[Senate Document 109-31]
[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. 109-31
TRIBUTES TO HON. WILLIAM H. FRIST
William H. Frist
U.S. SENATOR FROM TENNESSEE
TRIBUTES
IN THE CONGRESS OF
THE UNITED STATES
William H. Frist
Tributes
Delivered in Congress
William H. Frist
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................................
xi
Proceedings in the Senate:
Tributes by Senators:
Alexander, Lamar, of Tennessee.................
7, 18
Allen, George, of Virginia.....................
9
Bunning, Jim, of Kentucky......................
30
Clinton, Hillary Rodham, of New York...........
25
Collins, Susan M., of Maine....................
33
DeWine, Mike, of Ohio..........................
27
Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut...........
27
Dole, Elizabeth, of North Carolina.............
35
Domenici, Pete V., of New Mexico...............
19
Durbin, Richard, of Illinois...................
10, 17
Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming...................
3
Feingold, Russell D., of Wisconsin.............
11
Frist, William H., of Tennessee................
32
Hagel, Chuck, of Nebraska......................
6
Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah.......................
23
Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas................
31
Kennedy, Edward M., of Massachusetts...........
18
Kyl, Jon, of Arizona...........................
26
Landrieu, Mary L., of Louisiana................
25
Martinez, Mel, of Florida......................
28
McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky..................
15
Nelson, Bill, of Florida.......................
9
Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island....................
7
Reid, Harry, of Nevada.........................
13, 28
Salazar, Ken, of Colorado......................
11
Santorum, Rick, of Pennsylvania................
22
Snowe, Olympia J., of Maine....................
29
Specter, Arlen, of Pennsylvania................
22
Stevens, Ted, of Alaska........................
32
Warner, John, of Virginia......................
12
Biography
Born February 22, 1952, in Nashville, TN, Bill Frist was
raised with a passion to serve others. His earliest
memories are of his physician father leaving the family
dinner table with his black doctor's bag in hand to make
nightly rounds at the hospital. This sense of service to
community has been the consistent driving force throughout
Bill Frist's life.
True to the family profession of healing, Bill Frist
enrolled in Princeton University knowing he would devote
his life to serving through medicine. While at Princeton,
he began to cultivate an interest in medicine that
extended beyond one-on-one health delivery. He spent his
junior and senior years specializing in health care policy
and international relations at the Woodrow Wilson School
of Public and International Affairs.
His Wilson School experience led him to a summer
internship with veteran Tennessee Congressman Joe Evins
(D) in Washington, DC. The dean of Tennessee's
congressional delegation counseled the young intern that
should he ever want to serve in Congress, he should first
excel in a profession other than politics. The seed to be
a ``citizen legislator'' was planted.
Bill Frist noted the advice and, after graduating from
Princeton in 1974, earned his medical degree at Harvard
Medical School. He graduated with honors in 1978 and spent
the next 6 years in heart surgery training at
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston and
Southampton General Hospital in England. His training
culminated with his selection as chief resident in heart
and lung surgery at MGH.
At each stage of his life, Bill Frist acts to find new
solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems. When
Boston decided not to undertake the brand new, risky field
of heart and lung transplantation, Bill Frist left
Massachusetts for California to pursue his dream of
helping pioneer the emerging dramatic therapies for what
were then considered ``untreatable and uniformly fatal
diseases.'' In 1985 he joined the team of innovative heart
transplant surgeon Dr. Norman Shumway. An outside-the-box,
visionary thinker, Shumway's philosophy of ``Conceive it.
Believe it. Do it.'' became Bill Frist's mantra for life.
After completing his fellowship at Stanford and equipped
with a strong foundation of transplant expertise, Bill
Frist returned to his hometown of Nashville with a goal to
create the region's first multi-organ, multidisciplinary
transplant center. In 1986 he became director of
Vanderbilt University Medical Center's heart and lung
transplantation program. He also taught and operated at
the Nashville Veterans Administration Hospital.
Bill Frist immediately began building on his vision for
a first-of-its-kind, innovative transplant facility that
would gather into a single center transplant specialists,
scientists and ethicists from a broad range of disciplines
who would not otherwise have worked together. In 1989 he
founded the multi-organ Vanderbilt Transplant Center.
Under his leadership, the center became recognized as one
of the premier, full service transplant facilities in the
United States.
During his 20 years in medicine, Dr. Frist performed
over 150 heart and lung transplant procedures--including
the first lung transplant and the first pediatric heart
transplant (his youngest patient was a 6-day-old neonate)
in Tennessee and the first successful combined heart-lung
transplant in the Southeast. With a focus on developing
innovative, meaningful solutions to seemingly
insurmountable problems and then applying them clinically,
he was equally comfortable in the basic science laboratory
as he was in the operating room. He authored over 100
articles, chapters and abstracts on medical research and
was coauthor of his first book, ``Grand Rounds in
Transplantation.'' He was board certified in both general
surgery and cardiothoracic surgery.
Dr. Frist had risen to the top of the medical profession
at a remarkably young age. And he was devoting his life to
what he loved the most--healing and giving hope to people
by curing their fatal diseases with new therapies he had
helped develop.
But Bill Frist believed he could do even more for
medicine, for patients, and for the people of Tennessee
and the United States of America. To address the critical
shortage of organ donors for those thousands of potential
recipients who were dying as they waited, Bill Frist
reached beyond the operating room to educate the American
people about the need. In 1989 he wrote and published his
second book, ``Transplant: A Heart Surgeon's Account of
the Life-and-Death Dramas of the New Medicine.'' He sought
to examine the social and ethical issues of
transplantation, dispel the myths about transplantation
and encourage people to become organ donors. He lectured
nationally on the subject and led a successful campaign to
return the organ donor card to the back of the Tennessee
driver's license. He witnessed how public education and
public policy could exponentially save people's lives. He
saw that public policy matters.
So it was only natural that Bill Frist then began
exploring the idea of seeking public office. Healing one
on one as a physician could be expanded to healing a
community, he reasoned. In 1990 he met with fellow
Tennessean Howard Baker and talked with the former U.S.
Senate majority leader and White House Chief of Staff
about the benefits and burdens of public service. Baker
counseled Bill Frist that the U.S. Senate would provide
the most appropriate forum for his talents and expertise,
even though Frist had never served or run for any public
office. Go straight where you can make the most
difference, Baker told Frist.
Bill Frist, remaining active in the research laboratory
and in the operating room, kept up his public involvement
as well. He wrote newspaper columns about health care
policy and chaired a statewide task force on Medicaid
reform. After another meeting with Baker in 1992, Bill
Frist began traveling across Tennessee and listening to
people's ideas and hopes, considering a possible run for
the Senate. Bill Frist officially launched his campaign in
1994, a political novice who had a dream to serve.
After defeating five opponents in a hard-fought primary,
Bill Frist faced a popular three-term incumbent Senator
who had been slated to be the next leader in the Senate.
The campaign unfolded as a battle between a career
politician and a populist outsider whose life was
dedicated to healing. Frist won by a resounding 13
percentage points, the only challenger to beat a full-term
incumbent Senator that cycle. He became the first
practicing physician elected to the Senate since 1928.
Six years later Senator Frist won reelection with 66
percent of the vote and received more votes for statewide
office than any political figure in Tennessee history, a
record that stands today. During that time, he wrote a
third book--``Tennessee Senators 1911-2001: Portraits of
Leadership in a Century of Change.''
As a Senator, Bill Frist emerged as one of the leading
voices on health care issues in America, serving for a
period as chairman of the Senate's Subcommittee on Health.
He fought hard to strengthen Medicare, provide seniors
with affordable access to prescription drugs, expand
children's health, eliminate health care disparities,
bolster public health and make health care more affordable
and available to every American.
Senator Frist is consistently recognized among the most
influential people in health care in America. He is 1 of
only 2 individuals who have ranked in the top 10 of each
of the last 5 well-recognized Modern Healthcare magazine
annual surveys of the most influential people in health
care in the United States, ranking 3d in 2006.
Bill Frist's professional expertise in infectious
diseases enabled him to lead the fight against one of the
new, most existential threats to the health and security
of our Nation--bioterrorism. Following the October 2001
anthrax attacks along the East Coast, Frist was a calming
voice during a frightening time. He quickly led passage of
landmark legislation to bolster America's defenses against
bioterrorism. He then wrote his fourth book, ``When Every
Moment Counts: What You Need to Know about Bioterrorism
from the Senate's Only Doctor,'' to educate families as to
what they could do to prepare for and respond to potential
future attacks with biological agents. All profits were
donated to charities in Tennessee to assist with local
preparedness plans.
As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Bill
Frist served as one of only two congressional
representatives to the U.N. General Assembly in the 107th
Congress. Having personally treated patients with HIV,
Bill Frist also served as a strong advocate for increasing
funding and expediting new therapies for global HIV/AIDS.
He led the fight in the Senate for the unprecedented $15
billion commitment to fight AIDS throughout the world, the
largest commitment a nation has made against a single
disease. Bill Frist has called HIV the single greatest
moral, humanitarian and public health challenge of our
times.
And as he did with bioterrorism, Bill Frist has taken
the fight against global HIV/AIDS beyond the Senate
Chamber. At least once a year, he travels as a doctor to
Sub-Saharan Africa as part of World Medical Mission to do
surgery and care for those stricken with disease. He has
been a tireless advocate for clean water around the world,
and he introduced ``using medicine as a currency for
peace'' into our national public diplomacy.
America's children have been another top priority for
Senator Frist. The author of the original Ed-Flex
legislation that gave local schools greater flexibility in
exchange for more accountability, he strongly supported
President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, which provides
regular testing, local control, more Federal funding and
greater accountability and flexibility to our public
education system. Reducing childhood obesity, halting
childhood vaccine shortages and fighting methamphetamine
drug abuse have served as focal points of Senator Frist's
efforts to improve the health of our children.
Many people rise to the top of one demanding profession
in their lifetime. Senator Frist has risen to the top of
two.
The Senator's colleagues chose him to serve in
leadership positions throughout his service in the Senate.
In 1999 he served as a deputy whip. One year later his
colleagues elected him chairman of the National Republican
Senatorial Committee. There Bill Frist accomplished
another first. Under his leadership, the party of the
President took back majority control of the Senate in a
first mid-term election for the first time in history.
Bill Frist was chosen unanimously to serve as the 16th
majority leader of the U.S. Senate on December 23, 2002.
Two years later he was reelected unanimously. When first
elected leader, he had served less total time in Congress
than any Senator in history to hold that position.
During his service as majority leader, Bill Frist
recorded a number of legislative accomplishments: the most
comprehensive national security reforms since the creation
of the CIA in 1947, the third largest tax cut in American
history, the Nation's first comprehensive national energy
policy, enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act,
establishment of SMART education grants to increase the
country's economic competitiveness in the 21st century's
global economy, extensive reforms to reduce lawsuit abuse
throughout the judicial system, authoring the Medicare
Modernization Act that provided access to affordable
prescription drugs for 43 million seniors in its first
year of implementation, a ban on partial-birth abortion,
landmark bioterrorism preparedness legislation,
championing American leadership in the global fight
against HIV/AIDS and ensuring access to clean water served
as a cornerstone of foreign assistance. Bill Frist also
shepherded the confirmations of Supreme Court Chief
Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito
through the Senate.
Senator Frist served his country as a true ``citizen
legislator,'' just as Congressman Evins had suggested to
him as a young man. In 1994 he pledged to the people of
Tennessee that he would go to Washington to serve two
terms and would then return home. He did just that,
voluntarily stepping down as majority leader of the Senate
to return to Nashville with his wife Karyn and live in the
same house--and with the same values--in which he was
raised.
Anyone who knows Frist knows his family is his number
one priority. He refers to Karyn and their three sons--
Harrison, Jonathan and Bryan--as his ``foundation and
inspiration in life.''
Doctor-Senator Frist spends his spare time running (7
marathons in the last 10 years), flying (commercial and
instrument ratings), writing (6 books), and completing
annual medical mission trips. His passion is simply to
serve.
Farewell to the Senate
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, about 2 months ago, late
Sunday afternoon, when no one was around, I came into this
Chamber to carry out a time-honored tradition, nearly as
old as the institution itself. I came over to this desk
and I opened the drawer and the tradition of carving your
initials or your name into the bottom of that drawer was
carried out. As you open these drawers, as many of us do
when we are sitting here listening and debating, you tend
to look at the names that are there. I see Robert Taft at
the bottom of this drawer, Hugh Scott, Everett Dirksen,
Howard Baker, Bob Dole, Trent Lott, and the list goes on.
And with the quiet here, you begin to reflect a little
bit. But then all of a sudden you start thinking, as you
are carving your name into that drawer, that there aren't
very many things that you leave that are permanent around
here, but that is one.
It confronted me, as it hits me with such force today,
that our time here, indeed, is temporary, and that we are
here to occupy these seats at these desks just for a
period of time. We can never forget that we don't own
these seats. We don't own our presence in this U.S.
Senate. It is with that recognition that I address my
colleagues today.
I have reflected a lot over the last several weeks, and
I think back to that nonpolitician who came to this city,
this body, 12 years ago with a whole lot of hope for the
people of Tennessee and a whole lot of hope for this
country. I think back to the people who put their trust in
that man's hands.
Indeed, it was 12 years ago that Karyn and I came to
Washington. I came as a citizen legislator with absolutely
no political experience. I was a doctor. I spent 20 years
in the profession of healing. In my acceptance speech back
12 years ago, I pledged at that time to my fellow
Tennesseans that Karyn and I would go to Washington, that
we would serve for 12 years, for a limited amount of time,
and that we would go back to Tennessee and live under the
laws that we helped enact. And that is exactly what we
will do. We are going to go back to Tennessee in a few
weeks, and I am going to live in the very same house that
I was born in 54 years ago.
I still remember coming to the Hill early on, and I know
a number of new colleagues are coming to the Hill. I think
back, and my former chief of staff, who was very green at
the time--I just told you how green I was at the time--I
remember standing right in front of the Capitol, and we
had to stop somebody and ask: Where is this building
called the Russell Building? And they told us. Luckily, I
don't think they knew who I was at the time.
But I did come believing deeply in the promise that I
had made. I believed in my heart that with determination--
and I had seen it in surgery and in the operating room--
one can make a difference in this world. Today, I look
back and I see that I was only half right. One person can
make a difference, and each of us do in our own ways. But
to make a difference, we can't do it alone.
I certainly couldn't have done it without people who
stood both behind me and with me over the last 12 years. I
agree with all of my colleagues. I know they know Karyn.
And, indeed, she has honored me by her unwavering love
each step along the way. Her grace in carrying out her
official responsibilities, her commitment to the
development of character in our three boys, her moral
support, her spiritual support for me and our family, she
has been that guiding river that has kept us on course as
we traveled two very different professions/occupations:
that of being a heart surgeon and that of serving as a
U.S. Senator.
Our three boys most of you know as well. You have
watched them grow up over the last 12 years: Bryan,
Jonathan, and Harrison. Obviously, we are so proud of each
of them. I will speak directly to them because they, as
with anybody growing up, faced the huge challenges of
growing up in public life, taking in stride the various
swipes that the media takes from time to time, but doing
so with real dignity and strength. The boys know that
Tennessee is home. They have been able to take in the rich
texture that is afforded all of us as we raise children
here in this town. And they have grown from three young
boys when we came here to three young men.
I want to thank staff members, and we never do that
enough, those staff members who have been with me from the
very beginning: Emily Reynolds, Ramona Lessen, Bart
VerHulst, Cornell Wedge, Mark Winslow, and Carol
Burroughs. I thank my series of chiefs of staff: Mark
Tipps, Lee Rawls, Howard Liebengood, Eric Ueland, Andrea
Becker, Bart, and Emily, and all those who have come in
and out of these doors since that very first day 12 years
ago when, yes, I, like somebody every cycle, was 100th in
seniority. It is the staff that puts the needs of this
country before their own needs. And with a lot of hard
work and a lot of passion and a lot of hope, they have
accomplished so much.
A few moments always stand out in my mind, and I will
not recite all of them, but a few do stand out in my mind,
victories like the $15 billion in funding for global HIV/
AIDS. I have seen firsthand the power in the hundreds of
thousands and, indeed, I would say millions of lives that
have been saved by American leadership there; the
prescription drugs for seniors; confirming John Roberts
and Sam Alito.
And through all of this time, we have borne witness to
days that have literally changed the face of this Nation
and the face of this Capitol, things like the Capitol
shootings, September 11, anthrax and ricin, and Katrina.
But through all of that, we kept it the best way we could,
with hard work and a lot of hope.
I thank my colleagues who placed their faith in me to
serve as their leader. As I said four Decembers ago, when
you elected me, it was and has been ever since, every day,
a very humbling experience. On that day 4 years ago I
quoted Proverbs: In his heart a man plans his course, but
the Lord determines his steps.
And what fulfilling steps have been afforded me as
leader. I cannot let today pass without expressing
gratitude for the close friendships of people who are here
and some people who have passed through this Chamber:
Howard Baker, the great Republican leader from Tennessee
whose shoes as majority leader I have done my best to
fill. He has counseled me over the years both as a Senator
and as leader. His sage advice I have relied upon many
times in those capacities.
You have to be very careful going around a room, but
behind me, people like Pete Domenici, who became a mentor
to me on that very first day in 1995; and people like John
Warner, whom we saw in action just a few minutes ago on
the floor and, yes, on the Gates nomination; and former
Senators, people like Don Nickles who so wisely set the
stage for the Republican tax cuts of the last several
years; my colleague and confidant, Mitch McConnell, whose
wisdom and service has been indispensable to leading the
Republican majority, who ascends in party leadership, who
will be sitting at this desk in a few weeks, a temperament
and skill with which no one is better prepared; my
Tennessee colleagues, Fred Thompson and now Lamar
Alexander, two great statesmen with whom I have had the
honor to work side by side as we have addressed the needs
of our constituents.
I thank the two Democratic leaders, Tom Daschle and now
Harry Reid. As Harry and I have said publicly many times,
everybody sees the public contrast between one leader and
the other, between Harry and me. But what people don't see
are the daily conversations, the private conversations off
the floor where views are mutually respected, where
burdens are shared, and where family is discussed. Karyn
and I leave this body with tremendous respect for Harry
and for Landra, for their contributions to this country.
To all my colleagues who have reached across the aisle
and across differences when you could, thank you.
Twelve years ago, it was people in Tennessee who took a
big chance, who took a great chance. They took a chance on
a doctor who was little known, who had never served in
public office, obviously had never run for public office.
They began by opening their minds and then opening their
homes and then opening their lives and then opening their
hearts. And I am eternally grateful to them for giving me
that trust and taking that chance.
On this floor many times I have mentioned my parents and
I mentioned my dad. Dad used to say: ``It is a powerful
thing to know where you are going in life, but it is
equally powerful to know where you have come from.''
To the good people of Tennessee, I thank you for never
letting me forget where I have come from. You never let me
forget those promises made on the trail over a decade ago,
the promises that have been the heart of everything that
we have done. Yours are the voices that have called out to
me from Mountain City in East Tennessee to Memphis in the
west, the people out there who are working hard every day
to raise a family, to grow a business, to run a farm, to
get ahead. As long as I live, I will never forget those
voices. Those voices are clear, those voices of common
sense that called out and counseled me time and time
again.
Two people who won't hear me thank them today are two
who were at my swearing in but who have since passed on:
my parents Dorothy and Tommy Frist. They have left a
fascinating legacy that the five children--I am the last
of those five--have been the beneficiaries of, a legacy of
honesty, of civility, of fairness, of hard work, and of
service. And we all--at least I try to--struggle to
capture what they did in passing that legacy on to our
children.
My own brothers and sisters, Mary, Bobby, Dottie, and
Tommy, all in their own way, with their children and
grandchildren, have been successful in living lives of
service to others. Many friends are here today, including
Jean Ann and Barry Banker and Denise and Steve Smith. It
is that friendship, that team, that gives people, I
believe, the strength and foundation to carry out that
mission of serving this great country.
In the past few weeks, I have spent a lot of time
reflecting about the future of this institution. As I
prepared to leave here and return to my home, many people
have asked, don't you ever regret the promise that you
made to serve just for 12 years, two terms? Did you regret
it when you became chair of the RNC or majority leader? If
you knew then what you know today, would you have made
that promise 12 years ago? My answer is yes, because I
believe today, as I believed then, in the ideal. It is, I
guess, that ideal of a citizen legislator. It might seem
bittersweet today, but it is right.
I hope that in some way, as I leave here, that my
service--people may say it was effective or ineffective,
and that is all very important--is an example of someone
who had never, ever run for public office, never served
before, and who had spent his lifetime--in fact, twice as
much time as I spent in the Senate--pursuing another
profession, coming here like so many people today and
starting at 100th in seniority over in the basement of the
Dirksen and rising to majority leader over that 12-year
period; an example of a committed doctor who is able to
find purpose and fulfillment in serving others, as all of
us do as Senators, through elected office. I hope that
will inspire others to seek office and to do public
service. It is my hope that those who come to serve after
me as a true citizen legislator will bring perspective and
new ideas in a small way, a serendipitous way, or maybe a
large way, and make this country a little better and
contribute to this institution.
You have heard me talk about, and champion at times,
term limits. Most people don't like them. They were
popular for a period of time. I am a great believer in
self-imposed term limits. Every morning you get up, you
say I have 3 more years, 2 more years, or 1 year, or a
half year, or 10 days, and you know that as every day goes
by. If you don't have an understanding that there can be
an end, you tend to forget that. Self-imposed term limits
are the extreme exception here today, not the practice of
this city. I think as a consequence we are moving toward a
body that has too much of a 2-year vision, governing for
that next election, rather than a body with a 20-year
vision governing for the future.
As we consider the future of the institution, I urge
that we ask ourselves what it is our forefathers
envisioned. Is today's reality what they foresaw? I urge
that we consider our work in this Chamber. What is it all
about? Is it about keeping the majority? Is it about red
States versus blue States? Is it about lobbing attacks
across the aisle or is it about war rooms whose purpose is
not to contrast ideas but to destroy or is it more? When
the Constitutional Convention met in 1787, delegates
considered how best to structure this legislative branch
of new Government. They were determined not to repeat the
mistakes made in the Articles of Confederation, which had
a single, unicameral legislature. Speaking to the
convention, Virginia's James Madison set forth the reasons
to have a Senate. His words:
In order to judge the form to be given to this
institution, it will be proper to take a view of the ends
to be served by it.
These were, first, to protect the people against their
rulers and, second, to protect the people against
transient impressions into which they themselves might be
led.
I think we need to remember this vision of the Senate
that the Framers established--that the Senate is to
protect people from their rulers and as a check on the
House and on the passions of the electorate. Let us not
allow these passions of the electorate to be reflected as
destructive partisanship on this floor.
Taking the oath of office, which many of our good
colleagues will be doing shortly, commits each Senator to
respect and revere the Framers' dream. To my successor,
Bob Corker, and to all the Senators who will follow me in
service to this great Nation, I urge you to be bold, make
the most of your time here, and look at problems with
fresh eyes and the steely determination to give the
American people a reason to believe in you and to hope for
a better tomorrow.
To serve in this grand institution has been a labor of
love. To lead here is a challenging responsibility that is
set out before me and each of us. It has been a profound
honor to serve.
I will close with just one story. It happens in southern
Sudan. As many of you have heard me say, because it is
such an important part of my life, I go to Sudan just
about every year--1,000 miles south of Khartoum and 500
miles west of the Nile River. I started going there in the
mid to late 1990s. I had been there operating back in the
bush, and I was ready to come home. Actually, it was in
January. The State of the Union was a few days off. We
finished operating in a hut. I operated by flashlight late
at night. Somebody in a little hut said, ``I want to see
the American doctor.'' Well, I didn't want to go. I wanted
to get back home. I wanted to get on the plane and come
back home, but I went to see him. I was tired. I walked
over and pulled the curtain aside--the rug that was used
as a curtain--and in the back there was somebody smiling.
You could see the bandages on his hands and legs, and I
went over; and through a translator I said, ``I am the
American doctor.'' He said, ``Thank you to the American
doctor.'' As a physician, I am accustomed to that because
when you operate on somebody, they say thank you. So I
said, ``you're welcome,'' and I got ready to leave. He was
frustrated and he said, ``Come back.'' He said. ``Thank
you for being the American doctor.'' I still didn't quite
get it. He picked up his arm and said, ``I lost my arm
fighting in this civil war. I lost my leg 8 days ago. It
was about 2 years ago that I lost my wife and my two
children. Thank you for being the American doctor.''
And then I started to get it. He was saying thank you
for being the American doctor. Then he said, basically,
that: It is you who are a representative of America, and
for democracy and liberty and freedom I sacrificed my wife
and my children and my arm and my body. Thank you for what
you represent.
Then all of a sudden, it began to hit me. To me, that
image cuts through just about everything that we do. It is
about preserving as best we can the great hope that we
represent here in America, which is embodied in this
institution, the freedom, the responsibility, the
opportunity, the compassion, and the basic decency that is
at the heart of who we are as Americans. Beyond Democrat
or Republican--which came out of the campaign--now is the
time to again remind ourselves and state again and again
that beyond being Democrats and Republicans, we are
Americans. Together, we are one people. It is our
responsibility to uphold the dream and protect that hope
for every American and indeed the people around the world
who seek that freedom.
I opened by saying that our time here is temporary; we
are just passing through. Now is the time to close. Your
patience has been generous. As I have spent a lifetime
learning, to everything there is a season. We say that and
hear it and tend to repeat it when there are changes. But
to everything there is a season, and my season here draws
to a close. Tomorrow is the time for birth and rebirth.
Tomorrow is a day and a time for new rhythms.
My dad did a great thing that I shared with some of you.
Each of us should do this for our children or for the
people we care about. He knew he was going to die in the
next couple of years. We asked him to write down his
thoughts, advice, and counsel for the next generation--not
just his kids and theirs, but for the great-great-
grandkids that he would never see, a simple 4 to 5 pages.
He ended that letter to his great-grandchildren with the
following words:
The world is always changing, and that's a good thing.
It's how you carry yourself in the world that doesn't
change--morality, integrity, warmth, and kindness are the
same things in 1910, when I was born, or in 2010, or
later, when you will be reading this. And that's a good
thing, too. Love, Granddaddy.
So under the dome, it is time for fresh faces and fresh
resolve. Change is good. Change is constructive. The
Senate changes, the people who serve here change; but what
doesn't change is that every one of us who serves believes
deeply in the genius of the American democracy.
It is with the deepest appreciation that Karyn and I
thank you all for 12 wonderful years. There are no words
to describe the honor it has been.
I yield the floor.
(Applause, Senators rising.)
a
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will be very brief. I want
to speak on another matter. I know we want to get to the
hour of pre-vote time here shortly.
Hopefully, tomorrow will officially end the 109th
Congress. At the end of the day tomorrow, if we do our
work today successfully, and tonight, the Senate will be
able to adjourn. That will also mark, once we adjourn,
this official change in leadership and change in the
Senate agenda. I know many of my colleagues and many of my
conservative allies view this change with a bit of
trepidation, but change is good, change is constructive.
It can be difficult, it can be painful, and it can be
messy, but change forces us all to reexamine who we are,
where we are, and where we want to go; what we know, what
we believe.
I believe it is our responsibility to protect
traditional, commonsense American values. I believe when
we give the American people the freedom to invest their
money as they choose, the economy is going to flourish. It
is going to have more freedom to grow. At the end of the
day, I believe good leaders don't talk about principles--
but good leaders lead on principle. They act, and they act
with solutions, even if they don't know that the outcome
is going to be 100-percent successful every time a bill is
taken to the floor.
That is one of the things at least I tried to do. That
is not to say let's only take to the floor what will
necessarily pass but what is the right thing to do, on
principle; what is the right thing for us to be
considering.
During my tenure in public office, it is what I tried to
do, to lead on principle and act with solutions. It does
come from that surgical approach of fixing things, of
operating, of action.
For example, for 10 years we grappled with the issue of
Internet gambling. We watched the industry mushroom from a
$30 million industry in 1996 to a $12 billion industry
today. We watched an addiction undermine families, dash
dreams, and fray the fabric of a moral society.
So we acted with a solution by passing the Internet
Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act to provide new
enforcement tools to prosecute illegal Internet gambling.
Let me give you a few more recent examples of how we
have led on principle, and acted with solutions.
We passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
which creates a national sex offender registry,
strengthens measures to prevent child pornography, and
reinforces laws against child porn.
We passed the Trafficking Victims Protection
Reauthorization Act, which renewed the first Federal law
to strengthen prosecution efforts against human
traffickers.
We passed legislation securing the right to prayer in
U.S. military academies.
We passed legislation protecting the Mount Soledad
Memorial Cross.
We passed the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which
allows for the 10-fold increase of FCC fines for indecency
violations.
We passed Cord blood legislation that harnesses the
power of stem cells in cord blood to develop new cures for
life-threatening diseases.
We passed the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act, which
prohibits the gestation of fetal tissue in order to use it
for research.
We passed the Stem Cell Research Alternatives bill,
which provides Federal funding for a variety of stem cell
research that does not involve destroying human embryos.
And perhaps most notably, we confirmed John Roberts
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Samuel Alito as an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
We confirmed 18 circuit court nominees and 87 district
court judges, including 6 previously obstructed nominees.
America needs judges who are fair, independent, unbiased,
and committed to equal justice under the law and we made
sure that's what America got.
Over the past 12 years, what Republicans have done has
changed our economy, our country, and our way of life for
the better.
Our record of success, combined with the lessons of
November's election, ensures that our party will
rededicate itself to serving the interests of America,
both here at home and around the world.
That vision--optimistic, forward-looking, hopeful--will
be grounded in the fundamentals of commonsense
conservative values best found on Main Street and in
families with whom we have the privilege of interacting
all across the country.
a
Friday, December 8, 2006
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, as we serve in a class of
Senators, we have several roles. We wear several hats.
Probably the most important one is to represent the people
who elected us, and that is our constituents back home in
our home States. That has been for me a real honor over
the last 12 years, to serve the people of Tennessee.
In addition to that, of course, we serve America as 100
individuals representing this entire country. That is a
real privilege. If you are elected to leadership, you have
other responsibilities.
Twelve years ago, the people of Tennessee entrusted me
with the responsibility to serve their interests in the
Senate. I have done my best each and every day to meet the
Volunteer State's needs and to serve the people of my home
State with dignity and honor. What an honor it has been to
follow in the footsteps of former Senators Howard Baker
and Bill Brock. What a tremendous privilege it has been
representing the interests of the people of Tennessee.
And serving alongside true statesmen such as Fred
Thompson and Lamar Alexander--men who have dedicated so
much of their lives to the people of Tennessee--has been a
remarkably rewarding experience.
When I first stood for election in 1994, I pledged to
all Tennesseans that I would serve two terms in the Senate
and then return home to live under the laws I had helped
enact.
I made that commitment because I believe strongly in the
concept of the citizen legislator--spending years
developing real world experience outside the political
arena as I did in medicine and then bringing that
expertise to the legislative process for a period of time,
only to make way for the next citizen with his or her
fresh perspectives and new ideas.
As the time comes to resume my private life in the Music
City, I have spent countless hours reflecting on the
milestones in my service to Tennessee from which I derive
particular pride.
I think about accomplishments such as establishing a
prescription drug benefit that provides quality,
affordable coverage for more than 700,000 beneficiaries in
Tennessee.
I think about the State sales tax deduction, which I
hope we will soon extend for 2 more years. Enacting that
provision corrected a 15-year inequity in the Tax Code by
allowing Tennesseans to deduct their State sales tax
expenses from Federal income tax returns--and it resulted
in additional savings of nearly $500 in taxes for more
than 530,000 families across the State.
I recall the hours spent combating methamphetamine, a
drug epidemic that has plagued Tennessee and dozens of
other States.
I helped develop minimum Federal standards restricting
access to the ingredients that produce methamphetamine,
the drug our Nation's local law enforcement officials have
ranked as our greatest problem.
I also enjoyed working with other members of the
Tennessee delegation to establish a statewide
methamphetamine task force and develop a statewide crime
tracking system--all in an effort to eradicate this
devastating drug from our communities.
During my time as majority leader, we also enacted a
tobacco buyout that ended an outdated quota system that
hurt Tennessee's farmers by providing fair compensation
that will bring a total of $767 million to tobacco
communities in the State over the next decade.
And we passed my National Park Fee Equity Act, a law
that provides the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with
an additional $200,000 to $300,000 each year by allowing
the park to keep 100 percent of the user fees it collects.
I was also pleased earlier this year when the Senate
confirmed the final member of a TVA board modernized by
legislation I nursed through the legislative process over
a 9-year period--legislation that resulted in the first
African-American board member, the first West Tennessee
board member, and the first chief executive officer in TVA
history.
In addition, we passed legislation I authored allowing
TVA to refinance its debt at lower rates, thus saving
roughly $100 million per year.
These reforms will help increase accountability and
oversight at TVA, which benefits both the utility and its
ratepayers.
I have also worked extensively with my colleagues on the
HELP Committee to extended health care and support
services to Nashville, Memphis, and other emerging
metropolitan communities disproportionately affected by
HIV/AIDS through reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE
Act.
The CARE Act provides funding for low-income, uninsured
and underinsured individuals affected by HIV/AIDS, but
none of Tennessee's cities met the legislation's original
criteria to receive support--a fact I knew we had to
correct and one which we rightly remedied.
I have dedicated significant energy to strengthening
Tennessee's research infrastructure, and bringing both the
Spallation Neutron Source Project and the National
Leadership Computational Facility to Oak Ridge
demonstrates our State's leadership in advanced science
and technology.
I was also pleased to play a central role in the
development of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation and the
revitalization of the Central Medical District in Memphis
by securing $8.1 million for these efforts.
And to ensure that we encourage the bright young men and
women of our State to pursue an education in these fields
that are vital to America's competitiveness in the 21st
century's global economy, I also created the SMART Grant
program--a $3.75 billion initiative that provides
financial assistance to students seeking degrees in math,
science, engineering, technology, and foreign languages
critical to national security.
I have tried to encourage economic growth in other ways,
however, working closely with communities throughout
Tennessee to provide the Federal assistance that can often
enable local governments to pursue opportunities that will
benefit their citizens for generations.
I secured $100 million to construct sections of
Interstate 69 in Tennessee from Dyersburg to Memphis--a
highway that will one day serve as an economic engine for
much of West Tennessee.
When community leaders in the Chattanooga area asked for
assistance with the crumbling Chickamauga Lock and Dam, a
structure providing access to hundreds of miles of
waterway used for economic economy in East Tennessee, I
helped ensure the authorization of a new 110 ft.-by-600
ft. replacement lock.
Construction funding for the replacement structure has
been successfully secured in each year since 2003, and
after a long period of hard work and difficult discussion,
the White House agreed to include the project in its most
recent budget request.
Several years ago, violent tornados ravaged Jackson, and
local leaders sought my assistance in rebuilding badly
damaged neighborhoods and city infrastructure.
I was honored to secure almost $11 million from the
Department of Housing and Urban Development to rebuild
public housing lost as a result of the devastating storms
and an additional $2.1 million for the city's police
department to improve communications during such
emergencies.
Nashville long sought a light rail system that could
help alleviate the burden placed on its roadways and
improve the flow of consumers into downtown--the heart of
its economic marketplace.
So I went to work and eventually secured $24.6 million
in funding necessary to start and complete the Music City
Star East Corridor Commuter Rail Project, which allowed
Tennessee's first commuter rail passenger service to begin
between the Riverfront Station in downtown Nashvil1e and
the city of Lebanon in Wilson County just 3 months ago.
And when the city of Memphis began redeveloping its
riverfront, I lent my support to the cause and secured
nearly $8.7 million for the Cobblestone Landing and Beale
Street Landing projects.
To help advance this work, I facilitated an agreement
that will allow the University of Memphis Cecil Humphreys
School of Law to relocate to the Postal Service Front
Street Station in downtown Memphis--a move that will act
as a cornerstone of riverfront redevelopment and reshape
the law school's future.
I have also tried at every turn to provide steadfast
support for Tennessee's brave men and women in uniform as
a sign of my gratitude and respect for their extraordinary
efforts on behalf of our Nation.
Because they deserve only the best facilities, I secured
$32 million to construct a new headquarters facility for
the Tennessee Army National Guard in Nashville and an
additional $31 million to consolidate personnel previously
located in 22 different buildings into a single, state-of-
the-art command headquarters for the 101st Airborne and
other units at Fort Campbell.
Because they and their families deserve basic economic
fairness, I helped secure passage of the Fort Campbell Tax
Fairness Act, which now ensures Volunteer State residents
working at Fort Campbell are spared from a State income
tax like all other Tennesseans.
I could spend many hours on the Senate floor recalling
the countless ways in which I have worked to meet
Tennessee's needs during my 12 years as a Member of this
body.
But instead, I would rather thank the people of
Tennessee for the opportunity.
I will forever treasure the experience--and the many
individuals I have had the privilege of befriending across
our great State along the way.
Electing me to serve two terms in the Senate is the
greatest honor the citizens of Tennessee could have ever
given me.
No words could ever express my deep appreciation.
I look forward to returning home and continuing my
efforts to repay their generosity in the years to come.
a
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today we were able to finish
up our work in a very successful way before we leave for
the year. We passed a continuing funding resolution, the
critical tax extenders package, and a number of important
legislative items, as well as a list of executive
nominations. We have had a long week--a productive week--
and I do want to thank all my colleagues for their
patience and their dedicated efforts.
As we close, I also want to thank all of the staff at
the desk and those in the offices above this Chamber and
below this Chamber who will be here long after we adjourn,
preparing and finalizing all of the business we have just
completed.
I would be remiss if I did not recognize the pages who
are with us tonight, and those who are not with us
tonight, but those who have all left their home States to
come to Washington for the semester to work in this
Chamber.
We thank each and every one of you for your tremendous
work. It is 4:34 a.m. now, and we have finished a long
day, and people always laugh when I say being Senate
majority leader is like doing heart transplants. But times
like this make it all very clear that they are very
similar because at about 4:34 a.m. in the morning, we
would be putting those last few stitches in the
transplanted heart. And as you do that, you begin to feel
that anticipation of that heart, all of a sudden starting
to beat again and coming alive, which gives new life and
rebirth to an individual who would otherwise die.
I say that because that is what I would be doing if I
were not here, as I was doing 12, 13 years ago. I may well
be doing it next year. But that sort of change is good.
And change can be, as I said yesterday, constructive. It
can be rebirth. And it can give real hope.
I gave my formal remarks on leaving the Senate
yesterday, but the words I speak over the next 2 minutes
are the very last I will ever give in this Chamber. In 2
minutes, maybe less, that door closes, and the chapter
ends.
After I gave my farewell address yesterday, I had dinner
last night with Karyn and with my three boys, Jonathan,
Bryan, and Harrison, who had all come back to hear my
farewell address yesterday. They had to fly in from New
York, take a train from New Jersey, and come up from
Tennessee. And because we are empty nesters, they are all
out of the house now. It is getting increasingly rare that
we are all together.
But one of the things we did last night is we sat around
a table--it happened to be at a restaurant--and thought a
little bit about past experiences. And you can imagine how
their lives have changed over 12 years. We knew this night
would come, this final minute or so would come, for a long
time. I have known for 12 years, and that is the normal
life cycle that one can expect if you are a citizen
legislator, which I have said again and again that is what
I tried to be in self-limiting my period here in the
Senate.
But over that period, we have seen these three young
boys--all very young--grow into three robust young men. I
have seen a wife grow more beautiful by the day. I have
seen a relationship of family, and a relationship between
a husband and a wife, grow stronger over these 12 years
through this opportunity the people of Tennessee have
given me and Karyn and my three boys to serve them.
I have seen faith strengthened and challenged by the
responsibility the people of Tennessee give us as elected
officials when they select us to represent their hopes and
their dreams.
I have also seen in this body, in watching my colleagues
and being with my colleagues, a group of men and a group
of women who are very good people, with good intentions,
who are unselfish, who are people of faith, people of
vision, people with real dreams, not perfect, as we all
know--and we all have our foibles, and we all have our
weaknesses--but people who are good.
My dad always used to say: ``Good people beget good
people.'' And I think that as we go through periods of
change here, we can have that tradition of good people in
this body begetting good people to continue.
I will close, again quoting from Dad's letter I
mentioned yesterday that he wrote to future generations
prior to his death.
I mentioned yesterday that that is a great thing for all
of us to do later in life. What advice would you give
people you will never see a generation or two generations
later? I will close with his words from that same letter.
This was after a list of things he wrote, giving his
counsel and advice--very simple things, by the way,
commonsense things. He said:
Finally, I believe it is so terribly important in life
to stay humble. Use your talents wisely and use other
people's talents to help other people.
``Help other people.''
TRIBUTES
TO
WILLIAM H. FRIST
Proceedings in the Senate
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Mr. ENZI. ... I would like to recognize two departing
members of the [HELP] committee [Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions]: Majority Leader Frist and Senator Jeffords.
We are fortunate they chose to serve, and we are grateful
for their contributions. Senator Jeffords is a past
chairman of the committee, and, of course, Majority Leader
Frist has been the doctor on the committee and provided a
perspective no one else could. I am proud of the work we
have done here on the committee these past 2 years. By
working together, we have established a track record of
success. ...
Friday, September 29, 2006
Mr. ENZI. Mr President, soon the last remaining items of
business on the legislative calendar for the 109th
Congress will be taken up and the current session of
Congress will end. When it does, several of our colleagues
will be returning home and leaving public service. We will
miss them and we will especially miss the good ideas and
creative spirit they brought with them to add to our work
here in the Senate.
One of our colleagues we will all miss is Bill Frist,
our good friend from Tennessee. In his two terms of
service he has compiled quite a remarkable record of
accomplishments as one of Tennessee's Senators and as
majority leader here in the Senate.
Bill's interest in serving in the Senate began while he
was attending Princeton as an undergraduate. He was an
intern in the House when Representative Evins of his home
State encouraged him to run. But, before you do, he said,
do something else for 20 years or so. Then you will be
ready to run for office.
He knew that was good advice so he began a career that
interested him and challenged him as much as politics did.
Bill Frist became a surgeon and established a reputation
as one of the best transplant surgeons in the Nation.
We were fortunate that he chose that path in life,
because his in-depth knowledge of the practice of medicine
and our Nation's health care system has been an invaluable
addition to the debates we have had on those issues. His
familiarity with health care from the perspective of the
physician and his concern about rising costs as a Member
of the Senate helped to guide our efforts as we took up
these and other matters in committee and on the Senate
floor.
In the years he has served in the Senate, he has put his
medical skills to practical use several times. When a gun
battle had taken the lives of two Capitol Police officers,
he went to the scene to help. Although he was unable to
save the life of either officer, he was ultimately
successful in saving the life of their assailant. On
another occasion, we were fortunate to have him with us
when Strom Thurmond collapsed on the Senate floor and
needed assistance. Finally, he was able to revive and save
the life of one of his own constituents who had been the
victim of a heart attack.
Many of our constituents remember Bill Frist from the
days in 2001 when the Senate was attacked with anthrax.
Once again, Bill Frist was there to provide support and
encouragement, and in that calm, reassuring manner of his,
let the Nation know that we were doing everything we could
to minimize the present danger and return the Senate to
our normal pattern of work as soon as possible. The
anthrax attack was a challenge that had never been faced
before in the Congress, and Bill Frist showed his
credentials as a leader during that difficult time for us
all.
During his service in the Senate, Bill has taken an
active role in the consideration of a great many thorny
and complicated issues that regularly come before the
Senate. We were fortunate to have a doctor as our leader
because, on many occasions, it was only Bill's bedside
manner that helped him to forge agreements and develop
bipartisan agreements on the Senate floor.
Looking back, the record will show that one of Bill's
greatest successes was the Medicare drug benefit. This new
addition to the Medicare Program is helping seniors to pay
for their prescription drugs and it is having a great
impact on the quality of the health care we provide our
Nation's seniors. Although it is still going through its
initial stages as it is introduced to the public, and we
are working to ensure people understand the benefits it
provides them, there is no doubt that we wouldn't have had
a prescription drug benefit program enacted into law at
all--if not for the role Bill Frist played in the effort.
Working with program opponents and organizations in the
public sector that opposed the new program, Bill was able
to resolve many of the doubts and uncertainties that
surrounded it and ultimately get it enacted by the
Congress and signed into law.
In addition, and in what was perhaps his biggest
achievement, Bill led a successful effort to pass an
initiative to fight AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. He
had a heartfelt interest in the legislation and firsthand
knowledge of the problem it was designed to address
because he had done volunteer medical work for many years
in Africa. His witness of the impact of the disease on the
population of that country inspired him to do everything
he could to address and try to put an end to the suffering
it caused. Bill can be very proud of the great result he
achieved in that effort. That initiative is his legacy and
it will save more lives over the years than we will ever
be able to count.
The record is clear. During Bill Frist's service in the
Senate, especially his years as majority leader, the
Senate and the Nation have faced challenges and addressed
issues we had never had to deal with before. The war on
terror, the detention of terrorists, the quality and
definition of life, the future of our Nation's school
system, partial birth abortion, stem cell research, and so
many more controversial issues have found their way onto
the Senate floor for our consideration.
Through it all, Bill Frist's knowledge, deep
understanding of the issues involved, and determination to
develop a consensus on them, so typical of his leadership
style, enabled the Senate to be a proactive and fully
involved deliberative body. The results he achieved during
his years of service in the Senate will be his legacy and
help provide the foundation for the work we will do
together during the 110th session of Congress.
Now Bill and his wife Karyn will have the time they have
always wanted to spend with their children as Bill
considers his next opportunity for public service. Bill
Frist has been a major part of our day-to-day routine in
the Senate for 12 years and we will miss his presence, his
influence on our legislative routine, and his expertise on
the issues we have considered on the floor.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Mr. HAGEL. Mr. President ... 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 conclude my recognition of our colleagues who will be
leaving us at the end of this Congress by recognizing our
leader, Senator Bill Frist, from Tennessee.
Senator Frist has been referred to, as we all are, in
many ways and in many terms. ``Renaissance man'' has been
one of those terms that have described Bill Frist. This is
a unique individual. This is a man whose life has much
been about serving others.
For his leadership in the Senate during a very difficult
time, this body owes him a great deal of thanks and
gratitude. He will go on to continue to do significant
things with his ability, his talent, his life, and we wish
him well. We will miss him. We will miss his ability to,
in an always steady way, help reach a consensus.
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.
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, especially one of them, my
colleague, Senator Bill Frist, from Tennessee.
I can still remember when Bill Frist came to my office
in Nashville in 1994 and said he wanted to run for the
Senate. I didn't know what to think. Bill Frist lived in
the neighborhood where I lived in Nashville, but I didn't
know him very well. Our ages are a little bit different
and he had been away while I was Governor of Tennessee,
practicing medicine and honing his skills.
What I did know about him was that he was extraordinary.
He was one of the pioneers in our country of heart and
lung transplants. He performed the first one in Tennessee,
the first one in the Southeast. When he decided to run for
the Senate, only a handful of physicians in the world had
made as many heart transplants as Dr. Bill Frist.
He had almost no chance of being elected to the Senate
in 1994. However, he was elected. He had almost no chance,
after having been elected, to help the Republicans gain
the majority in 2002, but he did that. No one expected him
to be the majority leader of the Senate, but he has been
and he has done it very well.
As we look at the record of the accomplishments over the
last 4 years, Senator Frist can take credit for his
leadership in creating an environment where we have had
tax cuts that have benefited Americans, where we have
confirmed judges who will interpret the law rather than
make it up as they go along. His hand was in the Medicare
prescription drug benefit which benefits millions of
seniors. We would not have had the $15 billion for HIV/
AIDS in Africa had it not been for Bill Frist.
In Tennessee, we have had a sales tax deduction against
our Federal income tax and a new governing board for the
Tennessee Valley Authority, neither of which would have
been accomplished were it not for Bill Frist. When Lyndon
Johnson was majority leader, he often said, having Lyndon
Johnson as majority leader is good for the country and
hasn't hurt Texas one bit. I would say, having Bill Frist
as majority leader has been good for the country and it
hasn't hurt Tennessee one bit.
He has been the perfect colleague. His ego has been
completely under control in a body where that is rare and
difficult. And one thing is certain: Anyone who knows Bill
Frist won't underestimate him again. History has proven
that is a dangerous thing to do. I don't know very many
people who have ever been in public life who have as many
interesting and important and viable options open to him
as he does as he looks forward to the next step in his
contributions to public service.
One of the joys of being a Senator is simply the
privilege of serving with other Senators. Each one of the
Senators has something remarkable and special. For
example, Senator Frist was president of the skydiving club
at Princeton when he was there. He spends vacations in
Sudan, doing surgery on poor people. He once got up at 4
in the morning and went to the National Zoo to operate on
the heart of a gorilla--which I guess is a pretty good way
of preparing for coming to the Senate floor and dealing
with what he has to deal with here. He is not the only one
who is a very special Senator. ...
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. ... Senator Bill Frist is our leader in the
U.S. Senate. We have had some battles, of course, as you
would. But we have also shown respect to one another, and
I respect the job that he has done and wish him the very
best. I might say of Senator Bill Frist that his
commitment to public service doesn't end with the Senate.
He has taken his amazing skills as a heart surgeon to some
of the poorest places on Earth, spending spare time which
he could have had with his family or relaxing somewhere,
instead in some of the most outlying sections of the world
helping the less fortunate. That speaks volumes about the
heart of Bill Frist.
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. ...
Finally, I wish to thank the majority leader, Senator
Frist, for his service to this body and this Nation. He is
a man of remarkable skill and dedication, and he will now
return to serving his constituents in the way he knew
first--as a healer. I am sure each of his future patients
is already grateful for his skill and wisdom returning to
touch their lives directly.
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. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I want to pay tribute
to Senator Bill Frist, who has served Tennessee in the
U.S. Senate for the last 12 years, the last few in the
esteemed and challenging position of Senate majority
leader.
Senator Frist was my partner on the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee's Subcommittee on African Affairs for
several years in which we both served as chairman or
ranking member. I have appreciated his knowledge and
passion for issues affecting Africa and the deep
commitment he brings to the global fight against HIV/AIDS.
I also have great respect for his commitment to bringing
his medical expertise to remote areas in Africa. There is
no doubt that he has personally made a significant
contribution to helping improve the lives of people around
the world living with HIV/AIDS.
I have also had the honor of sharing with Senator Frist
the important work of the Center for Strategic and
International Studies, CSIS, Task Force on HIV/AIDS.
Together with many distinguished experts, we have been
able to contribute to the fight against the HIV/AIDS
pandemic. We set course on a bold agenda to help nearly 40
million people living with HIV/AIDS in the world today.
Senator Frist understands the impact of this disease that
continues to ravage individuals, families, communities,
and entire economies. While we have much work left ahead,
Senator Frist has been pivotal in the efforts we have made
thus far in the fight against this devastating disease.
Here in the Senate, we will miss Senator Frist's
dedication to Africa and his hard work to find a cure for
HIV/AIDS. I thank him for his service and wish him all the
best in his future endeavors. ...
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.
First, I would like to say a few words about our
distinguished majority leader, Senator Bill Frist. You
know, in this post-September 11, 2001, world, we think of
national security as the most important issue of the day.
Certainly, Bill has worked hard in that area over the
years--not only as majority leader but as a hard-working
member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But,
right behind national security comes the issue of the
health of our citizens, and Bill Frist has been at the
forefront of every major piece of health care legislation
during his 12 years in the Senate.
Whether it has been ensuring that America's seniors have
access to a sorely needed Medicare prescription drug
benefit or whether it has been his efforts to encourage
the use of new technology in medicine so that the
knowledge of one doctor in one part of the world could
help a doctor and a patient in another part of the world,
Bill Frist has improved the health care system for all
Americans.
The Senate will no doubt miss Bill Frist's leadership,
but I have no doubt that his public service will continue,
particularly his heartfelt health care work in
impoverished areas of the world. I wish him, and his
magnificent wife Karyn all of the best in their future.
...
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. REID. Mr. President [Mr. Cheney], parting really is
sweet sorrow. Mr. President, thank you very much for being
here today honoring not only Senator Frist, our majority
leader, but the entire Senate.
On the surface, some may ask how the Senate and the
operating room are the same. What do they have in common?
Senator Frist has shown us that helping people is what he
did as a doctor and what he has done as a Senator. Serving
others is a trait, as we have observed by knowing this
good man, that he learned from his family. His father was
also a doctor. As a young man he was obviously
academically very talented. He wanted to follow in his
father's footsteps. He went to Princeton University, which
shows that he is someone who is talented academically and
socially. He graduated from that great American learning
institution and decided he was going to go to Harvard,
which speaks well, again, of his intellect and, of course,
his ability to get along with people. His surgical
training came at Massachusetts General Hospital and
Southhampton General Hospital in England.
Senator Frist was a pioneer, but he learned his
transplant surgery from the pioneer. I have heard Bill
Frist talk about Norman Shumway on many occasions--the
first doctor to perform a successful heart transplant in
the United States. Senator Frist--then Dr. Frist--started
Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Heart and Lung
Transplant Center. I don't know if anybody knows--I am
sure someone knows--how many heart and lung transplants
Senator Frist has done, but most say it was nearly 200.
Think about that. Some of these operations took many
hours, and some of them took days.
I heard Dr. Frist talk about those first transplants,
where he actually went and got the organs and personally
brought them back to the operating room.
Things have changed since then. Pioneer, doctor, Senator
Frist has and will write a lot about his success as a
surgeon and as a Senator. And not only will he talk with
his family and his friends about this, things will be
written about his service as a doctor and as a Senator.
When we talk about these nearly 200 transplants, we are
talking about 200 human beings whose lives have been saved
by virtue of his talent. Senator Frist helped hundreds of
people continue their lives. Here, as a public servant, a
Senator, he has affected the lives of millions of people.
I have had the good fortune of serving with Senator
Frist during his 12 years in the Senate. I knew him before
I became the Democratic leader and, as all of you know, I
spend a lot of time on the floor and I worked with him
very closely.
Over the years, we have had our ups and downs. It has
been tough. These jobs, I can tell my colleagues up close,
are not real easy. We have had problems over budgets, over
committee structure, disagreements about schedules--oh,
yes, about Senate rules. I have never once doubted that
what Senator Frist was doing he was doing because he
believed in his heart it was the right thing. That is why
I, Harry Reid, at his home on a very personal level, told
Senator Frist he should run for reelection. I don't
believe in term limits. I truly believed then, as I do
now, that he should have run for reelection. I told his
good wife Karyn the same thing in their home.
I have come to learn a number of things about Bill
Frist. He loves medicine. He has done his work in the
Senate. But the thing that is first and paramount in his
mind and his heart every minute of the day is Karyn and
his three boys.
All of you out here have seen our fights publicly, and
we have had them, but they have been fair. I can remember
only once has Senator Frist ever raised his voice at me,
and it was right from here because, even though I didn't
mean to, he thought I had said something that reflected
upon his family, and I apologized to him. This man loves
his family and is an example of how people should treat
their family.
Karyn is a wonderful woman. She has treated my wife--my
wife is a very shy person. She has always been very shy.
Karyn has taken good care of her, and I will always,
Karyn, appreciate that.
In the years that go on, I, frankly, will never think
about or, if I try, not remember any of the differences we
had on the Senate floor, but I will always remember the
friendship I have developed with the good man from
Tennessee, a citizen legislator.
Senator Frist, Karyn, I wish you the very best. You are
a good man. I love and appreciate everything you have done
for the country and for me.
(Applause.)
The VICE PRESIDENT. The majority whip is recognized.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I, on behalf of all the
Members on this side of the aisle--and Senator Reid
acknowledged the same as well--am grateful for your
presence here today. Being here today to help honor our
outgoing majority leader, I know, means a lot to him. It
means a lot to all the rest of us.
Rare is the person who rises to the top of one
profession, not to mention two. We are honoring today a
man who has done that--he has risen to the very top of not
one but two extraordinarily difficult professions. And I
am absolutely certain, as all of his colleagues are, that
he will excel in whatever challenge he takes on next.
Bill Frist embodies what our Founding Fathers meant when
they spoke of ``citizen legislators.'' By his early
forties, he had already risen to prominence as a renowned
heart and lung surgeon. But Bill felt a call to public
service. After achieving enormous success in that field,
he came to us in the Senate and rose to the top here as
well. He had not sought the leader's office, but in some
ways it could be argued that it sought him and, once
again, he was top in his field.
After 4 years, Bill has been an effective and courageous
leader. I have been here for a pretty long time now, Mr.
President, and I can honestly say that the last 4 years
have been some of the most productive years in the Senate
that I have seen.
Under Bill Frist's leadership, we have made the lives of
people across America better and safer. More opportunity
lies ahead for today's children than ever before. Most of
all, Bill has never relented in leading this Senate to
fight the war on terror. America is more secure thanks to
his tenacity and thanks to his talents.
Bill is leaving us, as we all know, sticking to his
promise to the voters of Tennessee to serve only two
terms. Legend holds that Cincinnatus, the Roman farmer,
became ruler of Rome at the behest of his fellow citizens.
But after leading them to victory against invaders, he
gave up the mantle of power and returned to his farm.
Whether Bill returns to medicine or continues to serve
the public in some other way, we can be sure of this: He
will continue to be one of America's great leaders. And if
he does return to public office, it will be because he was
asked by his fellow citizens to serve and to lead.
Words such as ``sacrifice,'' ``duty,'' and ``service''
mean something to Bill Frist. This Senate and this country
are the better for it.
It has been a joy to know Bill's lovely family--his
wife, Karyn, and his three sons, Harrison, Jonathan, and
Bryan. They are all proud of their father and husband.
I am going to miss you, Bill. It has been a great honor
working with you every day over the last 4 years, and it
will be an honor to take the baton from Bill to lead
Senate Republicans during the 110th Congress.
Just as Kentucky and Tennessee share a border 320 miles
long, Bill and I share a bond as Senators, party leaders,
and, yes, as friends. I can see that all of our colleagues
on both sides of the aisle feel the same way I do. It is
sad to see you leave. You have done a magnificent job.
People come and go in the Senate over the years and,
candidly, I guess some of them didn't make a whole lot of
difference. But you did, and you will be remembered with
great pride by all of us. Thank you for your service.
(Applause.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coleman). The Democratic
whip.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I join in this chorus of
salutations and praise for the retiring majority leader. I
listened carefully to Senator Frist's recollection of his
public service, and I noted the first item on his agenda
was the $15 billion in the fight against global AIDS. It
is an issue on which we joined together many times, an
issue where President Bush showed extraordinary
leadership, and there was extraordinary bipartisan support
for what he was trying to achieve.
As one reflects on his life and his background, it was
no surprise that that led the list. Senator Frist
dedicated his time before the Senate to the healing arts,
and I think he brought some of that same dedication to his
role in the Senate, trying to use his post as the Senator
from Tennessee and as a leader in the Senate to heal the
world and our Nation. I thank you for all your efforts in
that regard.
I know when he came to this job, it was thrust upon him
rather quickly. I know he had his critics, and there might
even have been a few on this side of the aisle from time
to time, but, by and large, I think his leadership has
been symbolized by a lack of cunning, a lack of sharp
elbows and an effort to try and patch up our differences
and get things done. Once again, you were the healer when
you had the chance to do it.
I have traveled to Africa, as he has, probably not as
often. I have seen some of those dusty villages where
there is no one to be seen for miles around. But I cannot
imagine your taking your surgical skills to those villages
and those huts and operating under a flashlight, hour
after hour, day after day, week after week. That defines
Bill Frist, in my mind--a person who may not have been
recognized by anyone on the road to that village, did some
good, and left a legacy that will be remembered.
To you, to Karyn, to your family, let me add my voice in
saying you left a great legacy in the Senate, and I wish
you all the very best.
(Applause.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, former Senator Lyndon
Johnson used to say about himself that having Lyndon
Johnson as majority leader was good for the United States
of America and it hasn't hurt Texas one bit.
When I think of our country and Bill Frist, I think of
lower tax rates, I think of two Supreme Court Justices, I
think of a record number of judges who would interpret the
law, rather than make it up as they go along. I think of
the personal imprint of Senator Frist on the prescription
drug Medicare benefit millions of Americans need and are
enjoying, and I think of the $15 billion generous gesture
of this country toward Africa to combat HIV/AIDS, which
would not have happened were it not for Bill Frist.
When I think of Bill Frist and Tennessee, I think of our
new TVA board to keep our rates low and reliable. I think
of our ability to deduct our sales tax from Federal income
tax and dozens and dozens of other things that have been
good for Tennessee.
When I think of Bill Frist, I think of civility, of
decency, a good smile, hard work, and an ego that is
surprisingly under control for a Senator in the midst of
all of this and an example of which his parents would be
proud. So I think we can say today, and Lyndon Johnson
wouldn't mind, that having Bill Frist as majority leader
of the U.S. Senate has been good for our country and it
hasn't hurt Tennessee one bit.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts is
recognized.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I join my friends and
colleagues in paying tribute to a friend and a
distinguished colleague. When Bill Frist arrived here,
there were at least some of us with some qualms on this
side of the aisle because he ran successfully against one
of our dear friends, Jim Sasser. So, initially, there was
a natural reluctance among some of us about this doctor
who had defeated a great friend and a great Senator.
But early on it was clear that Bill was special. As
someone who had been trained in medicine, in my own State
of Massachusetts no less, he brought a new and fresh
perspective to our national debates.
He was obviously a person of impressive skill, and it is
no surprise that he rose so quickly to become majority
leader. The roles of Senators and physicians are
profoundly different in many ways, but at their core their
missions are identical--to help others to the maximum
extent of our ability. And that is what Bill Frist has
done from the day he set foot in this Chamber.
He was one of the first to understand the very real
threat of bioterrorism to our Nation, and that was well
before 9/11 or the anthrax attacks. Senator Frist knew
firsthand that our public health infrastructure was
incapable of meeting the threat of a massive natural
epidemic, let alone a deliberate biological attack. It was
a privilege to work with him on the first bio-terrorism
legislation, which because of his leadership we were able
to pass before 9/11.
He has also been a pioneer in the effort to bring modern
information technology into all aspects of health care,
and to end the enormous human and financial costs caused
by medical errors and by the needless administration of
health care with outdated paper records. He has also
helped shine a bright light on the serious problem of
health disparities in our country.
He has inspired each of us with his commitment to
address the horrific tragedy still unfolding in the world,
especially in Africa, because of AIDS. He has dedicated
himself to this issue for years, giving of himself
personally, and urging Congress to act more expeditiously.
He made time to continue these missions of mercy, even
after he became majority leader, and I was deeply touched
by it every time.
I have had the good opportunity to meet his family, and
I know, as others have said, where his values come from
and how committed he is to them. I hope he'll be able to
enjoy more time with them now without the burden of
running the Senate.
We wish Bill Frist the best as he prepares to leave the
Senate. We know he will have great success, and we thank
him for his service to our country. We will miss the
majority leader, but we know he will continue to use his
immense talent to make a very real difference for all
humanity in the years ahead, and continue to make us proud
to call him our friend.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico is
recognized.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I wanted to say a few words
before the leader left. I even hate to call him leader or
majority leader. He has become a great friend. I don't
know how to explain it, but I didn't really think coming
to the Senate that I would have a chance to meet somebody
like our good departing leader. I have met all kinds of
people here. Former Senator Henry Bellmon once said: If
you sit down with all 100 of them, no matter what you have
said about criticizing them, there are no better 100 men
put together in America than the 100 Senators who serve. I
believe that is true. I am wondering now about whether the
Senator wouldn't rival military leadership.
But the point is, I didn't think Bill--I know we can't
do that in the Senate, use first names--but I didn't think
I would ever meet in the Budget Committee of the U.S.
Senate--sitting in the very last seat available was this
man whose name is so simple, but I had so much trouble
with it. Do you remember? I didn't say ``Frist,'' I kept
saying ``First.'' I don't know why, but I did that for a
long time, and then it became sort of a--people would come
up and punch me so I would say it right. But whether it is
``Frist'' or ``First,'' I guess they mean about the same
thing to me. You are truly first.
What we have gone through personally will not be
reflected in the Record. People know I have had a few
years of illness. It is mostly gone now. But I found out
he was a superb doctor, and eventually I found out there
weren't too many better anywhere. That made it easy
because I had a ready-made doctor and he was the best. And
we would meet in his office, and people would think it was
always business, but they had no idea that it was half
business, a little bit family--we got to know each other's
families, and what a terrific and exciting thing that was
for me--and I got to know about his excellence as a
doctor.
It will be a different Senate, there is no question.
You have been dealt some cards that are not right. The
years you were here, the things that were accomplished
were not quite presented to the people as accomplishments
or as big accomplishments, as they are. But if there is
anybody interested in searching the Record during his term
and during his leadership period to see what he
accomplished, I believe you will have to end up saying
there was nobody during his time here who accomplished
more for his State and for the country. I believe an in-
depth search of what he has done may even rival the best,
even though he does not know how to legislate, and there
is no question about that, and he does not know how to
appropriate, and there is no question about that. He might
not even know how to bring an appropriations bill up, and
there might be no doubt about that. He may doubt it, but
this Senator doesn't, and I am his best friend, but I have
great doubts whether he knows how to get an appropriations
bill up and passed.
But I still believe the business of the Senate is not
done in those very overt ways that people think. It is
done as you sit down for long hours on a conference report
and come out with a health bill that all of a sudden is
better than anything we have had before. When you find out
who did it, it might not have been named for the Senator
or for the chairman of this or that, but you will find out
that for many hours, many trips were taken to his office,
and many times, he said: Wait and we will do it in the
morning, and I will tell you how to do it. And that
happened.
I could go on for much longer, but I really wanted him
to know that I just waited for my time. Being the fifth or
sixth eldest here in seniority, I waited for my time here,
and I didn't want to wait until tomorrow or the next day
in fear that I would not find time or that the Senate
would not accommodate. So I thought I would, as usual, be
late for a next appointment, but I have a good excuse for
being late for this next one.
I had to come here and say goodbye in a very interesting
way, although it is not a goodbye. But I do think it is
true that this will be a very major change in our
friendship, in the way we react to each other, and the
time we get to spend with each other. So it is an
occasion, this leaving of the Senate, because you won't
come back very often. Even though you say you will, you
won't, and we won't get to see you. I really believe we
will remember you, and probably we will call you more
times than you will call us because I think we may just
from time to time figure out more times than you will that
we need some advice, and it will probably run in your
direction, not in ours, in the ensuing years.
Good luck in whatever you do. It is not going to be this
little return to being a country doctor, if that is what
you are saying. You can't sell me on that. You are not
going to be a little country doctor; you are not even
going to be a regular doctor. You are going to do
something much bigger than that. It is just waiting.
Somebody is going to place it in front of you, and then
you will do it and it will be something big and exciting
for America and for our people, probably more exciting
than you did here, so that will be a third one--one, the
heart transplants and all that, one here with us, and then
you will have a third one. In the meantime, you can do a
lot of duck hunting, no problem with that. You can
probably go with me, if you want. But if you shoot too
well, I won't bring you anymore because it is
embarrassing. It has to be sort of a modest hunt, not so
superb that I am embarrassed. So we will have to work that
out some way. And your son--he can't come anymore because
he shoots too well. It is truly not the right thing to do.
He should not be hunting with an old man like me. No way.
But if it happens, we will accommodate it some way.
Having said all that I should and much more, I will say
goodbye and thank you.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to
discuss a number of matters briefly.
First, I want to join my colleagues in paying tribute to
our majority leader, Senator Bill Frist, who has done such
an outstanding job in the past 12 years.
Senator Frist came to this Senate as a real all-
American. He has displayed extraordinary talents,
academically, professionally, in public service, as a
family man, as a friend, at Princeton and Harvard Medical
School, as a renowned heart and lung transplant surgeon,
then selected to be the majority leader and has taken this
body through a very difficult 4 years and a very
productive 4 years.
A great deal has been said about Senator Frist earlier
today. I just wanted to add my personal congratulations to
him on his service and to wish him well. ...
Mr. SANTORUM. ... I thank our leader, Bill Frist, my
first leader I served under as a member of the leadership,
Trent Lott, and the leader I served under when I came to
the Senate, Bob Dole. Each and every one of them in their
own way led differently. But in the case of Senator Dole,
he was a larger-than-life figure to me, coming over to the
Senate as a 36-year-old Senator. He was on his way to run
for the Presidency. He took the time to be concerned about
the issues that were important to me. He put me on the
committees I needed to be on and gave me the opportunity
that I will never forget and certainly will always be
thankful for--to manage and work on the welfare reform
bill back in 1996.
Of all the things I accomplished in the Senate, there is
nothing I am more proud of than what we did in 1996 to
reform the welfare system and transition it so millions
and millions would fall off the rolls, find gainful
employment, and change their lives and the lives of their
families. I owe that to Bob Dole. He gave me the
opportunity to stand at that manager's chair for months in
my second year in the Senate and taking on what I would
argue was the most important piece of legislation in that
session of the Congress, the Republican revolution.
I thank Trent Lott not only for his tutelage and
mentoring me in the time I have been here as a leader, but
for helping me in gaining leadership and being involved in
the leadership in the Senate.
I thank Bill Frist for his friendship. His coming in as
a leader when I was already in the leadership was a little
different. He didn't come in and point the finger and boss
us around, he came in to learn. He came in to engage, to
try to take the knowledge that was in the leadership group
and use it to build a stronger group. I appreciate that.
There is a humility in Bill Frist. It is a very
attractive quality and, I might also add, a rather rare
quality if one is in the Senate, but a very attractive one
and a very important one in Senators and leaders. ...
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that
today I honor our distinguished majority leader, Senator
Bill Frist. After serving with Bill for the last 12 years,
I have come to know that he is a fine leader, an
accomplished physician and a wonderful person. He is a man
of compassion and conviction who has served our country
and this body well.
It is only fitting that the majority leader of the U.S.
Senate be a person who has dedicated his life to serving
others.
We all know of Bill's remarkable service to people
around the world as a transplant surgeon for over 20
years. We have applauded him on several occasions as he
has embarked on pilgrimages to help bring needed medical
expertise to impoverished countries. We have seen him
fight to secure over $15 billion in Federal funding to
fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. We have marveled
at his dedication to serving the people of Tennessee. And
time and again, we have witnessed him here on the floor of
the U.S. Senate in the middle of the night conducting the
people's business and ensuring the legacy of the Senate
continues in the most professional manner.
I hope everyone understands what a sacrifice it is to
take on leadership duties here in Washington. The Federal
Government never sleeps. When elected representatives come
to Washington, they bring with them the hopes, dreams, and
aspirations of each one of their constituents. Those who
take this responsibility seriously spend every waking
moment addressing concerns and working for the people they
represent. That is quite a responsibility to bear. When
you add to that responsibility the duties of being a
leader and looking out for the interests of those you
lead, the duties are immense and the sleepless nights
really start to mount. I, for one, am grateful for Bill's
exemplary service and willingness to spend his life
looking out for the interests of others.
Over the last 4 years, as Bill has been majority leader,
I have had several occasions to seek him out and ask for
his advice and counsel. In every instance, he has made
himself available. There have been times when I have been
working on issues of great importance to the citizens of
Utah until 1, 2, or even 3 in the morning and, even though
the items we were working on did not impact Bill or his
constituents, he and his staff were gracious enough to
stay up and work with me. For that I am grateful.
As a highly trained physician, Bill has changed the way
the Senate approaches health care policy. As a member of
the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, two committees
with jurisdiction over health care issues, Bill has used
his insight and training to shape and move legislation
which greatly improves the health of Americans and the
health care system in general. His skill as a physician
has greatly improved the knowledge of this body and has
made the lives of countless people better.
Tennessee's storied history of capable Senators is long
and includes such names as Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson,
Howard Baker, and, my good friend, Fred Thompson. These
men represented the best of what America has to offer, and
Bill Frist has done much to add to this great legacy. As
majority leader, Bill has shepherded through some very
important legislation, including the Medicare prescription
drug benefit legislation, scores and scores of tax cut
legislation for the American people, legislation to reduce
health care disparities among races, legislation to make
health care more affordable and accessible, legislation to
bolster America's defenses against bioterrorism,
legislation to reduce childhood obesity, legislation to
prevent childhood vaccine shortages, and legislation
fighting drug abuse.
Bill's willingness to support Federal funding for stem
cell research this year made a huge difference in the
national debate. I truly appreciated Bill's support
earlier this year to pass legislation that would make more
embryonic stem cell lines available for Federal funding.
Stem cell research is one of the most important issues we
face today. Stem cell research gives hope to millions of
people who have none. More than 100 million Americans
suffer from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's,
Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, and so many other life-
threatening and life-debilitating diseases. Thanks to
Bill's support, on July 18 of this year, the Senate passed
H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, by a
vote of 63 to 37. H.R. 810 would have allowed Federal
funding for stem cell research using stem cell lines
derived under strict ethical requirements from excess in
vitro fertilization embryos, regardless of the date they
were derived. I am grateful to Bill for taking such a bold
and courageous stand on this issue for those suffering
from these dreaded diseases and who will be helped by this
research.
In closing, Bill is a consummate family man who
cherishes family and the values family represents. He has
been married to his wife Karyn for 22 years and, even as
majority leader of the U.S. Senate, he has always made
time for his three sons: Harrison, Jonathan, and Bryan.
There is no doubt Bill will be successful in any
endeavor he undertakes as he leaves this great body. He
has proven himself time and again and there is no question
in my mind, he will be successful in the future.
Mr. President, I appreciate the efforts and service of
our good majority leader, Bill Frist. He is a great man, a
great patriot, and a great friend, and I wish him well in
his future endeavors.
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, one is, of course, Senator Bill Frist,
our retiring majority leader. I had the wonderful
opportunity to be invited to travel with Senator Frist. I
guess you could say it was clearly an opportunity. It was
not necessarily a pleasurable trip in the sense that the
first trip I took with him was to tour the devastation of
the tsunami. Soon after he assumed the role of leader, the
tsunami hit the Indian coastline. It was one of the
largest disasters in the recent history of the world.
I had a chance to go to that region with Senator Frist.
I actually saw him firsthand don his doctor's coat and
take off, if you will, his hat as Senator and put on his
coat as doctor and operate. I agreed to go on that trip
with him under one condition, that I myself would not have
to go with him into the operating rooms. So I stayed
outside and talked with people while he went in and
actually did the hard work of saving people's lives and
bringing them back to health.
But what I will most remember about that trip--and there
were about six of us on it--is that he was the first one
awake in the morning, the last one to go to bed at night,
constantly working until the point where those of us said
we are unlikely to ever travel with him again because we
could not get any rest through the entire week and were so
exhausted when we got back. We said: If he calls again to
ask us to travel, tell him I am doing something else. I am
kidding, of course. But I say that with the greatest
admiration for a man who has an extraordinary work ethic.
And through so many ups and downs, literally, of these
helicopters and trips, I remember him staying so steady
and so calm, even when we saw some of the most horrific
sights you can imagine.
But he has led this Chamber and brought his own style of
leadership and his own gifts that God has given him to
this Chamber. I am a Senator who truly admires that
particular aspect of his service and wanted to put that
into the Record in a small way this morning. ...
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. KYL. Mr. President, I also will say a word about a
couple of my colleagues who are leaving, and I will be
brief. ...
I know we were all impressed with the comments of our
majority leader, Bill Frist, yesterday. I wish him
Godspeed in his new endeavors. He certainly has been a joy
to work with as part of the Republican leadership because
of his good temperament, his wise counsel, his knowledge
of human nature, and his deep commitment to this body, the
people of Tennessee and, most importantly, to the United
States of America. ...
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. DeWINE. ... 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. ...
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. 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. ...
Last but not least--the departing majority leader, Bill
Frist of Tennessee. His leadership position has only been
the cap on a lifetime of accomplishment. Bill Frist is a
leading transplant surgeon who has performed more than 150
heart or lung transplants, as well as a highly successful
medical businessman. The same drive that fueled him in
politics, medicine, and business also inspired him to earn
his pilot's license and complete seven marathons. Senator
Frist will be remembered as a competent majority leader,
not to mention as the first medical doctor elected to the
Senate since 1928.
After pursuing his medical career for nearly two
decades, Bill Frist established himself in Tennessee
politics and was elected to the Senate in 1994 and was
reelected in 2000 with the highest vote total for any
statewide election in his State's history. As the Senate's
only medical doctor at the time, he attended to the
victims of the 1998 Capitol shooting, and he also served
as a respected spokesman on anthrax and bioterrorism
following the terrorist attacks of 2001.
Besides leading the Senate since 2003, Bill Frist found
recognition for his outspoken positions on Medicare
reform, judicial nominations, and social issues. He also
worked to establish a nuanced position on stem cell
research. Though we didn't always see eye to eye, we were
able to work together on important legislation, including
bills on obesity prevention and food allergies. And I
think I can speak for all of my colleagues when I thank
him for his hard work in running the Senate for the past 3
years--or, as a predecessor put it, ``herding cats.''
Bill Frist is returning to his philanthropic work and
his medical practice, where I am sure he will find his
success undiminished and his skill undulled. I wish him,
his wife Karyn, and their three sons many happy years.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, the great Senator Daniel
Webster once remarked that the Senate is a place ``of
equals of men of individual honor ... and personal
character.''
He was right, and we can see what he was talking about
in the fine men the Senate is losing to retirement at the
end of this Congress: Senator Frist, Senator Sarbanes,
Senator Jeffords, and Senator Dayton.
On previous occasions, I have talked about how much I
appreciated serving with Senators Frist and Jeffords.
Today, I would like to say a few more words about Senators
Sarbanes and Dayton. ...
Mr. President, Mark Dayton, like Paul Sarbanes, like Jim
Jeffords, like Bill Frist, will be missed.
The Senate--and our country--are better off because of
their service.
Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, today, I rise to
acknowledge and honor the good work and service of my
colleague from Tennessee, Senator Bill Frist. As a Senator
for the past dozen years, and majority leader for the past
4, Senator Frist has been a leader of strong resolve on
behalf of his home State and our entire Nation. His work
in the U.S. Senate will be remembered for a long time to
come, and I personally owe Senator Frist a debt of
gratitude.
He has been an advocate of the offshore drilling
agreement that would benefit not only the people of my
home State of Florida, but millions of Americans living in
the gulf coast region--this plan would reduce America's
reliance on foreign sources of energy and is vital to our
future. I applaud Senator Frist for recognizing and acting
so decisively on this important issue.
Senator Frist has also been a dedicated leader on
immigration reform and I thank him for taking on this
divisive, yet necessary issue with such a keen
understanding of what our Nation needs. I also know how
passionate Senator Frist is about national security and
defense. We were able to travel to and around Iraq
together, and while there, we had the opportunity to
personally thank some of our troops for their courage and
incredible sacrifice. I was appreciative to have that
experience with someone who certainly knows the meaning of
service.
On a personal note, Senator Frist made sure that I would
be able to pay my respects to Pope John Paul II--and I
cannot say enough about how much that has meant to me and
to my family. Thank you for that and for your relentless
leadership. Thank you for your time and for your counsel.
Thank you for your friendship.
Senator Frist is a fine Senator and a true gentleman. We
will miss him a great deal here in Washington. Yet all of
us know how well he will do as he returns to his long and
distinguished career in medicine. The people of Tennessee
are fortunate to have back their revered Dr. Frist. I wish
my best to Senator Frist and his family always. ...
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Senator
Bill Frist, whose sense of public service harkens back to
ancient Athens when every citizen, in order to be called
an Athenian, served in a public capacity for the good of
the State. And it is more than fitting that this Senator,
this son of Tennessee, comes from the only place in the
United States with a full-scale replica of the Parthenon,
for Bill First--like the Athenians of old--sees himself
first as a citizen above all else.
Senator Bill Frist and I arrived in the U.S. Senate in
the same class in 1994. And only 9 years later, he was
chosen Senate majority leader--a rapid ascent by anyone's
count. In the time that Senator Frist has served his
country in the position of leader, he has worked
ceaselessly to translate ideals and principles into
tangible improvements in the daily lives of the American
people. For me, it has been a tremendous privilege over
the years to work closely with him on many issues and
serve with him on the Senate Budget Committee and the
Senate Committees on Commerce, Small Business, and
Finance.
Senator Frist's allegiance to serving others has been
nothing short of exemplary. He went into medicine because
he cared about people. His profound dedication to public
service--to the American people and the people of
Tennessee--grew out of an earlier devotion to thousands of
men and women whose dilemmas and struggles Dr. Frist came
to understand firsthand. No wonder he takes such great
pride in being known as a ``citizen legislator''--and with
good reason.
As he prepares to leave this Chamber, we recall that
when the leader spoke about America's uninsured or the
rising cost of health care or about the dangers posed to
our communities by the threat of bioterrorism, his
insights are rooted, not in theory, but in years of up-
close and personal contact with the people who sent him to
Washington in the first place. We also remember that
Senator Frist was the first practicing physician to occupy
a U.S. Senate seat since 1928--in fact the sign on his
office door didn't say ``majority leader''--it fittingly
read, ``Dr. Bill Frist, M.D.''
He has held his oath of office with distinction, just as
he has kept to the 2000-year-old Hippocratic precept ``to
do no harm,'' and in fact, he has gone well beyond that
tenet, as he has done and will continue to do a world of
good. We will miss his perspective and leadership and wish
him and Karyn all the best as they pursue this next phase
of their life and service together. ...
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, I would like to
conclude with Dr. Bill Frist, who has dedicated his life
to helping people.
Though many of us have come to know Dr. Frist best in
his current role as our leader, his contributions to
America exceed elected office.
Dr. Frist first came to Washington in 1972 as an intern
for Tennessee Congressman Joe Evins. Congressman Evins
told the young intern that should he ever want to serve in
Congress, he should first excel in a profession other than
politics and then bring that experience back to
Washington.
Dr. Frist did just that.
During a stellar 20-year career in medicine, Dr. Frist
performed over 150 heart and lung transplant procedures,
including the first lung transplant and the first
pediatric heart transplant in Tennessee and the first
successful combined heart-lung transplant in the
Southeast.
He always hoped to one day serve America at a broad
policy level, where he could advance medicine and improve
the quality of life of the Nation.
Dr. Frist returned to Washington in 1994, becoming the
first practicing physician elected to the Senate since
1928. As a U.S. Senator, Bill Frist has been one of the
leading voices on health issues in America today.
He moved quickly up the leadership ranks, becoming
deputy whip in 1999, chairman of the NRSC in 2000, and
finally majority leader in 2002.
In the Senate, Dr. Frist has worked tirelessly to
strengthen Medicare, provide seniors with better access to
prescription drugs, reduce health care disparities among
races, and make health care more affordable and
accessible.
He has also been one of America's strongest advocates
for increasing funding for global HIV/AIDS. He sponsored
landmark legislation to provide $15 billion to combat
global HIV/AIDS in African and Caribbean nations hardest
hit by the disease. This law will literally save millions
of lives and stands as one of the greatest public health
accomplishments in modern history.
Many of us also remember Dr. Frist utilizing his medical
skills in 1998, when a gunman shot and killed two U.S.
Capitol Police officers in the Capitol. The gunman was
also shot and seriously wounded during the incident. Dr.
Frist came to the aid of Officer Jacob Chestnut, who later
died of his wounds, as well as the gunman, who survived
because of Dr. Frist's actions.
After the event, Dr. Frist told Capitol reporters:
At the time, I did not know he was the alleged gunman,
and in truth, as a physician, you try to focus on
resuscitation.
People have said ``If you knew that, would things have
changed?'' And the answer is, ``No.''
``As a physician, you're trained to focus, and that's
what you do year after year. You're not a judge; you're
not a jury. You're a physician.''
Dr. Frist never stopped being a physician. Throughout
his 12 years in the Senate, he always had the Nation's
health in mind. He was always a champion of medicine, and
his class and integrity is unquestioned.
The Senate will truly miss his leadership, and we will
miss all of our departing friends.
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, it has been an honor and a
privilege to work with Senator Bill Frist for the past 12
years. Bill has been a solid leader for our party and he
has served the people of Tennessee with distinction.
Senator Frist came to politics through a nontraditional
route--through the operating room. Bill got involved in
politics because he believed he could do even more for his
patients--and the people of Tennessee--in the Senate. And
he was right. Bill's meticulous approach to this job is
exactly what you would expect of a person with his
training. He never gave up on his goals and worked
tirelessly to see them into law.
I became President pro tempore of the Senate close to
the time when Bill became our majority leader. I enjoyed
working by his side and thank Leader Frist for including
me--as President pro tempore--in all leadership meetings.
Senator Frist also traveled with us to China for U.S.
Interparliamentary Group meetings. Once our meetings were
finished, he continued on to Africa for medical mission
work.
As majority leader, Bill carried the administration's
message. He fought hard for the President's judicial
nominees. And as we saw yesterday during his farewell
address, Bill leaves us with great honor and recognition.
Our leader will now return to where, in some ways, his
heart has always been--the practice of medicine. But deep
in my heart, I feel that public service will again call
Bill to give of his time and talents to help preserve our
democracy and our freedoms. Catherine and I will miss
being with Bill and Karyn. ...
Ms. COLLINS. ... Mr. President, as we come to the close
of a Congress that has seen too much partisan struggle, it
has been heartening to observe the bipartisan outpouring
of deep respect and kind regard for the retiring senior
Senator from Tennessee, Dr. Bill Frist.
I join in that praise. Senator Frist has exemplified the
collegial traditions of the Senate, balancing forthright
advocacy for his views and for his party's positions with
courtesy and respect for those who disagreed with him. He
has been an effective Senator for his beloved State of
Tennessee, a skillful leader for his party caucus, and a
gentleman in his dealings with Senate colleagues.
We all know that many of our fellow citizens are cynical
about Congress, seeing this branch of government as a
haven for politicians fixated on short-term political
advantage and personal aggrandizement. They should take
note of people like Senator Frist, who is truly an example
of a Renaissance man in government.
If a writer created a protagonist with the interests and
accomplishments that Senator Frist has shown, an editor
would be nervous about taxing readers' credulity. Yet the
facts are plain. Our friend from Tennessee is not only a
hard-working and successful political leader, but also a
surgeon, a teacher, a philanthropist, an author, an
aircraft pilot, a marathon runner, and a devoted family
man.
Members of Congress have many opportunities to enact
measures that will protect, enrich, and save lives. But we
usually act at a distance, as agencies use the authorities
and carry out the mandates we create. Few of us can take
credit for personally saving lives as Dr. Frist has done
many times at the operating table. And few of us can bring
to bear the combination of professional training and
personal dedication that he has displayed on his repeated
medical missions to Africa and in his policy work on the
HIV/AIDS crisis. He was also the first doctor on the spot
for the 1998 shootings of two Capitol Police officers, and
he ably served as an informed spokesman for Congress
during the 2001 anthrax attacks in the Capitol mail
system.
Senator Frist has served his party well. As chair of the
National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2002, he
helped restore the party's majority in the Senate. As the
unanimously elected majority leader, he served both his
party and his country well on policy matters like tax-law
changes that eased burdens on citizens and encouraged
growth in business activity and employment.
Senator Frist also supported the Medicare prescription-
drug benefit and the creation of health savings accounts--
measures that have saved billions of dollars for the
elderly and given millions of Americans new opportunities
for controlling their health care costs. These are
especially helpful legislative initiatives in States like
my native Maine, where the proportions of senior citizens,
small business owners, and the self-employed are
significant.
Senator Frist leaves this Chamber with an overflowing
and bipartisan store of goodwill and gratitude. I am
pleased to be among the many Senators offering thanks for
his years of service and best wishes for many years of
good works to come. ...
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.
One of the greatest losses to the Senate is the
departure of our majority leader, Dr. Bill Frist. I first
became acquainted with Bill when he called me during my
time as president of the American Red Cross to say that he
would travel to Africa with us to volunteer as a surgeon.
Back then, I immediately recognized Bill's intelligence,
integrity and compassion for others. I saw how dedicated
he was about sound policy--especially health care policy--
and how dedicated he was to helping those most in need,
whether they be in America, in Africa, or anywhere in the
world. And I saw how his colleagues quickly came to
respect him, to rely on his judgment, and to value his
counsel.
In fall 2001, when terrorism hit home in the U.S.
Capitol, we saw how Bill's colleagues immediately turned
to him for his guidance and expertise, and Bill responded
to the challenge. For example, he quickly transformed his
Senate Website into the best source of information for
Senate staff on the issues surrounding possible anthrax
exposure. And he was willing to speak with each and every
Member of the Senate community to allay concerns with
accurate medical information. Bill utilized his expertise
to write legislation to help protect the entire Nation
from the scourge of bioterrorism.
For the past 2 years, I was honored to serve as a member
of Bill's leadership team. As our leader, Bill displayed
extraordinary integrity, care and thoughtfulness in
dealing with every Senator, and he worked tirelessly to
bring together his colleagues for the betterment of our
Nation.
Bill's record of achievement as our majority leader is
exemplary. As a result of his steady leadership, we
succeeded in securing historic tax relief that has helped
put more money in the pockets of hard-working Americans
while paving the way for today's stunning economic
recovery. His leadership improved life for our seniors by
lowering the cost of prescription drugs. He helped
spearhead important reforms of our tort system and
bankruptcy code. Under Bill's leadership, we passed a
comprehensive energy bill that reduces our reliance on
foreign oil. And to help keep our Nation's fiscal house in
order, Bill led the fight to pass a landmark deficit
reduction plan that put some brakes on mandatory Federal
spending. Perhaps most important, Bill's leadership was
indispensable in helping place men and women on our
Federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, who will
strictly interpret the law rather than try to legislate
from the bench.
During Bill's 12 years in the Senate, our Nation faced
many challenges and many changes. But Bill retained his
strong sense of direction, his dedication to reaching out
to those most in need, and his devotion to his family--
Karyn, Harrison, Jonathan, and Bryan. As he has done in
medicine and in public service, I know that in future
endeavors Bill will continue to serve and help his fellow
man. ...
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.