[Senate Document 109-34]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



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


                                 S. Doc. 109-34

 
                  TRIBUTES TO HON. PAUL S. SARBANES




                                         

                          Paul S. Sarbanes

                       U.S. SENATOR FROM MARYLAND

                                TRIBUTES

                           IN THE CONGRESS OF

                           THE UNITED STATES



                                           


                                           

             
             

                         Paul S. Sarbanes
     

                            Tributes

                       Delivered in Congress

                          Paul S. Sarbanes

                      United States Congressman

                             1971-1977

                        United States Senator

                             1977-2007




                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
                             WASHINGTON : 2007


                   Compiled under the direction

                               of the

                    Joint Committee on Printing


                                           
                              CONTENTS


             Biography.............................................
                                                                      v
             Farewell to the Senate................................
                                                                     ix
             Proceedings in the Senate:
                Tributes by Senators:
                    Akaka, Daniel K., of Hawaii....................
                                                                     20
                    Alexander, Lamar, of Tennessee.................
                                                                     13
                    Allen, George, of Virginia.....................
                                                                     13
                    Boxer, Barbara, of California..................
                                                                     32
                    Byrd, Robert C., of West Virginia..............
                                                                      3
                    Clinton, Hillary Rodham, of New York...........
                                                                     24
                    Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota..................
                                                                     26
                    DeWine, Mike, of Ohio..........................
                                                                     29
                    Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut...........
                                                                     41
                    Durbin, Richard, of Illinois...................
                                                                 15, 30
                    Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming...................
                                                                      8
                    Frist, William H., of Tennessee................
                                                                     45
                    Hagel, Chuck, of Nebraska......................
                                                                     10
                    Harkin, Tom, of Iowa...........................
                                                                     27
                    Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah.......................
                                                                     35
                    Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas................
                                                                     44
                    Kennedy, Edward M., of Massachusetts...........
                                                                     18
                    Kyl, Jon, of Arizona...........................
                                                                     28
                    Landrieu, Mary L., of Louisiana................
                                                                     25
                    Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont..................
                                                                     34
                    Levin, Carl, of Michigan.......................
                                                                     37
                    Martinez, Mel, of Florida......................
                                                                     39
                    Mikulski, Barbara A., of Maryland..............
                                                                     30
                    Nelson, Bill, of Florida.......................
                                                                     14
                    Obama, Barack, of Illinois.....................
                                                                     21
                    Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island....................
                                                                     11
                    Reid, Harry, of Nevada 
                     ...............................................
                     ............
                                                              3, 29, 43
                    Salazar, Ken, of Colorado......................
                                                                     17
                    Sarbanes, Paul S., of Maryland.................
                                                                      7
                    Snowe, Olympia J., of Maine....................
                                                                     39
                    Stevens, Ted, of Alaska........................
                                                                     45
                    Warner, John, of Virginia......................
                                                                     24
                                      Biography

               Paul Spyros Sarbanes was born in Salisbury, on 
             Maryland's Eastern Shore on February 3, 1933. He was the 
             son of Greek immigrants from Laconia, Greece--Spyros 
             (deceased 1957) and Matina Sarbanes (deceased 2001) who 
             owned the Mayflower Restaurant on Salisbury's Main Street. 
             The principles Senator Sarbanes learned growing up in 
             Salisbury that have guided his public life were 
             opportunity and fairness--principles that he strongly 
             believes are fundamental to a decent and just society. 
             While there were no diplomas on the wall, Sarbanes's 
             parents understood the importance of hard work and the 
             value of education. They instilled these values in their 
             children along with an appreciation of the benefits of 
             living in a democratic society.
               After graduation from Wicomico High School in Salisbury, 
             Sarbanes received an academic and athletic scholarship to 
             Princeton University (A.B. degree, 1954). He was awarded a 
             Rhodes Scholarship that brought him to Oxford, England 
             (First Class B.A., 1957). Sarbanes then returned to the 
             United States and attended Harvard Law School. After 
             graduating in 1960, he clerked for Federal Judge Morris A. 
             Soper before going into private practice with two 
             Baltimore City law firms.
               In June 1960, Sarbanes married Christine Dunbar of 
             Brighton, England, a graduate of St. Hugh's College, 
             Oxford University; lecturer in classics at Goucher 
             College, from 1960 to 1973; and teacher of Latin and 
             Classical Greek at the Gilman School in Baltimore, MD, 
             from 1978 to 2000. They are the parents of three children, 
             John Peter, Michael Anthony and Janet Matina, and the 
             grandparents of six. Sarbanes is a member of the Greek 
             Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Baltimore.
               Paul Sarbanes learned from his parents early in life how 
             privileged we are to live in a democracy, the importance 
             of community participation and, in particular, the 
             importance of exercising the right to vote. In his many 
             conversations with students across the State of Maryland, 
             when he spoke of his passion for public service, Sarbanes 
             talked about the high premium placed on involvement in 
             public life by the ancient Greeks. In Athens, he says, 
             ``those who lived only in private life were falling 
             short.'' They were called `idiotes,' from which our word 
             `idiot' is derived today.
               The principles of fairness and opportunity instilled in 
             Paul Sarbanes by his parents from a very early age led him 
             to a life of public service. In 1966, Sarbanes ran for the 
             Maryland House of Delegates in Baltimore City and won. 
             During his 4 years as a State legislator in Annapolis he 
             served on the Judiciary and the Ways and Means Committees.
               In 1970 he was elected to the U.S. House of 
             Representatives, for the first of three terms. While in 
             the House, from 1971 to 1976, Sarbanes served on the House 
             Judiciary Committee, the Merchant Marine and Fisheries 
             Committee, and the Select Committee on House 
             Reorganization. It was during his service in the House, in 
             August 1974, that Sarbanes was selected by his Democratic 
             colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee to introduce 
             the first Article of Impeachment, for obstruction of 
             justice, against President Richard Nixon.
               On November 2, 1976, Paul Sarbanes was elected to the 
             U.S. Senate. He was re-elected in 1982, 1988, 1994, and 
             2000. Throughout his public service, Senator Sarbanes 
             worked hard to provide the citizens of Maryland with 
             dedicated, independent representation; representation 
             based upon intelligence and integrity; representation 
             which gives people the confidence that elected officials 
             are there to serve the public interest.
               In response to the failure of Enron Corporation in 2001, 
             which, at the time, was the seventh largest corporation in 
             the United States, Senator Sarbanes, in his capacity as 
             chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 
             Committee, held a series of comprehensive hearings 
             resulting in the passage of a bipartisan bill designed to 
             reform the accounting industry and restore the investor 
             confidence that had been eroded following the collapse of 
             Enron.
               Immediately following the Senate Banking Committee's 
             approval of the legislation in June 2002, the accounting 
             woes of WorldCom further shook the financial markets and 
             created a tidal wave of support for the Sarbanes 
             legislation. Sarbanes appeared on ABC's ``This Week,'' 
             NBC's ``Meet the Press,'' CNN and CNBC. In addition, he 
             was chosen by Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle to 
             deliver the Democratic response to the President's weekly 
             national radio address on June 29, 2002.
               ``The Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor 
             Protection Act'' was signed into law on July 30, 2002, and 
             has been referred to as ``the most far-reaching reforms of 
             American business practices since the time of Franklin 
             Delano Roosevelt.'' The law is now known as the 
             ``Sarbanes-Oxley Act,'' named for the principal sponsors 
             of the legislation.
               The legislation creates a strong independent oversight 
             board to oversee the auditors of public companies and 
             enables the board to set accounting standards, and 
             investigate and discipline accountants. It addresses 
             conflicts of interest, ensures auditor independence, 
             strengthens corporate governance by requiring corporate 
             leaders to be personally responsible for the accuracy of 
             their company's financial reports, and establishes 
             safeguards to protect against investment analysts' 
             conflicts.
               As a result of his work in shepherding this historic 
             legislation through the Congress and into law, Senator 
             Sarbanes was honored in June 2003 with the prestigious 
             Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award from the 
             University of Illinois. The award, established in 1992 to 
             honor Senator Douglas, a man often labeled ``the 
             conscience of the United States Senate,'' was designed to 
             honor individuals who have made a substantial contribution 
             to promoting ethics. He also received the ``Rolfe Award 
             for Extraordinary Impact on Policy in Economics, Business 
             and Finance,'' from the Women's Economic Roundtable in 
             November 2003; the ``Cox, Coleman, Richardson Award for 
             Distinguished Public Service,'' from Harvard Law School in 
             March 2004, and numerous honorary awards.
                               Farewell to the Senate
                              Friday, December 8, 2006

               Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, over the last few days, a 
             number of my colleagues have been very generous in coming 
             to the floor and speaking about my service in the Senate. 
             I am deeply grateful to all of them, and my wife is 
             greatly relieved that the session is drawing to a close 
             because she fears if it continues and I continue to hear 
             these excessively laudatory speeches, I am going to take 
             it to heart and she is going to have to contend with the 
             aftermath of all this praise. I do thank all of my 
             colleagues for their very generous and their very gracious 
             remarks.
               As my service in the Senate draws to a close, I am above 
             all profoundly grateful for the trust that the people of 
             Maryland placed in me for the last 40 years--first as a 
             State legislator, then three terms in the House of 
             Representatives, and now five terms in this distinguished 
             body. I think that trust is the greatest honor that any 
             American could hope to have. I am deeply appreciative of 
             it.
               I could not have risen to the challenge that these 
             opportunities for public service have provided without the 
             constant support and the wise and reasoned counsel of my 
             family. First of all, and above all, my wife Christine, 
             whose high standards and dedication to our family and to 
             our country are beyond measure and have been a constant 
             source of inspiration to me. The support and commitment of 
             my children, their spouses and their children has been 
             deeply gratifying, and I am indebted to them for the 
             encouragement they have always provided and also, if I may 
             say so, for their astute criticism, on occasion. My sister 
             and my brother and their families have also been, as one 
             would expect, a constant source of strength, and I am 
             deeply grateful to them.
               My parents came to this country as immigrants from 
             Greece, both my mother and father, and it was from them 
             that I first learned about the meaning of a democratic 
             society and the potential it offers to move up the ladder 
             of opportunity on the basis of ability, hard work, and 
             conviction. Their memory is still a very powerful 
             influence in my life.
               I could not have met the responsibilities of this office 
             without the support of staff who have been ever ready to 
             work at the highest levels of competence, often under 
             great pressure, and to stand up always for what they 
             believe is right. I am deeply grateful for the principled 
             dedication and sharp intelligence they have brought to 
             their responsibilities--whether they were serving on my 
             office staff in Washington or in my offices across the 
             State of Maryland; whether on the staff of the Banking 
             Committee, the Foreign Relations, the Budget and the Joint 
             Economic Committees on which I have served, or the staff 
             of the Senate generally, on whom the efficient functioning 
             of this legislative body depends.
               I think it is important to pause from time to time to 
             think of the many men and women--they are sitting right 
             here at the tables and outside the doors and all across 
             the Capitol and in the office buildings--who make it 
             possible for us to function and who bring a dedication to 
             their work that is greatly encouraging. In fact, it has 
             been a source of encouragement and inspiration to me. 
             Working with all of the staff and in particular, of 
             course, my own personal staff, has been one of the great 
             rewards of serving in public office.
               I leave the Senate confident that Maryland's 
             representation in this body will be in good hands. For the 
             past 20 years, it has been a privilege to work closely 
             with my colleague from Maryland, Senator Mikulski, who 
             will soon become our State's senior Senator. What a 
             fighter she is for a better America. And what a 
             pathbreaker she has been in the course of her political 
             career.
               It was likewise a privilege to work with her predecessor 
             in this body, Senator Mathias, with whom I developed a 
             close friendship. Both have been wonderful partners.
               It is especially gratifying to know that, in the 110th 
             Congress, Benjamin Cardin will take this seat and be 
             Maryland's junior Senator. Ben Cardin has given 
             extraordinary public service to the people of Maryland. As 
             a Member of the House of Representatives, he has for 20 
             years represented our Third Congressional District with 
             great distinction, and prior to entering the House of 
             Representatives, he served for 20 years with equal 
             distinction in the Maryland legislature, including an 
             outstanding tenure as Speaker of the House of Delegates. 
             He is an experienced legislator of the first rank, and he 
             is tireless in carrying out effectively the 
             responsibilities of his office. I know my colleagues will 
             enjoy their work with him in the coming Congress.
               My wife and I are gratified that our eldest son John 
             will, in January, be sworn in as a Member of the House of 
             Representatives to represent the Third Congressional 
             District in the 110th Congress.
               Throughout my years in public service, I have worked to 
             the limits of my ability to provide the people of Maryland 
             and the Nation dedicated, informed, and independent 
             representation based upon the fundamental principles of 
             integrity and intelligence. I have been guided in this 
             effort by a vision of a decent and just America, based on 
             a strong sense of community and offering fairness and 
             opportunity to all its people. These values and that 
             vision were shaped by my family and the community where I 
             grew up, by the pride my Greek immigrant parents took in 
             their citizenship in their adopted country, and by the 
             high standards of service that community leaders set in a 
             small community on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Salisbury, 
             MD, as I was growing up. Those values and that vision are 
             as clear and as steady today as they were when I first 
             entered public service.
               Service in this body has reinforced, many times over, my 
             understanding and commitment to the institutions upon 
             which our system of democratic governance critically 
             depends. I have constantly kept in mind the words 
             reportedly spoken by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia at 
             the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention. We are 
             marking this year, of course, as my colleagues know, the 
             tercentenary of Franklin's birth. The story is told that, 
             as he came out of the Constitutional Convention, the 
             oldest delegate there, a woman in the streets of 
             Philadelphia called out to Franklin and said: ``What is it 
             to be, Dr. Franklin, a Monarchy or a Republic?'' And 
             Franklin's reply was: ``A Republic, Madam, if you can keep 
             it.''
               A Republic, Madam, if you can keep it--the challenge 
             that Franklin uttered that day in the streets of 
             Philadelphia is a challenge each generation of Americans 
             face. All Americans bear the responsibility to rise to 
             Franklin's challenge but none more so than the Members of 
             this body.
               I have been honored to serve with Members, past and 
             present, who have embraced the challenge and sought, 
             through common effort, often under difficult 
             circumstances, to strengthen our Republic and to make the 
             promise of America a reality for all of our people.
               As I prepare to leave the Senate, I want my colleagues 
             to know how deeply I appreciate their friendship and 
             counsel and how highly I value the privilege of having 
             been their colleague. So long as the vision of America's 
             promise continues to shine brightly in this body, I have 
             every confidence that our Nation will prevail in the face 
             of great challenges and that its future will be assured.
               Mr. President, I yield the floor.


                                           

                                      TRIBUTES

                                         TO

                                  PAUL S. SARBANES
                              Proceedings in the Senate
                                          Wednesday, September 20, 2006
               Mr. REID. ... We have several Democratic Senators who 
             are experts on the economy who have come and spoken. 
             Senator Sarbanes, who sadly will retire at the end of this 
             year, has been a wonderful Senator. He has handled the 
             Banking Committee with expertise, and I so appreciate his 
             coming to the floor today and talking about this issue. 
             ...
                                             Friday, September 29, 2006
               Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the Chair.
               Mr. President, this is a day I hoped would never come. 
             This is a speech I hoped I would never give. These are 
             words I hoped I would never say. The senior Senator from 
             Maryland, Paul Sarbanes, the longest serving Senator in 
             the history of his great State, Senator Paul Sarbanes, is 
             retiring. Now I must say goodbye.
               I am so sorry to say those words to my good friend, my 
             true friend, and greatly esteemed colleague. More than 
             once, in fact, I have found myself hoping Paul Sarbanes 
             would change his mind. But the senior Senator from 
             Maryland must do what is best for himself and his family, 
             and I wish him the best.
               The retirement of Paul Sarbanes from the Senate brings 
             to a close a fascinating and extraordinary Senate career. 
             This son of Greek immigrant parents grew up on the Eastern 
             Shore of Maryland, where he worked his way--yes, he worked 
             his way through school by waiting on tables, washing 
             dishes, and mopping floors in the Mayflower Grill in 
             downtown Salisbury. From there, it was on to Princeton, 
             that great university, for an undergraduate degree, to 
             Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar--as a Rhodes 
             scholar--and then on to Harvard Law School.
               Paul Sarbanes began his career in public service in 
             1966. I had just begun my second term as a Member of the 
             U.S. Senate 2 years before when Paul Sarbanes was elected 
             to the Maryland State Legislature in 1966. In 1970, Paul 
             Sarbanes was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives 
             where, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, he 
             introduced the first article of impeachment against 
             President Nixon.
               That was Paul Sarbanes. After three terms in the U.S. 
             House of Representatives, in 1976 he was elected to the 
             U.S. Senate--yes, this body--where his career became even 
             more fascinating and extraordinary.
               In the U.S. Senate, Paul Sarbanes has served as chairman 
             of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee and chairman 
             of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 
             Committee. And he was chairman of the very impressive and 
             influential Maryland Congressional Delegation, which 
             includes Senator Barbara Mikulski and the House Democratic 
             whip, Steny Hoyer. Paul Sarbanes has also been a very 
             effective member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee 
             and the Senate Budget Committee.
               Senator Sarbanes has authored and sponsored important 
             legislation, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which has 
             been called the most far-reaching reforms of American 
             business practices since the time of President Franklin 
             Delano Roosevelt.
               I have always admired the quiet but effective way in 
             which this unassuming, brilliant--I mean brilliant--and 
             most reasonable lawmaker has performed the Nation's 
             business. Paul Sarbanes. The Greeks taught the world to 
             think. I don't know whether that is original or not, but 
             that is the way I feel about it, in any event. The Greeks 
             taught the world to think. I have always thought of Paul 
             Sarbanes as a thinker--a thinker--a thinker. On the Senate 
             committees on which we have served together, I have 
             observed how he listens carefully, speaks--not often, but 
             when he speaks, he speaks so softly, and then gets right 
             to the crux of a matter. What a mind. What a brain. Yes, 
             what a thinker. In his own subtle way, he can dissect even 
             the most powerful and most arrogant witness. Let it be a 
             Senator, he is the same.
               I will always remember and always appreciate the great 
             support that Paul Sarbanes gave to me during the time I 
             served as the Senate Democratic Leader. During the most 
             troubling times, during the most difficult votes, during 
             the most controversial debate on matters, I could always 
             count on Paul Sarbanes being there--with his friendship, 
             his assistance, and his advice. I always called on Paul 
             Sarbanes as I gathered the chairmen of the committees when 
             I was the majority leader of the Senate and when I was the 
             minority leader. I would call my Democratic chairmen 
             around me. They were my board of directors, the chairmen 
             of the various committees when we were in the majority. I 
             always called Paul Sarbanes --he and some others, like 
             Wendell Ford--but I am talking about Paul Sarbanes. I 
             cannot begin to describe how important his support was and 
             how much I appreciated it.
               As I have said before, every leader would be fortunate 
             to have a Paul Sarbanes, this Greek--and I say that with 
             great pride--this Greek thinker. When I see the statue of 
             ``The Thinker,'' with his fist under his chin, I think of 
             Paul Sarbanes. Yes, I think of Paul Sarbanes. I was always 
             so fortunate myself to have Paul Sarbanes as a colleague 
             to whom I could go and seek advice and counsel.
               Senator Sarbanes was one of just 23 Members of this 
             Chamber who was willing to defy popular opinion--yes, to 
             stand up to the President of the United States and to 
             throw himself against the forces of war in voting against 
             the resolution to launch an unprecedented preemptive 
             assault, military assault, military invasion of a country 
             that had never attacked us, never attacked our country; a 
             country that did not pose a preeminent threat to our 
             national security--Iraq. If only there had been more 
             Senators like Paul Sarbanes, one of the 23 immortals. I 
             like to think of it in that way.
               I am in my 48th year in the Senate, and I was 6 years in 
             the other body, making more than half a century in the 
             Congress of the United States. I have always, since that 
             vote, felt that was the greatest vote that I have ever 
             cast. I have cast more than 17,000 rollcall votes in the 
             Senate. I will always look upon that vote as the greatest 
             vote, the vote in which I take the most pride, during my 
             54 years in the Congress of the United States--the 
             greatest vote I ever cast. I cast that vote with 22 other 
             Senators, one of whom is now gone. He died in a plane 
             crash.
               When Senator Sarbanes announced his retirement back in 
             March 2005, I remarked that he ``will be missed'' and that 
             he ``will not be replaced.'' While Paul Sarbanes will be 
             missed, I might have to qualify the latter portion of that 
             statement. Just a few weeks ago his son, Paul Sarbanes's 
             son John--John, what a name--won the Democratic primary in 
             the Third District in Maryland to become a Democratic 
             nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives. Therefore, 
             come January we might have another Sarbanes serving with 
             us in the Congress--praise God. If so, it will be 
             fascinating to watch that son follow in his father's 
             footsteps.
               As the old saying goes: A Sarbanes goes and a Sarbanes 
             comes, and Congress, like Tennyson's brook, goes on 
             forever. That is not really an old saying. I probably just 
             made it up. But I like it; yes, I like it.
               Let me close by simply saying thank you, thank you 
             Senator Paul Sarbanes. I thank you.
               I remember Paul Sarbanes years ago when we were thinking 
             and talking about and debating the Panama Canal treaty. I 
             was against that treaty in the beginning, and then I read 
             ``The Path Between The Seas'' and I changed my mind. I 
             studied the matter. I did what Paul Sarbanes did, I 
             studied the matter. I thought about the matter. I changed 
             my viewpoints.
               Paul Sarbanes, I thank you. I thank you for being a true 
             friend. I thank you for being a truly esteemed colleague. 
             I don't say these words lightly. I have been here a long 
             time. I know a good man or woman, a good Senator when I 
             see a good Senator. And I know this man is one of the 
             finest of all Senators and a great American.
               I thank you, Paul Sarbanes, for everything that you have 
             done for your State and your people and country, our 
             people. I wish you and your lovely wife Christine nothing 
             but ambrosia and nectar as you enter the next phase of 
             your lives.
                                   God Give Us Men
                             (By Josiah Gilbert Holland)
             God, give us men.
             A time like this demands strong minds,
             Great hearts, true faith, and ready hands.
             Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
             Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
             Men who possess opinions and a will;
             Men who have honor; men who will not lie.

             Men who can stand before the demagog
             And brave his treacherous flatteries without winking.
             Tall men, Sun-crowned;
             Who live above the fog.
             In public duty and in private thinking.

             For while the rabble with its thumbworn creeds,
             Its large professions and its little deeds,
             Mingles in selfish strife,
             Lo! Freedom weeps!
             Waits, and waiting justice sleeps.
             Wrong rules the land, I say, and waiting justice sleeps.
             God, give us men!

             Men who serve not for selfish booty;
             But real men, courageous, who flinch not at duty.
             Men of dependable character;
             Men of sterling worth;
             Then wrongs will be redressed and right will rule the 
               Earth.
             God Give us men--

               More men, yes, men like Paul Sarbanes, the Greek 
             scholar, the Greek thinker, the Rhodes Scholar, a Senator 
             of whom I am proud and will always speak with great pride.

               Mr. SARBANES. Will the Senator yield?

               Mr. BYRD. Yes, I yield.

               Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I thank the very able 
             Senator from West Virginia, our leader here for so many 
             years, for his very generous and gracious remarks. I am 
             deeply appreciative of his exceedingly kind words.
               But I want to thank him even more for the extraordinary 
             leadership he has provided over his service, both in the 
             House of Representatives and, for the last 48 years, in 
             the Senate. I have been here three decades and there is no 
             one during that time who has spoken more eloquently, more 
             perceptively about our Constitution and the role of the 
             Senate within the Constitution, who has sought to 
             strengthen the Senate as an institution and to have it 
             play its role in the checks and balances arrangements 
             which our Founding Fathers established in Philadelphia in 
             the summer of 1787.
               Senator Byrd again and again has called us to a higher 
             standard. He has urged us over and over to do the right 
             thing, to understand what our roles are as Senators, and, 
             as he said, I know of no issue, certainly in recent times, 
             where he has more pointedly expressed our role than when 
             we considered the issue of giving the President authority 
             to go to war in Iraq. It was Senator Byrd who sounded a 
             clarion call that was heard all across the country, as he 
             raised the basic questions that needed to be raised with 
             respect to an issue of such gravity and significance.
               I have been honored to serve with the Senator. I early 
             recognized that the wisest course would be to follow his 
             leadership. Again and again I have been privileged to have 
             the opportunity to do that. I thank him very much for what 
             he just said. I want him to know that as long as he stands 
             on the floor of the Senate, I have confidence that our 
             Constitution and this body as an institution are in good 
             hands.
               That is a magnificent service that he renders to the 
             Republic. I thank him very much.

               Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank my dear friend. I shall 
             always cherish the words thus spoken and always reflect 
             upon this Senator, Paul Sarbanes, with great pride. ...

               Mr. ENZI. ... Mr. President, there is always an element 
             of sadness that touches us all when we come to the end of 
             a session of Congress. As the clock winds down on the 
             final hours of our legislative activities, it also signals 
             the time when several of our colleagues will be retiring 
             and ending their years of service in the U.S. Senate. One 
             of our colleagues who will be leaving at the end of this 
             session is my good friend Paul Sarbanes of Maryland.
               I remember when I first came to Washington years ago. I 
             wanted my staff and I to hit the ground running, so I was 
             reading up on the people who would be my colleagues in the 
             Senate. One name caught my eye--Paul Sarbanes. It was 
             noted that Paul was a brilliant man who was one of the 
             Senate's most noted authorities on the nuances of finance.
               As the Senate's only accountant I found that comment to 
             be a badge of honor. I knew Paul must be wearing it with 
             great pride. I knew I would. I took an instant liking to 
             him.
               Through the years Paul and I served on the Banking 
             Committee together. Our 8 years of service there gave me 
             an opportunity to come to know him and appreciate his 
             skills as a legislator. He has a great ability to solve 
             complicated problems by piecing together workable 
             solutions and then reaching out to his colleagues on both 
             sides of the aisle to forge an agreement that could be 
             passed and signed into law.
               As I came to know him, I came to greatly respect him, 
             the hard work he puts into his job every day of the year, 
             and his commitment to serve his constituents which 
             directed his every effort on the Senate floor.
               A few years ago I had the chance to work with him one on 
             one as we crafted the provisions of what came to be known 
             as the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. We became good friends 
             during the process and developed a mutual respect for each 
             other's positions on the issues.
               That was back during the days when several scandals had 
             rocked the accounting and financial industries of our 
             country. Determined to find a solution, Paul rolled up his 
             sleeves and went to work. I don't think anyone gave him 
             much of a chance to succeed, but those were people who 
             didn't know him or his determination to find a way to 
             solve a problem once it had captured his attention.
               As he began to work on his bill, he knew he wouldn't be 
             able to pass it without the help of some Senate 
             Republicans. On the other side of the aisle, we knew we 
             couldn't get anything through the Senate without the 
             support of several Senate Democrats. So Paul reached 
             across the aisle and got us all to work together to bring 
             his bill to the Senate floor where it was ultimately 
             passed and signed into law.
               As he worked for the people of Maryland and I worked for 
             the people of my State, we found, despite our political 
             and philosophical differences, we were always able to find 
             common ground on the 80 percent of every issue that unites 
             us. That is why Paul has a well-earned reputation here in 
             the Senate for his willingness to work out problems for 
             the greater good. He is known for his ability to navigate 
             through partisan waters and arrive at solutions which are 
             appreciated by the thoughtful majorities of both sides of 
             the Senate. If you ask me, those are the abilities that 
             have proven to be the secret of his success.
               Back home, his constituents appreciate his workhorse 
             style. He has served Maryland in the Senate for almost 
             three decades and through it all he has earned the support 
             of the people back home for his hard work and determined 
             effort to make their lives better. The issues that were 
             important to the people who sent him here always led Paul 
             to the Senate floor to take up the cause and do everything 
             he possibly could to protect and promote the interests of 
             those who were counting on him to get results. Needless to 
             say--more often than not--he did.
               Now three decades of service in the Senate have come to 
             an end and Paul is returning home to Maryland. I know we 
             will all miss his ingenuity, his creativity, and his 
             ability to focus our efforts and lead on both local and 
             national issues. It is a well-known adage that all 
             politics is local and that is a lesson that Paul learned 
             and practiced as a master craftsman.
               Now he and Christine will have time to enjoy their 
             families together, and be a part of all that Maryland has 
             to offer. I have a hunch he will not be slowing down so 
             much as changing direction. I also expect I will continue 
             to hear from him from time to time on matters that will 
             still draw his interest.
               It is a phone call I expect and look forward to 
             receiving in the years to come. ...
                                              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. ...
               Senator Paul Sarbanes, the longest serving Senator in 
             Maryland, serving five terms in the Senate, was elected to 
             the U.S. House of Representatives in 1970. I first got 
             acquainted with Senator Sarbanes not as a Senator but as a 
             young staff member, chief of staff to a Congressman from 
             Nebraska, John McCollister, who also had been elected to 
             the House in 1970.
               I have had the privilege of serving on two committees 
             for the last 10 years with Senator Sarbanes--on the 
             Foreign Relations Committee and the Committee on Banking. 
             His courtesies to me, his sharp, defined intellect, his 
             ability to dissect problems and focus on a resolution, 
             will be greatly missed in this institution. We wish the 
             Sarbaneses continued success and a little rest. ...
               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. I particularly 
             want to comment, though, on three colleagues with whom I 
             have had the privilege of working very closely.
               The first is my friend and my chairman, ranking member, 
             Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland.
               Paul has had an extraordinarily distinguished career in 
             the Senate, and he has been the chairman of the Banking, 
             Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Joint 
             Economic Committee, and in both of those capacities he has 
             made profound and important impacts on the banking system 
             and the economy of the United States. Housing and urban 
             affairs have also been improved dramatically by the 
             efforts of Paul Sarbanes.
               When it comes to understanding complex financial matters 
             there is no one more gifted and more knowledgeable than 
             Paul Sarbanes. He has an extraordinary record of 
             legislative achievements. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 
             stands as a testimony both to his skill as a thoughtful 
             observer of the financial scene and as a legislator. It 
             represented major reforms in corporate governance at a 
             time when confidence in our markets was waning 
             dramatically after the implosions of Enron and WorldCom. 
             Through Paul's efforts, confidence was reestablished in a 
             system of corporate governance which I think will stand 
             the test of time.
               In addition, in 1999 he was instrumental in the 
             Financial Modernization Act, also known as Gramm-Leach-
             Bliley, and was particularly concerned that the Community 
             Reinvestment Act aspects of the legislation be maintained 
             because he was always committed to serving people and 
             giving them opportunities. He understood that the 
             franchise to operate a financial institution with Federal 
             deposit insurance required a concomitant commitment to 
             serve the community, and Paul Sarbanes has done a 
             remarkable job of maintaining that commitment to all the 
             communities of America, particularly those that need an 
             opportunity, need a chance to move forward.
               As chairman of the Joint Economic Committee in the late 
             1980s, he was a thoughtful and careful analyst, someone 
             who I think led the way analytically to the changes in the 
             1990s that returned us to a balanced budget and a robust 
             economy. Paul Sarbanes in many respects, through his work 
             on the Joint Economic Committee, was the architect of 
             those efforts in the 1990s.
               He has long had a concern about our role internationally 
             in economic affairs. He was one of the first Members to 
             raise concerns about Chinese currency and its impact on 
             our trade, our productivity, and our manufacturing base. 
             In the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, he 
             mandated that the Treasury Department report semiannually 
             to Congress about international economic and exchange rate 
             policies. I think this is the lever that today is used to 
             rally support, debate, and attention to the issue of 
             currency exchange rate policies.
               He has also, in his capacity as a leader on the Banking 
             and Urban Affairs Committee, been active in promoting 
             transit throughout the United States. He made sure that 
             our transit systems are supported, and are able to provide 
             greater accessibility, environmental benefits, while 
             reducing the demand on foreign oil. His insights into 
             transit, and his leadership, have benefited everyone in 
             the country, particularly the 14 million Americans who 
             rely on mass transit every day.
               He has also been a champion for affordable housing. He 
             has been the author of the Home Investment Partnerships 
             Program, known as HOME. During the past 16 years it 
             provided funding to our States and localities to improve 
             affordable housing. He was one of the key legislators who 
             offered the Market-to-Market Program, which preserved so 
             much of our affordable housing, making sure low-income 
             people have a chance to live in decent and affordable 
             environments.
               He has had the able assistance of Steve Harris, Marty 
             Gruenberg, Pat Mulloy, Johnathan Miller, Dean Shahinian, 
             Sarah Kline, Aaron Klein, Lee Price, Patience Singleton, 
             Jen Fogel-Bublick, Steve Kroll, and Lynsey Graham.
               I want to express my best wishes to Paul, to his wife 
             Christine, and their family. His son John is now the new 
             Representative for the U.S. House in the Third District of 
             Maryland, so the Sarbanes tradition carries on.
               Let me conclude by saying there is a word in Greek for 
             integrity and intelligence, and that word is Sarbanes.
               Paul, good luck. ...
               To all my colleagues who served and conclude their 
             service, let me once again express deep appreciation for 
             their friendship and for their service to the Nation.
               I yield the floor.

               Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, we are coming to the end 
             of the session and 10 of our colleagues are retiring. I 
             want to say a word about them ...
               Or Paul Sarbanes, who was in the same Rhodes Scholar 
             class with Senator Dick Lugar. ...
               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. ... Another retiring colleague is one of my 
             favorites. I have been asked time and again: Who are your 
             favorite Senators on the Democratic side? And I usually 
             came up with two I always look to for wisdom and guidance: 
             Paul Sarbanes and Carl Levin. I am glad that Carl Levin 
             will continue his Senate career and has announced that he 
             will run for reelection. But Paul Sarbanes is leaving the 
             Senate after many years of fine service.
               Paul Sarbanes is the quintessential American success 
             story. His parents were immigrants from the same little 
             town in Greece. They met in America, and what else would 
             Greek immigrants do? They opened a restaurant--in 
             Salisbury, MD. They picked a classic American name for 
             their restaurant. They called it The Mayflower, and Paul 
             Sarbanes started as a young boy working in his family's 
             restaurant and living ``above the store,'' as they used to 
             say.
               He graduated from public high school, a pretty good 
             student and not a bad basketball player. He won a 
             scholarship to Princeton University, studied as a Rhodes 
             Scholar at Oxford, and earned a law degree from Harvard in 
             1960. He was set to make a fortune as an attorney in 
             private practice but, instead, he listened to President 
             Kennedy's call to public service and took a job as 
             assistant to Walter Heller, who was President Kennedy's 
             Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
               Paul Sarbanes won his first election 40 years ago to the 
             Maryland House of Delegates and was elected to the U.S. 
             Senate 30 years ago. He is the longest serving U.S. 
             Senator in the history of the State of Maryland. It is 
             said that the Senate is the most exclusive club in the 
             world. Paul Sarbanes is a member of one of the most 
             exclusive clubs within it. Of the 1,885 Americans who have 
             had the rare privilege and honor to serve in the Senate, 
             Paul Sarbanes is 1 of only 27 who have been here long 
             enough to cast 10,000 votes in the Senate.
               He is a modest, soft-spoken, hard-working man and one of 
             the brightest people I have ever served with in the House 
             or the Senate.
               A Congressional Quarterly profile says of Paul Sarbanes: 
             ``He possesses the intellectual skills to leave his 
             opponents sputtering.''
               He was a voice of reason in the House Judiciary 
             Committee during the Watergate hearings of 1974 and later 
             in the Senate's Iran-Contra and Whitewater investigations.
               It was Senator Sarbanes's leadership in the wake of the 
             scandals at Enron and WorldCom that led to the reforms in 
             Sarbanes-Oxley, the most far-reaching reform of 
             accountability standards since the Great Depression.
               An interesting thing happened a week ago. On November 
             30, a group with an impressive and quasi-official-sounding 
             name, the Committee on Capital Market Regulation, released 
             a report arguing that excessive and overzealous regulation 
             was hobbling U.S. capital markets. The report included 32 
             recommendations, among them to redesign the SEC, the 
             Securities and Exchange Commission, to make it friendlier 
             to business and increase protections against private 
             lawsuits against businesses--in other words, pull some of 
             the teeth out of the Sarbanes-Oxley reforms.
               The very next day we learned that the report had been 
             financed by a foundation with ties to what the Washington 
             Post described as ``a pair of well-heeled business donors 
             and an executive battling civil charges'' in a lawsuit 
             filed in New York by the attorney general.
               Some pension watchdogs and consumer advocates they 
             turned out to be. They were sounding an alarm bell with a 
             real personal interest in mind. So we should take care; 
             before we make any wholesale change in the Sarbanes-Oxley 
             rules, we need to understand that we must protect the 
             integrity and security of America's financial markets. 
             Paul Sarbanes had the courage to lead that battle. Change 
             can take place, but let's make sure it is reasonable; 
             study the issue, and ask the hard questions.
               For over 30 years Paul Sarbanes has served Maryland and 
             the Nation. He has earned a reputation for excellence and 
             integrity, winning the Paul Douglas Award for Ethics just 
             2 years ago. He has given America some of the most 
             important legislation, but he has spoken out consistently 
             on the floor of the Senate so many times with the kind of 
             leadership which we ask for in the Senate. I will be sorry 
             to see him retire.
               But the Sarbanes name lives on in Congress. On November 
             7 his son John Peter Styros Sarbanes was elected to 
             represent Maryland's Third Congressional District, 
             replacing Senator-elect Ben Cardin. In typical Sarbanes 
             fashion, his son won with 65 percent of the vote and will 
             continue the Sarbanes family tradition of serving Maryland 
             and America. ...
               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.
               Mr. President, we are losing one of the great deans of 
             the Senate in my friend Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland. 
             As many have already noted, Senator Sarbanes helped bring 
             the greatest disinfectant--sunshine--into the corporate 
             boardrooms of America after the fall of Enron, to help 
             investors cull out the few bad apples from the American 
             economy. In his three decades in the Senate, Senator 
             Sarbanes has worked with five Presidents, seen the end of 
             the cold war, the boom of the information age, and even a 
             balanced budget a few years back. Any regular C-SPAN 
             viewer would agree that he is one of the most incisive and 
             skilled questioners in the Senate, and his work has 
             elicited important testimony, bringing valuable 
             information to the public sphere, strengthening our 
             democracy. Through it all, his focus has always been the 
             people of Maryland, and his wisdom and experience will be 
             missed. ...
               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. KENNEDY. Mr. President, for many of us on this side 
             of the aisle, there is a feeling of excitement and 
             possibility for the next Congress. But sadly, that 
             Congress will no longer have the wise counsel, 
             extraordinary talent, and perceptive insights of our 
             friend and colleague of many years, the outstanding senior 
             Senator from Maryland, Paul Sarbanes.
               Over the course of his 30 years in the Senate, Paul has 
             been a consistently eloquent voice of reason, compassion, 
             and great intellectual depth. He has brought nothing but 
             dignity to this historic Chamber, and he eminently 
             deserves his place of honor as the longest-serving Senator 
             in the history of the State of Maryland.
               As a member of the Banking Committee, he has been a 
             respected leader in expanding and enhancing the economic 
             vitality of America, especially urban America, through his 
             strong support for housing, transportation, and financial 
             policies that make sense for the Nation and its people. In 
             recent years, he guided into law one of the most 
             significant reforms of corporate governance in more than 
             half a century.
               As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has 
             been a highly respected voice on many of the most serious 
             challenges we face on foreign policy. He was an opponent 
             of the war in Iraq from the beginning, and he was a leader 
             in the Iran-contra investigation in the 1980s.
               He believes deeply in the importance of public service. 
             Drawing on his wide learning, he often speaks about the 
             great importance that the ancient Greeks placed on public 
             service. I understand he tells young students that in 
             ancient Athens, people who involved themselves only in 
             private life were called ``idiotes,'' which is the 
             original source of the word ``idiot'' in English.
               Paul has always been a strong defender of the highest 
             ideals of the United States at home and for a peaceful 
             world that respects human rights.
               Because of his leadership and the policies he has long 
             championed, America's cities are reclaiming their 
             historical role as the heart of American commerce and 
             culture, and today's shareholders have new confidence in 
             the integrity of the stocks and bonds they invest in and 
             depend so heavily on.
               It is a record of accomplishment that has improved the 
             lives of millions of our people and has helped to restore 
             faith in American business, at a time when public 
             confidence in corporate America was badly shaken and storm 
             clouds were gathering over the American economy.
               It is also the record of a patient, deliberative, and 
             active Senate workhorse, who has dedicated his career to 
             the mastery of complicated, nuanced, and often seemingly 
             insoluble problems at home and in the wider world. It's 
             the record as well of a public servant who responded to 
             the Nation's call to deal with some of the most difficult 
             challenges of corruption and incompetence in our lifetime.
               From the impeachment proceedings against President 
             Nixon, to the Iran-contra investigation and the Whitewater 
             hearings, to the way he shone a bright light on the 
             outrageous and predatory lending practices that exploit 
             low-income Americans and keep so many hard-working 
             citizens mired in poverty, Paul Sarbanes was a Senator who 
             could always be relied on to take the assignment 
             seriously, prepare brilliantly, and make decisions on the 
             facts, on the rule of law, and his firm belief in the need 
             for justice and fairness in public life.
               Needless to say, he was a match for even the best of 
             witnesses. I doubt that any other Senator could go head to 
             head with a witness in a hearing as skillfully as Paul 
             Sarbanes could do with Alan Greenspan.
               Paul has also been a profile in courage. He voted for 
             what he thought was right, without regard to the political 
             consequences. And as his long and strong support by the 
             people of Maryland made clear, they respected him all the 
             more because of it.
               Few Senators with whom we have been blessed to serve can 
             match Paul Sarbanes when it comes to decency, 
             intelligence, or mastery of policy. It is a privilege to 
             listen to him and learn from him in Senate debate. He can 
             champion a proposal he favors with great skill and 
             eloquence, and he can also utterly dissect a flawed 
             proposal point by point. It can be a very distressing 
             experience to oppose him on an issue and have him do the 
             same thing to your side of the argument.
               I am fortunate to have supported Paul many more times 
             than I opposed him. But regardless of which side you were 
             on, his motivation in debate was always clear--to achieve 
             the best outcome for the public good, and to do so by 
             opening his opponents' eyes and minds, not by harshly 
             attacking their positions.
               Author Elizabeth Drew well captured this quality of Paul 
             in her assessment of life in Washington during Watergate. 
             She wrote of the young Baltimore Congressman who, with 
             just 3 years in Congress, found himself in the thick of 
             the House impeachment proceedings against President Nixon. 
             He won the attention and respect of the Nation when his 
             colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee chose him to 
             be the manager of the first article of impeachment, for 
             obstruction of justice. As Liz Drew wrote:

               History and process lift people, and they have lifted 
             this group--and given the public a chance to see it. Paul 
             Sarbanes would not have looked at all bad at the 
             Constitutional Convention; he might have been one of the 
             great ones.

               I certainly agree. As we say farewell to this 
             outstanding Senator of our time, we will forever be 
             grateful to this Greek immigrant son of Maryland for all 
             he has done to make our country and our world a better 
             place, and for consistently elevating the quality of life 
             in the Senate we all love so deeply.
               Fifty years ago, Paul was a young student at Oxford 
             University in England on a Rhodes Scholarship, founded 
             over a century ago by the wealthy British statesman whose 
             goal was to encourage students in the English-speaking 
             world and other countries to be involved in public service 
             and ``join the world's fight.''
               Paul Sarbanes has helped to lead that fight for half a 
             century, and I am sure that Cecil Rhodes would be very 
             proud of him.
               We will miss you, Paul. We wish you and Christine great 
             happiness in the years to come. You are irreplaceable, but 
             we take some comfort in the knowledge that a new young 
             Sarbanes, blessed with the same intellect and commitment 
             to public service, will be joining us in January as a 
             Member of the House of Representatives.

               Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I want to express my 
             appreciation for all of the public service efforts of the 
             senior Senator from Maryland, Paul Sarbanes. My friend has 
             served in the Senate since 1977, which makes him the 
             longest serving U.S. Senator from Maryland.
               It has been a pleasure working with Senator Sarbanes 
             over the years on a number of issues. In 2001, I was 
             fortunate to be added to the Banking, Housing, and Urban 
             Affairs Committee. At that time, the Senator from Maryland 
             was serving as the chairman of the committee, and it was a 
             memorable session to be a part of the committee. In the 
             wake of the accounting failures of Enron and other public 
             companies, Chairman Sarbanes conducted a very thorough 
             series of hearings which led to the legislation which is 
             now known as Sarbanes-Oxley. This is landmark legislation 
             that has increased corporate responsibility and resulted 
             in more effective oversight of public companies. Without 
             the vision, courage, and ability of my friend from 
             Maryland, that legislation would not have been possible. 
             Despite numerous obstacles, he brought about comprehensive 
             accounting reform.
               In addition, I have enjoyed working closely with the 
             Senator from Maryland in trying to improve the financial 
             literacy of our country. Rising health care costs and 
             insurance premiums and the lack of affordable housing have 
             contributed to making the lives of working families more 
             difficult as they strain to meet their day-to-day needs. 
             The ability of families to meet their increasing financial 
             obligations is hampered by their significant debt burdens, 
             particularly credit card debt, and by predatory lending 
             practices such as refund anticipation loans. A lack of 
             financial literacy makes it harder for families to deal 
             with the difficult decisions they are confronted with 
             daily. Senator Sarbanes organized the first set of 
             hearings on the issue of financial literacy and led the 
             creation of the Financial Literacy and Education 
             Commission, the purpose of which is to promote financial 
             literacy and education among all American consumers.
               Senator Sarbanes has been a champion for Federal 
             employees. Throughout his Senate career, he has fought to 
             ensure that Federal employees and members of the military 
             receive equal pay increases. He understands that the 
             Federal civilian workforce plays a significant role in the 
             support of our Armed Services, and I am honored to join 
             him annually in offering a resolution calling for pay 
             parity between the military and Federal workers.
               He has been a leading advocate for consumer protection, 
             increasing access to affordable housing, and improving 
             public transportation in our country. I will miss having 
             my good friend from Maryland in the Senate. He has served 
             Maryland and the country very well. Millie and I wish him 
             and his family the very best.

               Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I rise today to bid a fond 
             farewell to my dear colleague and role model, Senator Paul 
             Sarbanes, Maryland's longest serving Senator.
               Senator Sarbanes represents the greatest traditions of 
             this body and of our country. He is the type of Senator we 
             all imagined in high school civics class--intelligent, 
             diligent, effective, and thoroughly decent. During the 
             course of 30 years in the U.S. Senate and another 10 years 
             in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Maryland 
             House of Delegates, Senator Sarbanes defined what it means 
             to be a trusted public servant in America.
               Paul Sarbanes grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, 
             the son of Greek immigrants who instilled the values of 
             opportunity and fairness in their child. Motivated and 
             hard-working, Paul attended Princeton University, studied 
             in Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and earned a law degree 
             from Harvard.
               Paul first came to the Nation's attention during the 
             Watergate hearings, where as a freshman member of the 
             House Judiciary Committee he introduced the first article 
             of impeachment, which related to obstruction of justice by 
             President Nixon. Paul's own ethics and integrity are 
             beyond reproach, and he has brought dignity and 
             credibility to every task.
               In the Senate, Paul's legacy reflects his ideals of 
             opportunity and fairness. He has continually fought for 
             legislation to aid veterans, seniors, workers, and indeed, 
             all Americans. He is a tireless champion for his 
             constituents, his country, and the highest ethical 
             standards. As a Princeton alumnus, he has lived Woodrow 
             Wilson's ideal of ``Princeton in the Nation's Service.'' 
             Each and every day, Paul demonstrates that politics can be 
             an honorable profession. It should be an honorable 
             profession, and I can think of no better model for that 
             ideal than Paul Sarbanes.
               In Senator Sarbanes's tenure as both chairman and 
             ranking member of the Committee on Banking, he led the 
             fight on behalf of working-class Americans to ensure 
             affordable housing. He was instrumental in developing and 
             enacting the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990, 
             legislation that helps States, local governments, and 
             nonprofit organizations work together to build, buy, and 
             rehabilitate housing that hard-working people can afford. 
             Paul has also worked to protect Americans from 
             unscrupulous lending practices and discrimination. His 
             hearings and legislation on predatory lending brought this 
             problem to the attention of the Nation, and his work to 
             reduce the cost of private mortgage insurance helped make 
             home ownership a reality for millions of Americans.
               After Enron collapsed under the weight of widespread 
             abuse and accounting fraud, thousands of workers woke up 
             to see their jobs and life savings gone, investors lost 
             billions, and the public cried out against corporate 
             malfeasance. The credibility of American business and our 
             financial system was on the line. It was Senator Sarbanes 
             who brought his intelligence and concern to bear to 
             restore investor confidence and implement safeguards 
             against Wall Street abuses. He held comprehensive 
             hearings, nurtured a bipartisan coalition, crafted 
             thoughtful legislation, and shepherded it through Congress 
             with Representative Mike Oxley in the House.
               The Sarbanes-Oxley law was the most comprehensive 
             overhaul of corporate oversight laws since the Great 
             Depression. It created a standard of transparency and 
             accountability to assure investors and protect workers. It 
             is a towering achievement that will strengthen the 
             American economy for many years to come.
               It has been an honor and a privilege to serve with 
             Senator Sarbanes on the Foreign Relations Committee. I 
             have marveled at his keen intellect and commitment to his 
             responsibilities. During committee hearings and committee 
             markups, Senator Sarbanes is always well-prepared, asks 
             direct, insightful, and important questions, and makes 
             sure that no stone goes unturned.
               He has played a key role in virtually all of the 
             significant foreign policy debates that have occurred 
             during his 30 years of service on the committee. As a 
             freshman, he was involved in the successful ratification 
             of the Panama Canal treaties. He worked to enact tough 
             antiapartheid laws in the 1980s. And he has developed a 
             long and impressive record on international economics, 
             foreign assistance, and human rights issues.
               The American people have been well served by Paul's 
             leadership, and this institution would be well served if 
             each of us was a little more like him. On behalf of all of 
             us, and for my constituents, I want to thank him for his 
             service and his example.
               Let's wish Senator Sarbanes and his wife Christine well 
             in this next phase of their lives. But let's also hope 
             that we will continue to hear Paul's voice on important 
             policy issues. He may be retiring from this body, but I 
             suspect his commitment to strengthening this country and 
             improving the lives of all Americans will continue. For 
             that, as much as for all that Paul has accomplished 
             through his distinguished career in the Senate, we should 
             be grateful. I know that I am.
               Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence 
             of a quorum.
                                             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.
               I have previously spoken in honor of my colleague from 
             the neighboring State of Maryland, Senator Paul Sarbanes. 
             Since my first days in the Senate, Senator Sarbanes and I 
             worked together on a host of important regional 
             initiatives, including the restoration of the Chesapeake 
             Bay, improvements to our Metro system, the creation of the 
             office of the National Capital Region Coordinator, and on 
             funding for the construction of the new Woodrow Wilson 
             Bridge. His retirement is certainly a loss to the region 
             as Senator Sarbanes has been a true champion of many 
             issues vital to the Maryland, Virginia, and DC 
             metropolitan area. ...
               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.

               Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the 
             great service of retiring Senators Paul Sarbanes, Mark 
             Dayton, and James Jeffords.
               Senator Sarbanes's service in the Senate stretches back 
             three decades. First elected in 1977, he had previously 
             served as a Congressman and before that as a delegate in 
             the Maryland State House. I have been so grateful to the 
             Senator for his advice and his work in this Chamber.
               Senator Sarbanes is the son of immigrants from Laconia, 
             Greece, and he has often spoken about the pride that he 
             has for his Greek heritage, as well as the inspiration 
             that he draws from it through his work in the Senate. His 
             parents instilled in him a reverence for the principles of 
             democracy and a respect for the values of opportunity and 
             fairness. He has championed these values throughout his 
             life in public service, passing important legislation to 
             reform the accounting industry, the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley 
             Act, among many other legislative accomplishments.
               I want to thank Senator Sarbanes and his dedicated staff 
             for their extensive and laudable work on the surface 
             transportation reauthorization bill and in particular for 
             their tireless efforts to ensure our Nation's transit 
             systems are adequately funded. With so much congestion on 
             our roads it is critical that we continue to invest in our 
             trains, buses, ferries, and other modes of transportation 
             to reduce congestion and reduce travel times. Senator 
             Sarbanes did this work in his role as ranking member of 
             the Banking Committee, and millions of people every day--
             especially in New York--who ride trains and buses to and 
             from work should be grateful that we had him on our side 
             for so many years.
               I could stand here for a long time singing the praises 
             and accomplishments of Senator Sarbanes after a long and 
             distinguished career in the Senate. I will end by saying 
             this: We will miss him and he has left his mark on this 
             great Chamber. ...
               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. ...
               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. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute 
             to one of the Senate's finest Members, Senator Paul 
             Sarbanes, who is retiring after 30 years of service in 
             this Chamber. Senator Sarbanes has served this Senate, his 
             State, and our country with dignity, wit, and uncommon 
             wisdom. He is simply one of the smartest, most principled 
             people I have ever known. He is, quite simply, a class 
             act.
               Paul Sarbanes has focused his energies on governance and 
             effective legislating. This thoughtful approach has served 
             him well, served his State well, and served this Chamber 
             well. Paul Sarbanes never lost an election, and he is the 
             longest serving Senator in the history of the State of 
             Maryland.
               In the Senate, Paul Sarbanes served with great 
             distinction as chairman and ranking member of the Banking 
             and Joint Economic Committees and has long provided wise 
             counsel on the Foreign Relations Committee.
               At the Banking Committee, he has been relentless in 
             protecting consumers from unscrupulous financial acts. 
             When the country was hit by scandals in the Enron and 
             WorldCom cases, Paul Sarbanes acted to protect against 
             further abuse and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is the result. 
             That is an act that has stopped further abuse.
               Paul Sarbanes also fought for affordable housing, for 
             adequate public transportation, for transparency at the 
             Federal Reserve. In debating former Fed Chairmen and the 
             current one, he has never let central bankers forget that 
             they must pursue a dual mandate, with jobs for Americans 
             on an equal footing with fighting inflation.
               It has been my honor and my privilege to serve with 
             Senator Sarbanes on the Budget Committee. Few can match 
             his understanding of economics and the interaction between 
             the budget and the economy. His insightful and tenacious 
             questioning, his even temper, and his humor have made 
             being his colleague on the Budget Committee both rewarding 
             and a pleasure.
               My favorite story about Paul Sarbanes is from his youth. 
             Paul Sarbanes was an outstanding athlete. He was a great 
             baseball player and a great basketball player. In fact, he 
             was so good in baseball that he was chosen as a Maryland 
             All Star. He was chosen to play shortstop on that team. 
             When he showed up for the first practice, the manager 
             directed him to second base. Paul Sarbanes was a little 
             surprised by that because he had been chosen to play 
             shortstop. But he went out and played second base. He 
             thought there might be some mistake. The next day, he came 
             to the next practice and was again directed by the manager 
             to play second base. At this point, Senator Sarbanes 
             thought he should go to the manager and inquire why--since 
             he had been chosen to play shortstop--he was playing 
             second base. The manager looked him in the eye and said, 
             ``Sarbanes, Kaline will be playing shortstop.'' Of course, 
             the Kaline was Al Kaline, who became a Hall of Fame 
             baseball player.
               That is some measure of the extraordinary athletic 
             talent that Paul Sarbanes had. It was not his athletic 
             talent that so distinguished him in this body; it was his 
             remarkable academic talent, his remarkable ability to deal 
             with others.
               I think in my time in the Senate I have never dealt with 
             a person of greater wisdom than Paul Sarbanes.
               I wish Senator Sarbanes the very best in his retirement 
             and whatever endeavors he will pursue. His wife, too, has 
             become a special favorite to our family--so bright, so 
             talented, and such a good partner with Paul Sarbanes. I 
             know they are deeply proud that their son has been elected 
             to the Congress of the United States to represent a 
             district in Maryland.
               Paul Sarbanes has been a great colleague and a very dear 
             friend to me. I will miss him and his service on the 
             Budget Committee and in the Senate.
               I thank the Chair.

               Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, with the close of the 109th 
             Congress, the Senate will lose to retirement one of our 
             most seasoned and respected Members--Senator Paul Sarbanes 
             of Maryland. Across five terms in this body and before 
             that three terms in the House of Representatives, where I 
             was privileged to serve with him also, Paul Sarbanes has 
             made his mark as a serious and diligent legislator, a 
             classic workhorse Senator rather than a showhorse Senator. 
             The Baltimore Sun has called him the silver fox Senator 
             who ``works quietly but with shrewd skillfulness.''
               I have always respected and admired Senator Sarbanes, 
             both as a stalwart Democrat and also always a proud, 
             unabashed progressive.
               As a young man, he graduated from Princeton and went on 
             to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and then Harvard Law School. 
             But he never forgot his experiences growing up among the 
             families of Maryland's Eastern Shore. He never forgot his 
             roots as the son of a Greek immigrant who worked long 
             hours to build a successful restaurant business.
               In the Senate, Paul Sarbanes has been outspoken in his 
             support for public schools, expanded access to higher 
             education, to job training, and the other essential rungs 
             on the ladder of economic opportunity in America.
               He has fought to protect Social Security, to clean up 
             corruption in the business world. In the wake of the Enron 
             and WorldCom scandals, Senator Sarbanes took the lead in 
             crafting legislation to prevent the recurrence of the 
             rampant accounting fraud that was destroying confidence in 
             corporate America.
               In the early years of this past decade, in classic 
             Sarbanes style--methodically, thoughtfully, and with a 
             minimum of partisanship--he held 10 hearings on the issue 
             in 2002, listening to all points of view. The result is 
             known universally as the Sarbanes-Oxley law which cleaned 
             up the accounting industry and mandated new disclosure and 
             conflict-of-interest reporting requirements on U.S. 
             corporations.
               There are many reasons why Paul Sarbanes is the longest 
             serving Senator in Maryland history. Throughout his career 
             in this body, he has fought hard on issues of special 
             importance to Maryland, including legislation to protect 
             the Chesapeake Bay. But he has never lost touch with his 
             roots among working people and the immigrant community.
               He has always been a model public servant, a person of 
             enormous intellect, intelligence, integrity, and industry. 
             For 30 years in the Senate, Paul Sarbanes has faithfully 
             served the people of Maryland and the people of the United 
             States, and there is no doubt he will pursue new avenues 
             of public service in retirement.
               I will miss his friendship, I will miss his wise counsel 
             in the Senate, but I wish Paul and also his wonderful wife 
             Christine all the best in the years ahead. ...

               Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I also will say a word about a 
             couple of my colleagues who are leaving, and I will be 
             brief. ...
                Finally, Lincoln Chafee. Although I mentioned 
             Republicans in this list, I certainly don't want to 
             forget, of course, Paul Sarbanes, who will be leaving at 
             the end of this year, and others in the House of 
             Representatives with whom I served as well. I know we all 
             move on at some time and that none of us is irreplaceable. 
             But by the same token, these colleagues of ours who will 
             be leaving will be missed and they will be remembered for 
             their great service to the Senate, to their States, and to 
             the United States of America.
               I yield the floor.

               Mr. DeWINE. ... If there is one thing I have learned in 
             the Senate, it is that you must work together with members 
             of both parties, Democrats and Republicans. I see my 
             friend on the floor, Senator Paul Sarbanes, who will be 
             leaving. I have worked with him over the years. I have 
             worked with many Democratic Senators over the years. I 
             want to take a few minutes to thank them for their 
             willingness to set aside party politics to make a 
             difference and to get tangible results. ...
               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 ... . They are all good people and all 
             good friends. I wish them well. ...

               Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have expressed my feelings 
             about Paul Sarbanes. I have spoken before the Democratic 
             caucus about my affection for Paul Sarbanes.
               I would like to read from the Congressional Directory 
             something that this humble man did not tell us. His 
             bachelor's degree at Princeton University, magna cum 
             laude, and Phi Beta Kappa; Rhodes Scholar, Balloil 
             College, Oxford, England; first-class B.A. honors in 
             School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics; LL.B., cum 
             laude, Harvard Law School.
               These are the things he didn't tell us. He is a man of 
             great humility, a person the leaders whom I have served 
             with in the Senate--Senators Byrd, Mitchell and Daschle, 
             Democratic leaders--counted their font of wisdom, without 
             question. I sat for 6 years with Senator Daschle, and 
             whenever there was a difficult issue facing him, he had to 
             talk to Senator Sarbanes. I, on a number of occasions, 
             sought Senator Sarbanes to come and visit with Senator 
             Daschle.
               I am disappointed that Paul Sarbanes is going to be 
             leaving because that font of knowledge, that font of 
             wisdom will no longer be available to me. The leaders used 
             the knowledge and the wisdom conveyed to them by Senator 
             Sarbanes for the good of the Republic.
               Senator Sarbanes has heard me on a number of occasions 
             express my appreciation for his friendship and for his 
             dedication to our country, but he has also heard me on 
             every occasion I have had the opportunity to talk about 
             his athletic prowess.
               Paul Sarbanes, even though he kind of saunters around 
             with the dignity of a Sarbanes, as a young man he was a 
             good athlete. My favorite story some of our colleagues 
             heard me say, and I know Senator Sarbanes has heard me say 
             it and he is going to hear it again. He was selected as 
             one of the best baseball players in all of Maryland. He 
             comes from the Eastern Shore for the All-Star tournament 
             in Baltimore. The starting lineup is announced: Sarbanes, 
             second base. He went to speak with the manager and said: 
             ``I am a shortstop.'' The manager ignored him. He came 
             back a little bit later and said to the manager: ``I was 
             selected to be an All-Star second baseman.'' The manager 
             ignored him. He went back a third time. The manager said: 
             ``Sarbanes, leave me alone. I'm starting Kaline at 
             shortstop.''
               Of course, we know Kaline went on to the big leagues 
             when he was 18 or 19 years old.
               I am going to miss this good man and his wife Christine 
             so very much. He is what, in my estimation, a Senator 
             should be.

               Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I said a few words on the 
             floor the other day. I meant every one of them. Senator 
             Paul Sarbanes has been kind enough to thank me. I wanted 
             to say briefly that from time to time people back in 
             Illinois would ask me: Of all those Senators with whom you 
             serve, which ones do you respect the most? Without 
             hesitation, I would always mention the name Paul Sarbanes. 
             I respect him so much, not only for his intelligence and 
             his good humor but also for his wit and his wisdom.
               The reflective past he has referred to in public service 
             starts in the House of Representatives, his service on the 
             House Judiciary Committee during the tumultuous days of 
             the Watergate hearings, impeachment trial, and coming full 
             circle to the Senate. He has a lifetime of public service 
             of which he can be proud.
               Christine, his wife, has been at his side. And I know 
             she has shared in many of the great victories that their 
             family has been able to enjoy. The greatest victory, I 
             understand, is now the election of her son. She is so 
             proud, as Paul told us, their son John is going to follow 
             in his father's footsteps as a Congressman in this 
             upcoming Congress.
               I will truly miss Paul Sarbanes as a great Senator and a 
             great friend.

               Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I, too, want to join in the 
             chorus of colleagues by thanking Senator Sarbanes for all 
             he has meant to Maryland, all he has meant to the Senate, 
             all he has meant to the country, and all that he has meant 
             to me.
               I knew Senator Sarbanes 20 years ago, but I knew Paul 
             Sarbanes long before that. I knew him when he was a young 
             lawyer starting out to run for the House of Delegates. I 
             was also, at that time, a young social worker. We were 
             working to stop a highway in the neighborhood. We were the 
             young reformers. Baltimore was dominated by political 
             bosses, by the political machine. And Paul Sarbanes was 
             the first one to buck the machine, to go directly door to 
             door to represent the people. Baltimore has not seen for 
             years someone who would actually go out and knock on doors 
             asking people for their vote, bypassing the existing 
             establishment and empowering the people.
               Senator Sarbanes won that House of Delegates seat and 
             did a great job.
               Then he had a hard-fought, again, door-to-door battle--
             bucking the big boys and big bucks, door to door going 
             right through, going directly to the people who brought 
             him to the House.
               In 1976, that wonderful Washington centennial year, we 
             in Baltimore, the home of the ``Star Spangled Banner,'' 
             celebrated by sending Paul Sarbanes to the Senate. And, by 
             the way, that young social worker went to the House of 
             Representatives.
               Senator Sarbanes and I have been side by side for those 
             years. All of my colleagues have talked about the enormous 
             trust and respect they have for him.
               Much has been said and there is much to be respected 
             about Senator Sarbanes--his integrity, but trust is really 
             the word. You can trust Senator Sarbanes. You can count on 
             Senator Sarbanes. You always knew he would be there when 
             you needed him. The people of Maryland knew that when they 
             needed him to be able to stand up for those who didn't 
             have a voice, people with dirt under their fingernails, 
             the people who worked in those kinds of jobs where at the 
             end of the day you have a bad back, you earned the minimum 
             wage, you didn't have a health benefit, and you wondered 
             who really cared about you, Paul Sarbanes would do that.
               When people invested their life savings and their 
             pension and saw corporate greed eating all of that, they 
             wondered who would speak for honesty and integrity. They 
             knew they could trust Paul Sarbanes.
               On issue after issue, people knew they could trust him--
             and they certainly could.
               You could also count on his wonderful staff. The 
             Mikulski staff has such great admiration for the Sarbanes 
             staff. It is so outstanding. Similar to the man they work 
             for, they bring great intellectual vigor, great integrity, 
             and a great ethic of hard work.
               We often laugh that we are the ``diner Democrats.'' 
             Senators have heard about Senator Sarbanes's mom and dad 
             running a diner--my mom and dad owned a grocery store. We 
             were kind of the grassroots retail people. So we feel very 
             close to the people.
               But again, a tribute to him would be incomplete without 
             recognizing the dynamic duo of Christine, who has been an 
             outstanding partner for Paul Sarbanes and quite a force in 
             the community in her own right. Whether it has been 
             working for the United Nations and for UNICEF in their own 
             community, or to be on the library board to expand 
             literacy opportunities, Christine has been a force in and 
             of herself and for their wonderful children--John who now 
             joins us in the House.
               I could talk at length about Paul Sarbanes, but I will 
             tell you he has been my friend. We have sat next to each 
             other on the Senate floor. We have actually voted in the 
             Senate precincts. When I came to the Senate, I was the 
             only Democratic woman to serve here. But I had a saying as 
             I traveled Maryland and traveled throughout the country. 
             When people said: How does it feel to be the only 
             Democratic woman in the Senate, I said: You know, I might 
             be all by myself, but I am never alone. I have Paul 
             Sarbanes. And that is true for the people of Maryland.
               We wish him well. I know I am going to be seeing him. 
             Wherever there is a good bagel or a good political event, 
             I know that Paul Sarbanes will be there.
               Paul, Godspeed and God bless.

               The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.

               Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am very moved by the words 
             of Senator Mikulski. And as I look over there at the two 
             of them side by side for so many years, I feel a void 
             already because they have been so outstanding as a team. 
             And I must say they are an inspiration to all of us who 
             have watched their friendship, genuinely caring about each 
             other and their amazing partnership for the people of 
             Maryland.
               I certainly can't add anything more to what Senator 
             Mikulski has said. I will try to say, from my perspective, 
             a little bit about what Senator Sarbanes has meant to me.
               It is a story that not many people know. But when I was 
             in the House of Representatives, I was called on to speak 
             about the environment at the Democratic Convention when 
             Geraldine Ferraro was the Vice Presidential candidate and 
             Walter Mondale was the nominee. That was a long time ago. 
             I was thrilled. I was an unknown House Member. Now, of 
             course, I am so excited to be taking over the reins of the 
             Environment Committee, but the environment has been a 
             signature issue.
               Well, what happened that night was I was slated to talk 
             in prime time. But something funny happened on the way to 
             the forum, which was that Jesse Jackson spoke at the 
             convention. And he spoke, and he spoke, and he spoke, and 
             then he spoke some more. And then they cheered him on, and 
             then he spoke some more. Well, this was my moment in the 
             Sun. I had bought a new suit. I called my mother on the 
             East Coast. I said: ``Ma, big time.'' She kept saying: 
             ``When?'' And it kept going on and on. Now, when Jesse 
             Jackson finished his amazing oratory, the entire place 
             emptied out. There was no one left in this huge arena. The 
             chair of the convention had to say: Please leave quietly, 
             we have another speaker. And it was me. No one was left 
             but my family and Paul Sarbanes. He knew me just a little 
             at the time. He wanted to encourage me. And he sat down 
             right in front of me with a sign that said something like: 
             Go, Barbara, go green--or something like that. He stood 
             there and cheered.
               Little did I know at the time that he would, many years 
             later, welcome me to the Senate, as of course he did.
               I know there is other business coming before the Senate. 
             So I am not going to speak very long at all except to say 
             this: What a privilege it has been, Paul, to work with 
             you. We are on the Foreign Relations Committee together. 
             For a time we were on Banking and Budget. And I watched 
             you like a hawk. You are a humble man, but you could quiz 
             a witness like nobody else, and with your quiet voice made 
             your point and made a point for the people.
               I think you are one of the finest minds the Senate has 
             ever had. I think that you have one of the finest hearts. 
             You don't wear it on your sleeve, but you have it. And I 
             want you to know I have benefited so much watching you and 
             learning from you, and even tonight as you made your 
             farewell speech, you spoke so little about yourself. You 
             spoke about your family, but the most important thing you 
             spoke about is this great country that has lifted us all 
             up, the three of us on the floor tonight. We know what it 
             is like to be born in a lower middle class family and 
             struggle our way up. We want to make sure that opportunity 
             is there. That is what you spoke about tonight, in all 
             your eloquence.
               So I will miss you very much. I thank the people of 
             Maryland for being so wise to send us two such Senators. I 
             know Paul Sarbanes has many wonderful days ahead and much 
             work awaits him.
               I yield the floor.

               Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
             my good friend and colleague, the senior Senator from the 
             great State of Maryland, who will be leaving this body at 
             the end of this Congress. Paul Sarbanes and I have shared 
             the past 30 years in this body together, and I can say 
             that the Nation will be losing one of its most talented, 
             well respected, and principled public servants when he 
             steps away from the office he has held with such honor and 
             integrity.
               Paul's career is one that I believe still to this day 
             reflects the values instilled upon him by his parents, 
             Greek immigrants to this country, who infused in him a 
             strong work ethic and a sense of service to others. He 
             worked his way through school while growing up on 
             Maryland's beautiful Eastern Shore and earned a 
             scholarship to Princeton University, where he excelled 
             academically, and earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. 
             If that weren't enough, Paul also went to Harvard Law 
             School.
               With all his abilities, with his clear leadership 
             potential and promising future, Paul chose to dedicate 
             himself to the service of others. From his years in the 
             Maryland House of Delegates, to his time across the 
             Capitol in the House of Representatives, through his years 
             here in the Senate, Paul has always used his unique 
             abilities and vast knowledge, tirelessly working toward 
             finding solutions to the country's most pressing issues.
               That is why I was so honored to be able to work closely 
             with him in drafting portions of the Public Company 
             Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, 
             more commonly known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Paul's 
             leadership as chairman of the Banking, Housing, and Urban 
             Affairs Committee was needed more than ever as the 
             American people learned of the deception that corporate 
             leaders had perpetrated. In a business culture that seemed 
             to reward greed and devalue honesty and accountability, 
             Paul was able to create a bipartisan piece of legislation 
             that mirrored his values and took a stand for countless 
             ordinary Americans who were victims of the prevailing 
             culture of corporate excess. It was my distinct pleasure 
             to work with him in such a noble effort, and I believe it 
             is fitting that such important legislation bears his name 
             and will serve as a testament to his character for many 
             years to come.
               I will miss Paul Sarbanes, although I take comfort 
             knowing that he won't be far away. His career is a lesson 
             to us all in what the Senate is all about. It is with a 
             heavy heart that I bid my friend farewell, and thank him 
             for setting such a wonderful example for us all to follow.
               I know he will stay a clear voice for America--but now 
             he and Christine can also have the time together they so 
             deserve.

               Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I would like to take a few 
             minutes to reflect on the remarkable career of my good 
             friend and colleague, Senator Paul Sarbanes, and to thank 
             him for his service to our country.
               The life of Paul Sarbanes is the archetypical story of 
             America. He is the son of Greek immigrants who moved to 
             the Eastern Shore of Maryland and started their own 
             restaurant, where Paul helped out after school. His 
             parents encouraged him to get an education, a message that 
             he took to heart. He received a scholarship to Princeton, 
             was a Rhodes Scholar, and then graduated from Harvard Law 
             School.
               After graduation, he quickly gained a taste for economic 
             policy by working at the Council of Economist Advisers 
             during the Kennedy administration under Walter Heller, 
             when the famous Kennedy tax cuts were passed. I am not 
             sure that people around here fully grasped--and he is 
             certainly not one to toot his own horn about the depth of 
             his experience in the area of economics, but it is 
             substantial.
               He entered the Senate the same year I did, 1976, after 
             stints in the House of Representatives and the Maryland 
             House of Delegates. He quickly sought to use his economic 
             acumen and joined the Banking Committee and the Joint 
             Economic Committee, both of which he would later chair. He 
             played an integral role in the Banking Reform Act of 1999 
             that made it easier for banks to diversify their 
             investments and increased competition in the industry, 
             giving consumers wider choice in this arena and better 
             returns to their savings. While we all acknowledge and 
             bewail the low savings rate in this country and grasp for 
             ways to fix it, the reforms passed by Paul were an 
             important step in the right direction that we can and 
             should build on.
               He has also fought a yeoman's battle to improve the 
             quality of economic data produced by our Government. It is 
             a topic that sounds deadly dull, but it is vitally 
             important, and Paul Sarbanes has made it his duty to get 
             this accomplished. Thanks to his efforts we have much more 
             accurate, reliable, and timely data on economic growth, 
             wages, and employment. We may not always agree on how our 
             Government should go about trying to increase these 
             economic indicators, but because of Paul's efforts we know 
             much better what we are arguing about and how successful 
             our efforts have been.
               To me, that is one of the marks of a great Senator: 
             being willing to take on a low-profile issue that gains 
             him nothing with the press or his constituents, but 
             nevertheless improves our well-being. The economists who 
             use this data and the statisticians who produce the data 
             know exactly how much Paul's leadership has benefited the 
             country, and this is something that I want the rest of the 
             country to know as well.
               Of course, despite his numerous accomplishments in the 
             Senate, he will be best known for his authorship of the 
             Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. I do not need to remind my 
             colleagues that in 2002 our financial markets were in sore 
             shape and in dire need of ameliorative steps of some sort. 
             People were beginning to lose faith that they could trust 
             putting their money in the domestic stock market, a state 
             of affairs that potentially threatened the very fiber of 
             our economy. In the Congress there were lots of ideas on 
             how to fix this but very little consensus.
               Paul waded into this morass and helped shape an all-
             encompassing bill in short order that addressed many of 
             the problems endemic in our financial markets. Thanks to 
             his skillful maneuvering and that of his House partner on 
             this bill, Mike Oxley, this legislation quickly passed the 
             House and Senate and became law, stanching the wound in 
             our financial markets. Like every major piece of 
             legislation passed by the Congress, the Sarbanes-Oxley 
             bill was not perfect. However, today the Dow Jones 
             Industrial Average is near an all-time high and over 50 
             percent higher than in the summer of 2002, in no small 
             measure thanks to Senator Sarbanes's efforts.
               This is, and remains, a mark of a Senator of 
             distinction: One who rises to the occasion when a crisis 
             ensues and creates an environment where Members can work 
             together, across party lines, and with scarce regard to 
             short-term political exigencies, to come up with a 
             solution.
               To my esteemed colleague, Senator Paul Sarbanes, I give 
             you my best wishes in retirement, our thanks for a 
             sterling career in service to your country, and my 
             gratitude for your friendship over these many years.

               Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I want to join my colleagues 
             in bidding good wishes and Godspeed to Senator Paul 
             Sarbanes, the senior Senator from Maryland and the longest 
             serving Senator in Maryland history, as he retires this 
             week.
               Senator Sarbanes was elected to the Senate 2 years 
             before me, and thank goodness he was here. Paul Sarbanes 
             has been a dear friend, an indispensable source of wisdom, 
             a trusted ally, and an inspiration. Senator Sarbanes and I 
             even briefly shared an office, when the anthrax attacks of 
             2001 forced him to leave his office in the Hart Building 
             and set up shop temporarily in my conference room. After 
             years of close cooperation, we were literally working side 
             by side.
               What I have found over these years is that Paul Sarbanes 
             is one of the smartest, kindest, and most thoughtful 
             public servants in Government. He is quiet and does not 
             seek the limelight, but behind his calm demeanor is a 
             skilled legislator with a keen mind. Senator Sarbanes 
             operates by compromise and by building consensus, but he 
             also has plenty of backbone when it is needed. He knows 
             when to coax, when to charm, and when to say ``enough is 
             enough'' and get things done.
               In the wake of the accounting scandals at Enron and 
             other corporations, it was Senator Sarbanes's leadership 
             that led to the most significant reforms of accounting 
             practices in a generation. The landmark Sarbanes-Oxley 
             legislation, which grew out of his long-standing 
             commitment to corporate responsibility and high ethical 
             standards in business, curbed some of the corporate abuses 
             that had shaken investor confidence in American business.
               That law has produced its critics, but most of the 
             detractors are unhappy because Sarbanes-Oxley is so 
             effective. Sarbanes-Oxley forces accountants to actually 
             review the books. It forces CEOs to understand, review, 
             and sign off on the company's financial statements. And it 
             forces companies to produce meaningful financial 
             statements with internal controls that back up the 
             numbers. There are some critics who are waiting for 
             Senator Sarbanes to leave the Senate, hoping to weaken 
             what he built, but they will find many Senators, including 
             this one, who will fight to maintain high standards. 
             Sarbanes-Oxley will continue to serve as the foundation 
             for reasonable regulation of our capital markets.
               While his name will always be associated with the 
             Sarbanes-Oxley law, Senator Sarbanes remains an unsung 
             hero for another accomplishment: cracking down on money 
             laundering through the PATRIOT Act. I want to sing his 
             praises on this for a moment because it is an issue I am 
             passionate about and because Senator Sarbanes deserves 
             greater recognition for his work.
               For several years prior to the 9/11 attacks, I worked on 
             strengthening anti-money laundering laws--holding 
             hearings, producing reports, and writing legislation, but 
             my effort had not succeeded. After 9/11, it was clear that 
             U.S. anti-money laundering laws were full of gaps and 
             vulnerabilities that needed to be addressed. But it was 
             also clear that many in the financial industry did not 
             want to have to operate under tougher laws. Nothing would 
             have been accomplished even then if Paul Sarbanes had not 
             stepped up and led.
               In the month after 9/11, Senator Sarbanes showed his 
             legislative genius by taking a diverse group of provisions 
             suggested by many different Senators and House Members, 
             taming the competing interests, and writing a package 
             quickly enough to be included in the PATRIOT Act. His own 
             contributions included a key provision to make anti-money 
             laundering programs mandatory rather than optional and to 
             require anti-money laundering programs at a wide spectrum 
             of financial institutions, such as securities firms and 
             insurance companies, not just banks. He also required for 
             the first time that securities firms report suspicious 
             activity.
               In addition to these major changes, Paul helped enact a 
             variety of provisions that I had been pushing for years. 
             For example, he included my provision that barred banks 
             and securities firms from opening accounts for shell 
             banks, closing a major gateway for money laundering. He 
             also helped shut down the flow of dirty money from foreign 
             dictators who were looting their own countries and 
             depositing their ill-gotten gains at U.S. banks by 
             including my provision to make proceeds of foreign corrupt 
             practices covered by our money laundering laws.
               And he did all of this work in 1 month, running the 
             conference committee out of his hideaway office in the 
             Capitol with 1 computer, 3 phones, and a shifting group of 
             about 50 staffers from the White House, Senate, House, 
             Justice Department, Treasury, and other agencies. He was 
             the only Senator who was present throughout the entire 
             conference, and it was his work at key moments that kept 
             the anti-money laundering provisions in the PATRIOT Act. 
             Senator Sarbanes's leadership is one of the great untold 
             stories of that bill, and I hope that his role will one 
             day be properly recognized.
               Paul Sarbanes has given Maryland and America a lifetime 
             of public service, on President Kennedy's Council of 
             Economic Advisors, in the Maryland House of Delegates, in 
             the U.S. House of Representatives, and in the U.S. Senate. 
             I know that Paul is proud that his son John will now carry 
             on that tradition of service, having been elected last 
             month to represent Maryland's Third District in the House. 
             We will welcome John Sarbanes to Congress, but we will 
             greatly miss his dad.
               My wife Barbara joins me in congratulating Senator 
             Sarbanes on his retirement and in wishing him and his wife 
             Christine all the best. We treasure their friendship and 
             hope they will visit our Senate family often.
               Senator Sarbanes, with apologies to your Greek forebears 
             for my pronunciation: chronyapola. May you have many 
             years.

               Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, today I acknowledge and 
             honor my colleague, Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland. As 
             Maryland's longest serving U.S. Senator, Senator Sarbanes 
             leaves our great halls with a legacy of distinction and an 
             undying dedication to his State and this country. I have 
             tremendous respect for Paul Sarbanes and the statesmanlike 
             ethics he has brought to this institution. Though his 
             three decades of service contain many significant 
             achievements, none stand out more for me--on a personal 
             level--than when Senator Sarbanes assisted in my 
             confirmation process to become the Secretary of the U.S. 
             Department of Housing and Urban Development. I greatly 
             appreciate the opportunity I had to serve this country in 
             that capacity, and Senator Sarbanes played no small role 
             in allowing me to do so.
               Thank you, Senator Sarbanes, for your meaningful work 
             and lifelong commitment to public service.

               Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise to honor in the highest 
             possible terms and with profound respect, Senator Paul 
             Sarbanes, one of the true giants of this institution, a 
             sterling public servant and an inspiration to the people 
             he has represented for 36 years--30 of them in the U.S. 
             Senate, where he has since become Maryland's longest 
             serving U.S. Senator. I am grateful to call him a dear 
             friend and treasured colleague.
               A graduate of Princeton University and one of only two 
             Rhodes Scholars in the current U.S. Senate, Senator 
             Sarbanes has brought a remarkable and stellar mind to his 
             venerable legacy of public service. Elected to the U.S. 
             House in 1970 and to the U.S. Senate in 1976, he has 
             served the people of Maryland with exemplary integrity and 
             distinction.
               The principles of fairness and opportunity have directed 
             his tenure of tireless civic contribution, characterized 
             by a relentless dedication to serving the public 
             interest--a devotion to defending and promoting the common 
             good exemplified by his efforts to enact the law that 
             today bears his name--the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
               I also share a bond with Paul Sarbanes that transcends 
             our service together in the U.S. Senate, including our 
             substantial work together on the Senate Budget Committee 
             as well as on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We 
             are both the children of Greek immigrants--both of our 
             parents owned restaurants and inculcated in us a passion 
             and commitment to education, service, and hard work.
               Paul Sarbanes has been a hero to Hellenic-Americans for 
             decades. On countless occasions I have been referred to as 
             ``one of two Greek-Americans in the U.S. Senate'' and I am 
             so proud that the Senator from Maryland, Paul Sarbanes, 
             has been the other. Whether serving in the Maryland House 
             of Delegates, the U.S. House of Representatives, or the 
             U.S. Senate, Paul has always been driven by the same 
             Hellenic principles that make our heritage and community 
             great. He remains an inspiration to innumerable Hellenic-
             Americans.
               As a result of heroic and Herculean service, Paul 
             Sarbanes was honored in June 2003 with the prestigious 
             Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award from the 
             University of Illinois--established in 1992 to honor 
             Senator Douglas, a man often labeled ``the conscience of 
             the United States Senate.'' The award was fittingly 
             designed to honor individuals who have made a substantial 
             contribution to promoting ethics. And Senator Sarbanes 
             also received the Cox, Coleman, Richardson Award for 
             Distinguished Public Service, from Harvard Law School in 
             March 2004.
               Senator Sarbanes's vigorous and exemplary engagement in 
             matters of public affairs undeniably epitomizes the 
             following admonition from Pericles in his funeral oration 
             more than 2,000 years ago that ``we do not say that a man 
             who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his 
             own business; we say that he has no business here at 
             all.'' Being involved in the civic life of one's 
             community, country, and heritage was not an option for the 
             sons and daughters of Pericles, and it has been an 
             expectation that the legacy of Senator Sarbanes inspires 
             all of us to meet.
               As much as the Senate will miss his esteemed presence 
             and I will miss his collegiality in this Chamber, I am 
             heartened by our enduring friendship and by a new 
             generation from the Sarbanes family entering public life 
             in the upcoming Congress with John Sarbanes, serving in 
             the U.S. House.

               Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today unable to find the 
             words I need to express just what it has been like to go 
             to work every day with a real, live Greek philosopher.
               Of course, I mean Paul Sarbanes--who is the longest 
             serving Senator in the history of the State of Maryland; 
             who has been among the wisest Members to sit in this body; 
             who is serving out his last week here with us. I have come 
             to the floor today to say goodbye; and as I do, I remember 
             one of my favorite Greek stories--which, in a bit of a 
             roundabout way, reminds me of Paul.
               When the Athenians set up the first democracy and 
             declared that every citizen could go and vote in the 
             Assembly, they ran into just one problem--no one wanted to 
             go. It turned out that the Athenians were also the first 
             to discover voter apathy: It turned out that most of the 
             citizens would much rather spend time buying and selling 
             in the marketplace than arguing politics in the assembly.
               So the leaders came up with a plan. They hired the two 
             burliest men they could find and gave them a long rope 
             clipped in fresh red paint. And then the two burly men 
             would stand on opposite sides of the market square and 
             shout ``Everybody out.'' And after about a minute, they 
             would each grab an end of the rope that was dripping with 
             paint and walk down the square; and anybody who didn't get 
             out of there in time had to go around for the rest of the 
             day with his shirt ruined.
               I said that story reminds me a bit of Senator Sarbanes. 
             Not because his clothing has been anything but impeccable 
             and stain-free--but because it points out just how 
             remarkable his 40-year career in public life has been. The 
             truth is that people have been finding ways to avoid the 
             responsibility of governing since governing was invented. 
             So when we have the luck to find a man willing to give not 
             just an afternoon's service to his country, but a whole 
             life--and when he turns out to be a man of uncommon 
             intelligence and humility--we know what a treasure we have 
             stumbled on.
               We can think back to those Athenians dawdling in the 
             marketplace and ask ourselves: didn't they know? Didn't 
             they know they were in ``Ancient Greece,'' for crying out 
             loud? Didn't they know they were supposed to be in the 
             cradle of democracy? Didn't they know we'd be talking 
             about them a couple of millennia later on the floor of the 
             U.S. Senate?
               But of course, they had no idea, and we can't blame 
             them--they had lives to live. Compared to the getting and 
             spending, the errands and talk that go on in the market 
             square, the work of governing can seem like a book of the 
             driest prose. The print is tiny and the lines are closely 
             spaced.
               It takes an uncommon mind to appreciate the value, the 
             necessity, of what's in that book--but Paul Sarbanes has 
             had one all his life. He showed it when he won a Rhodes 
             Scholarship and went on to graduate first in his class at 
             Oxford. He showed it when he was elected to the Maryland 
             House of Delegates back in 1966, and then through three 
             terms in the House and five in the Senate, through a 
             career one newspaper called ``electorally invincible.'' 
             And he showed it as one of the most quietly influential 
             members of this body, a listener in a town full of 
             talkers, a living example of the maxim, ``It's amazing 
             what you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the 
             credit.''
               But I can think of at least one accomplishment for which 
             Senator Sarbanes's credit is assured. In 2002, when he was 
             chairman of the Banking Committee, a series of corporate 
             scandals shocked the stock market, sapped trust in our 
             economy, and cost shareholders and workers billions of 
             dollars. But Paul confronted the crisis of confidence and 
             wrote legislation that helped restore accountability to 
             accounting. Sarbanes-Oxley was greeted as the most 
             fundamental reform of American business since the Great 
             Depression; and I believe it will be Paul's legacy. I was 
             proud to help him; and I will be even prouder to sit in 
             his chairman's seat on the Banking Committee. Paul--your 
             work will be mine, I promise.
               Of course, Senator Sarbanes will be leaving another 
             legacy here in Washington--his son John, who was elected 
             to represent his father's old House district in the 110th 
             Congress. I've never met John Sarbanes, but if the son is 
             anything like the father, 2006 will look a lot like 1970: 
             We'll be able to walk over to the House side and find a 
             bright young man of immigrant heritage at the start of his 
             Washington career, brought up in the tradition of service 
             and full of the quiet virtues.
               I don't think politics has changed so much since 1970 
             that those virtues aren't still in high demand. And come 
             to think of it, politics hasn't changed so much since the 
             days of the rope in the marketplace--with at least one 
             notable exception. We have gotten rid of the rope. In our 
             country, no one forces you to care. No one forces you to 
             vote. No one forces you to serve. If you do those things 
             anyway, it's not a measure of compulsion, but of 
             conviction. And if, like Paul Sarbanes, you had the talent 
             to make a career for yourself anywhere in the world but 
             chose to spend it here, then we owe you our thanks--for 
             your company, for your wisdom, for 40 years well spent in 
             the Assembly.
               Goodbye, Senator Sarbanes,--and my best wishes for you 
             and your wife Christine for many years to come.
               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. ...

               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.
               Paul Sarbanes is a man I have always admired. We share a 
             similar background.
               I grew up in a small Nevada town. My parents weren't 
             well connected or highly educated. But as we see in my 
             life--and Paul Sarbanes's life--in America your background 
             does not matter. Paul is the son of Greek immigrants. His 
             parents didn't have a formal education, but they worked 
             hard. They owned a restaurant--the Mayflower Grill on Main 
             Street in Salisbury, MD.
               Paul worked hard too, and as a result, he has lived the 
             American dream. This son of Greek immigrants is the 
             graduate of some of the world's leading educational 
             institutions, and for the last 30 years, he has been a 
             leading voice in the world's greatest deliberative body.
               Paul received an academic and athletic scholarship to 
             Princeton University, from which he graduated in 1954. 
             After graduation from Princeton, he received the Rhodes 
             Scholarship, which sent him to Oxford, England, until 
             1957. When Paul came back to the States, he went to 
             Harvard to earn his law degree.
               In 1970, Paul won his first Federal election--to the 
             U.S. House of Representatives. In 1976, he came to the 
             Senate.
               During the next 30 years, he made a tremendous mark on 
             our country.
               Paul Sarbanes has been an excellent Senator, but he has 
             always excelled when the country needed him the most--
             during times of crisis.
               During Watergate, he was a leading voice for reform in 
             the House. During Iran-Contra, he led the fight for the 
             truth in the Senate. And more recently, in the wake of the 
             Enron accounting scandals, he was largely responsible for 
             reforms which restored the people's confidence in 
             corporate America.
               During his 30 years in the Senate, Paul Sarbanes has 
             cast over 11,000 votes. Not all of them were as monumental 
             as his work on Watergate, Iran-Contra and Enron, but every 
             one of them was cast with the people of Maryland, and the 
             people of the United States in mind. ...
               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.

               Mrs. HUTCHISON. ... Mr. President, Senator Sarbanes, the 
             son of Greek immigrants, embodies the very heart of the 
             American dream.
               Senator Sarbanes's parents, who never received a college 
             education, instilled in him the belief that no matter 
             where you go and what you see, you should always stand by 
             your principles and never forget your roots.
               He became a Rhodes Scholar.
               Senator Sarbanes served the people of Baltimore with 
             distinction and honor in the Maryland Legislature before 
             coming to Washington to represent them on a national 
             level.
               After a period of service in the House of 
             Representatives, he was elected to the Senate in 1976. 
             Since then, he has held numerous positions within the 
             Senate.
               Most recently, he served as the ranking member of the 
             Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and as 
             a senior member of the Foreign Relations, Budget, and 
             Joint Economic Committees.
               Today we bid him farewell after five terms in the U.S. 
             Senate, which makes him the longest tenured Senator in 
             Maryland's storied history.
               Paul is a good friend, and I will miss him. ...
             UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--TRIBUTES TO RETIRING SENATORS
               Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the tributes to 
             retiring Senators be printed as a Senate document and that 
             Senators be permitted to submit tributes until December 
             27, 2006.

               The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so 
             ordered.
                                           Wednesday, December 27, 2006
               Mr. STEVENS. ... Mr. President, I've come to the floor 
             to pay tribute to Senator Paul Sarbanes for his 
             outstanding service. The senior Senator from Maryland has 
             served longer than any other Senator from his State. 
             Throughout the years, I have been jealous of one thing--
             his short ride home. There are, actually, other things I 
             admire about Paul. For instance, we are a Chamber with 
             many lawyers, and I can say Paul has been one of our best.
               Senator Sarbanes has used his skill to greatly benefit 
             his State. We recently worked together on a bill that will 
             enhance the security of our Nation's ports. As a Senator, 
             Paul Sarbanes has worked tirelessly to ensure the ports in 
             his home State, and all ports in America, are safe.
               This distinguished gentleman from Maryland has served 
             his constituents admirably and I wish him well. ...
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