    [Senate Document 109-30]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

    From the Senate Documents Online via GPO Access
    [wais.access.gpo.gov]

    From the Senate Documents Online via GPO Access
    [wais.access.gpo.gov]

                                  S. Doc. 109-30

                       TRIBUTES TO HON. MIKE DeWINE

                              Mike DeWine

                       U.S. SENATOR FROM OHIO

                              TRIBUTES

                        IN THE CONGRESS OF

                         THE UNITED STATES

                           Mike DeWine

                           Tributes

                     Delivered in Congress

                           Mike DeWine

                     United States Congressman

                            1983-1991

                     United States Senator

                             1995-2007

                  U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
                         WASHINGTON : 2007

                  Compiled under the direction

                            of the

                     Joint Committee on Printing

                              CONTENTS

                 Biography.............................................
                                                                          v
                 Farewell to the Senate................................
                                                                         ix
                 Proceedings in the Senate:
                    Tributes by Senators:
                        Alexander, Lamar, of Tennessee.................
                                                                         11
                        Allen, George, of Virginia.....................
                                                                         12
                        Bunning, Jim, of Kentucky......................
                                                                         37
                        Byrd, Robert C., of West Virginia..............
                                                                     14, 20
                        Carper, Thomas R., of Delaware.................
                                                                         23
                        Clinton, Hillary Rodham, of New York...........
                                                                         22
                        Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota..................
                                                                      3, 20
                        DeWine, Mike, of Ohio
                         ...............................................
                         ......
                                                              3, 11, 19, 24
                        Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut...........
                                                                         29
                        Dole, Elizabeth, of North Carolina.............
                                                                         39
                        Durbin, Richard, of Illinois
                         ...............................................
                         .....
                                                                  4, 13, 26
                        Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming...................
                                                                         34
                        Feingold, Russell D., of Wisconsin.............
                                                                         16
                        Frist, William H., of Tennessee................
                                                                         38
                        Hagel, Chuck, of Nebraska......................
                                                                          5
                        Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah.......................
                                                                         30
                        Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas................
                                                                         38
                        Isakson, Johnny, of Georgia....................
                                                                         17
                        Kohl, Herb, of Wisconsin.......................
                                                                         21
                        Kyl, Jon, of Arizona...........................
                                                                         24
                        Landrieu, Mary L., of Louisiana................
                                                                         22
                        Levin, Carl, of Michigan.......................
                                                                         33
                        McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky..................
                                                                         25
                        Mikulski, Barbara A., of Maryland..............
                                                                         28
                        Nelson, Bill, of Florida.......................
                                                                         12
                        Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island....................
                                                                         11
                        Reid, Harry, of Nevada.........................
                                                                         24
                        Rockefeller, John D., IV, of West Virginia.....
                                                                         27
                        Salazar, Ken, of Colorado......................
                                                                      3, 14
                        Snowe, Olympia J., of Maine....................
                                                                         36
                        Stevens, Ted, of Alaska........................
                                                                         38
                        Voinovich, George V., of Ohio..................
                                                                          6
                        Warner, John, of Virginia......................
                                                                         18
                                          Biography

                   Mike DeWine was born on January 5, 1947, and grew up in
                 Yellow Springs, OH. As the son of parents and grandparents
                 who ran a small agricultural business, he spent his youth
                 and early adult life working in the fields and in the
                 mill, learning the value of hard work and determination.
                 He carried these values with him first to Miami University
                 in Oxford, OH, where he graduated in 1969 with a degree in
                 education and then to Ohio Northern University Law School
                 in Ada, OH, where he graduated in 1972 with a law degree.
                   Soon afterward he began his career in public service--a
                 career that spanned more than 30 years and involved work
                 at all levels of government. Firm in his belief that
                 criminals should be brought to justice, Mr. DeWine--at the
                 age of 25--started working as the assistant prosecuting
                 attorney for Greene County, and in 1976 he was elected
                 prosecutor. What he learned during those years in the
                 prosecutor's office stayed with him and compelled him to
                 continue in public service in a variety of capacities. He
                 served as an Ohio State Senator, a four-term U.S.
                 Congressman, and as Ohio's 59th Lieutenant Governor. He
                 was sworn into the U.S. Senate on January 4, 1995, as the
                 first Republican U.S. Senator to represent the Buckeye
                 State in more than two decades. In 2000 he was the first
                 Republican U.S. Senator in nearly a half century to be
                 reelected to serve Ohio.
                   In his determination to get things done for those in
                 need, Mike DeWine has been dubbed the ``bodyguard of the
                 poor.'' He developed a reputation in Washington, DC, for
                 being hard-working, honest, and solution-oriented. He
                 immersed himself in issues that do not necessarily grab
                 headlines, but are vital to the well-being and prosperity
                 of Ohioans, Americans, and citizens across the globe. Mike
                 DeWine became a recognized national leader in efforts to
                 secure the health, welfare, and safety of children;
                 provide young people with the best possible education;
                 help ease humanitarian suffering and the spread of disease
                 around the world; and improve the Nation's ability to
                 gather intelligence to protect Americans from terrorists.
                 He also worked to protect and restore unique natural
                 areas, including the Great Lakes, for the enjoyment of
                 future generations; promote job opportunities through an
                 improved, user-friendly job training system; ensure law
                 enforcement officials have access to advanced technology;
                 stem the flow of drugs into the United States; and secure
                 a balanced budget, cut taxes, and promote economic
                 opportunities.
                   Mike DeWine and his wife Fran, who have been married
                 more than 37 years, are the parents of 8 children and
                 grandparents of 10 grandchildren. As a parent,
                 grandparent, and U.S. Senator, he knows that the safety
                 and security of American children extend beyond measures
                 to protect their immediate well-being. He knows that the
                 world he helped shape is the world these children and
                 grandchildren will inherit tomorrow, and he remains
                 vigilant in his work to secure the children's future
                 through the stabilization of countries around the world.
                   Through his membership on several Senate committees,
                 Mike DeWine was able to work on legislative efforts that
                 directly impact American's health, safety, and security.
                 Senator DeWine was the first Ohio Senator in nearly six
                 decades to serve on the Appropriations Committee--a
                 committee tasked with the responsibility of determining
                 the use and distribution of U.S. Federal tax dollars. He
                 was chairman of the Antitrust, Competition Policy and
                 Consumer Rights Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee.
                 As a member of the Judiciary Committee he worked on many
                 anti-crime initiatives as well as immigration and judicial
                 nominations. As chairman of the Retirement Security and
                 Aging Subcommittee of the Health, Education, Labor and
                 Pensions (HELP) Committee Mr. DeWine helped develop and
                 review legislation to modernize and strengthen America's
                 pension system and study the needs and concerns of the
                 aging U.S. population. As a member of the HELP Committee
                 he continued his work to protect the health and welfare of
                 children, adults, and the elderly, as well as his efforts
                 to limit drug and alcohol abuse and promote vital mental
                 health services for those in need.
                   Other committee work in the Senate included his
                 membership in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence,
                 where he helped lead the Joint House-Senate Intelligence
                 Committee investigation into U.S. intelligence lapses and
                 the events preceding and following 9/11. He understood
                 that the safety of Americans is intrinsically linked to
                 the quality of U.S. intelligence, and through his
                 membership on the Intelligence Committee he worked to
                 improve U.S. information-gathering capabilities and
                 protect Americans from terrorist threats. He also served
                 as cochairman of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force; the
                 Senate Caucus on Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children;
                 and the Senate Global AIDS Crisis Working Group; and was a
                 member of the Senate Drug Task Force.
                                   Farewell to the Senate
                                  Friday, December 8, 2006

                   Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, early on Thanksgiving day,
                 Mary Frances Darling was born. She is our 10th grandchild
                 and the 6th child of our daughter Jill and her husband
                 Bill. As I said on election night this year, I am a very
                 lucky man. I am blessed with a wonderful family.
                   I am also blessed because for the last 30 years--30
                 years--the people of Ohio have given me the opportunity to
                 represent them, first as Green County prosecuting
                 attorney, then as State senator, then as a Congressman for
                 four terms from the Seventh Congressional District, then
                 Lieutenant Governor, and now, for the past 12 years, in
                 this wonderful body as a U.S. Senator. For that
                 opportunity, I will be eternally grateful.
                   When I came to the Senate in 1995, it had been a little
                 over a year since our daughter Becky had been killed. I
                 was, quite candidly, still numb. We as a family had been
                 through a lot. But I knew that our time here on Earth is
                 short, and I wanted as best I could to spend my time in
                 the Senate, whatever time I had, working on tangible
                 things, getting concrete results that impact the lives of
                 families in Ohio and in our Nation. I have tried to do
                 that, but I have not done it alone. Whatever I have
                 achieved has been with the help of so many people.
                   Over the past 12 years, I have worked with every Member
                 of this Senate, and I consider each Member of this Senate
                 a friend. I have had the privilege to work with two
                 Republican leaders and one who in January will become the
                 Republican leader.
                   Trent and Tricia Lott were two of the first people Fran
                 and I met when we came to the House in 1983. Tricia is
                 Fran's best friend here in Washington, and Trent is my
                 dear friend. I have benefited from his counsel, from his
                 advice, and from his help, now for well over 20 years.
                   Bill Frist and I came to the Senate together in 1995.
                 Karyn and Bill are very good friends. Bill has been an
                 unbelievably accessible leader. We share a passion for
                 fighting the spread of AIDS. Bill's public role in that
                 cause is obvious and apparent to everyone. But what is not
                 so obvious and what is little known is what Bill Frist has
                 done behind the scenes, what his role has been in working
                 with so many people, working with the White House and
                 others to get this job done. No one has played a bigger
                 role. And when the history is written, Bill Frist's name
                 will be there in bold print as someone who has saved so
                 many, many lives.
                   Mitch McConnell. Mitch and Elaine are dear friends. When
                 I faced the tough challenge of getting a bill or amendment
                 passed, I went to Mitch. I have done it for 12 years. I
                 did it as recently as yesterday. Mitch McConnell is tough.
                 He is strong. He is wise. He will be a great leader. His
                 advice as to how to thread the legislative needle is
                 responsible for so much of what I have passed. He also has
                 a big heart, as was demonstrated time and time again when
                 I would go to him. He is chairman of the Foreign
                 Operations Subcommittee. After I talked to him, he would,
                 at my request, put money into things which saved
                 children's lives, child survival or to save little
                 children, little babies in Haiti. He did it. He got it
                 done. He made a difference.
                   I have been lucky enough to serve on the Judiciary,
                 Appropriations, HELP, and Intelligence Committees, and I
                 want to thank the chairmen who have led those committees
                 over the past 12 years. I was the first Ohio Senator to
                 serve on the Appropriations Committee since 1945. With the
                 help of Chairman Stevens, Chairman Cochran, and their
                 staffs, I was able to secure well over $1 billion for
                 projects throughout Ohio that make a difference.
                   I particularly thank Arlen Specter. I thank his clerk
                 and my good friend, Bettilou Taylor. They have both been
                 so helpful to me in securing millions of dollars for
                 programs through Labor-HHS appropriations. These two
                 dedicated public servants helped me provide funding for
                 important programs, things such as the Children's Hospital
                 Graduate Medical Education Program and projects in Ohio to
                 build facilities and provide services for people with
                 disabilities. They also helped me fund projects to help
                 meet the health needs of seniors and low-income
                 communities throughout the State. Because of them, I have
                 been able to secure over $12 million for Ohio's children's
                 hospitals.
                   Senator Specter, Bettilou, let me tell you from the
                 bottom of my heart and on behalf of Ohio's sick and poor
                 kids and their families, I thank you.
                   I also sincerely thank Judiciary Committee Chairmen
                 Specter and Hatch; HELP Committee Chairmen Enzi, Gregg,
                 and Jeffords; and Intelligence Committee Chairmen Roberts
                 and Shelby. I have been fortunate to have passed dozens of
                 bills and amendments in my career in the Senate, and most
                 of them were provisions that I worked along with these
                 chairmen to pass. It would never have happened without
                 them. I appreciate their help.
                   I appreciate all the help Finance Committee Chairman
                 Chuck Grassley has given me--a dear friend--especially
                 when it came to passing my bills to improve the foster
                 care and adoption system. I have worked with many Members
                 of the Senate on this very important issue, foster care
                 and adoption, including Senators Jay Rockefeller, Mary
                 Landrieu, Larry Craig, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, John
                 Chafee, Jesse Helms, Bill Roth, Jim Jeffords, Dan Coats.
                 They all shared a passion for foster care children. They
                 all shared a passion for the adoption issue.
                   I also thank my good friend from Pennsylvania, my friend
                 who keeps the candy drawer over there, Rick Santorum. Like
                 so many who spoke about him yesterday, I applaud Rick for
                 his passion and his absolute fearlessness in standing up
                 for what he believes. I recall being on this floor many
                 nights late at night during the debate over partial-birth
                 abortion. Some nights it was just Rick and me, and we
                 closed this place. He got it done. I thank him for that.
                   I also remember how Senator Santorum stood with Senators
                 Lindsey Graham and Sam Brownback to help me pass my unborn
                 victims of violence bill and see it signed into law. It
                 took several years to pass this legislation, and
                 Congressman Graham had been the sponsor and was the
                 sponsor of the bill in the House. I applaud his
                 determination to get this done. When it comes to foreign
                 policy issues, I share an interest in western hemisphere
                 issues with my friends Senator Norm Coleman, the chairman,
                 and Mel Martinez. Mel, thank you. Senator Coleman has
                 admirably served this body as chairman of the Western
                 Hemisphere Subcommittee. I sincerely enjoyed traveling
                 with him to Haiti.
                   I also enjoyed traveling to Africa with the good Senator
                 from Tennessee, Lamar Alexander. Lamar has contributed a
                 great deal to this body. He will contribute more,
                 especially in the area of education policy, where he is
                 clearly the expert.
                   Senator Judd Gregg and I also worked on a very important
                 education issue. He started it. He worked it. I helped
                 him. We got it done. That is the School Choice Program
                 here in Washington, DC. We broke the logjam. We got it
                 done. I applaud his commitment to the children of this,
                 our Nation's Capital.
                   I thank my friends Chuck Hagel and Lindsey Graham for
                 the good conversations they have shared with me on foreign
                 policy issues. Speaking of that issue, I thank my neighbor
                 on the floor and my neighbor to the west in Indiana, Dick
                 Lugar, for being the rock that he is on foreign policy and
                 for giving me good counsel and advice.
                   I want to thank my dear friend John McCain, with whom I
                 came to the House of Representatives in 1983 and who has
                 been my friend since. I thank him for his courage. I thank
                 him for his wise counsel on military and foreign relations
                 issues.
                   I also thank a dear friend of mine who does not now
                 serve in this body, former Senator and Secretary of Energy
                 Spence Abraham. He did a lot of things. One of the things
                 that took guts and courage is he fought with me and others
                 to protect legal immigration while he served in the
                 Senate. He took a lot of flack for it.
                   I was honored to work with Senator Gordon Smith,
                 Senators Harry Reid, Jack Reed, and Chris Dodd, to pass
                 the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act. I applaud Senator
                 Smith and his wife Sharon for having the courage to take
                 the tragedy of their son Garrett's suicide and do so many
                 wonderful things with it. They are wonderful people.
                   Last year, I was extremely proud to be 1 of 14
                 bipartisan Members of this great body who decided to work
                 together to break what had become a gridlock in the Senate
                 over judicial nominations. In the grand tradition of the
                 Senate, individuals from both political parties came
                 together to solve a problem which threatened not only the
                 judicial nomination process but was threatening to shut
                 the Senate down completely. I want to thank my friends
                 with whom I was proud to stand in that effort: John
                 McCain, John Warner, Lindsey Graham, Olympia Snowe, Susan
                 Collins, Lincoln Chafee, Joe Lieberman, Senator Byrd, Ben
                 Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Daniel Inouye, Mark Pryor, and Ken
                 Salazar. They got it done.
                   I thank my friend, my colleague, my partner, Senator
                 George Voinovich. George and I have worked together in the
                 Senate on so many things for Ohio, from NASA Glenn to the
                 Great Lakes. We first got together in 1989. We joined up
                 as partners in 1989 when I decided to leave the U.S.
                 House--it was a tough decision for me--and join him as his
                 Lieutenant Governor candidate. I have not regretted it. It
                 was the right decision, and we have worked together ever
                 since then. I thank him and I thank his wonderful wife Jan
                 for their friendship and love.
                   I also want to thank all the members of the Ohio
                 congressional delegation with whom I have sincerely
                 enjoyed working over the years. I have worked with every
                 one of them. They have all made a difference. They are all
                 my friends, Democrats and Republicans. Specifically, I
                 extend my appreciation to my Congressman, my dear friend
                 Dave Hobson. He is a savvy man. I have gone to him many
                 times for advice, and I have gone to him to get things
                 done for Ohio.
                   I would be remiss if I didn't thank the wonderful staff
                 people in addition to my own staff whom I have had the
                 pleasure to work with in the Senate. I thank the
                 outstanding Senate floor staff: Dave Schiappa, Laura Dove,
                 and all the other floor staffers who are such wonderful
                 professionals and who serve us all so well. Thanks to the
                 staff of the Republican leadership: Eric Ueland; Bill
                 Hoagland, whom I talked about earlier today and whom I go
                 to for advice a lot; Kyle Simmons, Malloy McDaniel, Laura
                 Pemberton, and on and on.
                   I also thank all the committee staff with whom I had the
                 pleasure to work. They are too plentiful to name, but I
                 cannot leave this body without thanking my dear friend
                 Mary Dietrich, clerk of the DC Appropriations Committee. I
                 saw Mary on the floor last night. I so enjoyed working
                 with her. She is a pro. She is great. I also thank Paul
                 Grove, clerk of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, who
                 worked with me in helping increase funding for the various
                 humanitarian aid programs. I know he got tired of seeing
                 me coming, but he was always gracious and got the job
                 done.
                   If there is one thing I have learned in the Senate, it
                 is that you must work together with members of both
                 parties, Democrats and Republicans. I see my friend on the
                 floor, Senator Paul Sarbanes, who will be leaving. I have
                 worked with him over the years. I have worked with many
                 Democratic Senators over the years. I want to take a few
                 minutes to thank them for their willingness to set aside
                 party politics to make a difference and to get tangible
                 results.
                   First, I thank my very good friend Senator Chris Dodd.
                 Senator Dodd and I have worked together on many bills that
                 have become law. We worked together--not once, not twice,
                 but three times--to pass three bills into law to expand
                 the research and testing of drugs prescribed for children.
                 Senator Hillary Clinton also joined us in this effort, and
                 I thank both of them for their dedication and dogged
                 determination in helping to ensure our children have
                 access to the medicines they need.
                   Senator Dodd and I also came together to create a
                 national toll-free poison control hotline--I will remind
                 my colleagues one more time of that number: 1-800-222-
                 1222.
                   Senator Dodd and I also share a commitment to providing
                 additional resources for our Nation's firefighters and
                 first responders. We know that these men and women have
                 the responsibility of looking out for us and our families,
                 and we, in turn, have a responsibility to provide them
                 with the resources they need to do their jobs. Together,
                 Senator Dodd and I passed the FIRE Act in 2000, and that
                 law has provided over $3.1 billion for grants to fire
                 departments around the Nation for needed equipment,
                 training, and communications technology. I am proud of the
                 over $100 million in FIRE Act grants that my home State of
                 Ohio has received.
                   Finally, Senator Dodd and I worked together with a
                 wonderful American statesman--Senator Daniel Patrick
                 Moynihan--to pass the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act,
                 which has led to the declassification of countless U.S.
                 Government files containing information about Nazi war
                 criminals. The American people deserve to have access to
                 this information. For all of our work together, Senator
                 Dodd, thank you.
                   Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Jay Rockefeller
                 for joining me in fighting to make our adoption system
                 work better for children around the country. My good
                 friend Senator Rockefeller was the lead cosponsor of two
                 of my bills that we got signed into law, and I was the
                 lead cosponsor of one of his bills that also became law.
                 These laws have helped minimize the amount of time
                 children spend in foster care and increased the number of
                 adoptions across the country.
                   Those laws are making a difference every day. They are
                 changing children's lives.
                   As members of the Senate Steel Caucus, Senator
                 Rockefeller and I also worked successfully together to
                 impose tariffs against foreign countries that were dumping
                 steel in the United States. The dumping by these countries
                 was hurting our steel industry and, therefore, it was
                 hurting families throughout Ohio and West Virginia.
                 Senator Rockefeller and I also teamed up to increase
                 automobile and highway safety. He is a champion there,
                 too.
                   Last year, Senator Rockefeller was the lead cosponsor of
                 several bills with me that will save lives on our roads.
                 Together, we passed these bills into law as part of the
                 last highway bill. We will never know the names or faces
                 of the people whose lives will be saved by these laws, but
                 it is enough for both of us to know those men, women, and
                 children are out there. Senator Rockefeller--it has been a
                 pleasure to work with you. Thank you.
                   Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Mary Landrieu.
                 Senator Landrieu and I share a profound concern for low-
                 income students around the country and for the welfare of
                 young people here in the District of Columbia. In 2001, we
                 worked together to amend the No Child Left Behind Act to
                 make sure that additional funding went toward low-income
                 schools and the students who attend those schools. Since
                 passage of our amendment, low-income schools in Ohio have
                 received $259 million. I applaud Senator Landrieu for her
                 commitment to these children.
                   I also want to thank Senator Landrieu for the excellent
                 work we did together on the District of Columbia
                 Appropriations Subcommittee. We worked together on this
                 subcommittee from 2001 to 2004, and again, our focus was
                 on improving the health and well-being of children. We
                 improved the city's long-troubled foster care system and
                 helped fund various improvements to children's hospitals
                 in the District. It was truly a pleasure working with the
                 good Senator from Louisiana.
                   Mr. President, I have had the great fortune to work
                 closely on the Judiciary Committee with my friend Senator
                 Pat Leahy. I am proud of the many things that we worked on
                 together. Specifically, we both know that our State and
                 local law enforcement officers need to have the best
                 technology available to protect our families and loved
                 ones. I thank Senator Leahy for working with me in 1998 to
                 pass the Crime Identification Technology Act, known as
                 CITA. We worked together to develop, pass into law, and
                 provide funding for this critical bill, which has included
                 over $500 million to help law enforcement officials
                 purchase cutting edge forensic and communication
                 technology and improve their crime labs--all in an effort
                 to help local law enforcement fight crime and make our
                 communities safer.
                   I also appreciated working with Senator Leahy to pass my
                 bill in 2003 that eliminated the statute of limitations
                 for child abduction and sex crimes, and required child
                 pornographers to register as sex offenders. Finally,
                 Senator Leahy and I worked together, along with
                 Congressman Ted Strickland in the House, to pass my
                 mentally ill offenders bill and get it signed into law in
                 2004. This law goes a long way toward providing mental
                 health services for criminals desperately in need of those
                 services. Thank you, Senator Leahy. And, of course,
                 neither of these laws would have happened without the help
                 of Judiciary Chairmen Specter and Hatch.
                   Mr. President, since 1997, I have been a member of the
                 Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee. During my time in the
                 Senate, sometimes I chaired the subcommittee, and
                 sometimes my friend Senator Herb Kohl chaired the
                 subcommittee. But no matter who had the gavel, we ran it
                 the same way--as a bipartisan committee, which shined a
                 light on competition issues and helped consumers and
                 businesses get a fair shake in the marketplace. Both of
                 our staffs planned the subcommittee agenda together,
                 organized hearings together, and held meetings together.
                 That is exactly the way it should be, and I am proud that
                 Senator Kohl and I were able to achieve and promote a
                 bipartisan consensus on important antitrust issues in many
                 critical parts of our economy.
                   Senator Kohl and I also worked together to write and
                 pass into law the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act in
                 2000. We worked on this bill after learning that many law
                 enforcement agencies did not have the funding to process
                 DNA material from crime scenes and those DNA samples ended
                 up just sitting on shelves and not getting analyzed. Our
                 law provides funding to process these samples, identify
                 criminals--such as rapists--and get them off the streets.
                 It has truly been an honor and a privilege to work with
                 Herb Kohl.
                   Mr. President, I also have had the distinct pleasure to
                 work together with Senator Mikulski on the Retirement
                 Security and Aging Subcommittee. I always knew that my
                 good friend from Maryland was a tough negotiator, but over
                 the last Congress, I was reminded of just how determined
                 and tough she can be when she knows she's right. Thank
                 heavens, she and I were on the same side.
                   Senator Mikulski and I worked together this year and in
                 2000 to reauthorize the Older Americans Act, and we also
                 joined forces to fight against efforts to weaken the
                 pension plans of millions of manufacturing retirees and
                 employees. It was during these negotiations that I was
                 glad to have a partner as tough as Senator Mikulski, and I
                 thank her.
                   Since 1999, I have been the cochairman of the Senate
                 Great Lakes Task Force with the senior Senator from
                 Michigan, Carl Levin. Together, Senator Levin and I have
                 fought side by side to pass laws and increase funding to
                 help restore and protect the Great Lakes. We passed the
                 Great Lakes Legacy Act, which has brought over $60 million
                 to clean up contaminated rivers flowing into the lakes,
                 including $25 million to clean up the Ashtabula River.
                   Senator Levin and I also recently won Senate passage of
                 the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act to
                 increase the authorization of grants to protect the Great
                 Lakes, and we worked together to prevent invasive species
                 from entering the Great Lakes by authorizing and funding a
                 barrier in Chicago, where Asian carp might enter the
                 lakes. I thank Senator Levin for his dedication to this
                 unique natural resource.
                   I have spent a great deal of my time here in the Senate
                 fighting for those who are less fortunate and who cannot
                 fend for themselves--not only here in the United States,
                 but also throughout the world. Over the years, I have
                 sponsored and passed several provisions that have
                 increased funding for humanitarian programs.
                   I want to thank my good friend Senator Dick Durbin for
                 working with me to increase funding by $100 million for
                 the Global Fund to Fight AIDS and to increase funding by
                 over $60 million for the prevention of mother-to-child
                 transmission of HIV/AIDS. Senator Durbin has also worked
                 with me to help provide assistance to the poorest nation
                 in our hemisphere--and that is Haiti. Dick, Fran and I
                 traveled together to Haiti and I thank him for joining me
                 in efforts to provide a better life for the people of
                 Haiti. He is a good and compassionate man, and I thank him
                 for his work and for his friendship.
                   Once again, these things would not have happened but for
                 Mitch McConnell, Pat Leahy, and the people on the
                 subcommittee who provided the money.
                   While I am talking about Senator Durbin, I also want to
                 thank him for joining me in passing legislation that
                 guaranteed that the children of service members who die in
                 service to their country don't lose their free health care
                 coverage. Before our law, children of service members who
                 died serving their country would lose their free health
                 care after 3 years. But, children whose parents were in
                 the military and did not die would receive health care
                 until they turned 21. That just wasn't right, and Senator
                 Durbin agreed with me. Together, we changed that law. I
                 thank him for working with me on that effort, and I thank
                 Chairman Warner for working with us on this bill. It could
                 not have happened without him.
                   Mr. President, I also had the pleasure of working with
                 Senators Durbin, Corzine, Biden, and Brownback, as we have
                 tried to help bring a stop to the terrible genocide that
                 is occurring in Darfur.
                   Together, we have increased funding for humanitarian
                 relief and security efforts in this war-torn region, where
                 so many innocent victims continue to suffer. I was proud
                 to join my friends in this effort, and I know they will
                 continue this fight.
                   Mr. President, none of these important increases to
                 these HIV/AIDS and humanitarian aid programs could have
                 happened without the help of the chairman and ranking
                 member of the Senate Foreign Operations Appropriations
                 Subcommittee--Senators McConnell and Senator Leahy. To
                 both of them and to their able staffs, thank you.
                   I want to thank Senator Frank Lautenberg for working
                 with me to set a national 0.08 blood alcohol content
                 standard for alcohol-impaired drivers.
                   This was a tough fight, and Senator Lautenberg is a good
                 man to have with you in such a fight. I am proud to say
                 that in 2000 we successfully got our bill passed and
                 signed into law.
                   Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Byrd, not only
                 for the legislation that we have worked on together, but
                 more important for the outstanding service he has given
                 this body and this country. Senator Byrd and I worked
                 together years ago to pass the Continued Dumping Subsidy
                 Offset Act--a law that helped bring hundreds of millions
                 of dollars to U.S. manufacturing companies that were the
                 victims of illegal dumping by foreign companies. This law
                 brought over $315 million to manufacturers in Ohio. Thank
                 you Senator Byrd for the work we've done together and for
                 your outstanding service to this Senate and to this
                 Nation.
                   Mr. President, I want to wish the best to all of my
                 fellow Senators who were defeated this fall or who are
                 retiring this year--Senators Frist, Santorum, Talent,
                 Burns, Allen, Chafee, Dayton, and Jeffords. They are all
                 good people and all good friends. I wish them well.
                   Mr. President, I want to take a moment to say that I
                 still miss my good friend Senator Paul Wellstone. Senator
                 Wellstone was a determined and outstanding public servant.
                 In 1998, Paul and I worked closely together to write the
                 law that reformed and improved the effectiveness of job
                 training programs. It was always a pleasure to work with
                 Paul Wellstone--such a passionate and committed and
                 dedicated public servant.
                   Mr. President, as my colleagues all know, none of us
                 could get anything done here in this body if it were not
                 for the extremely dedicated, hard-working people on our
                 staffs. I am grateful for the men and women who work for
                 me now and those who have worked for me all through my
                 time in the U.S. Senate. I didn't say thank you often
                 enough, but I want each of you to know how much I
                 sincerely appreciate all you have done for me--all you
                 have done to help the people of Ohio and the people of
                 this Nation. I say to them: You have done such great work.
                 You have helped people. You have improved their lives and,
                 in some cases, you have saved lives through your efforts.
                 You have made a difference, and you all should be very
                 proud. I know I am proud of each and every one of you.
                   I have been so fortunate to have had so many qualified,
                 talented people working for me over the years. Time will
                 not permit me to name each one, but I thank all of them
                 collectively for their efforts.
                   Thank you to all the schedulers who through the years
                 got me where I needed to go and kept me on track. I would
                 be lost, literally, without you.
                   Thank you to all my personal assistants and executive
                 assistants. You all have taken such good care of me,
                 which, admittedly, has been tough to do. I have not made
                 it easy.
                   Thank you to my press team--all my past press
                 secretaries and press assistants. You have helped spread
                 the word about the good things this team has done for the
                 people of Ohio. I thank you for your diligence and
                 dedication.
                   I thank my legislative staff--all my legislative
                 assistants, professional committee staff, legislative
                 aides, legislative correspondents, researchers, and
                 writers. You have been the best team any Senator could
                 ever ask for. I am proud of you. You have worked so hard,
                 so tirelessly, and with such commitment. You got things
                 done. You have made a difference.
                   Thank you to all my current and past staff assistants,
                 receptionists, and interns. You have been on the front
                 lines every single day. You have heard a lot. You manned
                 the phones. You greeted all of our constituents. You have
                 helped me in countless ways. You have done your job so
                 well with great respect, grace, and patience.
                   Thank you to our mail team. One thing is certain in this
                 business: the letters and e-mails never stop coming. That
                 is a good thing. Thank you for opening all the
                 correspondence, sorting it, taking care of it, and making
                 sure responses got out. I bless you for that.
                   Thank you to all my past office managers and system
                 administrators. You have kept my office running. Without
                 each of you, we couldn't open our doors each business day.
                 You are great.
                   Thank you to my entire team in Ohio--to all my current
                 and past regional directors, district representatives,
                 staff assistants, and caseworkers. You are the best Ohio
                 has to offer. I am proud to have worked with each one of
                 you. I couldn't have done my job without you. You all know
                 our State so very well. You have been so caring and kind
                 to our constituents. Thank you from the bottom of my
                 heart.
                   While it would be impossible for me to talk about each
                 of my past staff members individually, I would like to
                 take a moment to say a few things about some of my key
                 advisers over the years. I will dearly miss working with
                 each one of you. Bluntly, I don't know how I am going to
                 get along.
                   Thank you to my past and present finance team. They are
                 the ones who got me here: Mary Sabin, Rachel Pearson, Amy
                 Ford Bradley, and last, but certainly not least, Brooke
                 Bodney, who has taken me through the last few years. You
                 all have amazed me over the years. You have pushed me,
                 prodded me, you made me do something I don't like to do:
                 make phone calls and ask people for money. Please know how
                 grateful I am to each one of you. Your jobs were not easy,
                 and you did a phenomenal job.
                   Thank you to my past campaign managers--Curt Steiner in
                 1992, Laurel Pressler Dawson in 1994, Josh Rubin in 2000,
                 and Matt Carle from my 2006 race. Curt has been my friend
                 for over a quarter of a century. He is smart and
                 politically savvy. Laurel was a great campaign manager in
                 1994. I will have more to say about her in a minute. Josh
                 has been a permanent fixture in the DeWine family since
                 the early 1990s. I have always appreciated his advice and
                 wise counsel. Matt did a fine job this past election
                 cycle. He knows Ohio very well.
                   I would also like to mention my friend Chuck Greener who
                 has been a friend for over 25 years. I am grateful for his
                 friendship and wise counsel. He always takes my calls. He
                 always calls back. He is there for me. He is there for
                 Fran.
                   Thank you to each of the individuals who have served as
                 staff directors of my subcommittees. Louis Dupart served
                 as staff director for our Antitrust Subcommittee. Louis
                 always came to me with such great legislative ideas. He is
                 the one who came to me with the idea of the Nazi war crime
                 legislation. I will forever be grateful for that.
                   Pete Levitas also served for several years now as staff
                 director for the Antitrust Subcommittee. Pete is a
                 brilliant lawyer. He has been one of my most dedicated
                 staff members, and he is one of the funniest people I have
                 ever met. He can always make me laugh, and we always need
                 people around us, Pete, to make us laugh.
                   Dwayne Sattler served as staff director for our
                 Employment and Training Subcommittee. He worked tirelessly
                 to help reform this country's job training program. A lot
                 of the bill was his work product. I thank him for that.
                   Last, but certainly not least, Karla Carpenter, who has
                 served as the staff director for three of my
                 subcommittees: Aging, Substance Abuse and Mental Health
                 Services, and Retirement Security. What in the world will
                 I do without her? She has been with me since 1994. She is,
                 as she likes to say, ``the smartest person she knows.''
                 Mr. President, let me tell you, she is certainly one of
                 the smartest persons I know. She got our Adoption and Safe
                 Families Act signed into law, as well as the Older
                 Americans Act and pensions bill. Thank you, Karla.
                   I would also like to thank my able Intelligence
                 Committee designee, John Pack, and my excellent former
                 designees Jack Livingston and Jim Barnett. You have been
                 great advisers.
                   I have been most fortunate to have had the chance to
                 work with three of the smartest, hardest working
                 legislative directors around. My first Senate legislative
                 director and chief counsel was Nick Wise. He was also
                 legislative director for me in the House of
                 Representatives. Nick always had a unique ability to
                 analyze an issue and drill it down to the essence of the
                 matter, and then explain it to me. Unique talent.
                   My next legislative director was Robert Hoffman. He came
                 to my office from Senator Larry Pressler's office, where
                 he was the Senator's legislative director. Robert did a
                 fantastic job for me. He has an unstoppable work ethic. He
                 was so dedicated and had such a solid understanding of the
                 legislative process. I thank Robert.
                   My current legislative director is Paul Palagyi. What
                 will I do without Paul, who is my go-to guy on so many
                 things? He has been my LD for nearly 6 years and has built
                 an extraordinary legislative team. Paul has put up with a
                 lot. He is also an adviser on my two dogs at home.
                   During my time in the Senate, I have had two
                 speechwriters. My first Senate speechwriter was Mike
                 Potemra. I can say with honesty Mike is one of the most
                 intelligent people I know. He is just so knowledgeable. In
                 his own words, Mike is an ``unusual guy.'' That he is, but
                 he is also deeply endearing, and I am fortunate to have
                 had the opportunity to work with him. I thank Mike.
                   Now, Mr. President, I come to the point in my speech
                 where it is not scripted, and that is because it is about
                 Ann O'Donnell. Ann O'Donnell has been my speechwriter. Ann
                 O'Donnell has been someone who has made an unbelievable
                 difference in my life. She is a tireless worker. She is a
                 compassionate person. Fran and I have traveled with Ann to
                 Haiti. I have seen her compassion for the children of
                 Haiti. She is someone who never stops working.
                   During this past week, because I am leaving the Senate,
                 because I would not be here in January, I have tried to
                 finish giving tribute speeches to all soldiers and troops
                 who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was an unbelievable
                 task. Ann put it together. She got it done. We did 75
                 speeches this week. It wouldn't have happened without her.
                 A lot of things I have done would not have happened
                 without her. I thank her. I thank her for being who she
                 is.
                   I have had two communications directors during my time
                 in the Senate. First was Charlie Boesel. Everyone loves
                 Charlie. His personality is as flamboyant as his taste in
                 colorful clothes. Charlie was a pleasure to work with and
                 did a fine job for us. I will tell you, it was great fun
                 to have Charlie join us for a few days on the campaign
                 trail. Fran and I were so happy to see Charlie back.
                   My current communications director is Mike Dawson. I
                 first met Mike when I was running for Governor in 1989.
                 Mike, whom I did not know, came to me and kept coming to
                 me and said: ``Hey, I want to work for you, I want to help
                 you on your campaign.'' We finally said yes, and he was on
                 the campaign. He worked on my Governor's race and then my
                 Lieutenant Governor's race when I joined George in his bid
                 for Governor. Mike worked in the Voinovich administration,
                 he worked for Senator Voinovich, and he has been my
                 communications director for the last 5 years. I am
                 grateful for his wise counsel. He is my friend. I will
                 always remember what he has done for me.
                   I have had one State director while I have been in the
                 Senate. That has been Barbara Schenck. Barbara worked with
                 me when I was Lieutenant Governor. She is truly one of the
                 finest individuals I have ever known. She is smart; she is
                 articulate; she is spirited; yes, she is feisty; and she
                 is passionate. She is also extremely compassionate. She
                 has been my right hand in Ohio. I talked to her many days
                 six, seven, eight times. I can't imagine not working with
                 her in the days ahead, but I know she is going to do some
                 amazing things. Barbara, you are the greatest. Thank you.
                   Finally, my chief of staff, Laurel Pressler Dawson. I
                 truly believe-- I have not checked this--that she has been
                 chief of staff to a Senator and a Congressman probably
                 longer than anybody in this body. Laurel has been my chief
                 of staff since January 1983 when I entered the U.S. House
                 of Representatives. We have seen and been through so much
                 together in our personal lives, as well as professional.
                 She has been there during the great tragedies in my
                 family. She has always been there. When our daughter Becky
                 died, she was at the hospital. She was the one who came.
                   She was the one person who had the ability to tell me
                 no, and I would listen to her. Everybody needs someone who
                 tells them ``no'' and listens to them. I have been
                 privileged to have her be my most trusted adviser for over
                 two decades. She always just got it done. She managed my
                 organization with great skill. I cannot thank her enough
                 for all she has done for me and for my family.
                   As my colleagues in the Senate are well aware, Fran and
                 I have a big family. We are blessed. We are parents of 8
                 children, now the grandparents of 10 grandchildren. I
                 would like to take a couple minutes to talk about my
                 family before I end.
                   First, I thank my oldest child, my son Patrick. I always
                 turned to Pat for his thoughts on policy and politics and
                 have so appreciated his help in my campaigns and his keen
                 advice and his input. Pat's three boys--Michael, Matthew,
                 and Brian--are a delight. They are a delight every day.
                 They were a delight to have on the campaign trail. I thank
                 each of them for all their hard work and their efforts.
                   I thank my daughter Jill, her husband Bill, and their
                 children, Albert, Isabelle, David, Caroline, Justin, and
                 newborn Mary Frances. Jill and Bill and the kids walked in
                 so many parades this summer and fall and throughout the
                 years, as all our kids have. I can count them. They have
                 always been so helpful and supportive. I thank Bill for
                 his expertise on issues regarding persons with
                 disabilities. He has helped me understand the needs of
                 those with disabilities. He has helped me do more to help
                 them.
                   Our son John recently completed his Ph.D. in ecology.
                 Fran and I are so proud of him. He and his wife Michele
                 and their sweet little daughter Josie Jean have recently
                 moved to West Virginia, where John is now working on river
                 restoration.
                   Our son Brian is engaged to Kalie Spink. They are
                 planning their wedding for this coming April. Fran and I
                 are so looking forward to that and looking forward to
                 having Kalie join our family. Brian works in the best job
                 probably in the family. He works for a minor league
                 baseball team, the Carolina Mudcats. I envy him every day.
                   I thank my daughter Alice for the sacrifices she made
                 this year to help with our campaign. She is a law student
                 at Ohio Northern University--my alma mater--and took the
                 fall semester off to work on the campaign where she was in
                 charge of coalitions. Thank you, Alice. You did a great
                 job.
                   Our son Mark is a sophomore at the College of Wooster,
                 where he runs cross-country and track. Mark is a good
                 person, a person who is very compassionate. For his Eagle
                 Scout project, he traveled to Haiti, a place my colleagues
                 know is very important to Fran and myself. He planted
                 trees there. He worked with Father Tom Hagan and helped
                 with the reforestation project.
                   Our daughter Anna is a freshman in high school. She is a
                 runner like all her brothers and sisters. She is a sweet,
                 quiet, caring young woman. She has put up with a lot this
                 past year with her mom and dad being gone quite a bit of
                 the time, going back and forth between Washington and
                 Ohio. But she has handled it so well. We are very proud of
                 her.
                   To each of my children and grandchildren, Mr. President,
                 I simply want to say thank you and I love you.
                   As an only child growing up, I was dating Frances in
                 high school and I used to love going over to her house
                 because she had a big family. There was always something
                 going on. I want to thank Fran's brothers and sisters and
                 their families for all they have done for us over the
                 years, their friendship and love and help and support. We
                 are so very fortunate to have all of them in our lives. I
                 want to thank Fran's parents especially, Bill and Mary
                 Struewing. You are great. No one could have a better
                 mother-in-law and father-in-law. You have put up with me
                 since Fran and I started dating in high school, for a long
                 time, and for that I am very grateful.
                   Of course, I want to thank my parents, Dick and Jean
                 DeWine. I have talked about my dad on the Senate floor
                 many times in regard to the K-Company and what he did
                 during World War II. I could not have asked for two more
                 wonderful parents. They always believed in me. They gave
                 me my interest in politics. They gave me their values.
                 They gave me their work ethic, and I owe them everything,
                 and I love them very much.
                   Finally, every day I think of our daughter Becky who
                 died in 1993. Becky was a compassionate, honest, caring
                 young woman who would have done so much with her life. I
                 think of her every day. The things that Fran and I do for
                 children, we do in her memory.
                   In conclusion, I love Ohio. I love our country. I see a
                 great future for both my State and for America. I am an
                 optimist. My wife Fran says that anybody with 8 kids by
                 definition is an optimist, and I am an optimist.
                 Throughout my career in the Senate and after I leave, I
                 will continue to care about the health, education and
                 welfare of our kids. I will continue to care about
                 stopping the spread of AIDS around the globe. I will
                 continue to help improve the lives of our world's most
                 impoverished men, women, and children. I will continue to
                 care about highway safety and the importance of making our
                 cars and roads safer. I will continue to care about making
                 our communities safe for our families, safe from crime,
                 safe from terrorism.
                   As I leave the Senate, however, I leave behind
                 unfinished business, as we all do, and I encourage my
                 colleagues to continue the work we shared on so many
                 different issues.
                   Just this week I introduced the Pediatric Medical Device
                 bill with Senator Dodd, a bill that will help ensure that
                 our children have access to lifesaving medical devices
                 that are designed specifically for small bodies. I hope
                 someone will take up that cause.
                   I thank my colleague Ted Kennedy for working with me,
                 and I was working with him, on the bill to give the Food
                 and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco.
                 It is long past due. It needs to happen. It has not
                 passed, but it will. I know it will pass. I know it will
                 pass, because it is the right thing to do.
                   Two days ago I introduced a bill to make cars and roads
                 safer for our families, especially our children. That bill
                 would simply direct the National Highway Traffic and
                 Safety Administration to research new ways to keep
                 pregnant women and their unborn children safer in our
                 cars. I hope someone will take that up as well.
                   I will finally conclude my remarks by thanking the most
                 important person in my life, my bride of 39 years, Fran.
                 As most people know, I would be literally lost without
                 her. She takes care of me. She takes care of our family.
                 She is our rock. Fran is my partner in all things. She is
                 my best friend. She is the passion of my life. She is my
                 love. She is everything to me. We met in the first grade.
                 It took me until the seventh grade to talk her into going
                 out on a date with me, and it took me 7 more years to
                 convince her to marry me. I am a persistent man. We got
                 married between our sophomore and junior years at Miami.
                 We tell people it was a productive 4 years at Miami. We
                 ended up with two degrees and two children by the time we
                 left. I could not have done any of this without her by my
                 side.
                   She has been through every one of my campaigns. She has
                 done everything. Thirty ice cream socials for 2,500 people
                 who just dropped by her house on a Sunday. She has done
                 that for 30 years. She does anything and everything. She
                 is smart, she is witty, she is organized, and she is very
                 compassionate. She accomplishes more than anyone I know,
                 and she never stops working. I love her more than anything
                 else in the world. Someone said to me earlier this year
                 that if I lost my reelection bid, it wouldn't be so bad,
                 because even if I lost my Senate seat, Fran would still be
                 there by my side. They were right. And for that, I am very
                 fortunate.
                   Mr. President, my colleagues, my friends, come visit us
                 in Ohio. That is where we will be. After this month, we
                 will be in our home in the county where we grew up, the
                 county where we were born, the county where we live. We
                 will be home in Greene County. Come see us. You are always
                 welcome.
                   I thank the Chair for his indulgence, and my colleagues.
                   I yield the floor.

                                          TRIBUTES

                                             TO

                                         MIKE DeWINE
                                  Proceedings in the Senate
                                                  Monday, November 13, 2006
                   Mr. SALAZAR. ... I will say this as well. In the days
                 ahead, we will hear many things about some of our
                 colleagues, some of whom are newcomers to our institution,
                 the U.S. Senate, and some of them who are leaving. For me,
                 it is a sad day that Senator Chafee and Senator DeWine,
                 who were members of the Gang of 14, will not be around to
                 be a part of that future bipartisan coalition that we are
                 going to have to have in the Senate. But I hope, on the
                 side of both the Democrats and the Republicans, that there
                 is a great number of Members of the Senate on both sides
                 of the aisle who will come together to address those
                 significant issues that face us as a country. ...
                                               Wednesday, November 15, 2006
                   Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I say to my colleague,
                 Senator DeWine, those have been very moving tributes to
                 fallen soldiers from his State of Ohio. He has set a good
                 example for all of us in recognizing the service and
                 sacrifice of those from his home State. I find as I listen
                 to those tributes that they are extremely well done. I
                 thank the Senator for that.
                   I also wish to acknowledge that the Senator from Ohio
                 will be leaving at the end of this term and that I have
                 very much appreciated working with him. He has been one of
                 the very serious Members of this body, and we are going to
                 miss him. I wanted to say to him that I certainly
                 appreciate his service in the Senate. He has always been a
                 constructive colleague, somebody who was working
                 diligently to try to solve problems facing the country. We
                 very much appreciate his dedication to the country.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.

                   Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I thank my colleague and tell
                 him that I have enjoyed working with him very much. We
                 have worked on things together. You can work across the
                 aisle in this body and get things done. I thank him for
                 his very kind and generous words.
                                                Thursday, November 16, 2006
                   Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, a few moments ago, our
                 colleague from the State of Ohio, Senator Mike DeWine,
                 gave tribute to three Ohioans who lost their lives in
                 Iraq. I listened to these carefully and I hope others did
                 as well. They were beautiful life stories, beautifully
                 written, beautifully spoken by the Senator. I went up to
                 him afterward and asked him how many Ohioans had lost
                 their lives in Iraq. He said the number was 140. He has
                 given 90 tributes on the floor and hopes before he leaves
                 the Senate in a few weeks to finish the last 50. He is
                 determined to get it done as a tribute to these families.
                 He said: It is about all we can do, isn't it? He is right.
                 It says a lot about Mike DeWine, a lot that many of us
                 already knew.
                   I came to Congress with Mike in 1982. I recall we were
                 both elected to the House of Representatives. I was from
                 the central part of Illinois and he was from Ohio. We had
                 a dinner at the White House. I recall that his wife Fran,
                 who had just had a baby a few days before, came in her
                 beautiful gown with her husband Mike in a tuxedo, carrying
                 a basket with their baby in it. They sat down next to
                 Loretta and myself for dinner with President Reagan that
                 night. I have joked about that because I met that little
                 girl recently. She has grown up now, and we remembered the
                 first time we ever laid eyes on her.
                   Mike and I have worked on so many things--the global
                 AIDS epidemic. He has been my go-to guy on the Republican
                 side of the aisle. When I had absolutely given up any hope
                 of passing legislation for hundreds of millions of dollars
                 to save hundreds of millions of lives, Mike managed to
                 help out in many different ways.
                   He invited me once to travel to Haiti with him. Haiti is
                 a DeWine family project. Mike and Fran have made over 15
                 trips to that poor island and have met with so many people
                 there in orphanages and on streets trying to help them.
                 There is a little school in Port-au-Prince, the Becky
                 DeWine School, named after Mike and Fran's late daughter.
                 They have poured more love and resources into that school
                 for some of the poorest kids on this planet than we could
                 ever count. They worked together with Father Tom of Hands
                 Together and so many other great charities that have done
                 such work.
                   As I listened to Mike tonight give his tributes to these
                 Ohio soldiers, I was reminded what a quality individual he
                 is. Elections come and go. People win and people lose. But
                 the quality of Mike DeWine's service to the Senate on
                 behalf of the people of Ohio is written large in the
                 history of this institution.
                   I thank him for his friendship and for his leadership. I
                 wish him, Fran, and the entire family the very best in
                 whatever their future endeavors might entail.
                                                  Tuesday, December 5, 2006
                   Mr. HAGEL. Mr. President, I have listened carefully to
                 our colleague from Ohio [Mr. DeWine], spending his few
                 minutes in the Senate talking about brave men and women
                 who serve our country. It is the mark of our colleague
                 from Ohio, the kind of person he is--not just the kind of
                 Senator he is--that he would come to the floor of the
                 Senate in his last few days as a Member of this
                 institution and focus on others, focus on those who have
                 given the ultimate sacrifice for their families, for our
                 country and for our future. It shows us, once again, that
                 Senator DeWine is the consummate Senator.
                   I am here this afternoon to recognize and thank and pay
                 tribute to our colleagues who will be leaving the Senate.
                 They are a varied group. Again, I can think of no finer
                 example of this group of public servants than one of
                 Senator DeWine's last speeches in the Senate to recognize
                 others.
                   I thank you, Senator DeWine, for your service.
                   As we recognize, it is a distinct privilege and high
                 honor to serve our country in any capacity, and certainly
                 none higher than in uniform. But it is especially
                 important that we recognize those who have given years of
                 their lives, sacrificing their families, their own time,
                 to help make a better world for all of us. I know of no
                 capacity in which we serve our country that has given
                 those who have had this rare opportunity to serve in the
                 Senate anything more noble than trying to shape a better
                 world from this Senate.
                   These individuals who will leave the Senate, some on
                 their own terms, some on the terms of the election, but,
                 nonetheless, in their own specific way have contributed a
                 great deal to this country.
                   I take a few minutes to recognize each. I start with our
                 colleague, your dear friend, former Lieutenant Governor,
                 the senior Senator from Ohio. I need not tell the
                 distinguished Presiding Officer what Senator DeWine has
                 meant to his State and to this country. I had the
                 privilege of serving on the Intelligence Committee with
                 Senator DeWine for 4 years. I have teamed up with Senator
                 DeWine over the years on many legislative matters. I don't
                 know of an individual who cares more, contributes more, to
                 what they believe, than Senator DeWine. His years of
                 service in the House, the Senate, and as Lieutenant
                 Governor are to be recognized. We should thank him and
                 tell him that we will miss him and we will especially miss
                 a friend. ...
                   Mr. President, in conclusion, it is not easy to put
                 one's self on the firing line and offer one's self as a
                 candidate for any office. It takes a certain amount of
                 courage and, I suspect, a little dose of insanity. But
                 nonetheless individuals who believe deeply enough to
                 commit themselves to a cause greater than their own self-
                 interests need to be recognized. Having nothing to do with
                 me or you or any one individual, but it is the essence of
                 our country, it is the very fabric of our democracy that
                 makes it all work and probably gives rise to, more than
                 any one reason, why we have been such a successful nation
                 for over 200 years--because people from all walks of life,
                 in every community, in every State, offer themselves for
                 office. Whether it is a mayor, a Governor, city
                 councilman, county official, a sheriff, these individuals
                 deserve recognition.
                   We all make mistakes. That is who we are. But in the
                 end, it is not unlike what Teddy Roosevelt once referred
                 to in his magnificent quote about the man in the arena.
                 And it is the man and the woman in the arena who change
                 our lives. It makes a better world that shapes history,
                 that defines our destiny. And for these individuals who
                 will no longer have that opportunity to serve our country
                 in the Senate, we wish them well, we thank them, and we
                 tell them we are proud of them and their families and wish
                 them Godspeed.
                   Mr. President, I thank you for the time and yield the
                 floor.

                   Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, I rise to speak about our
                 senior Senator from Ohio, Mike DeWine. Let me begin by
                 saying this is a speech I hoped I would never have to
                 give. For many in this Chamber, winter came a little early
                 this year. A blizzard of political change swept through
                 the country and, unfortunately, many were unable to
                 weather the storm; in my particular case, in our State,
                 through no fault of their own.
                   Mike DeWine was one of the most effective legislators we
                 have in the U.S. Senate. He was a victim of this storm. I
                 am deeply saddened that our respective colleagues will not
                 be joining us when we congregate again for the 110th
                 Congress. Mike's tireless commitment to legislating, his
                 willingness and ability to work with both parties, and his
                 ingenuity will be sorely missed by everyone in the Senate
                 and the State of Ohio.
                   Mike has served the people of Ohio for more than 30
                 years, beginning as an assistant county prosecutor in
                 1976. He served as Green County prosecutor for 4 years,
                 State senator for 2 years, Congressman for 8 years, and he
                 was my Lieutenant Governor for 4 years when I was Governor
                 of Ohio. And, of course, he has served us for 12 years as
                 our U.S. Senator. He is one of the most effective and
                 least partisan Members in this body.
                   During campaign season, some of our colleagues on the
                 other side of the aisle kept asking me: How is Mike doing,
                 how is he doing? Frankly, I think they were secretly
                 hoping his poll numbers would be strong enough that he
                 would not become a target. Unfortunately, those numbers
                 never got up to that place, and he ended up being a
                 target.
                   Far too many Members see differences between Republicans
                 and Democrats as an unsurpassable deep divide. Not Mike
                 DeWine. Over and over again, Mike built bridges between
                 our parties, and he got things done for America and for
                 Ohio. Janet and I feel like Mike and his wonderful wife
                 Fran are part of our family. After working with Mike for
                 the past 16 years, I can tell you that there is something
                 special about him. In fact, right from the start, I knew
                 there was something refreshingly different about Mike
                 DeWine.
                   The inception of our friendship came in 1990, when Mike
                 and I were both running in the Republican primary for
                 Governor of Ohio. It was a crowded field with Mike, Bob
                 Taft, and me vying for the Governor's slot. It was then we
                 really got to know each other. We talked about what would
                 be the best for Ohio and for the Republican Party and,
                 quite frankly, for our respective political futures. We
                 decided to combine our efforts as running mates, and Mike
                 agreed to run as my Lieutenant Governor.
                   I knew this was a very tough decision for Mike because
                 he wanted to be Governor and was giving up a very safe
                 congressional seat to run for State office. At that
                 moment, I knew I had a first-rate partner, a man with
                 great character and humility as well as unique political
                 poise and promise. Both of us knew we had a long, tough
                 race ahead of us with no guarantees. This was not a layup
                 shot. There was a real question of whether we were going
                 to be successful. He had given up a safe seat in the U.S.
                 Congress, with a big family. But we had a great time
                 running for State office. Mike had an opportunity to
                 connect with the State as a whole. I remember when he and
                 Fran packed the kids in the van and traveled every inch of
                 Ohio, becoming intimate with the Appalachian east, its
                 manufacturing north, and its interior farmland.
                   We went on to win the general election and, as I like to
                 say, together we did it. Together we won the election, and
                 together we charted a new course for Ohio.
                   As Lieutenant Governor, Mike took over the State's
                 criminal justice agencies, where he led the fight against
                 crime and illegal drugs. It was a relief to have Mike as
                 my partner when we had the Lucasville riots which broke
                 out on Easter Sunday in 1993. It was the largest prison
                 disturbance in the history of the United States,
                 generating a great deal of national tension. Mike's
                 background in criminal justice and his close relationship
                 with law enforcement helped us respond quickly and
                 effectively. It could have been a tragedy, but
                 fortunately, together, and with the help of the Holy
                 Spirit, we made it through.
                   In 1992, when the Ohio Republican Party needed a
                 challenger to run against the famous astronaut and giant
                 in Ohio politics, John Glenn, Mike was the obvious choice.
                 He and Fran worked tirelessly to win that seat.
                 Unfortunately, victory was not in the cards that year but
                 triumph was imminent. Two years later, Mike became a U.S.
                 Senator and our party swept the State, just as the
                 Democrats did this year in Ohio. Mike returned to
                 Washington as a U.S. Senator with more perspective, more
                 experience, and more insight into the challenges facing
                 Ohio than when he left the Congress as a Member of the
                 House of Representatives. Without a lot of fanfare, he
                 quietly went to work.
                   Of course, Mike has been shaped by many things. It is
                 impossible to talk about his achievements in public
                 service without mentioning the terrible misfortune he and
                 Fran experienced back in 1994. I will never forget the day
                 Mike and Fran lost their daughter Becky. I am familiar
                 with the tremendous pain they suffered. The day that
                 changed their lives sticks in my memory, much like the day
                 Janet and I lost our daughter Molly. Mike translated the
                 love he and Fran had for Becky into his work in the
                 Senate. He became a champion for our youth and for those
                 who cannot represent themselves. That is why today I am
                 hard pressed to think of anyone who has not been helped by
                 Mike DeWine.
                   His legislative achievements, which span both domestic
                 and foreign policy, reflect his effectual and
                 compassionate nature. Mike has shown tremendous dedication
                 toward improving the safety of our highway system. He not
                 only amended the 2005 highway bill to make preferences for
                 highways noted as being unsafe, but he also allocated more
                 than $56 million of SAFETEA-LU, intended for improving
                 highway safety.
                   He succeeded in getting further testing and approval of
                 medications for children. He helped establish a national
                 toll-free poison control hotline. He acted on behalf of
                 the children of U.S. service members to make sure they had
                 access to affordable health care. And he has stood up for
                 foster children to make sure they are protected and to
                 help them find adoptive parents.
                   Time after time, Senator DeWine has protected Ohio. He
                 was a critical voice in passing the Senate pension bill
                 which helped ensure that workers' futures in Ohio are on
                 better footing. He is a cosponsor of the Health
                 Partnership Act because he understands how important
                 health care reform is to Ohioans and to this country. He
                 helped ensure that our fire departments are better
                 equipped to fulfill their missions as first responders.
                   During the BRAC process, he worked to keep Federal
                 facilities, such as Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in
                 Dayton and the Defense Finance and Accounting Center in
                 Cleveland and Columbus, open and operating. And he led a
                 new mission for Ohio's NASA-Glenn in Cleveland. Today
                 these facilities are thriving and contributing to Ohio's
                 aerospace industry and national defense. I don't think
                 there was a State in the country that benefited more from
                 the BRAC process than Ohio, and it is attributable to the
                 outstanding leadership Mike DeWine gave all of us in terms
                 of that BRAC process.
                   Mike has also been a friend of the Jewish community and
                 has made it a priority to help stamp out anti-Semitism and
                 intolerance in America. He played a pivotal role in
                 helping disclose previously classified documents about
                 Nazi aggression, legislation that made those records
                 available to the public through the National Archives and
                 Records Administration. Today, thanks to Mike, doctors,
                 nurses, and aid workers are more prepared to confront the
                 global AIDS epidemic.
                   Mike has carried a heavy burden while he has been in the
                 Senate. He sits on the Judiciary Committee, the HELP
                 Committee, and the Intelligence Committee. He also sits on
                 one of the most prestigious committees in the Senate,
                 Appropriations. In fact, Mike was the first Ohioan in 50
                 years to sit on Appropriations. His position of
                 leadership--and the resources he has been able to bring
                 back to Ohio--has made a tremendous difference for our
                 State and a tremendous difference in the lives of the
                 people of our State. I used to joke with Mike that my job
                 as the debt hawk was to make sure we didn't spend the
                 money. But once we decided we were going to spend it, his
                 job was to make sure Ohio got its fair share. And boy, did
                 he do a good job.
                   These are just a handful of examples where my close
                 friend and colleague Mike DeWine has made a difference.
                 His legislative accomplishments and his legacy of
                 principled public service have had a deep impact on all of
                 our lives. The Senate will suffer a loss without Mike. But
                 he will not slip out of the Senate. He will walk out these
                 doors with his head held high because he can feel good
                 about all he has given to the people of Ohio and to the
                 United States of America. He has truly made a difference
                 in their lives.
                   Married for more than 39 years, Mike and Fran are
                 parents to 8 children and grandparents to 10. They have
                 been blessed with much happiness and success, and they
                 have carved out many meaningful paths during their life
                 together.
                   While Mike will be missed, I am confident that he and
                 Fran will begin something new in this next chapter of
                 their lives. They have both been given so much. I believe
                 that God does have a plan. Sometimes we are not sure about
                 what it is, but God does have a plan.
                   I am reminded of one of my favorite verses from the
                 Bible, Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6:

                   Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and learn not
                 unto your own understandings. In all your ways acknowledge
                 Him, and He will direct your path.

                   Mike will be missed. But I know the Holy Spirit will
                 continue to inspire Mike and Fran as they embark on a new
                 journey together.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Thune). The Senator from
                 Ohio, Mr. DeWine, is recognized.

                   Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I thank my dear friend--the
                 now junior Senator from Ohio, who in January will become
                 the senior Senator from Ohio--for those very generous and
                 kind comments.
                   George Voinovich and I first got to know each other in
                 1989. I will not repeat the story the Senator recounted,
                 but we got together and formed a partnership that has
                 lasted until today. I gave up my run for Governor and
                 joined with George as his Lieutenant Governor candidate.
                 We won and, as they say, the rest is history. George was a
                 great Governor for 8 years. I was his Lieutenant Governor
                 for the first 4 of those years. We worked very closely
                 during that period of time, of course, and after I went to
                 the Senate, when he was still Governor. We have worked
                 even closer since he has been a Senator from Ohio. So I
                 thank him. George Voinovich and Janet are dear friends.
                 They are people whom we care very much about. George is a
                 great public servant, and I appreciate him very much and
                 am touched, frankly, by his very kind comments.
                                                Wednesday, December 6, 2006
                   Mr. REED. Mr. President, this is an opportunity to
                 recognize the service of several of our colleagues who are
                 departing from the Senate. To Senator Jeffords, Senator
                 Frist, Senator DeWine, Senator Talent, Senator Santorum,
                 Senator Burns, and Senator Allen, let me express my
                 appreciation for their service to their States and their
                 service to the Nation and wish them well. ...
                   To all my colleagues who served and conclude their
                 service, let me once again express deep appreciation for
                 their friendship and for their service to the Nation.
                   I yield the floor.

                   Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, we are coming to the end
                 of the session and 10 of our colleagues are retiring. I
                 want to say a word about them ...
                   Or Mike DeWine, with his 8 children and 10th grandchild,
                 whose heart is nearly as big as he is. He lost a child,
                 and he and Fran have gone to Haiti time after time after
                 time to help people there who need help. ...
                   When the most recent class of Senators was sworn into
                 office nearly 2 years ago, in the gallery were three
                 women. One was the grandmother of Barack Obama. She was
                 from Kenya. One was the mother of Senator Salazar, a 10th
                 generation American. One was the mother of Mel Martinez,
                 the new Republican National Committee chairman, who, with
                 her husband, put her son on an airplane when he was 14
                 years old and sent him from Cuba to the United States, not
                 knowing if she would ever see him again.
                   In a way, each one of us who is here is an accident.
                 None of us knew we would be here. Each of us is privileged
                 to serve, and one of the greatest privileges is to serve
                 with our colleagues. We will miss them and we are grateful
                 for their service.
                   I yield the floor.

                   Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, as the time for my departure
                 from the Senate draws near, on behalf of the greatest
                 blessing in my life, my wife Susan, and on behalf of
                 myself, I thank all of my colleagues for their many
                 courtesies and friendships that have been forged during
                 the past 6 years. I offer a few concluding reflections
                 about our time here together, as well as about the future
                 of our Republic. ...

                   Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I see others who
                 wish to speak, and I will make a couple of brief comments.
                   In the comments of the Senator from Virginia [Mr.
                 Allen], his final couple of comments recalled for me a
                 statement made in the closing of the Constitutional
                 Convention in Philadelphia, when on the back of the chair
                 of the presiding officer was a sunburst. Someone opined in
                 that Constitutional Convention: Dr. Franklin, is that a
                 rising sun or is it a setting sun? And Franklin ventured
                 to say that with the birth of the new Nation, with the
                 creation of the new Constitution, that he thought it was a
                 rising sun.
                   Indeed, it is that hope of which the Senator from
                 Virginia has just spoken that motivates this Senator from
                 Florida to get up and go to work every day, and to look at
                 this Nation's challenges, not as a Democratic problem or a
                 Republican problem, but as an American problem, that needs
                 to be solved in an American way instead of a partisan way.
                   We have had far too much partisanship over the last
                 several years across this land, and, indeed, in this
                 Chamber itself. And of the Senators who are leaving this
                 Chamber, I think they represent the very best of America,
                 and on occasion have risen in a bipartisan way. It has
                 been this Senator's great privilege to work with these
                 Senators: Allen of Virginia, Burns of Montana, Chafee of
                 Rhode Island, Dayton of Minnesota, DeWine of Ohio, Frist
                 of Tennessee, Jeffords of Vermont, Santorum of
                 Pennsylvania, Sarbanes of Maryland, Talent of Missouri.
                   As the Good Book in Ecclesiastes says: There is a time
                 to be born and a time to die. There is a time to get up,
                 and a time to go to bed. There is a time for a beginning,
                 and there is a time of ending.
                   For these Senators who are leaving, it is clearly not an
                 ending. It is an ending of this chapter in their lives,
                 but this Senator from Florida wanted to come and express
                 his appreciation for their public service, to admonish
                 those where admonishment is needed when this Chamber,
                 indeed, this Government, has gotten too partisan, but to
                 express this Senator's appreciation for the quiet moments
                 of friendship and reflection and respect in working
                 together, which is the glue that makes this Government
                 run.
                   Whether you call it bipartisanship, whether you call it
                 friendship, whether you call it mutual respect, whatever
                 you call it, the way you govern a nation as large and as
                 complicated and as diverse as our Nation is--as the Good
                 Book says: Come, let us reason together--that is what this
                 Senator tries to be about. And that is what this Senator
                 will try to continue to do in the new dawn of a new
                 Congress. So I wanted to come and express my appreciation
                 for those Senators who will not be here, for the great
                 public service they have rendered.
                   Mr. President, I am truly grateful for their personal
                 friendship and for their public service.
                   I yield the floor.

                   Mr. DURBIN. ... I also express my best wishes to my
                 colleagues on the other side of the aisle leaving the
                 Senate at the end of this session. I already made mention
                 of Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio. So many times over the 10
                 years that I served in the Senate I walked across the
                 aisle searching for an ally and found Mike DeWine. Whether
                 it was a fight to put more efforts into the global AIDS
                 effort to reduce the deaths around the world or an effort
                 to reach out and provide assistance to Haiti, a country
                 which my friend Mike DeWine has adopted, time and time
                 again he rose to that challenge. Debt reduction in
                 Africa--so many other issues. His speech today on the
                 floor was just another indication of the kind of
                 compassion that he brought to service in the Senate.
                   Elections come and go but the record that has been
                 written by my friend Senator Mike DeWine will endure. ...
                   I wish all of my colleagues who are retiring well as
                 they begin the next chapters of their careers.

                   Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell
                 to several of my friends here in Washington. Too often we
                 get caught up here in the back-and-forth of politics and
                 lose sight of the contributions of those with whom we work
                 every day. It is only at moments such as these, at the end
                 of a cycle, that we have a moment to reflect on the
                 contributions of our colleagues. And while we may not
                 always see eye to eye, this Senate is losing several
                 admirable contributors who have made many sacrifices to
                 serve our democracy. ...
                   A number of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle
                 will be departing in January, as well. There is our
                 colleague from Virginia, Senator Allen, who wears, in my
                 opinion, the second best pair of boots in the Senate.
                 There is Senator Santorum of Pennsylvania, whose passion
                 is admirable and whose energy is always enviable. Also
                 leaving us is my colleague in the centrist Gang of 14 that
                 helped bring this Senate back from the abyss; Senator
                 DeWine of Ohio, who will head back to the Buckeye State
                 with my respect and admiration; and my friend Senator
                 Talent from Missouri, with whom I spent many hours in the
                 Agriculture Committee working to level the playing field
                 for America's farmers and ranchers. We will miss Senator
                 Chafee of Rhode Island's independence and his clear voice
                 for fiscal discipline in Washington. And we will miss
                 Senator Burns of Montana, who shares my passion for rural
                 America and who is headed home to Big Sky Country, back to
                 the Rockies that I know we both miss so much. ...
                   America, when held to its finest ideals, is more than a
                 place on the globe or a work in progress. It is the
                 inspiration to those around the world and here at home to
                 seek out excellence within themselves and their beliefs.
                 It has been a pleasure to work alongside each of these
                 gentlemen, who have helped me as I have found my way,
                 sometimes literally, through the halls of the Senate, in
                 the pursuit of these greater ideals that we all share:
                 security, prosperity, and an America that we leave better
                 than when we arrived. These ideals will resonate here long
                 after we all are gone and another generation stands in our
                 place making the decisions of its day.

                   Mr. BYRD. ... Mr. President, with the conclusion of the
                 109th Congress, Senator DeWine will be leaving us.
                   I do not want to say farewell to him, but to thank him
                 for being a congenial colleague and an outstanding
                 Senator, a Senator who truly appreciated this Chamber, its
                 traditions, and the way it is supposed to work.
                   For 12 years, he was an effective Senator, a Senator who
                 built a long, impressive list of legislative
                 accomplishments on a wide range of issues, largely, I
                 believe, because of his willingness to reach out, and to
                 work with Members on this side of the aisle. In a true
                 bipartisan spirit, he worked with my dear friend, Senator
                 Kennedy, to increase Federal regulation of tobacco.
                   He worked with Senator Dodd for a bill to provide health
                 screening for newborns.
                   He worked with Senator Paul Wellstone on legislation
                 that revamped job training programs, and with Senator
                 Lautenberg on bills to crack down on drunk drivers.
                   With Senator Clinton, he promoted legislation to ensure
                 that drug companies do a better job in studying the
                 effects of their products on children.
                   For nearly a decade, whether in the majority or the
                 minority, Senator DeWine cooperated with Senator Kohl in
                 running the Antitrust Subcommittee on a bipartisan basis,
                 and in the process, helped provide Americans with cheaper
                 phone service, more choices on television, and direct
                 flights home for the holidays.
                   He teamed up with my colleague from West Virginia,
                 Senator Rockefeller, in promoting legislation that changed
                 the Government's emphasis in child custody cases from
                 preserving family structure to protecting the best
                 interests of the child.
                   Indeed, caring for and protecting America's children was
                 a major focus of his tenure in the Senate, and I applaud
                 him for it. His concern for children, among other
                 concerns, led him to successfully push for legislation to
                 improve school bus safety and tougher child pornography
                 laws.
                   I, of course, know Senator DeWine best from his service
                 on the Senate Appropriations Committee. He chaired the
                 District of Columbia Appropriations Subcommittee, which I
                 know from personal experience is no easy chore. It is one
                 of the most difficult and thankless tasks in the Senate,
                 and he did it very effectively. One of his objectives in
                 this position was to reform the District's child welfare
                 system--and, again, I know from personal experience, just
                 how difficult and thankless reforming the District's
                 welfare system can be. Senator DeWine worked at it, and
                 had some outstanding successes.
                   Senator DeWine and I worked together to enact and defend
                 the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, a trade law
                 that returns to injured companies and workers the duties
                 that are collected by Customs on unfairly traded imports.
                 He also supported the enactment of the Emergency Steel
                 Loan Guarantee Program--a program that has kept Wheeling-
                 Pittsburgh Steel in business and over 3,000 people
                 employed for decades. It is well recognized that, if the
                 program had not provided Wheeling-Pitt with its loan
                 guarantee, the company would no longer exist.
                   I will always remember Senator DeWine as a Senator who
                 took the risk to help preserve the Senate as it was handed
                 down to us by the Framers of our Constitution, and all the
                 great lawmakers who served in this Chamber before us.
                 Senator DeWine was of the seven Republicans who helped
                 form the so-called Gang of 14 to help block the majority
                 leader's determination to use the ``nuclear option'' that
                 would have destroyed the U.S. Senate as a unique
                 institution.
                   I know this effort cost him support from members of his
                 own party, and from folks back home. It reminds me of the
                 words of Senator John F. Kennedy, who wrote:

                   If the American people comprehended the terrible
                 pressures which discourage acts of political courage,
                 which drive a Senator to abandon or subdue his conscience,
                 then they might be less critical of those who take the
                 easier road--and more appreciative of those still able to
                 follow the path of courage.

                   For 12 years Senator DeWine took the path of political
                 courage.
                   Mr. President, shortly after coming to this Chamber,
                 Senator DeWine remarked, ``when you go to the Senate, you
                 don't know how long you'll be there. So you want to use
                 your time wisely.'' In his two terms in the Senate,
                 Senator DeWine used his time wisely and effectively. As he
                 leaves the Senate, he should take pride in the knowledge
                 that his presence here may well have saved this sacred
                 institution, and from the bottom of my heart, I thank him
                 for it.
                   I wish him and his wife Fran health, happiness and
                 never-ending success as they begin the next phase of their
                 lives and careers. ...

                   Mr. FEINGOLD. ... Mr. President, I am pleased to pay
                 tribute to Senator Mike DeWine, who has served Ohio, and
                 the Senate, with honor and integrity during his 12-year
                 tenure in this body.
                   I am pleased to have worked with him on a wide range of
                 issues over the years, including reforming children's
                 health care and Medicaid. We also worked together quite
                 frequently on other issues of importance to this Nation,
                 and he has been a valuable colleague on both the Senate
                 Judiciary Committee and the Senate Select Intelligence
                 Committee. Although we did not see eye to eye on every
                 issue, we found common ground on several initiatives
                 including passing stricter antitrust legislation.
                   Together with Senator Dick Durbin, we introduced the
                 Clean Diamonds Act, a bill to ensure that the United
                 States is not participating in the conflict diamond trade.
                 This bill would prohibit the importation of diamonds from
                 countries that fail to implement a clearly articulated
                 system of controls on rough diamonds. Senator DeWine
                 believed in the international community's responsibility
                 to stop the trade in conflict diamonds, and I have been
                 proud to work with him in that effort.
                   I also want to take a moment to recognize Senator
                 DeWine's dedication to honoring fallen service members
                 from Ohio. By coming to the floor to pay tribute to those
                 who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has
                 reminded all of us of the tremendous debt we owe these
                 brave men and women in uniform.
                   I thank him for his leadership and his service to Ohio
                 and our country, and I wish him all the best as he moves
                 on to begin a new chapter in his distinguished career.

                   Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I would like to express my
                 sincere appreciation to the Senator from Ohio [Mr. DeWine]
                 for allowing me to intercede for a few moments. Since he
                 is on the Senate floor and he has been so gracious as to
                 give me this time--I did not come to the floor and will
                 not talk long about Senator DeWine, but since he is on the
                 Senate floor and gave me the time, I wanted to express to
                 him my grateful appreciation for his service to the
                 Senate, not just the people of Ohio but the people of this
                 great country.
                   One of the great joys I have had as a Member of the
                 Senate, having been elected 2 years ago, was to serve on
                 the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee with
                 Senator DeWine. One of my great joys I had early on as a
                 Member of this body was to watch him join the Gang of 14
                 and break the logjams, allowing us to confirm Supreme
                 Court Justices Alito and Roberts. I worked closely with
                 him on the pensions bill. Time and again, I saw his
                 tireless effort on behalf of the best interests of this
                 country and in particular always the best interests of the
                 people of Ohio.
                   To Senator DeWine, not to pander because of his
                 graciousness in giving me the time but for giving me the
                 unique chance to express that, we are all very grateful.
                                                 Thursday, December 7, 2006
                   Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I have had the privilege of
                 being here for the 28th year beginning shortly. I
                 calculated not long ago that I have served with 261
                 individuals. I am not about to try and review all of the
                 many magnificent friendships I am privileged to have
                 through these years. Indeed, if one looks at the rewards,
                 of which there are many serving in this historic
                 institution, the Senate, it is the personal bonds, the
                 friendships that we so firmly cement and that will last a
                 lifetime as a consequence of our duties of serving the
                 United States of America and in our respective States.
                   We are called ``United States'' Senators. I often
                 believe it is the first obligation, our Nation, the
                 Republic for which it stands. ...
                   I would also like to pay tribute to nine other U.S.
                 Senators who will retire from the Senate in the coming
                 days. ...
                   Now, I would like to take a few moments to salute our
                 majority leader, Senator Frist, as well as Senators
                 Chafee, Burns, Santorum, DeWine, Jeffords, Talent, and
                 Dayton. Each and every one of these U.S. Senators has
                 served his State and his country with great distinction.
                   Without a doubt, I could speak at-length in honor of
                 each of these outstanding individuals. In light of time
                 constraints, however, and the fact that so many of my
                 colleagues wish to similarly pay tribute, I shall endeavor
                 to keep my remarks brief. ...
                   Senator Mike DeWine has been in public service nearly
                 his entire adult life. He was an assistant prosecuting
                 attorney, he has held various State elected positions, he
                 was a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and
                 most recently, since 1995, he has served the State of Ohio
                 in the U.S. Senate. I am pleased to have served on the
                 HELP Committee with Senator DeWine where we worked
                 together on various children's health issues. There is not
                 a bigger champion of children's health than Senator
                 DeWine. Senator DeWine was also an instrumental member
                 with me on the Gang of 14. Throughout his years in the
                 Senate, Senator DeWine has proven to be a thoughtful,
                 highly respected Member who has always been willing to do
                 what is right. In my view, he is a true statesman. ...
                   In conclusion, over the years I have served with each of
                 these 10 Senators, each has not only been a trusted
                 colleague, each has also been my friend. I will miss
                 serving with each of them in the Senate but know that each
                 will continue in public service in some capacity. I wish
                 each and every one of them well in the years ahead.
                   Mr. President, I see a number of colleagues here anxious
                 to speak, and I have taken generously of the time the
                 Presiding Officer has allowed me to speak.
                   I yield the floor.

                   Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I say to my neighbor in West
                 Virginia [Mr. Byrd], my friend and my colleague, first of
                 all, that the poem he just recited [``Abou Ben Adhem''] is
                 one that my wife Frances and I learned in the seventh
                 grade in Yellow Springs. The Senator reciting it brings
                 back very good memories, not only of the poem but of being
                 in the seventh grade with my friends.
                   There will be many things about this Senate that I will
                 miss, and certainly one that I will miss is having the
                 opportunity to sit here and to listen to my colleague from
                 West Virginia as he speaks. It is a great privilege. It is
                 a great thrill.
                   I must tell him, however, that there is C-SPAN in
                 Cedarville, OH. I suspect the library does get the
                 Congressional Record at Cedarville College and other
                 places, so I will have the opportunity to listen to him
                 and read what he has to say. He is a great treasure of
                 this Senate.
                   I might also tell my colleague, as I told him personally
                 yesterday, that I will carry around with me and keep with
                 me and prize the small Constitution that I know is in his
                 pocket right now that he gave me. I deeply appreciate
                 that. And I know he gave one to the Presiding Officer as
                 well.
                   One of the first things I did when I came to the Senate
                 in January 1995 was walk across the hall to see Senator
                 Byrd. Senator Byrd was kind enough to give me his
                 ``History of the Senate.'' I have cherished that, have
                 read it. That will be going back with Frances and myself
                 to Ohio. If I do, I say to my colleague from West
                 Virginia, do what I hope to do--do a little teaching at
                 the college level--I am sure those books will certainly
                 come in very handy.
                   I thank my colleague for his friendship and for his
                 great service now beginning this January his ninth term in
                 the Senate.
                   One final note. I will tell my colleague, and I don't
                 know if I have told him this, but my son and my daughter-
                 in-law and our new granddaughter now live in West
                 Virginia, so they are constituents of my colleague.

                   Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, will the distinguished Senator
                 yield?

                   Mr. DeWINE. I am pleased to yield.

                   Mr. BYRD. I thank this friend of West Virginia, this
                 friend of mine. I shall always remember as long as I
                 live--however long that may be--I shall carry in my heart
                 a very warm feeling for him. He is our neighbor. He
                 represents the people of Ohio, our neighbor to the west of
                 the West Virginia hills. I thank him for his friendship
                 and for his services to his people. His people are my
                 people. I wish him well in the days and years ahead
                 wherever he may serve. May God always bless you, my
                 friend, and may He always keep you in the palm of His
                 hand.

                   Mr. DeWINE. I thank my colleague for his very generous
                 and kind comments. One final comment to say that it was
                 his great leadership, along with the great leadership of
                 Senator McCain and others, which allowed us--group is the
                 word I would prefer--a group of 14 Senators to make an
                 agreement that I think was in the best interests of the
                 Senate, and it has proved to be in the best interests of
                 the Senate, in regard to our judges and how we confirm
                 them. It has worked so far. My wish for you and my other
                 colleagues as you go on is that you will continue to keep
                 that agreement and it will continue to work. That is my
                 wish.

                   Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the able Senator. I
                 shall do my best to help fulfill his confidence and
                 wishes.

                   Mr. CONRAD. ... Mr. President, I rise today to pay
                 tribute and recognize the accomplishments of a colleague
                 who will be leaving the Senate at the end of this term.
                 Senator Mike DeWine has represented Ohio in the Senate for
                 12 years. During his tenure, he has been an important
                 advocate for the interests of the Buckeye State.
                   Senator DeWine will be remembered for his work on the
                 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and
                 particu1arly his success as chairman of the Subcommittee
                 on Retirement Security and Aging. He was a vital and
                 constructive member of the conference committee on the
                 Pension Protection Act, and he illustrated what can be
                 accomplished when you are willing to work across party
                 lines on a common goal.
                   I have also admired Senator DeWine's commitment to our
                 Nation's children and his efforts to stop teen drug and
                 alcohol abuse, as well as crack down on tobacco companies'
                 marketing of their products to children and teens. With
                 unfailing courage, he took on those in his own party and
                 other special interests to protect our kids from harmful
                 tobacco products.
                   In addition, I believe he has set a good example for all
                 of us in the Senate in how to honor those from our States
                 who have fallen in service to our Nation. With deep
                 admiration, I have listened to Senator DeWine come to the
                 floor and speak about the lives and families of Ohio
                 service men and women who have died in Iraq and other
                 fields of battle. It is clear that he understands and
                 deeply respects the sacrifices made by our troops and
                 their families.
                   Mr. President, for these and many other reasons, I have
                 been honored to serve with Mike DeWine. I would like to
                 join my colleagues in wishing the Senator and his family
                 the best in the future and in paying tribute to his
                 contributions to the Senate and our Nation. I wish him
                 well.

                   Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell to
                 one of our esteemed colleagues, Mike DeWine of Ohio. It
                 has been my special joy and privilege to work closely with
                 Senator DeWine for the last decade. Since 1997, we have
                 led the Antitrust Subcommittee, each taking our turns as
                 chairman and ranking member. Thanks to Mike's honesty,
                 candor, and cooperative nature, we have forged a
                 productive bipartisan partnership as we have worked to
                 promote competition in many vital sectors of our Nation's
                 economy.
                   This productive, bipartisan working relationship has
                 been a hallmark of Senator DeWine's leadership of the
                 Antitrust Subcommittee since he assumed the chairmanship
                 of the committee in 1997. From the beginning, he reached
                 out to me and established our tradition of setting our
                 agenda jointly, planning our hearings together, and even
                 sponsoring legislation and writing letters to the
                 administration jointly. We tackled together such thorny
                 issues as encouraging competition in telecommunications,
                 health care, the oil and gas, and airline industries,
                 investigating dozens of important mergers ranging from
                 AOL/Time Warner to AT&T/Bell South, and pursuing antitrust
                 reform legislation. While we have not always agreed on
                 every issue that came before our subcommittee although I
                 am happy to say we agreed more often than not--Mike DeWine
                 and I always agreed that we should put partisanship aside
                 and accomplishing practical results for the American
                 people first.
                   On a personal note, our close working relationship has
                 caused me to come to know Mike DeWine very well. I have
                 come to learn that Mike is a sober-minded, hard-working,
                 and caring person. In my career, I have been privileged to
                 know and work with a few distinguished Members of this
                 Chamber whom I can truly call statesmen, leaders, and
                 friends. Mike DeWine is one of them. He will be missed.

                   Mrs. CLINTON. ... Finally, I also wish the very best to
                 my Republican colleagues who will leave the Senate at the
                 conclusion of this Congress. The Senate, at its best, is a
                 body that promotes bipartisanship, deliberation, and
                 cooperation, and the dedication to shared values. It has
                 been a privilege to work with my departing colleagues on
                 the other side of the aisle.
                                                   Friday, December 8, 2006
                   Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I have a few more minutes
                 before the 10:30 vote, and I take this time to say a few
                 words about some of my colleagues who are retiring. We had
                 a good bit of time yesterday devoted to their tremendous
                 contributions, and as each of us, the 100 of us, do know
                 each other pretty well, I have come to the floor to say a
                 few things about several of the colleagues I have had the
                 distinct pleasure of working with very closely. ...
                   Mr. President, I wish to speak about Senator DeWine, my
                 distinguished colleague from Ohio, a good friend, and a
                 man whom I have worked very closely with in our capacity
                 as appropriators. Also, we share a passion for the child
                 welfare system in this Nation, trying to improve it--of
                 course, promoting adoption, the notion that there is no
                 such thing as unwanted children, just unfound families.
                   I could not but come to the floor and say that Mike
                 DeWine is literally one of the most compassionate men I
                 have ever known. That compassion is obvious to anyone who
                 works closely with him day in and day out. It is not fake.
                 It is very real. And the spiritual depths of which he and
                 his wife Fran and their children live their faith--not
                 just talk about it, not just use it as a shield to protect
                 them, but as a way to serve others--is quite
                 extraordinary.
                   This Senator has seen that in him and his work, side by
                 side with him. I want my other colleagues to know that if
                 it were not for Senator Mike DeWine, the District of
                 Columbia would not have their family court, the country
                 would not have the stable families legislation he and
                 Senator Rockefeller pushed through this Chamber at a time
                 when not that many people understood the consequence of a
                 foster care system in disrepair and what happens to
                 children when they get stuck in a system that does not
                 appreciate their dignity or respect their right to a
                 family.
                   Senator DeWine, a family man himself, most certainly
                 understands that and pushed that legislation through, and
                 dozens of other pieces of legislation that I had the
                 privilege to help him with, and to assist him with, and to
                 watch him lead on. So I am certainly going to miss his
                 leadership. But I will commit to him my focus on Haiti. I
                 will never be able to fill his shoes or do the work he has
                 done, but several of us intend to continue his work with
                 Haiti, the poorest nation on the Earth, and continue his
                 great passion, as much as we can, in our time here in the
                 Senate. ...
                   To all of our retiring Members, I say thank you. Thank
                 you for your efforts on behalf of my State when you were
                 needed and thank you for your service to America.

                   Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, before Senator DeWine leaves
                 the floor, he was speaking of a loss [Ohio soldiers killed
                 in Iraq] that he and his family and others are mourning, I
                 presume in Ohio, where I spent a number of years as an
                 undergraduate at Ohio State University. I would associate
                 myself with his remarks in extending our sympathies from
                 Delaware. We received some devastating news of our own in
                 Delaware a day or two ago with the news that Army SGT
                 Keith Fiscus had been killed in action in Iraq at the age
                 of 26. Our hearts go out to him. I will be talking more
                 about him later.
                   There is a loss that we mourn as well, not the loss of a
                 life here in the Senate, but the loss of Senator DeWine
                 who will be returning to Ohio and to other challenges in
                 the days ahead. Senator DeWine and I were elected to the
                 House of Representatives in 1982. We came here together
                 with people such as John McCain, Tom Ridge, John Kasich,
                 Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, Dick Durbin, and John Spratt, a
                 remarkable freshman class in the House of Representatives.
                 It was the year we elected a lot of Democrats and not
                 nearly as many Republicans. Somehow, then, Congressman
                 DeWine managed to swim against the tide and to be elected
                 against those odds in Ohio.
                   He served as a Congressman of distinction, later as the
                 State's Lieutenant Governor where he trained with George
                 Voinovich, who served as Governor, and then to be elected
                 to the Senate. It was my privilege to serve with him in
                 the House of Representatives and it has been a privilege
                 to serve with him in the Senate.
                   On a personal level, I will miss him. I want to say how
                 much it has been a privilege to serve with my friend from
                 Ohio, who has a good mind and a good heart, wonderful
                 family, and is deeply devoted to them and the people of
                 Ohio, whom we both revere.

                   Mr. DeWINE. If the Senator will yield.

                   Mr. CARPER. I do.

                   Mr. DeWINE. I thank my colleague, who has pointed out to
                 my colleagues in the Senate that he and I came here
                 together in the election of 1982 and came to the House in
                 1983. We have been dear friends ever since. I will miss
                 working with him. He is someone who I believe exemplifies
                 what this institution is all about, and that is getting
                 things done, working in a bipartisan way, making a
                 difference. He has done that and will continue to do that.
                   I wish him well.

                   Mr. CARPER. I appreciate very much those words and the
                 chance to be a friend of Senator Mike DeWine.

                   Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I also will say a word about a
                 couple of my colleagues who are leaving, and I will be
                 brief. ...
                    Mike DeWine and I served together on the Judiciary
                 Committee. We came together to the Senate at the same time
                 and I will certainly miss Mike's friendship as well. ...
                   I know we all move on at some time and that none of us
                 is irreplaceable. But by the same token, these colleagues
                 of ours who will be leaving will be missed and they will
                 be remembered for their great service to the Senate, to
                 their States, and to the United States of America.
                   I yield the floor.

                   Mr. REID. Mr. President, I know the hour is late and we
                 have other speeches to give, but I wanted to comment
                 briefly to my friend from Ohio. Senator DeWine and I came
                 to the House of Representatives together in 1982. We have
                 careers that are similar. He served as Lieutenant Governor
                 for the State of Ohio, I served as Lieutenant Governor of
                 the State of Nevada. He served as a Member of the House of
                 Representatives. I served as a Member of the House of
                 Representatives. He and I served as Senators. Our
                 backgrounds are also the same in that we are trial
                 lawyers. I have heard Senator DeWine speak on a number of
                 occasions about his days of being a prosecutor.
                   I also want the record to reflect that I approach my
                 brief remarks here tonight keeping in mind our days as
                 trial lawyers, where you could go into a courtroom
                 representing your client, whether it be the State or an
                 individual, a corporation or an individual, and you would
                 give that client your very best, as would your opponent.
                 But when that trial was over, you shook hands and went on
                 about your business.
                   I have also had the same experience as Mike DeWine. I
                 have lost a statewide election, and I know that is not
                 pleasant. But I want Mike to know that I admire and
                 respect the work he has done. His wife has been so
                 thoughtful and kind to my wife. We all witnessed these
                 speeches that he has given. Many more people have died in
                 Iraq and Afghanistan from Ohio than Nevada because it is
                 such a heavily populated State, and Mike's tenacity in
                 directing his attention to each of those families is
                 something that will always be remembered here in the
                 Senate.
                   Mike, I want you to know that I want us to have the same
                 relationship as you leave the Senate as if we were trying
                 a case, and one won the case and one lost. We would walk
                 out and shake hands. That is how I feel about you, someone
                 who has been with me and I with you for 25 years, as
                 Members of Congress and doing other things; we certainly
                 have a relationship. I am happy to call Mike DeWine my
                 friend.

                   Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, from time to time over the
                 last 12 years, new Senators have come up to me as they
                 have come to the body and asked the question: How do you
                 do this job? And I usually have responded: Well, what do
                 you want to be? Do you want to run for President? Do you
                 want to be on the Sunday shows? Do you want to pass
                 legislation? A surprising number of them have said they
                 came here to pass legislation, important legislation for
                 America that would make a difference. To every single one
                 who said that, I said: Watch Mike DeWine. Go study Mike
                 DeWine. The most prodigious, the most effective, the most
                 extraordinary legislator in my time here in the Senate.
                 Quiet, effective, a consensus builder. You see by those
                 who are on the floor here tonight that he has friends on
                 both sides of the aisle whom he has worked with,
                 cultivated, and built the kind of relationships that make
                 a Senator effective.
                   So I would say to my good friend, the senior Senator
                 from Ohio, he is a Senator's Senator, the perfect Senator,
                 the master of the art of making a difference. Farewell.
                   Mr. President, I yield the floor.

                   Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I join in the chorus of
                 praise and thanks to my friend--and I mean that; the word
                 is thrown around here--Mike DeWine. We came to this job
                 together. My very first memory of Mike and Fran DeWine was
                 when we were both wearing tuxedos and Fran and Loretta
                 were in evening gowns, and we were at our first dinner at
                 the White House with President Ronald Reagan as
                 Congressmen-elect. The year was 1982. My wife brought her
                 little handbag, and Fran brought even more to that White
                 House dinner, that formal dinner that evening. She brought
                 a basket and in that basket was her brand-new baby who
                 came with her to the White House dinner. It was the first
                 time I ever met Mike and Fran. I still have vivid memories
                 of that moment. I think it was a little daughter in the
                 basket, if I am not mistaken, who might be up there. She
                 was on her best behavior then, as she is now.
                   Another memory I have is when Mike DeWine asked me to
                 join him on a trip to Haiti. I saw a side of my colleague
                 from the Senate which many of us have not seen. Fran came
                 along on the trip with bags full of sporting equipment and
                 toys and clothes and food, everything they could jam into
                 this small airplane to bring over to give to some of the
                 poorest kids in the world. We went to the Cite du Soleil,
                 the poorest section of Port-au-Prince. If you haven't seen
                 that poverty, you haven't seen poverty. It is as bad as it
                 gets. We worked our way back to a little cinderblock
                 school, the Becky DeWine School, named after Mike and
                 Fran's late daughter. I watched Mike as he walked through
                 that school and sat down with these little kids, and each
                 one of them poured out to him the love and respect and
                 thanks for all that he had done to provide this basic
                 little school for them.
                   That wasn't the end of the day, for sure. We were then
                 off to an orphanage where we were trying to help a nun, if
                 I am not mistaken, with a building full of squalling
                 babies, trying to get a little help so she could take care
                 of them. Then he took me on a famous road trip where he
                 wanted to show me one of the rural projects. It knocked
                 out almost all the fillings in my teeth, it was such a
                 wonderful road, and we had one of these glorious CODELs
                 that you read about, bouncing around in a vehicle to go
                 out and visit people who are at the lowest ranks of
                 poverty in the world, with babies with red hair from their
                 anemia and malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies. That is
                 where Mike and Fran DeWine spent their time away from the
                 Senate. They left a lasting impression and a legacy there.
                 I am happy we are going to try to continue that legacy
                 even tonight, I hope, or tomorrow as we bring this session
                 to an adjournment.
                   Time and again, when I was up trying to find a vote,
                 desperately trying to find a vote for global AIDS, for
                 many other causes, I would look across the aisle and hope
                 Mike DeWine was sitting right where he is sitting now,
                 because I knew if I could get over there, I had a chance.
                 Every time I would sit down with him, Mike would say: This
                 is going to be tough. He used to always like to say: I am
                 going to have to pray on this, which meant it was going to
                 have to be a pretty tough political sell for him and for
                 his colleagues. He never let me down. More important, he
                 never let down some of the poorest people on Earth. He
                 came through every single time.
                   Mike, you have got the heart of gold that we all dream
                 about. I have lost a few elections in my time. It is a sad
                 moment. But as you reflect on your public career and how
                 much good you have done for so many people, your name and
                 your legacy will live on. I am honored to count you as a
                 friend.

                   Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, my heart is full as I
                 think of Mike DeWine and his service here in the Senate. I
                 didn't know Mike when I first came here. I didn't know
                 anything about his visits, I think 13 or 14, to Haiti, his
                 concern for the poor. He seems to have always been
                 motivated by a moral compass which never wavered from
                 those who needed him, and who weren't getting help from
                 others. It is ironic in the best sense that he and I have
                 cooperated on so many pieces of legislation that had to do
                 with children and families and adoption and all kinds of
                 things. It is ironic because in a sense he followed the
                 father, Mr. President, of our Presiding Officer, in that
                 role. You go to Mike's office, Mike would come to this
                 Senator's office, legislation would appear, it would
                 pass--and almost invariably get very little attention.
                 That was not the purpose or the interest of the Senator
                 from Ohio. He wanted to do good.
                   I think of his interest in children and I think that is
                 a moral compass. If you have that in life and you are not
                 going to let go of that in life, then that fixes you, as
                 the Senator from Illinois indicated, in the legacy of the
                 Senate. I also think that his interest in Haiti says more
                 about him than words can possibly measure. What drives a
                 man and his wife to go to that country where most of us
                 have never been? Most of us have the image of it that the
                 Senator from Illinois described but know not of it
                 directly by experience. Vacations, free times, are
                 valuable to Senators and their families. Yet the Senator
                 from Ohio took his time and went to Haiti, year after
                 year, and fought for their problems and said not a word to
                 anybody. I found out about it not from the Senator from
                 Ohio but from somebody completely different. I found out
                 more about it and then deepened my knowledge and my
                 respect for the Senator from Ohio.
                   Finally, I want to say I have the privilege of serving
                 with him on the Intelligence Committee. The Intelligence
                 Committee is serious business. The Senator from Ohio rose
                 to the peaks of discretion and determination, simply
                 trying to find the truth. He wasn't out to get anybody, to
                 punish anybody, to embarrass anybody. He wanted to get the
                 facts and then from that make his decisions through his
                 votes.
                   National security on the one hand, children and all of
                 their problems--not just education but children with all
                 of the most complex problems of what happens when you get
                 to be 18 and you have 3 years to get to be 21. The father
                 of the Presiding Officer and I worked on that. Virtually
                 every problem that can afflict children, unattended by
                 most politicians, was taken to heart by the Senator from
                 Ohio who had the advantage of many years of being a
                 prosecutor.
                   I look upon the Senator from Ohio as absolutely
                 extraordinary, as the majority leader indicated. He is an
                 extraordinary Senator, an extraordinarily fine person, a
                 friend in whom I could put complete and absolute trust,
                 who only was here to do his work for the people and causes
                 he cared about--most of all Ohio but then special groups
                 probably unknown except to his conscience.
                   I wish you well, sir.
                   I yield the floor.

                   Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I want to say something
                 about my departing colleagues on the other side of the
                 aisle. ...
                   And the departing Senator from Ohio, Senator DeWine,
                 said some very kind things about his work with me. I, too,
                 want to comment that working with the Senator when moving
                 important legislation in the Committee on Health,
                 Education, Labor, and Pensions was an outstanding
                 opportunity, again, of bipartisanship. Mike DeWine and
                 Barbara Mikulski passed the Older Americans Act twice when
                 it previously had not passed or been reauthorized in 5
                 years. We did work so constructively with the Committee on
                 Finance in terms of the recent pension bill.
                   Again, we worked on many projects related to national
                 security together.
                   I thank Senator DeWine not only for his kind words but,
                 again, his ongoing efforts, always with the tone of utmost
                 collegiality when he worked with me, and his staff. ...
                   A lot is said about changing the tone, but when we hit
                 the right tone we also hit some pretty high notes. I thank
                 my colleagues and wish them well and Godspeed until we
                 meet again.

                   Mr. DODD. ... Mr. President, today I pay tribute to my
                 departing colleagues who have, for a time, lent their
                 talents, their convictions, and their hard work to this
                 distinguished body. I may have had my disagreements with
                 them, but the end of a term is a time for seeing
                 colleagues not simply as politicians, but as partners who
                 have ``toiled, and wrought, and thought with me.'' Each,
                 in his own way, was distinctive; and each, in his own way,
                 will be sorely missed. ...
                   I also want to say farewell to Senator Mike DeWine.
                 Senator DeWine, a former prosecutor, has had a
                 distinguished career in Ohio politics. He represented his
                 district for four terms in the House of Representatives,
                 and he served as Ohio's Lieutenant Governor for 4 years,
                 beginning in 1991. Mike DeWine was elected to the Senate
                 as part of the famous Republican class of 1994 and served
                 for a total of 12 years. I have had few more valuable
                 partners on the other side of the aisle.
                   Senator DeWine and I have been strong opponents of
                 underage drinking, a social malady that, in the last year
                 for which we have data, led directly to 3,500 deaths, 2
                 million injuries, and 1,200 babies born with fetal alcohol
                 syndrome, not to mention $53 billion in social costs. The
                 STOP Underage Drinking Act, which I cosponsored with
                 Senator DeWine, would fund a comprehensive Federal
                 campaign of research, prevention grants, and media
                 messages aimed to keep children and young adults alcohol-
                 free. I am proud to stand with Senator DeWine on such a
                 critically important issue.
                   And I am just as proud to have his support on a whole
                 slew of health initiatives, especially for infants and
                 children. Because States' variable screening standards
                 leave many newborns at risk for treatable disorders, we
                 have worked together to standardize screening across the
                 Nation so that all newborns have an equal promise of
                 health, no matter where they are born. Senator DeWine and
                 I have also worked together for safer pediatric medical
                 devices. But above all, Senator DeWine worked with me to
                 secure passage of the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children
                 Act. That legislation provides incentives for the drug
                 industry that have dramatically increased the number of
                 drugs tested and labeled for children; as a result, more
                 than 100 drug labels have been changed to incorporate new
                 pediatric information.
                   It has been a pleasure to serve and work with Senator
                 DeWine. I have always admired his ability to put principle
                 before party, and I am thankful for all of his help, and
                 most importantly, for his friendship. I wish him and his
                 wife Frances much happiness in the future.

                   Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, as this session draws to a
                 close, I must take this opportunity to make a few comments
                 on the outstanding record left behind by our colleague
                 from Ohio, Senator Mike DeWine.
                   I have worked closely with Senator DeWine ever since he
                 came to the Senate. I sit with him on three committees:
                 the Select Committee on Intelligence; the Judiciary
                 Committee, where he chaired the Antitrust Subcommittee;
                 and on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
                 Committee, where he chairs the Retirement Security and
                 Aging Subcommittee.
                   I consider Mike to be a Senator's Senator--he is a man
                 who truly represents his constituents, who studies the
                 issues, works hard, and does his very, very best to do
                 what is right. His departure from the Senate is a great
                 loss to this body and a great loss to Ohio.
                   The DeWine legacy is considerable.
                   One of the major focuses of his work, which I admire
                 greatly, is the protection of children. Senator DeWine has
                 sponsored numerous pieces of legislation aimed at
                 protecting children and enabling prosecution of those who
                 perpetrate acts against children. These include the
                 Protecting Children Against Crime Act of 2003, which
                 became law as part of the PROTECT Act, the National Child
                 Protection Amendments Act of 2000, the Child Abuse
                 Prevention and Enforcement Act of 1999, and the Protection
                 Against Sexual Predators Act of 1998. It is significant to
                 note that Senator DeWine is a founding member and cochair
                 of the Senate Caucus on Missing, Exploited and Runaway
                 Children.
                   The Senator's work to protect children extends beyond
                 legal issues. He is the author and true leader in the
                 Senate of legislation to protect children from the horrors
                 of tobacco abuse by giving the Food and Drug
                 Administration the authority to regulate it. He has also
                 taken a leadership role in efforts to stop underage teen
                 drinking by sponsoring the Sober Truth on Preventing
                 Underage Drinking Act. The STOP Act has a good chance of
                 becoming law this year.
                   But the centerpiece of Mike DeWine's prochild agenda is
                 his work to incentivize pharmaceutical company testing of
                 drugs used on children. Mike DeWine showed this whole body
                 the safety risks children face when they take prescription
                 medications never studied in the pediatric population. I
                 can just hear Mike saying now, ``Children are not little
                 adults.'' And he is right.
                   He worked across the aisle and across the Capitol to get
                 the Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2003 enacted. This
                 was no easy task. It took grit and determination. He
                 fought big PhRMA. He did it for the kids. And he won. I am
                 only sorry he will not be here next year as we work to
                 reauthorize it.
                   In his years as a member of the Senate Judiciary
                 Committee, Senator DeWine emerged as a leader in the area
                 of antitrust law and competition policy. Both as the
                 chairman and the ranking Republican member of the
                 Antitrust Subcommittee, Mike has played an invaluable role
                 in each significant legislative change to the antitrust
                 laws enacted in the past decade.
                   In addition to his legislative achievements in antitrust
                 law, Senator DeWine has become known for the
                 subcommittee's active oversight of the antitrust
                 enforcement activities of the Department of Justice and
                 Federal Trade Commission. During the subcommittee's
                 consideration of numerous individual mergers, his
                 thoughtful analysis and even-handed approach earned him
                 considerable respect in the antitrust community as a
                 tough, but eminently fair, advocate of both consumer
                 interests and strong competition.
                   Earlier this year at the American Antitrust Institute's
                 annual conference, where he and Senator Kohl received an
                 achievement award for their many contributions to
                 antitrust law, Senator DeWine commented that:

                   It's always difficult to find that fine line between
                 aggressive, healthy competition and destructive or
                 anticompetitive behavior, but it's our job on the
                 Antitrust Subcommittee to keep trying, and to promote the
                 type of competition that helps everyone.

                   From my perspective, Senator DeWine not only tried but
                 succeeded admirably in drawing this very difficult line in
                 a careful and appropriately balanced way. His expertise,
                 institutional knowledge, and thoughtful analysis will be
                 sorely missed.
                   Also of note in discussing Senator DeWine's work on the
                 Judiciary Committee are his anticrime efforts. Mike has
                 been a real leader on issues such as the 1998 law, the
                 Crime Identification Technology Act, which increased
                 funding for State and local law enforcement by $1.25
                 billion. His work in anticrime technology continued in
                 2004, when the Senate adopted his amendment to the
                 intelligence reform bill that would upgrade the Federal
                 Bureau of Investigation's computer networks. That bill was
                 signed into law on December 17, 2004.
                   Mike has either sponsored or cosponsored a number of
                 bills to help law enforcement protect Ohio communities,
                 including the local law enforcement block grant program,
                 the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, the Rape Kits and
                 DNA Evidence Backlog Elimination Act of 2003, and the
                 Video Voyeurism Prevention Act of 2004.
                   Mike DeWine's work to protect Ohioans extended into the
                 compelling field of mental illness treatment as well. In
                 fact, Senator DeWine is known throughout the country for
                 his work related to the treatment of mental health in the
                 criminal justice system, including bills such as the
                 Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act
                 and America's Law Enforcement and Mental Health Project.
                   Another DeWine contribution is the Poison Control Center
                 Enhancement and Awareness Act, a significant contribution
                 to public health which established a national toll-free
                 poison control hotline and provided substantial assistance
                 to local poison control centers.
                   Finally and more recently, Senator DeWine authored a
                 bill to protect children's eyes by restricting their
                 access to potentially damaging cosmetic contact lenses.
                   Our new leader, Senator McConnell, said this of Senator
                 DeWine, and I could not have said it better:

                   I have never observed a more skillful legislator than he
                 during my time in the Senate ... You know he is a
                 formidable force who, when he has made up his mind about
                 an issue, never lets go. Many bills that have cleared the
                 Senate in the ten years the Senator from Ohio has been
                 here have the fingerprints of Mike DeWine. He is truly an
                 extraordinary legislator.

                   I echo those sentiments.
                   Mike DeWine has been an outstanding Member of our body,
                 a good friend to me, and a superb representative for his
                 constituents. He and his staff work hard and their work
                 has yielded incredible benefits for the American people.
                 It is with great pride that I commend his achievements to
                 this body, and I thank Mike for all he has done to make
                 the U.S. Senate a more effective and accomplished body. I
                 will miss him, as a legislator, as a colleague, and as a
                 friend. ...

                   Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment
                 to pay tribute to our colleague from Ohio, Senator Mike
                 DeWine. Senator DeWine is a truly decent, thoughtful
                 individual with a deep concern for children and a
                 refreshing willingness to reach across the aisle. He has
                 been a solid partner on several of the issues common to
                 our two States and the region.
                   In particular, it has been a pleasure to work with
                 Senator DeWine on issues affecting the Great Lakes, which
                 are critical for our States' economies and for our
                 environment. Since 1999, he and I have served as cochairs
                 of the Great Lakes Task Force and have shared a commitment
                 to protecting and restoring these national treasures. We
                 have fought to protect the lakes from invasive species, to
                 improve water quality, to create a long-term restoration
                 plan, and to expand public access to the lakes.
                   Senator DeWine's service here has also been
                 characterized by his commitment to children and children's
                 health, and he has been willing to work in a bipartisan
                 way to make progress. He has worked with Senators Dodd and
                 Jack Reed to prevent teen suicides and with Senator
                 Clinton to ensure that drugs given to children are safe
                 for them. He has sponsored a bill with Senator Kennedy to
                 allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate
                 tobacco. As the chair of the District of Columbia
                 Appropriations Subcommittee, he has also worked to reform
                 the child welfare system in DC.
                   In addition to his bipartisan approach, Senator DeWine
                 has also shown a willingness to take politically difficult
                 positions when he believes they are the right thing to do.
                 Last year, for example, he joined a bipartisan group of 14
                 senators who worked to forge a compromise on judicial
                 nominations and to save the Senate from the so-called
                 nuclear option. That step helped to diffuse a tense
                 situation and to protect the Senate as an institution.
                   I have great respect for Mike DeWine's integrity, his
                 commitment to his State, and his willingness to seek
                 progress over partisanship. I wish him and his wife Fran
                 well in their future endeavors.

                   Mr. ENZI. ... As each congressional session draws to a
                 close, we work as hard as we can to try to tie up all the
                 loose ends and finish as much of the pending legislation
                 as we possibly can. As we do, we also take a moment to say
                 goodbye to some of our colleagues who won't be with us
                 during the next Congress to share with us their insights,
                 wisdom and creativity.
                   As the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health,
                 Education, Labor and Pensions, I know I will miss Mike
                 DeWine when the committee meets to begin its schedule of
                 activities next year. Mike has always been a particularly
                 hard-working member of the committee and I know my
                 colleagues on the committee and I will miss his
                 perspective and his tireless commitment and his dedication
                 to the issues affecting children and families.
                   Working with Mike has been a pleasure. We have a great
                 deal in common--beginning with our mutual enjoyment of the
                 old-fashioned ice cream social back home. It is a
                 tradition for both of our families and our political lives
                 because it is a great way to get everyone together to talk
                 about current events while enjoying everyone's favorite
                 dessert.
                   No one ever said that politics was an easy career to
                 follow and, true to form, Mike has had a number of hurdles
                 placed before him that took some doing for him to
                 overcome.
                   He began his career of public service as a county
                 prosecutor. He took a tough stand against crime and people
                 noticed. Then he was elected to the Ohio Senate. That led
                 to a run for a seat in the Congress. He faced a tough
                 primary fight, but wound up at the top of a field of six
                 candidates. Then, when the general election was held, he
                 was elected to serve the people of his district in the
                 House of Representatives.
                   In the years to follow, Mike had some more tough
                 battles. He didn't always win, but he never quit. That
                 spirit of dedication and commitment of his helped him to
                 win a seat in the Senate, representing the people of Ohio
                 he had been fighting for over the years. His election gave
                 Mike a new forum from which to promote his principles, and
                 he soon proved himself to be a champion for children and
                 family values. As bill after bill came to the Senate floor
                 for our consideration, Mike always gave it a close look to
                 see if there was something that needed to be added to
                 increase the protections available to our Nation's
                 children.
                   Mike understands well that our children are our most
                 important resource. If we don't help our Nation's families
                 do a good job of raising their children, nothing else we
                 do, no matter how well we do it, will matter much in the
                 long run.
                   Some people might be surprised to learn how well Mike
                 has used his time to work with Members on both sides of
                 the aisle. To Mike it was just common sense. You never
                 know how long you will be a Member of the Senate, he would
                 say, so it makes sense to use your time wisely.
                   As the chairman of the Senate HELP Committee I can
                 attest to the fact that he has used his time wisely. He
                 has been a great addition to the committee because he is
                 an expert on children's issues and issues affecting older
                 Americans. I have watched him carefully work on a number
                 of bills dealing with a wide variety of topics. He always
                 comes to our meetings well prepared, fully focused, and
                 committed to making a difference for the people of Ohio
                 and the rest of the Nation.
                   Mike is very much a people person, and he and his wife
                 Fran have made regular trips to Haiti to work with the
                 poorest of the poor. I have often heard it said that God
                 must love the poor because he made so many of them.
                 Fortunately, God also made people like Mike DeWine to
                 plead their case for them in Washington and work with them
                 around the world in an effort to make their lives better.
                   The ice cream social I mentioned earlier has become an
                 annual tradition and Fran and the friends she recruits are
                 now famous for their hospitality as they put on what must
                 be the world's biggest pie and ice cream social.
                   That is just part of the full schedule Mike and his
                 family maintain every year here, in Ohio and around the
                 world taking on the causes he and Fran hold dear. If you
                 want to know what kind of a year Mike has had, take a look
                 at his Christmas card. If you do, you will see an amazing
                 collage of pictures of his family and all that has taken
                 place in their lives over the past 12 months. It serves to
                 emphasize his great belief in the importance of family and
                 family activities. It is a value Diana and I and so many
                 of our colleagues share.
                   In the years to come, whenever I think of Mike DeWine, I
                 know I will think of those Christmas cards, which I hope
                 to be still receiving, and of the smiles and happiness
                 reflected on each face in the pictures on that card. They
                 tell me that Mike and Fran DeWine have learned one of
                 life's most important lessons. Fame and fortune are all
                 too often fleeting and evasive things in life. In the end,
                 and every day, the most important part of our lives has to
                 do with the strength of our faith, the bonds that tie our
                 families together, and the friendships we develop along
                 the way that help us to fully appreciate and enjoy all
                 that life has to offer.
                   Mike DeWine is truly blessed to have a family which has
                 shown themselves to be role models on all three of those
                 special values. I know I will miss him, but, I also know I
                 won't forget him and Fran. ...

                   Ms. SNOWE. ... Mr. President, I rise today to express my
                 gratitude to Senator Mike DeWine, whose desire to do good
                 has remained his abiding purpose and life-long
                 contribution to the people of Ohio, the U.S. Senate, and
                 his country. The moniker of ``bodyguard of the poor''--
                 which he has been dubbed by many in his State--speaks
                 volumes about Senator DeWine's tireless dedication to
                 enriching and helping others and about his earnest efforts
                 to defend the defenseless and protect those in need.
                   With a career in public service spanning more than 30
                 years, Senator Mike DeWine has more than earned his
                 reputation as hard-working, honest, compassionate, and
                 results-oriented. I first got to know Mike when he entered
                 the House of Representatives the same year as my husband
                 Jock. I am proud to say we served together in both the
                 U.S. House and Senate. In the 99th and 101st Congresses,
                 we both served on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
                 And in the U.S. Senate, we were colleagues on the Select
                 Committee on Intelligence, where issues of national
                 security and safety have been more paramount than ever.
                 America is most fortunate to have had his thoughtful,
                 considered approach on that committee and on so many other
                 issues. Jock and I have treasured our long-standing
                 friendship with Mike and Fran DeWine, and we have enormous
                 respect for Mike's passion and depth of commitment.
                   Indeed, he is a serious and deliberative legislative
                 craftsman who sought to effectively represent his State
                 and reach across the aisle in the true spirit of the
                 institution. At no point in time was this more evident
                 than during last year's debate over judicial nominations
                 when Mike--a dedicated member of the Senate Judiciary
                 Committee--joined with me and a dozen of our colleagues to
                 form the Gang of 14. His courage and leadership helped
                 broker a compromise that preserved the principles and
                 traditions of this great institution. His loss diminishes
                 the Senate at a time when we need more like Mike DeWine--
                 leaders committed to solutions over sound-bites. I will
                 deeply miss seeing Mike in the Senate--for he was always a
                 reminder of the finest ideals of public service.
                   Indeed, Mike DeWine has represented well the principles
                 and pride of America's heartland. As the son of parents
                 who ran a small agricultural business, he learned the
                 value of diligence and perseverance working in the fields
                 and in the mill.
                   He has exemplified that unwavering commitment throughout
                 his career in public service, whether as a prosecutor,
                 U.S. Representative, Governor, or U.S. Senator and whether
                 advocating for children, promoting humanitarian relief,
                 aiding law enforcement, protecting our natural resources,
                 spurring job growth, increasing national security through
                 intelligence improvements, or working to secure balanced
                 budgets. And he has led many of these efforts through his
                 active and thorough committee work on Appropriations;
                 Judiciary; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and
                 Intelligence.
                   Above all else, I believe Mike DeWine's essential sense
                 of humanity, and the personal compass that guided him in
                 all he did in the Senate, was exemplified by his final
                 minutes on the Senate floor--which he devoted to speaking
                 of the soldiers of Ohio who had fallen in service to our
                 Nation in Iraq. That Senator DeWine sought assurance he
                 would have this opportunity to honor the troops before the
                 end of the session is a testament to the compassionate
                 heart of an exceptional man.
                   For all of his dedicated service to the people of Ohio
                 and to this country, undoubtedly, Mike DeWine's most
                 cherished achievement is his marriage of 39 years to his
                 wife Fran, their 8 children, and 10 grandchildren. I wish
                 them--and Mike DeWine--all the best. ...

                   Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I would like to pay tribute
                 to the Republican Members of the Senate who will not be
                 returning in the 110th Congress. Senators George Allen;
                 Conrad Burns; Lincoln Chafee; Mike DeWine; Dr. Bill Frist;
                 Rick Santorum; and Jim Talent have served their
                 constituents with honor and distinction during their
                 tenure here in the U.S. Senate. All care very deeply for
                 this great Nation and I hope they will have continued
                 success in their future endeavors. ...
                   Majority leader Bill Frist has run the Senate through
                 difficult and trying times and he has done it well.
                 Senator Mike DeWine, my neighbor to the north, has
                 represented the Buckeye State with great distinction and
                 has committed over 30 years of his life to public service.
                 Senator George Allen represented the Commonwealth of
                 Virginia in the U.S. Senate for 6 years, and he worked
                 closely with me to make America safer by helping usher
                 through important legislation to arm cargo pilots. Senator
                 Jim Talent has had a great career in Congress and wrote
                 the blueprint to the welfare reform bill of 1996. And
                 Senator Lincoln Chafee has continued the proud legacy set
                 forth by his father and my friend, Senator John Chafee.
                   Mr. President, I would like to again commend all of our
                 departing Republican Senators. I am proud of what they
                 accomplished here in the U.S. Senate. They will all be
                 missed, and I wish all of them the very best.

                   Mrs. HUTCHISON. ... Mr. President, Mike DeWine has spent
                 more than three decades in service to his State and the
                 Nation.
                   Senator DeWine has maintained a reputation of integrity
                 throughout his service as a State senator, Lieutenant
                 Governor, four-term Congressman, and U.S. Senator. He has
                 built a record of service on making our Nation and the
                 world a better place for future generations.
                   A father of 8 and grandfather of 10, Senator DeWine is a
                 devoted family man.
                   He is a champion of children's causes, always focusing
                 on protecting their welfare and safety.
                   Senator DeWine has often reached across party lines to
                 vote with his heart for issues in which he believes.
                   His hard work and devotion will be missed by the people
                 of Ohio, whom I know are grateful for his years of
                 service. ...
                 UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--TRIBUTES TO RETIRING SENATORS
                   Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the tributes to
                 retiring Senators be printed as a Senate document and that
                 Senators be permitted to submit tributes until December
                 27, 2006.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so
                 ordered.
                                               Wednesday, December 27, 2006
                   Mr. STEVENS. ... Mr. President, I will always remember
                 Senator Mike DeWine for his commitment to his family. Mike
                 pursued his own conscience until the end of his tenure in
                 this Chamber. That conscience led Mike DeWine to be a
                 staunch defender for the people of Haiti.
                   In a time of constant conversation about the importance
                 of family values and community standards, Mike has led by
                 example. As a member of a large family, the father of 8,
                 and grandfather of 10, I admire Mike's ability to balance
                 the needs of his family with the demands of his position
                 in the Senate.
                   The senior Senator from Ohio has also devoted much of
                 his time and energy to causes often overlooked. Senator
                 DeWine's tireless work for the people of Haiti
                 demonstrated his commitment. I believe his commitment to
                 those who need a defender and protector should be
                 commended. ...
                                                    Monday, January 8, 2007
                   Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, it is an honor indeed to pay
                 tribute to a number of fine individuals who I am fortunate
                 to call not just my colleagues, but also dear friends:
                 Senators Bill Frist, George Allen, Conrad Burns, Lincoln
                 Chafee, Mike DeWine, Rick Santorum and Jim Talent. ...
                   Among the Senate's most effective legislators, Senator
                 Mike DeWine of Ohio will use his many talents and
                 expertise to tackle new endeavors. Mike's career is truly
                 an American success story. As a boy, he learned the values
                 of hard work and perseverance in the fields and the mill
                 of his family's small agricultural business in Yellow
                 Springs, OH. It is those principles that have guided him
                 throughout a stellar career in public service, in which he
                 has served as prosecutor, an Ohio State senator, a Member
                 of the U.S. House of Representatives, and a Lieutenant
                 Governor.
                   As a Senator, Mike made his mark in a number of policy
                 areas. He was a strong proponent of education and
                 children's health care. In particular, he advocated for
                 children's hospitals because he understands that these
                 hospitals are important centers for pediatric research.
                   During more than a decade of service on the Senate
                 Intelligence Committee, Mike worked doggedly to
                 investigate intelligence failures and revamp our
                 intelligence community. As the chairman of the Retirement
                 Security and Aging Subcommittee of the HELP Committee, he
                 focused his efforts on modernizing our Nation's pension
                 system. And as the first Ohio Senator in six decades to
                 serve on the Appropriations Committee, Mike was committed
                 to ensuring that our Nation's first responders have the
                 resources they need. On the Judiciary Committee, Mike took
                 the lead on a number of antiterror and anticrime
                 initiatives, such as the PATRIOT Act, as well as proposals
                 to curb drunk driving, to help keep all Americans safe.
                   Perhaps what I admire most about Mike is that this
                 terrific father of 8, and grandfather of 10, always puts
                 his family first. As a public servant, Mike has used his
                 positions to contribute to the greater good, and he has
                 brilliantly served the people of Ohio throughout his
                 career. May God bless Mike DeWine, his wife Fran, and
                 their family for many, many years to come. ...
                   As these men--Bill Frist, George Allen, Conrad Burns,
                 Lincoln Chafee, Mike DeWine, Rick Santorum and Jim
                 Talent--conclude their service in the U.S. Senate, let me
                 say that I am so proud to have worked with individuals of
                 such character, strength, and intellect. Our Nation is
                 grateful for their many contributions. And as they each
                 will undoubtedly continue to contribute to our country's
                 greatness, their leadership and vision will be missed here
                 in the U.S. Senate.