise control 
             and go out as a popular guy--and he had every opportunity 
             to do that.
               I will never forget riding back up here on an airplane 
             after one weekend, and I happened to sit beside Zell. This 
             was several years after he had left the Governor's office, 
             but I was a Member of the House. I said: Zell, I guess if 
             there is anything about you, and I were to remember one 
             thing over everything else, it is the fact that in your 
             last 4 years you did what you thought was right, 
             regardless of the fact that you could allow the 
             legislature to pass whatever they wanted and you could 
             sign it into law. A lot of the legislation were very 
             popular bills with the people back home, but they simply 
             were not the right thing to do. He would veto them. He 
             would veto them, not because he had anything against the 
             issue or the people promoting the bill, but it was the 
             right thing to do. It was not in the best interest of all 
             Georgians.
               A lot of people ask me today, Why has Zell Miller 
             changed? Zell Miller has never changed. In his heart, he 
             believes we live in the greatest country in the world. He 
             believes in his heart that he and I live in the greatest 
             State in this great country. He is totally committed to 
             doing what he thinks is right. He did it then when he 
             vetoed a lot of popular bills, and he didn't have to do 
             that; it would have been easy not to do that. That is why 
             today when he speaks it is from his heart because he is 
             doing what he thinks is right.
               As he closes out his career, he and I are both mindful 
             every day of the fact that Zell Miller didn't want to be 
             here. It was not his wish that he serve in the Senate when 
             he was asked to serve. He ran for the Senate in 1980 and 
             was not successful. But he had no intention of coming back 
             to the Senate. Unfortunately, Paul Coverdell, who was his 
             very close friend and one of my political mentors, passed 
             away in 2000, and our Democratic Governor, Roy Barnes, 
             went to Zell Miller and said: Your State needs you, your 
             country needs you, and I need you to fill the unexpired 
             term of Paul Coverdell. So Zell, after much thought about 
             it, decided to leave the mountains of north Georgia and 
             his hometown of Young Harris and go back into public 
             service, to come to Washington. He and Shirley have been 
             here since July 2000, when he was appointed to fill that 
             unexpired term. He ran in 2000 and was elected to the 
             remainder of the unexpired term. So it wasn't his desire 
             to come back, but, as always, when he has been called upon 
             to fill a void and to be a public servant for his State 
             and his country, he has answered that call--not unlike 
             when he joined the Marine Corps.
               As he leaves this great institution at the end of this 
             term in another 6 or 8 weeks, this man is going to be 
             missed by those who have looked up to him from a political 
             perspective. He has been a person that all of us in 
             politics admire because he has always operated in a 
             bipartisan way and made sure he reached across the aisle 
             and brought Republicans into his Democratic administration 
             when he served as Governor. Probably one of the highlights 
             of that is the man who is replacing him in the Senate, my 
             good friend Johnny Isakson, who has been a long-time 
             Republican in our State.
               In Zell's second term as Governor, he knew that with 
             education being a priority he needed a top-flight person 
             to head up our State board of education. He reached out to 
             Johnny Isakson, who was then out of politics, and brought 
             him into his administration to chair the State board of 
             education. Johnny did a terrific job. As a result of that, 
             he came to the House to replace Newt Gingrich, and now he 
             will be replacing Zell Miller in the Senate. That is 
             simply the kind of guy Zell Miller is.
               So it wasn't politics; it was what was in the best 
             interest of our State, what could he do to continue to 
             improve the quality of the education of our kids. He just 
             did the right thing. It is the same as he did in 
             supporting our Republican President. He knew it was the 
             right thing to do. That is why he was so vocal about it. 
             Regardless of the consequences politically, he did what in 
             his heart he thought was the right thing to do.
               So now as Zell goes back to Young Harris, I fully expect 
             him to stay engaged in the process. He is not the kind of 
             guy who is going to wilt away, but he will not be as 
             active as he has been for the last three decades. He will 
             be sitting on his front porch with his two dogs, Gus and 
             Woodrow, playing with his grandchildren, and enjoying his 
             family. I am sure his mind will, at times, wander back to 
             his times in Atlanta at the State capital, and to the days 
             he spent in this institution, and he will have some great 
             memories. But those of us who have had the privilege and 
             the opportunity to serve with him are going to have even 
             better memories.
               Zell Miller is a great American, a great Georgian, and 
             he is somebody all of us are going to miss in the day-to-
             day world of politics. But he is somebody who, when we 
             look back and say, you know, if I charted my course the 
             way he did, I can leave this institution with a great 
             feeling knowing that I have done what was in the best 
             interest of my State and in the best interest of my 
             country. So to Zell Miller and to Shirley, I say thank 
             you. Julianne and I have a great appreciation for you and 
             a great friendship with you. We look forward to continuing 
             that friendship. We will miss you here in the U.S. Senate. 
             God bless you.

               Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the late Senator Paul 
             Coverdell was a great Senator and dear friend of many of 
             us in this body. His untimely passing left a great hole in 
             our hearts. But it also took from Georgia and from America 
             a great leader.
               At the time, none of us had any idea how we would ever 
             manage without him. I remember when we were doing tributes 
             to him after his death. There was great emotion on the 
             floor of the Senate. I remember Senator Phil Gramm 
             tearfully giving Senator Coverdell a farewell. We all felt 
             great affection for him.
               So when the Governor of Georgia, Governor Barnes, needed 
             someone to step into Paul Coverdell's place to be the 
             voice for Georgia, he called upon a fellow whom I had not 
             previously met but had heard of for some time, former 
             Governor Zell Miller.
               Happily retired and without personal ambition for 
             further public office, Zell Miller responded to the call 
             of duty. And what a difference he has made in this body. 
             In a time of turmoil, a time of terrorist attacks, of 
             economic challenge, of foreign war, when America needed 
             somebody to lead, Providence blessed America with a great 
             Senator, Zell Miller.
               During his short tenure here, this old marine has been 
             critical to our efforts to obtain economic opportunity, 
             homeland security, and national security for this Nation. 
             I can say with total certainty that Paul Coverdell would 
             be proud of the accomplishments of Zell Miller. They have 
             been good for Georgia, and they have been good for 
             America.
               A review of every major battle this administration had 
             in the last 4 years shows that Zell Miller was in the 
             middle of each one and the linchpin to each success. Zell 
             Miller was instrumental to the economic recovery our 
             Nation now enjoys. Zell Miller was the key to the homeland 
             security our Nation has attained. Zell Miller was one of 
             the strongest voices to harden our Nation's resolve to 
             fully wage the war against terrorism. On these, the most 
             critical issues upon which history will judge this Nation, 
             this President, and this Congress, it was Zell Miller 
             whose vote and voice made the difference.
               Zell made the difference when the numbers didn't add up 
             to victory. Like our mutual friend, Phil Gramm, apparently 
             being outnumbered was never a cause for concern to Zell. 
             Zell served in the proud line of Truman Democrats. Like 
             Harry Truman, he called for unity during a time of war 
             and, like Harry Truman, gave hell to anybody who played 
             games with our national security.
               Like John Kennedy, he knew that tax cuts were not just 
             good for the economy but they were good for the take-home-
             pay of workers and their families. But from Zell we didn't 
             just hear the thoughts of old-school Democrats, we also 
             rediscovered the truths of our Nation. He showed us that 
             integrity still matters, that nation comes before party, 
             and that thinking first of our children and grandchildren 
             is the right and proper way to judge national policy. Any 
             time Zell looked for his bearings, he gazed to those fixed 
             stars of his favorite constellation: His wife Shirley, his 
             children, his four grandchildren, and four great-
             grandchildren. This internal compass served him well 
             because no one could ever accuse Zell of being confused 
             about what he believed in and why.
               So Zell Miller heads back to the Appalachian Mountains 
             of north Georgia, whence he came. He returns with his wife 
             Shirley back to the base of Double Knob Mountains, where 
             the ravines flow to the Brasstown Creek and then the 
             Hiawassee River and on to the Gulf of Mexico. He returns 
             to the dirt roads he walked as a lad, where he worked with 
             his mother, to haul stones from a nearby field to build a 
             rock-walled house with no rafter, no subfloor, and a 
             ladder for a staircase in the house in which he was 
             raised.
               From such modest beginnings, and such a modest man, the 
             world is better because of his leadership. He stands as a 
             lesson for all and for all time. Because of Zell Miller, I 
             can say, be you a Senator, a college graduate, a single 
             mother, or an elementary school student, never, never, 
             never doubt the impact a single person with clear vision 
             and a strong heart can make for your family, your 
             community, your nation, and, yes, your world--not just for 
             now but for generations to come.
               So, Senator Miller, we will miss you around here.
               Mr. President, we have had the privilege over the last 4 
             years to serve with a truly great American who has made a 
             difference in a body in which it is very difficult for an 
             individual Senator to frequently make a difference. 
             Farewell, Senator Miller. We look forward to seeing you in 
             the coming years.

               Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I thank the assistant 
             majority leader for his fine words. I certainly agree with 
             those about Zell Miller. Democracies in general, America 
             in particular, seem blessed that in times of turmoil, 
             leaders do step forward and give us the guidance we need. 
             During a time of war and economic challenge, America got 
             such a leader in Zell Miller. It is not too much to say 
             that he was the key, the very hinge upon which much of the 
             fate of the agenda of the last several years swung. For 
             the goals of President Bush, from homeland security to 
             economic growth to the war on terrorism, Zell Miller has 
             been the difference between victory and defeat, the gap 
             between almost and barely.
               I think part of the willingness of Senator Miller to 
             step forward, break ranks, and support President Bush came 
             because he is a man of experience and judgment and 
             integrity. He got to know President Bush. He looked into 
             his heart, he examined his policies, and he believed him. 
             He had a particular belief in this man at this point in 
             history, based on his study of history, his writing, and 
             his experience, and he was willing to step forward in an 
             unusual degree and take a lot of grief for it, to stand up 
             for what he believed was right.
               When President Bush proposed a tax cut to get the 
             economy moving in 2001, and things were not going well, 
             Zell Miller was the first Democrat to support that plan. 
             He co-sponsored the bill with Phil Gramm of Texas, a great 
             Senator. When they teamed up I thought of that slogan in 
             the Alabama football network. Bear Bryant would have a TV 
             show every week to talk about the game. He promoted Coca-
             Cola from Georgia, I guess, and Golden Flake potato chips, 
             and the slogan was: ``Great Pair Says the Bear.'' So when 
             Zell Miller and Phil Gramm joined forces, it was indeed a 
             great pair. When it came time to protect the homeland 
             against terrorist attacks, it was Zell Miller who stood 
             with the President in 2002 to make sure we had a 
             department that functioned more like the Pentagon than the 
             post office in protecting the lives of American citizens. 
             After 4 months and 11 votes and a national election, 
             finally it took. We passed the homeland security bill that 
             has succeeded in keeping us safe, since 9/11, at least--a 
             feat not many would have predicted possible at the time.
               I would just say this: Senator Miller understood the 
             importance of that issue. I believe he called three press 
             conferences. He urged those who were blocking the homeland 
             security bill for some sort of internal governmental 
             union-type politics, not on the real merits--he warned 
             them that this was bad. It was bad for America, and it was 
             bad politically for those who blocked it.
               They didn't listen. I think they wished they had. 
             Certainly, after the election they were quite willing to 
             pass the bill they had been blocking before the election.
               When the economy slowed down due to the attacks and the 
             corporate scandal, and it came time to accelerate the tax 
             cuts in 2003, once again it was Zell Miller who made the 
             economic incentive plan the law of the land.
               On the question of judges for America, Zell Miller had 
             the classical view of the role of a judge consistent with 
             his good friend, the wonderful Judge Griffin Bell, who was 
             a court of appeals judge and also Attorney General of the 
             United States under President Jimmy Carter. He follows 
             that philosophy. As a matter of fact, he analyzed each 
             nominee who came forward and I believe saw fit to support 
             the nominees, consistently, that President Bush sent 
             forward--not because of politics but because he believed 
             those judges would follow the law, not make law. They 
             would be constructionists, not activists.
               Oftentimes, on each one of these issues it came down to 
             this one man making the difference, either taking the lead 
             or casting the key vote on those issues. He taught us once 
             again that nation, family, faith, heritage, and principle 
             are more important than politics and party. In this he 
             reaffirmed the belief that government for, of, and by the 
             people can work.
               When he spoke, people listened. I will tell you why 
             people listened. I asked him how he found time, how he did 
             his speeches. He personally writes his speeches. It is not 
             written by staff. It is not generated by some computer. It 
             is not regurgitated from some document or some memorandum 
             or some summary somewhere. It comes from his heart, his 
             experience, his head, and his understanding of this great 
             Republic of which we are blessed to be a part. That is why 
             people listen to his speeches.
               Most of us recall his speech in New York at the 
             convention, where he, in Trumanesque fashion, blasted 
             those who play games with our national defense. They 
             squalled and thought it was hell. He was just telling the 
             truth, I suggest.
               It was clear, passionate, and powerful and helped change 
             the course of the national debate. It changed the course 
             of the national debate because it was true. What he said 
             was important. It had to do with whether this Nation would 
             have leadership committed to a strong America. He also had 
             some very fine words right here on the floor of the 
             Senate.
               On the energy bill, he rose in ``defense of that great 
             American workhorse,'' in his words, the pickup truck. He 
             told a story of meeting a guy who was a PHD--that is a 
             post hole digger--who said:

               If you really want to know when times are bad, take 
             notice of the number of people having to sell their 
             pickups. Look at the ads in the paper and the ``for sale'' 
             signs in the yards. The more you see, the worse it is 
             because pickups are the very symbol of the working man. As 
             the pickup goes, so does the working man and the very 
             heart of this country.

               He added:

               Pickups are as essential to the carpenter as his hammer; 
             as essential to the painter as his paintbrush. So we must 
             leave this American workhorse, the pickup truck, alone. 
             Don't pick on the pickup.

               Then he shared with us a tune called ``Talking Pickup 
             Truck Blues.'' He spared us the agony of singing it, but 
             he did share one verse.

               Sure, an SUV is classy travel, but it ain't much good 
             for hauling gravel, or hay or bovine feces. So please do 
             not make my pickup truck an endangered species.

               That is not often heard on the floor of this Senate--
             words of eloquence that bring a smile to us all but more 
             than that drives home a truth about real people who serve 
             America day after day in pickup trucks.
               So this man knows America. Given all the good he has 
             done in so little time--he has given so much to it--he 
             leaves much too soon. He has done a great job for this 
             Nation and for Georgia in replacing the departed Paul 
             Coverdell who we all loved and admired. He has been a 
             great leader and a great Senator, and the Senate will miss 
             the presence of this old marine sergeant.
               I can say without contradiction I believe that few 
             Senators in the history of this Republic have in one short 
             term contributed so much to the health and welfare of our 
             Nation and made such a tremendous impact on it.
               It is because he put his Nation first; he stood for what 
             we believe in. He was true to his raising.

               Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I wish to say a few words 
             about my friend from Georgia, Senator Miller, who preceded 
             my remarks.
               I was raised in the Midwest. We both come out of an era 
             of rural America. It was a different life. I remember when 
             we did not have electricity. We did not live on a gravel 
             road. We did not have running water in the house. In fact, 
             the water bucket froze on cold winter nights. We didn't 
             have the best clothes in the world. But they were clean. 
             And I have never gone to bed hungry.
               I have an idea my mother was kind of like Mrs. Miller. A 
             home full of love on a Badlands farm made up of two rocks 
             and one dirt, trying to hang on to it, coming out of tough 
             times called the Depression of the dirty 1930s. It shaped 
             a lot of character. It put a lot of fiber in a lot of 
             people who went on to love this country and would serve 
             her and our States at any cost.
               The highest compliment one could pay to any person we 
             meet in this body, comes from the West in an expression 
             that says: We'll not say goodbye; we'll just say so long 
             because you are welcome to sit at my fire anytime.
               That is my feeling toward this old marine. I only have 
             one disappointment, that we never did get a trip to the 
             Pacific to visit Iwo Jima. I have been there but he never 
             got to go. We tried every way in the world. We had a 
             couple trips scrubbed because of business in the Senate. 
             We never did make it, but we are not going to give up.
               So we say so long to Zell Miller, a good friend, a good 
             Senator, a great representative of Georgia, and a great 
             representative of this country. * * *
               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. NICKLES. Mr. President, I wish to make a couple of 
             comments regarding the departure of one of our colleagues, 
             Senator Zell Miller. I have had the pleasure of working 
             with Senator Miller for the last several years and I think 
             the world of him. He comes from a great line of fantastic 
             Senators from the great State of Georgia.
               When I was first elected, I served with Senator Sam Nunn 
             and Senator Mack Mattingly. Both were very good friends. 
             Both were outstanding Senators. Senator Paul Coverdell, a 
             very good, close friend of mine, served in the Senate for 
             a little over a term and, unfortunately, had a very sudden 
             illness and passed away. Zell Miller was appointed to take 
             his place.
               I remember thinking at the time that Paul Coverdell was 
             a great loss to the Senate. I believe that today. He had a 
             great future in the Senate. He was actually elected to the 
             Senate leadership, which was very unusual for his first 
             term in the Senate. Paul Coverdell was one of my closest 
             friends. I really did mourn his loss.
               I did not know his replacement appointed at that time, 
             Zell Miller, but I got to know him very quickly. I grew to 
             know him, respect him, and admire him as a patriot and as 
             a Senator. He did a fantastic job in service not only to 
             his State of Georgia but, frankly, to this country. He 
             made a valued, positive, and considerable impact on the 
             Senate and, frankly, on our country. I will talk about 
             that for a second.
               I remember he was a real leader in passing the homeland 
             security legislation. That was very tough legislation. It 
             passed by a very narrow margin. We did that in his second 
             year in the Senate.
               He supported efforts to enact tax reform. I was chairman 
             of the Committee on the Budget in 2003, and we passed a 
             budget, frankly, by one vote. Zell Miller's vote helped 
             make it happen. We had about 80 something amendments to 
             the budget during consideration of the budget process. 
             Zell Miller was with me on every one. He was my principal 
             co-sponsor of that budget.
               That budget enabled us to pass the tax relief later that 
             year, the economic tax reform bill of 2003. That bill made 
             a lot of changes, I might add, a lot of positive changes, 
             that would not have passed had it not been for Zell 
             Miller. I was honored the President asked me to sponsor 
             it, and I was honored to ask Zell Miller if he would co-
             sponsor it with me, and he did.
               We defeated a lot of amendments designed to gut the 
             legislation, and we passed the budget. Again, we passed it 
             with the Vice President breaking the tie. It would not 
             have passed without Zell Miller's leadership, without his 
             sponsoring the legislation.
               What did that legislation do? It made a difference on 
             every American taxpayer in this country. That legislation 
             allowed us to have a $1,000 tax credit per child. That 
             legislation allowed us to expand and provide marriage 
             penalty relief. For a couple making $58,000, marriage 
             penalty relief boiled down to about $905. That passed 
             because Zell Miller stood with us on that legislation.
               It also allowed us to reduce the capital gains tax rate 
             from 20 percent to 15 percent. It allowed us to say that 
             we would not double tax corporate dividends, at least not 
             as punitively as we did before. We reduced the corporate 
             tax on dividends. Actually, the bill we passed in the 
             Senate had zero double taxation. The bill that came out of 
             conference was 15 percent, instead of the ordinary rates. 
             That is a big and positive change because this country, 
             unfortunately, taxed distributions from corporations 
             higher than any other country. We are tied with Japan at a 
             net effective tax rate of 70 percent.
               Why would corporations distribute earnings to their 
             owners if the government would get 70 percent? Many did 
             not. They would accumulate earnings, hide the money, or do 
             something different with them. We passed that legislation, 
             and now people are paying dividends.
               Microsoft announced a multibillion-dollar distribution 
             because of that legislation. We tax it now at the 
             individual rate, 15 percent. When we started marking up 
             that legislation, the Dow Jones was at 7,700. Today it is 
             over 10,500. That legislation made a difference. The 
             legislation passed because Zell Miller stood with us on 
             the floor to pass that legislation.
               It is not too often you can actually say you passed 
             legislation that made a real and positive impact. There 
             are over 2 million jobs that have been created in the last 
             14 months as a result of that legislation. I believe the 
             President signed it in June 2003. It has been almost a 
             year and a half now, and a couple of million jobs have 
             been created. The economy is moving. Revenues are coming 
             into the government. The deficit is $100 billion less than 
             estimated previously, 9 months ago, because there is 
             economic revival. A lot of that happened because of the 
             courage and conviction of the Senator from Georgia.
               I said Paul Coverdell was my friend. He has certainly 
             been missed in this Senate, and that is a fact. I will 
             also say that Zell Miller is my very dear friend and he 
             will be missed in the Senate. He only served here for a 
             few years, but he had a great impact, a very positive 
             impact, not only on taxpayers and the country but to our 
             body politic, the body of the country. As a patriot, a 
             former marine, former mayor, former State senator, former 
             Lieutenant Governor, and as a former Governor, he had 
             enormous impact.
               He was a speaker at the Republican National Convention. 
             I told him his speech wasn't so much that of a Democrat or 
             Republican; his speech was that of a patriot who was 
             speaking out strong because he believed strongly in this 
             country. You could see it. You could sense it. You could 
             believe it.
               I am very proud to have Zell Miller as my friend. He and 
             his wife Shirley have been a blessing to this body and a 
             blessing to this country. I thank God for the fact I had 
             the opportunity to serve with him and the fact that he 
             served in this body. I think our country is much better 
             for it, and I wish him every good wish in the years ahead.

               Mr. SHELBY. Senator Zell Miller, the colleague of the 
             Presiding Officer, is a distinguished Senator from 
             Georgia. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, I 
             believe, State senator, and then Governor of Georgia for 
             at least two terms. He came to the Senate and 
             distinguished himself. He is someone for whom I have a lot 
             of respect, for his integrity, for his forthrightness, for 
             his grit, for his perseverance, and also his foresight.
               Zell, we will miss you in the Senate. But we will see a 
             lot of you. I hope to visit you in north Georgia. You tell 
             me what a beautiful place it is, and it is not too far 
             from my State of Alabama, so I hope you have a room for us 
             there. We will come see you, especially when the apples 
             are ready to pick and you are ready to show us around.

               Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, Zell Miller commands a certain 
             respect. He has guts. He has integrity. He speaks simple 
             truths. He is as good and honest a man as I know.
               Zell is the type of leader that takes a stand and 
             doesn't yield an inch of ground--no matter how hard the 
             political winds blow.
               America saw this first-hand with his unwavering support 
             of President Bush in the most recent election.
               At the Republican Convention, Zell described the 
             President perhaps better than anyone in our own party. He 
             said the President is: ``a God-fearing man with a good 
             heart and a spine of tempered steel.''
               Those same words also describe Senator Miller.
               As a former marine, Zell has never wavered in his 
             support of the men and women in uniform who defend our 
             liberty--or the values he shares with them. And he has 
             worked hard and steadfast to end the unprecedented 
             filibuster of judicial nominees.
               More than anything, Zell loves his wonderful wife, 
             Shirley, and their family. Of course, by family, I also 
             include Gus and Woodrow, his two labrador retrievers.
               Zell will always be a touchstone of good old common 
             sense for this body. He will forever remind us that all we 
             need to do is what is right--nothing more, nothing less.
               Zell Miller is one of the most colorful Senators ever to 
             grace the halls of this Capitol. And he and Shirley have 
             been two of the most valued members of the Senate family.
               We will miss them both, sorely, as a special part of our 
             daily lives.
                                              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, let me mention our colleague Zell Miller. 
             Zell Miller is another person who will be in the history 
             books of this body because of his passion and because of 
             his unique character as well. He is probably best 
             exemplified by one of the books he has written called 
             Corps Values, obviously a reference to the U.S. Marine 
             Corps, in which he describes how a lot of the values that 
             have animated the course of his career and the values he 
             has held dear throughout the rest of his life came from 
             his training as a marine and from his drill sergeant whom 
             he describes so vividly in the book as having almost 
             literally pounded some very important lessons of life into 
             Zell's head at a very young age--lessons that he took away 
             to apply throughout the rest of his life and which have 
             stood him in very good stead throughout his career.
               He has represented the people of his State of Georgia 
             with passion and with great capability, not only as 
             Governor but then to come to the Senate. He has certainly 
             been a friend of people on both sides of the aisle. He is 
             a Democrat, but he still, of course, has many friends here 
             on the Republican side of the aisle.
               I can't think of Zell without thinking of some of the 
             more humorous things he has done as well because despite 
             his passion and enthusiasm, he also has a very good sense 
             of humor. I remember one case in particular when he and 
             Phil Gramm from Texas, who has left the Senate, teamed up 
             to offer an amendment which had no chance of passing. 
             There was no real rationale for it. It was an amendment to 
             exempt pickup trucks from the mileage standards we were 
             going to apply to all other vehicles in the energy bill, 
             but they thought there was something kind of un-American 
             about having these standards applied to pickup trucks. The 
             two of them offered the amendment.
               During the course of the debate, more and more people 
             came over here to listen to them. Their case made such 
             great sense that one by one the Senators began to think 
             maybe this is an amendment that ought to pass. At the end 
             of the day, when they pointed out that, after all, there 
             was no other place to haul your coon dogs when you are 
             going to hunt, or have the rack for your gun, and all of 
             the other things they pointed out what a pickup is for, 
             and no other vehicle could do that job, the Senate 
             finally, I think on a voice vote, acquiesced in their 
             amendment. Because, after all, it made sense when Zell 
             Miller and Phil Gramm argued that pickup trucks should be 
             exempted from that standard, we exempted pickup trucks 
             from that standard.
               In other words, they knew how to have fun with the 
             seriousness of this body to point out some of the 
             commonsense things most Americans believe and we sometimes 
             forget here in this body.
               Senator Zell Miller from Georgia is a man of great 
             common sense, a man of the people who loves America 
             greatly, and who certainly inspired me.
               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. 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. * * *
               A southern icon, Senator Zell Miller, will go down in 
             southern history as one of the great progressive Governors 
             of the new South. He is one who has always extended 
             wonderful courtesies to me. * * *
               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. COCHRAN. Mr. President, as I think about the 
             retirement of our colleague from Georgia, Mr. Miller, I am 
             reminded of the song, ``Johnny, I Hardly Knew You.''
               It doesn't seem very long ago since I heard his maiden 
             speech. He said in a strong voice that he had not come to 
             the Senate to represent a political party but rather he 
             was here to represent the interests of the people of 
             Georgia. He has proven to be a man of his word. He has 
             demonstrated great courage and much conviction as he has 
             carried out his promise to the Senate and to the people he 
             has represented and voted for here in the Senate.
               I have observed closely his work in the Agriculture 
             Committee where he has been a very thoughtful and 
             effective voice for his State and our Nation.
               His well-reasoned and well-informed method of 
             approaching all the issues that come before the Senate is 
             very impressive. He is serious-minded about his 
             responsibilities, and he works very hard to be an 
             effective force for solving the problems that face our 
             country.
               If more public servants had the character and the 
             commitment to doing the right thing, whatever the 
             consequences, as Zell Miller does, our destiny would be 
             assured.

               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.
               I wish to take this time to honor a great Senator and a 
             true American patriot, Zell Miller. He is a man who has 
             served Georgia with dignity and honor these past 4 years 
             in the U.S. Senate.
               Zell Miller embraced public service early on in his 
             life. His mother served as one of Georgia's first female 
             mayors. She taught him early on about public service and a 
             strong work ethic, which he has exemplified throughout his 
             career.
               In the late fifties, Zell Miller served as mayor of his 
             hometown of Young Harris, GA. He then went on to serve as 
             a State senator, Lieutenant Governor, and eventually 
             served in the highest power in the State of Georgia as 
             Governor. Not surprisingly, Zell Miller was named by the 
             Washington Post in 1998 as the most popular Governor in 
             America and Governing Magazine named him Governor of the 
             Year in 1998. These career paths finally led him to the 
             U.S. Senate in 2000.
               While Zell Miller was invested in politics, he was also 
             dedicated to education and students. Throughout his 
             career, Zell Miller was a professor of political science 
             and history at Emory University, University of Georgia, 
             and Young Harris College.
               Senator Miller has continuously reached across the aisle 
             to work with Republicans, but it is probably best stated 
             in his own words when he pointed out that while he is a 
             lifelong Democrat, he pledged to serve all 8.5 million 
             Georgians and no single party in the Senate. Through this 
             approach, Zell Miller has been a supporter of a broad 
             range of issues such as tax cuts, improving education, 
             strengthening national security, and fighting the global 
             war on terrorism. While in the Senate, he dutifully served 
             on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; the 
             Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; and the 
             Veterans' Affairs Committee.
               His time here has been all too brief, but Senator Miller 
             has made a difference and I will miss him. While he may be 
             leaving the U.S. Senate, I do not doubt that we have not 
             heard the last of Zell. I bid him farewell and extend my 
             best wishes to him and his family.
                                            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 wish to take a moment to recognize 
             Zell Miller, who replaced Paul Coverdell. He is someone I 
             have grown to admire during my service here in the Senate. 
             He is a principled individual and truly represents his 
             great State of Georgia.
               With each day of this session, I continue to admire his 
             strength and tenacity and ability to stand up for what he 
             believes is right.
               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. * * *
               Madam President, it is hard to say how much I appreciate 
             Zell Miller, a proud Democrat and a great American. 
             Senator Miller's early life was not easy. He grew up in 
             the hills of Georgia where people may not have had much 
             but they worked hard and had strong families and solid 
             values. He pulled a stint in the U.S. Marines, which he 
             said put him on the right path in life. His colorful 
             career in Georgia politics included two terms as Governor. 
             When U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell, my great friend, died 
             unexpectedly, Zell Miller was appointed until a special 
             election could be held, which he won handily.
               After he arrived in Washington, Senator Miller was one 
             of the few who not only talked the talk of bipartisanship 
             but walked the walk. During the war on terror, he advised 
             bipartisan action on the homeland security bill. He called 
             for bipartisan support for traditional American values, a 
             lower tax burden, and a strong American defense.
               I think the verdict on Senator Miller's stand for 
             oldtime Democratic values has been vindicated, first in 
             the 2002 elections and last in the 2004 elections. Someone 
             who is being friendly tells you things you want to hear, 
             but a true friend is one who tells you things he thinks 
             you should hear. Zell Miller is that kind of friend to 
             both Democrats and Republicans. He will be missed in this 
             august body, as one of those who told it like it is, 
             straight from the heart.
               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 wish all the best to Senator Hollings. We will miss 
             his booming voice. We will miss Senator Edwards, Senator 
             Graham of Florida, and Senator Daschle. We will also miss 
             John Breaux, a man we know will enjoy life with his good 
             common sense and sense of humor. He is a good friend.
               I want to speak about four others, though. * * *
               Zell Miller is probably the colleague that I have known 
             the longest. He and I served at the same time as Governors 
             of our respective States. He was always one of my role 
             models. We got to know each other very well in the 
             Southern Governors Association. Before I came to the 
             Senate, one of the people who motivated me to go to the 
             Senate was Paul Coverdell. Zell took his seat and his 
             office. When I came in, Zell gave up that office, and now 
             I am in Zell Miller's and Paul Coverdell's former office. 
             I will think of Zell a lot in the future. Two years ago, 
             when Zell announced his retirement, or that he was not 
             going to run again, some were saying Zell Miller is a lame 
             duck. Well, on this floor, at our convention in New York 
             City, and throughout this fall, Zell Miller was anything 
             but a lame duck. Zell Miller leaves office as a ``mighty 
             duck.'' We are going to certainly miss Zell. We know he 
             will stay active.

               Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute 
             to departing Senators for their service and devotion to 
             the U.S. Senate. They are not only my colleagues but my 
             friends as well.
               The reality of elections for the Senate is that every 2 
             years we experience change--current Members depart and new 
             Members are welcomed. At every transition I am reminded by 
             the reality that life is more than just politics. I am 
             certain the departing Senators are experiencing a 
             tremendous feeling of sorrow, yet anticipation of things 
             to come, as they leave their friends, colleagues, and this 
             great nurturing institution.
               Though we may fight hard during campaigns, we return to 
             the Senate after the election to realize that we are not 
             just losing Senators--we are losing friends. There is a 
             bond--a collegiality and friendship in the Senate that 
             crosses party lines. We face long hard battles on the 
             campaign trail and sometimes things can get ugly. But 
             after all is said and done, after election day, we must 
             all come back to Washington and work together to do what 
             is best for our country.
               I will certainly miss my colleagues with whom I have 
             worked for several years. I have had the honor to serve on 
             the Finance Committee with four of my distinguished 
             retiring colleagues, including Senator John Breaux and 
             Senator Don Nickles. Both of these men were instrumental 
             in leading the fight to reform Medicare.
               I had the privilege of getting to know Senator Zell 
             Miller as we traveled around the country together this 
             past fall. Senator Miller and I have worked hard on 
             education issues including the Paperwork Reduction Act. He 
             is a man who believes in the ideals of this Nation and 
             understands that we must sometimes take a stand if we want 
             to be heard. I treasure the friendship that Senator Miller 
             and I have formed during our service together. I want him 
             to know how much I admire him. He is a man with the 
             courage to stand up for his convictions. He did the 
             hardest thing for any man to do--he endorsed the opposing 
             party's nominee in this year's election. I cannot thank 
             him enough for his support. I will always have undying 
             gratitude for him. * * *
               Our departing Senators have been lights of inspiration 
             and men who went above the call of duty to serve our 
             country in their congressional capacities. They each have 
             their own unique political perspective that has served the 
             Senate well. Although my philosophies may differ from some 
             Senators, we do not disagree on the greatness of America. 
             We can all agree that we live in the greatest nation in 
             the world, and we all believe that without democracy, 
             life, liberty, and justice cannot flourish.
               My departing colleagues are great men and great 
             Americans. They have contributed immensely to our 
             country--making their States and our country significantly 
             better than when they first set foot on the Senate floor.
               We are all going to miss their presence and wisdom here 
             in the Senate. Their departures will surely leave a hole 
             in expertise and leadership that will be hard to fill. I 
             wish them health and happiness in their future endeavors--
             wherever the road may take them. May God continue to bless 
             them and their families.
               Come January, as we face another transition, I welcome 
             the new Members and look forward to forging new 
             relationships as we continue to work toward making 
             Americans safer, healthier, and more financially secure.

               Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I am grateful for the chance 
             to take a few moments to recognize my good friend from 
             across the aisle, Senator Zell Miller of Georgia. Zell is 
             one of my best friends in the U.S. Senate. I know every 
             one of my Senate colleagues would join me in expressing 
             how much we care for Senator Miller and how much we will 
             miss him.
               It is no secret that Zell is his own man, someone who 
             does what he believes is right, not what is politically 
             expedient. His values were shaped while growing up in the 
             South, raised by his strong mother and reinforced through 
             his service in the U.S. Marine Corps.
               And for those who say you cannot be a successful 
             politician without sacrificing some of your principles, I 
             point to my good friend from Georgia. When he finishes his 
             Senate term this year, he will complete nearly six decades 
             of publicly elected service, starting with his first 
             election as mayor of his hometown of Young Harris, GA, in 
             the late fifties.
               Zell was a popular two-term Governor of Georgia. In 
             fact, he was named the most popular Governor in America by 
             the Washington Post in 1998. His popularity came from his 
             successful programs that found national acclaim. Among 
             them was passing the Nation's first ``two strikes and 
             you're out'' law against violent felons; starting the 
             Nation's only voluntary pre-kindergarten program for 4-
             year-olds; and creating the nationally acclaimed HOPE 
             scholarship that has had such tremendous success in 
             Georgia.
               My good friend swept into the Senate to complete the 
             remaining 4 years of the late Senator Paul Coverdell. Many 
             political observers call Zell the last of the southern 
             conservative Democrats to serve in the Senate. He has 
             certainly established himself as a strong voice for the 
             conservative, commonsense approach to issues, reaching 
             across the aisle to support tax cuts, improve education, 
             confirm judicial nominations, and strengthen national 
             security.
               Zell is widely known for his straight talk on the 
             issues. You know where he stands and what he stands for, 
             and everything he says comes straight from the heart. I 
             can't tell you how many times a constituent from my home 
             State of Utah will write to tell me how inspired they were 
             by a speech that Zell had given on this Senate floor.
               I am sorry to see Zell leave, but I am grateful for the 
             service he has given these last 4 years. He is beloved by 
             Georgians, and I know he would have easily been reelected, 
             and he is beloved by millions in America. And, last but 
             not least, he is beloved by his colleagues here in the 
             Senate.

               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.
                     Proceedings in the House of Representatives
                                              Friday, November 19, 2004
               Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. Speaker, as Senator Zell Miller retires 
             from the U.S. Senate, he returns to the State he has 
             served so well for over four decades.
               Zell Miller of Towns County, GA, has served his State as 
             a State senator, four-term Lieutenant Governor, two-term 
             Governor, and U.S. Senator. Though he reached the highest 
             peaks of political success, he never left his roots in the 
             mountains of north Georgia.
               Today in Georgia, thousands of young adults have earned 
             college, university or vocational degrees through full 
             scholarships paid for by the HOPE scholarship Zell Miller 
             created.
               Today in Georgia, thousands of young 4-year-old children 
             attend public or private prekindergarten provided through 
             Zell Miller's leadership.
               As Governor of Georgia, Zell Miller empowered educators 
             and improved education. His no-nonsense approach to law 
             enforcement made Georgia's streets and neighborhoods 
             safer. Georgia's economy prospers because Zell Miller 
             invested in her ports, roads, and infrastructure.
               Following the September 11 attacks on America, Zell 
             Miller's strong voice, leadership, and commitment to our 
             country and the safety of our people never wavered. His 
             legacy is a legacy of love of country, love of Georgia and 
             love of democracy.
               Zell Miller has served Georgia and America as a 
             visionary statesman and a patriot. Georgia and America are 
             all the better for his service.

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