[Senate Document 113-15]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]







                                      Jim Webb

                            U.S. SENATOR FROM VIRGINIA

                                      TRIBUTES

                                IN THE CONGRESS OF

                                THE UNITED STATES

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]








                                                       S. Doc. 113-15
 
                                      Tributes

                                Delivered in Congress

                                      Jim Webb

                                United States Senator

                                      2007-2013



[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]








                      U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

                            WASHINGTON : 2014







                            Compiled under the direction

                                       of the

                             Joint Committee on Printing























                                      CONTENTS
             Biography.............................................
                                                                      v
             Farewell Address......................................
                                                                    vii
             Proceedings in the Senate:
                Tributes by Senators:
                    Bingaman, Jeff, of New Mexico..................
                                                                      3
                    Cardin, Benjamin L., of Maryland...............
                                                                     16
                    Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota..................
                                                                      8
                    Coons, Christopher A., of Delaware.............
                                                                     13
                    Durbin, Richard J., of Illinois................
                                                                      7
                    Harkin, Tom, of Iowa...........................
                                                                     10
                    Klobuchar, Amy, of Minnesota...................
                                                                     18
                    Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont..................
                                                                     16
                    Levin, Carl, of Michigan.......................
                                                                 11, 14
                    Mikulski, Barbara A., of Maryland..............
                                                                      7
                    Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island....................
                                                                     11
                    Reid, Harry, of Nevada 
                     ...............................................
                     .............
                                                               3, 6, 19



































                                      BIOGRAPHY

               Jim Webb was born in St. Joseph, MO, on February 9, 
             1946, a descendent of Scots-Irish settlers who came to 
             America in the 18th century and became pioneers in the 
             mountains of southwest Virginia. He graduated from high 
             school in Bellevue, NE, and attended the University of 
             Southern California from 1963 to 1964. He graduated from 
             the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968, receiving the 
             Superintendent's commendation for outstanding leadership 
             contributions while a midshipman, and subsequently chose a 
             commission in the Marine Corps in 1968.
               First in his class of 243 at the Marine Corps Officers' 
             Basic School in Quantico, VA, he served in the Fifth 
             Marine Regiment in Vietnam, where as a rifle platoon and 
             company commander in the infamous An Hoa Basin west of 
             Danang he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star 
             Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts. He 
             later served as a platoon commander and as an instructor 
             in tactics and weapons at Marine Corps Officer Candidates 
             School, then as a member of the Secretary of the Navy's 
             immediate staff, before leaving the Marine Corps in 1972.
               As a combat Marine in Vietnam, an attorney, a senior 
             Defense Department official, an Emmy-award winning 
             journalist, a filmmaker, and the author of nine books, Jim 
             Webb maintained a lifelong commitment to protect America's 
             national security interests, promote economic fairness and 
             social justice here at home, and increase the 
             accountability of government. He was elected to the Senate 
             in 2006 representing Virginia and served one term. He was 
             not a candidate for election to the Senate in 2012.
               He received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law 
             School in 1975. He served in the Congress as counsel to 
             the House Committee on Veterans Affairs from 1977 to 1981. 
             In 1982 he led the fight for including an African American 
             soldier in the memorial statue that now stands at the 
             Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall, and he 
             wrote the inscription at the base of the flagpole. In 1987 
             he became the first Naval Academy graduate in history to 
             serve in the military and then become Secretary of the 
             Navy.
               Arriving in the Senate with experience in military and 
             veterans affairs, he introduced a comprehensive GI bill 
             for those who served in the U.S. military since 9/11. He 
             created the Wartime Contracting Commission with 
             responsibility for bringing accountability for fraud, 
             waste, and abuse brought about by often unsupervised 
             contract processes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
               His commitment to reforming the criminal justice system 
             led him to design and chair a series of committee hearings 
             and conferences to examine the issue of mass incarceration 
             and policies toward drugs, and in so doing became one of 
             the strongest voices in Congress for a top-to-bottom 
             restructuring of the criminal justice system.
               He remained an active voice on military, economic, and 
             foreign affairs through his membership on the Armed 
             Services, Foreign Relations, Joint Economic, and Veterans 
             Affairs Committees. With experience overseas, particularly 
             in Asia, he served as chairman of the Subcommittee on East 
             Asian and Pacific Affairs on the Foreign Relations 
             Committee. He also served as the chairman of the Personnel 
             Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee.
               Senator Webb speaks Vietnamese and has done extensive 
             pro bono work with the Vietnamese community dating from 
             the late 1970s. He lives in Northern Virginia with his 
             wife Hong Le Webb. He is the father of five children and a 
             stepdaughter.
                               Farewell to the Senate
                             Thursday, December 6, 2012

               Mr. WEBB. Mr. President, as our office is winding down 
             from my Senate term beginning this week, the field offices 
             in Virginia ceased their functioning, and it is going to 
             be my pleasure later on today to host a lunch for all my 
             staff and to thank them for the work they have done. I 
             just want to take this opportunity to talk about why I 
             have said so many times since I came to the Senate that my 
             greatest legacy will be the work of our staff.
               When I first came to the Senate, people were asking: 
             Will you be remembered for the GI bill if you get it 
             done--which we did--or maybe some great transportation 
             project or something of that sort? I said, ``No, the most 
             important thing a leader can do is to bring good people 
             around him or her and to work them to the full extent of 
             their capacity and then to provide them the opportunity to 
             grow professionally in the spirit in which we have worked 
             together.''
               It is not going to surprise the Presiding Officer or 
             anyone else when I say the greatest learning experience 
             for me in that regard was when I served as a rifle platoon 
             and company commander in the U.S. Marine Corps. When we 
             were in training to go to Vietnam, we got a lecture from a 
             battle-hardened lieutenant colonel who fought as an 
             enlisted marine in World War II, rifle platoon commander 
             in Korea, and then as a battalion commander in Vietnam.
               One of the things he said to us was, ``You may carry a 
             sidearm, you may carry a 45 pistol, you may carry an M-16 
             rifle, but a marine officer is only successful if he 
             fights with his marines.'' It is the same concept here. A 
             person is no better as a leader than the people he or she 
             leads. We worked hard on our staff for 6 years to find the 
             most talented people in America, to work them to their 
             full capacity, to instill in them my personal views of the 
             principles of leadership and the philosophy of governance 
             which are at the core of what I wanted to bring to the 
             Senate, and I believe we did that.
               We started with Paul Reagan and Kathy Wilmoth. Paul 
             Reagan, my chief of staff, is a veteran with 25 years of 
             Democratic politics and governance inside Virginia. He 
             worked for Congressman Rick Boucher. He worked for Jim 
             Moran as his chief of staff. He worked for two other 
             Members of Congress, and he had been the communications 
             director with Mark Warner when he was Governor. We were 
             what some people would call the political odd couple early 
             on. Paul was a master of every detail inside Virginia 
             politics. My experience for many years had been on the 
             national level of policy. We worked very hard to screen 
             every single applicant to make sure these were people who 
             met the standards we were trying to put into place.
               Kathy Wilmoth, in my view, is something of a legend 
             here. She became our office director. She knows every 
             Capitol Hill policeman. She probably knows every person 
             sitting here working on the Senate floor. She is an 
             absolute gold star administrator. Before she came to work 
             for us, she worked for Senators John and Lincoln Chafee. 
             When I was a 25-year-old marine, I worked on Senator John 
             Chafee's staff when he was Secretary of the Navy. I know I 
             am biased, but I would challenge anyone to rebut that we 
             have had the best-run staff on Capitol Hill.
               We set up a communications shop. We had Jessica Smith 
             and Kimberly Hunter, two very talented and invaluable 
             communicators, who understood the job was not simply to 
             respond to media requests but to proactively explain what 
             we were doing, what our purposes were, what our goals 
             were, and that the philosophical approach we were taking 
             happened to be to local and national media rather than 
             simply entertaining interview requests and those sorts of 
             things.
               On the State level, we were able to have Conaway Haskins 
             and Louise Ware. They set up the State administrative 
             structure. We were constantly able to listen and respond 
             to the needs and opinions of people throughout this 
             extraordinarily complex demographic jurisdiction that is 
             the Commonwealth of Virginia.
               Sometimes we forget about what happens on these phones 
             in our offices when we are off in our meetings. The people 
             who have run our phones and have done our casework at 
             times have astounded me. We go back to the votes on health 
             care reform. We know all the debates that were going on 
             here. We took a count in our office, and we received--just 
             in our office--226,000 pieces of advice just on health 
             care reform; in fact, a total of 300,000 pieces of 
             communication on that debate of which approximately 50.1 
             percent of the people who called in to us may have been 
             happy with the eventual vote that I took. I could walk out 
             of the office when that was going on and I could see the 
             young people on those phones and see how battered they 
             often were, from the advice which, quite frankly, wasn't 
             always pleasantly given.
               With respect to casework, I had the great pleasure and 
             unique experience when I was 25 years old, on the 
             Secretary of the Navy's staff, of how to do casework. It 
             opened my eyes to how many people there are in this 
             country who simply don't know how to open the door to get 
             their needs solved by the government that has set its 
             requirements on them. I did this for John Chafee when he 
             was Secretary of the Navy, and I did it for John Warner 
             when he was Secretary of the Navy. I strongly emphasized 
             to the people who handled our casework what an important 
             job it was they were doing.
               In the time we have been in the Senate, our staff has 
             resolved more than 40,000 personal cases. More than 40,000 
             people who had not known, in many cases, even how to 
             approach their government have received personal 
             assistance that has helped them solve other problems in 
             their lives. In fact, Andrea Trotter, JoAnn Pulliam, Debra 
             Lawson, Gwen Sigda, and Debby Burroughs are on our staff, 
             and each one of them resolved more than 3,000 cases during 
             the time I have been in the Senate.
               On legislative and political issues I would say that 
             before I came to the Senate, I made promises on the 
             campaign trail and we kept those promises. The greatest 
             achievements, in my view, during this term were made right 
             out of our office, not because we were responding to the 
             suggestions of some committee work or from the executive 
             branch saying they wanted something, but because we 
             continually made suggestions to those committees and to 
             the executive branch about what we thought needed to be 
             done.
               My first day in office I introduced a new GI bill. I had 
             talked about it for years. The logic was very simple. 
             These people who had been serving since 9/11 deserved the 
             same chance at a first class future as those who had 
             served during World War II. Within 16 months, with the 
             strong support, by the way, of Leader Reid, we were able 
             to pass this legislation, the most important piece of 
             veterans legislation since World War II.
               Most of that effort, again, came directly out of our 
             office from the work of people on our personal staff, led 
             by Mike Sozan, who at that time was our legislative 
             director and has since moved on to be the chief of staff 
             for Senator Mark Udall.
               We said during my campaign and after I got here that the 
             United States desperately needs to reform its criminal 
             justice system. We have 5 percent of the world's 
             population and 25 percent of the world's prison 
             population. If we ask the average American, two-thirds of 
             them will tell us they feel less safe in their own 
             community than they did a year ago. It is not a political 
             issue. To me, it has always been a personal issue, a 
             leadership issue. I was warned when I first started 
             raising this issue in Virginia 7 years ago that this could 
             actually kill my political campaign. It didn't. People 
             responded.
               Since I was not on the Judiciary Committee, we worked on 
             this legislation to create a national commission to 
             examine all the aspects of the criminal justice system, 
             and we did it right out of our office, with Doug Ierley 
             being the point person for the entire country to get this 
             debate going in a way that it hadn't been debated before. 
             We met in our own office with more than 100 different 
             organizations in our conference room. We had a bill a 
             little more than a year ago that reached the floor of this 
             Senate.
               I would ask the Presiding Officer or any of my other 
             colleagues when is the last time they have seen a criminal 
             justice bill endorsed by--I have two pages of 
             organizational endorsements--the National Sheriffs' 
             Association, the Marijuana Project, the Fraternal Order of 
             Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 
             the ACLU, and the Sentencing Project. We got a buy-in from 
             across the philosophical spectrum for a mere $14 million 
             commission where we could receive the advice from the 
             experts in this country on an issue that we have not 
             received their advice on since the 1960s.
               One of the great disappointments of my time here has 
             been the fact that this simple, sensible piece of 
             legislation was filibustered. We got 57 votes on it. For 
             some reason, the people on the other side of the aisle 
             decided this shouldn't happen. We did get four votes from 
             the other side of the aisle. Even the National Review, 
             which is one of the most conservative magazines in the 
             country, said filibustering this piece of legislation was 
             ``insane.''
               I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record at 
             this time the endorsers of that legislation for the 
             historical record.
               There being no objection, the material was ordered to be 
             printed in the Record, as follows:
                          Criminal Justice Bill Endorsements
               Innocence Project; National Sheriffs' Association; 
             NAACP; ACLU; Fraternal Order of Police; American Bar 
             Association; International Association of Chiefs of 
             Police; Sentencing Project; Families Against Mandatory 
             Minimums; National Association of VOCA Assistance 
             Administrators; American Probation and Parole Association; 
             National Association of Evangelicals; American Society of 
             Victimology; Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance; 
             International Community Corrections Association; 
             International Organization for Victim Assistance; Mothers 
             Against Drunk Driving (MADD); National Association of 
             Crime Victim Compensation Boards; National Center for 
             Victims of Crime; National Children's Alliance.
               National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center; 
             National Organization for Victim Assistance; The Renee 
             Olubunmi Rondeau Peace Foundation; Legal Action Center; 
             Correctional Education Association; Middle Atlantic States 
             Correctional Association; Mennonite Central Committee; 
             Safer Foundation; Just Detention International; Justice 
             Policy Institute; Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; 
             Union for Reform Judaism; Lawyers' Committee for Civil 
             Rights; Church of Scientology; United Methodist Church, 
             General Board of Church and Society; American Humanist 
             Association; National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of 
             the Good Shepherd; Healing Communities Prison Ministry and 
             Prisoner Reentry Project; Marijuana Policy Project; 
             Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE).
               National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws; 
             Corporation for Supportive Housing; National Employment 
             Law Project; United Church of Christ/Justice and Witness 
             Ministries; National African American Drug Policy 
             Coalition, Inc.; American Probation and Parole 
             Association; Women of Reform Judaism; Students for 
             Sensible Drug Policy; The Fortune Society; Black Law 
             Enforcement in America; Therapeutic Communities of 
             America; National Treatment Accountability for Safer 
             Communities; National Association of Criminal Defense 
             Lawyers; The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human 
             Rights; National Association of Social Workers; NETWORK--A 
             National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Community Action 
             Partnership; Safe Streets Arts Foundation; November 
             Coalition; TASH--Equity, Opportunity and Inclusion for 
             People with Disabilities; Drug Policy Alliance; National 
             Council of La Raza; National Alliance of Faith and 
             Justice; the Episcopal Church; National Gay and Lesbian 
             Task Force Action Fund.

               Mr. WEBB. We have had a lot of discussion over the last 
             6 years about the so-called pivot to Asia. I will say as 
             someone who has spent a great deal of time in and out of 
             east Asia that this pivot was heavily influenced by the 
             actions, again, taken directly out of our office. We 
             looked for people to come and work with us who had 
             expertise and the intellect to work not only on the Hill, 
             not only with Members of Congress, and not only with the 
             State Department, but with our embassies around the world, 
             with foreign leaders, with validators, to take a different 
             approach and to refocus the energy of the United States on 
             this most vital part of the world. David Bonine, Marta 
             McLellan Ross, Gordon Peterson, and Philip Brady were 
             among them.
               Our many visits to this part of the world sometimes 
             included five countries in 2 weeks, traveling solely via 
             commercial air rather than with military codel support, 
             and included repeated meetings with the top leadership of 
             countries such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, 
             Singapore, Indonesia, and Burma, all of which represent 
             the future of the United States in terms of trade, 
             security, and cultural growth in the coming decades.
               With respect to Burma, it was a great moment for me to 
             be able to sit down with and see Aung San Suu Kyi, 
             recognized by the Congress a month or so ago, coming to 
             this country as an elected member of their Parliament. We 
             began the change in that relationship directly from our 
             office based on work I had begun and become interested in 
             over a period of 6 years before I was elected to the 
             Senate.
               I am very proud to say we laid the groundwork for a 
             historic visit in 2009 from inside our office--often, I 
             would say, against the will and against the advice of our 
             own State Department. We used validators. We talked to 
             people we knew in the region. I became the only American 
             leader ever to meet with General Than Shwe, the leader of 
             the military junta, to express my belief that we could 
             work forward and have a different relationship. We met 
             with Aung San Suu Kyi. I hope those who had some doubts 
             about the wisdom of opening this relationship now can see 
             the benefits as we are seeing the political situation 
             beginning to truly change in Burma.
               We worked heavily with Japan. This is a critical yet 
             often overlooked relationship. It involved an effort to 
             resolve basing issues on Okinawa that don't always get the 
             attention they deserve in the Congress but have at times 
             absolutely paralyzed the political debate inside Japan. 
             Ironically, I first began working on these issues as a 
             military planner in 1974 after I left the Marine Corps and 
             was in law school. Our staff has met--and I have been a 
             part of most of these meetings--with more than 70 
             delegations from Japan, in our office, organized and 
             conducted by our staff.
               In Korea, we led an effort to bring Democratic Senators 
             on board to support the critical free-trade agreement that 
             is so important not only to our bilateral relations but to 
             the signals of the United States in that part of the 
             world, and we began what I believe is something of a 
             pioneering effort to get Korea and Japan to come together 
             at the table to realize their common security interests.
               As to Vietnam, I have visited and worked inside Vietnam 
             for 18 out of the last 21 years in addition to having 
             served there as a marine.
               I fought in Vietnam because I believed in the importance 
             of that country to our relationships in Asia. I have spent 
             a great deal of energy for more than 30 years now in an 
             effort to heal the final wound of that war, which is the 
             relationship between our Vietnamese community here in the 
             United States and the government inside Vietnam.
               We have worked in Thailand, Singapore, and Laos. I was 
             the first American Senator to visit Laos in 7 years, the 
             first Member of Congress to visit Cambodia in 2 years when 
             we visited Indonesia. We worked hard on the sovereignty 
             and maritime issues in the South China Sea. We initiated 
             and sponsored two important Senate resolutions regarding 
             China's recent aggression in the South China Sea. Again, 
             we initiated this from the staff members in our office.
               I could go on. Let me just say that the other areas--
             important areas--that our staff has worked on in the past 
             6 years include our pioneering work in economic fairness, 
             the need for stronger programs in the area of adult 
             education, the efforts from inside our office to encourage 
             a full spectrum of energy development, the preservation of 
             Civil War battlefields, and the vital need to rebalance 
             the constitutional relationship between the Congress and 
             the Presidency, which I have pursued in both 
             administrations that have been in office while I have been 
             a Member of the U.S. Senate.
               Mr. President, at this point, because I really will not 
             have time to list all of the contributions by my staff 
             members, I ask unanimous consent that the names and the 
             positions of my staff members be printed in the Record.
               There being no objection, the material was ordered to be 
             printed in the Record, as follows:

               Kathryn M. Wilmoth, Administrative Director; Arthur B. 
             Scott, Assistant to the Chief of Staff; Colin MacDermott, 
             Assistant to the Chief of the Staff; Will Jenkins, 
             Communications Director; Heather Fluit, Communications 
             Director; Jessica A. Smith, Communications Director; 
             Rafael Anderson, Constituent Correspondence Manager; Verna 
             (Tina) Graham, Danville Caseworker; Lisa Marie Stark, 
             Director of Scheduling; Melissa Bruns, Director of 
             Scheduling; Carolyn D. Walser, Executive Assistant; Nadia 
             S. Naviwala, Legislative Aide; Ann M. Vallandingham, 
             Legislative Assistant on Veterans Affairs; Doug Ierley, 
             Legislative Assistant and Counsel on Economic Issues; 
             Gordon I. Peterson, Legislative Assistant for Defense; Ali 
             Nouri, Legislative Assistant for Energy; Trent D. 
             Bauserman, Legislative Assistant for Energy and 
             Environment; Juliet M. Beyler, Legislative Assistant for 
             Veterans Affairs; Courtney L. Weaver, Legislative 
             Assistant on Energy; Trevor L. Dean, Legislative Assistant 
             on Environment-Transportation; Marta McLellan Ross, 
             Legislative Assistant on Foreign Relations; Jennifer Park 
             Stout, Legislative Assistant on Foreign Relations; William 
             Edwards, Legislative Assistant on Veterans Affairs; 
             Maribel Ramos, Legislative Assistant on Women's Issues, 
             Indian Affairs, Immigration; Patrick Day, Legislative 
             Correspondent; Amy E. Hensley, Legislative Correspondent; 
             Ashleigh Owens, Legislative Correspondent; Jacob E. 
             Terrell, Legislative Correspondent.
               Jacqueline R. Ball, Legislative Correspondent; Jennifer 
             Ann Bryant, Legislative Correspondent; John L. (Luke) 
             Principato, Legislative Correspondent; Kyle Grantier, 
             Legislative Correspondent; Nathan D. Buniva, Legislative 
             Correspondent; Olivia N. Marshall, Legislative 
             Correspondent; Sara Brown, Legislative Correspondent; Will 
             Rosenthal, Legislative Correspondent; Nelson M. Jones III, 
             Legislative Director and Counsel on Judiciary; David N. 
             Bonine, Legislative Director; Michael L. Sozan, 
             Legislative Director; Regan Gwyn Dutton, Norton Caseworker 
             Director; Gwen Sidga, NOVA Casework Director; Matthew 
             Scott Lucas, NOVA Caseworker; Barrett Kinsella, NOVA 
             Caseworker; Kali A. Matalon, NOVA Caseworker; Tuy Q. Le, 
             Outreach Staff; Anne Elizabeth Hughes, Press Assistant; S. 
             Logan Gibson, Press Assistant; Allison H. Jaslow, Press 
             Secretary; Kimberly Hunter, Press Secretary; A. Nicholas 
             Cohen, Richmond Caseworker; Hope L. Elliott-Murphy, 
             Richmond Caseworker; Justin Jennings, Richmond Caseworker.
               Joann B. Pulliam, Richmond Deputy State Director; 
             Deborah R. Burroughs, Richmond Director of Casework; 
             Conaway B. Haskins III, Richmond State Office Director; 
             Louise F. Ware, Richmond State Office Director; Linda C. 
             Williams, Richmond State Office Manager; Frederick W. 
             Hutchins, Jr., Roanoke Caseworker; Brittany A. Brown, 
             Scheduler; Jessica VandenBerg, Staff Assistant; Martin 
             Mash, Special Projects Manager; Cody Huffman, Staff 
             Assistant; Erin Raymond, Staff Assistant; Gregory Willett, 
             Staff Assistant; Hope W. Hurley, Staff Assistant; Jada 
             Greenhowe, Staff Assistant; Jonathan Shields, Staff 
             Assistant; Kevin Franklin, Staff Assistant; Liza Bray, 
             Staff Assistant; Mary E. Humphreys, Staff Assistant; 
             Russell M. Rivers, Staff Assistant; Sarah Broadwater, 
             Staff Assistant; Daniel L. Gonzales, Systems 
             Administrator; Joe G. Gallo, Systems Administrator; Andrea 
             R. Trotter, Virginia Beach Caseworker; Charles F. Stanton, 
             Virginia Beach Caseworker; Emily V. Mazich, Virginia Beach 
             Caseworker; Jeanne S. Evans, Virginia Beach Field 
             Representative; Joel R. Alvarenga, Staff Assistant; 
             Michael (Mack) McGarvey, Legislative Assistant on Veterans 
             Affairs; Amy Reiter, Strategic Planning Coordinator; 
             Phillip F. Thompson, Executive Assistant; Debra T. Lawson, 
             Roanoke Casework Director; Evan Chapman, Staff Assistant; 
             Michael Mazzuto, Staff Assistant; Steven D. Le, Staff 
             Assistant; Darryl Holt, Richmond Caseworker; Kimberly A. 
             Hunter, Press Secretary; Philip O. Brady, Counselor.

               Mr. WEBB. So to my staff, a heartfelt thanks, and to 
             each of those who have served with us, I say again, thank 
             you for your contributions to our staff and, most 
             important, to our country. I say also again that I will 
             continue to expect great things from you in the future. 
             You are my legacy. Never forget that the people you might 
             have the honor of leading as you move forward in your 
             careers, wherever you end up, will someday become your 
             legacy.
               I yield the floor.
?

                                           

                                      TRIBUTES

                                         TO

                                      JIM WEBB
                              Proceedings in the Senate
                                             Thursday, December 6, 2012
               Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I want to first, of course, 
             commend the Senator from Virginia for his great leadership 
             here in the Senate on a whole range of issues. He has 
             served with great distinction here, and it has been an 
             honor for me to serve with him. So I congratulate him on 
             the various issues he discussed [in his farewell address] 
             and the various issues he has worked on. I have had the 
             good fortune to work and support his efforts on many of 
             those issues.

               Mr. REID. Mr. President, I wish to say a few words about 
             my friend and colleague, Senator Jim Webb. He has made a 
             decision not to run for reelection which, for me, is very 
             sad, and it is truly not a good deal for the State of 
             Virginia or our country. Jim Webb has served one term in 
             the Senate. He accomplished more in that one term than 
             most do in a lifetime. I repeat, I am very sorry to see 
             him leave.
               Jim is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a highly 
             decorated marine. He was an infantry officer and served 
             with distinction in Vietnam, and that is an 
             understatement. He did serve with distinction. He earned a 
             Navy Cross, which is the second highest decoration in the 
             Navy and Marine Corps. He got that for heroism in Vietnam. 
             He was awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two 
             Purple Hearts.
               He, of course, wanted to be in the military all of his 
             life, but when he returned from Vietnam he could not do it 
             anymore. His injuries from the war prevented him from 
             doing that. He attended Georgetown Law School where he 
             graduated with distinction, served 4 years with President 
             Reagan as Assistant Secretary of Defense and Secretary of 
             the Navy. He was the first Naval Academy graduate to serve 
             as the civilian head of the Navy. He is also an author, 
             having written nine books, a filmmaker, and a screen 
             writer. He even won an Emmy.
               Long after Jim Webb left the Marine Corps, and despite 
             his many civilian accomplishments, he remains a marine at 
             heart. He is a marine through and through. He learned the 
             tradition of service at home, although home changed often 
             with his father's duty station. Jim's father was an 
             officer in the U.S. Air Force and a pilot during World War 
             II.
               Jim's son, Jimmy Webb, a marine who served in Iraq, 
             continued that tradition of service. Although Jim Webb was 
             a vocal opponent of the Iraq war, he was incredibly proud 
             of his son's service as a soldier in battle-torn Iraq. 
             Every day of his 2006 campaign, Jim Webb wore his son's 
             combat boots. It was a tribute not only to Jimmy, his boy, 
             but to all people who have been sent into harm's way, he 
             said.
               I met Jim Webb in my office not far from here as a 
             result of Senator Bob Kerrey asking me if I would spend 
             some time with him. I was happy to do so. I will never 
             forget that meeting, just the three of us in the room. 
             Those of us who worked with Bob Kerrey know he is and was 
             such a vibrant person. He was almost mischievous, I guess 
             you could put it that way. You could just tell he had a 
             little touch of differentness.
               When he brought Jim in to visit with me I learned very 
             quickly they were both warriors--Bob Kerrey, a Navy Seal, 
             recipient of the Medal of Honor, and Jim Webb, as we said, 
             Navy Cross, a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, both veterans 
             of the Vietnam war.
               As we sat talking, it was obvious they were both 
             fighters, warriors. Jim certainly proved that in his 2006 
             campaign. The reason Bob wanted me to visit with him is 
             because Jim Webb had decided he wanted to run for the 
             Senate. What did I think of it?
               I probably told Jim what a lot of people told him: ``You 
             want to run for the Senate? The election is right upon 
             us.''
               He said, ``I want to do that.''
               Not many believed he had any chance of winning. He 
             believed he could, Bob Kerrey believed he could, and he 
             ran because he wanted to and, boy, did he run hard.
               For me, though, it did not settle in my mind until the 
             night before the election. There was an event in 
             Alexandria, VA. It was a cold November night. I stood with 
             Jim on that stage. I realized then that he could win. 
             People were lined up for blocks. ``Lined up'' was the 
             wrong word--people covered blocks. Every open space as far 
             as you could see was filled with people.
               President Clinton was there. I was there. They didn't 
             come to see me, of course. They didn't come to see 
             President Clinton, they came to see Jim Webb because he 
             was doing the impossible. He had captivated the voters. He 
             was unafraid. He spoke his mind. And what a smart man.
               I marvel at the intelligence of Jim Webb, his ability to 
             learn and to express his ideas. As I said, he captivated 
             the voters. That is really why he won the race that he 
             should not have been able to win.
               Once he was elected, he was a marvel to watch. He 
             believed he could change the world. He did change several 
             corners of the world. Let me give one example. He was a 
             new Senator and he came to me and said, ``I have an 
             idea.'' Jim Webb is not a person who just focuses on an 
             idea and walks away from it. When Jim Webb came to see me, 
             he had the legislation he had drafted. It was not sent to 
             some bill drafter to have him look it over, he drafted the 
             legislation himself. What did he want to do? He wanted to 
             introduce a post-9/11 GI bill of rights. What he wanted to 
             do was expand educational benefits for military families, 
             and he brought our commitment to our veterans to the 
             standard enjoyed by World War II veterans. And he was just 
             a freshman Senator.
               After spending about an hour with him with facts and 
             figures and the actual legislation, I said, ``Sign me up. 
             I will do whatever I can to help you with it.''
               A brand-new Senator passed this major piece of 
             legislation. He built a coalition of veterans and 
             Democratic and Republican Senators to fight for this 
             legislation. Since this legislation became law in 2008, 
             more than 750,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and 
             Afghanistan and their families have used the program to 
             access the education they deserve.
               Jim, who speaks Vietnamese, has also helped shape our 
             country's foreign policy in other places. He played a key 
             role in Burma where he secured the rights of democracy 
             activists such as Aung San Suu Kyi, who came to visit us a 
             month or so ago.
               Jim Webb is a unique individual in so many different 
             ways. He has visited many of the places where the battles 
             were fought in World War II. He went to those islands and 
             spent time walking to see what the veterans had gone 
             through in a war prior to the one in which he was 
             involved. He actually did that. It was physically hard, 
             but he wanted to do that and he did it on his own.
               Robert Kennedy said:

               Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but 
             each of us can work to change a small portion of events, 
             and in the total of all those acts will be written the 
             history of this generation.

               Jim Webb should be proud of his part--it was not a small 
             part--in writing the history of his generation. He did it 
             in the battlefields in Vietnam. He did it in the Pentagon. 
             He did it here in the Senate.
               I do not know what is ahead for Jim Webb, but we have 
             not heard the last of him. He has a wonderful, beautiful 
             wife and wonderful children. He left his mark on the 
             Senate and he will never be forgotten, even though he 
             served here only one term. I am really sorry his Senate 
             career was not longer, but I am gratified it was so 
             productive.
               I congratulate Jim Webb and express on this Record how 
             much I admire him and what a strength he has been to me. 
             He was a strength to me on the health care bill. He has 
             given me wonderful information on immigration--which I 
             have spent a lot of time on. I have read some of his 
             books. I have not read them all but I read a couple of 
             them. He is somebody I will miss very much and I will 
             always consider Jim Webb somebody who made me a better 
             person.
                                             Tuesday, December 11, 2012
               Mr. REID. Mr. President, I would note the Acting 
             President pro tempore [Jim Webb] today. I had the good 
             fortune of being able to come to the floor last week to 
             talk about the Acting President pro tempore's tenure in 
             the Senate--some 6 years--and I talked about some of the 
             many accomplishments he had in that relatively short 
             period of time, as we call Senate time.
               But I am reminded again of the Senator from Virginia, 
             having spent an hour on Friday with Bob Kerrey. Bob Kerrey 
             and I reflected back on his experience here in the Senate, 
             and one memorable meeting he and I had. The purpose of 
             that meeting was for Bob Kerrey to introduce me to Senator 
             Webb. It was a wonderful meeting because when the meeting 
             finished--and I won't go into the details of everything I 
             said, but the Senator from Virginia knows--I came out of 
             that meeting recognizing what kindred spirits these two 
             gallant warriors were and are, both having been highly 
             decorated, one in the Navy, the other a marine; one with a 
             Medal of Honor, the other--the Acting President pro 
             tempore--the Navy Cross, Silver Star, more than one Bronze 
             Star for Valor, and a number of Purple Hearts.
               So I say again, but I can't say it too much, what an 
             honor and pleasure it has been to serve in this body with 
             the Senator from Virginia, Jim Webb. I have learned so 
             much about what a difference a positive attitude will 
             make. There is no better example of that than the new GI 
             bill of rights. To think a new Senator--a brand-new 
             Senator--would have the idea, the confidence that he could 
             do this; not only the confidence that this bill is 
             important, but he wrote it himself. The Acting President 
             pro tempore wrote that bill himself. He didn't go to bill 
             drafters, as most of us do, he wrote it himself and 
             proceeded to get it passed. So this is a man I will miss a 
             whole lot.

               Mr. DURBIN. To the Presiding Officer [Mr. Webb]--I said 
             a few words on the floor before--we thank you for your 
             service. You did an extraordinary job here. There aren't 
             many one-termers who make a mark in the Senate and on the 
             Nation. You did it.
               I can remember--I thought it was a little bold of you, 
             maybe even more--when you came in and said, ``I want to 
             rewrite the GI bill,'' and you did it, and it was 
             exceptional. You have helped thousands of men and women 
             who have served in our military come back to America and 
             be welcomed and be productive parts of our future.
               In so many ways, I wish to thank Senator Jim Webb, our 
             Presiding Officer, for being an important and viable part 
             of the Senate. I know you will continue to serve our 
             Nation in many different capacities in the future, and I 
             am sure they will be equally exceptional.
                                           Wednesday, December 12, 2012
               Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I rise to comment about 
             some wonderful men in the Senate who are retiring on both 
             sides of the aisle. Earlier today I spoke about my deep 
             affection and sorry-to-see-go friends Olympia Snowe and 
             Kay Bailey Hutchison, but I want to rise as the dean of 
             the women in the Senate to say some very special words 
             about very special men on both sides of the aisle. Because 
             when I came to the Senate, it was only Nancy Kassebaum and 
             me, and yet we worked on so many issues together. There 
             are really wonderful men here who supported me, supported 
             our issues, but really stood up for those States and their 
             communities. ...
               Senator Jim Webb, the Senate's own marine and former 
             Secretary of the Navy, I have known him for more than 20 
             years, since he was Secretary of the Navy under Ronald 
             Reagan. In the beginning we fought on many issues, 
             particularly gender equality. When Senator Webb was the 
             new Secretary of the Navy and I was a new Senator, we had 
             a different view on where women should be in the military, 
             and we duked it out. But you know what? Over the years we 
             came to know each other, respect each other, and 
             appreciate each other's views. I so appreciate the fact 
             that he is an unabashed, unrelenting fierce fighter for 
             our men and women in uniform, fighting for them when they 
             are on the frontlines and when they return to the 
             homefront.
               I am so proud of the fact that I could vote for the 21st 
             century GI bill for those serving in the military, to make 
             sure that when they are on the frontline, they get the 
             education here so they will not be on the unemployment 
             line. His bill was the most significant legislation for 
             veterans since World War II. So I say to Senator Webb, 
             semper fi, and God bless you. ...
               I wanted to be sure that the day would not end without 
             my acknowledging these wonderful people who have given a 
             big part of their lives to making this country a better 
             place. I want to, in the most heartfelt way--I am so sorry 
             we did not have a bipartisan dinner or party to be able to 
             express this. I would have liked to have been in the same 
             room, breaking bread with them, in order to be able to 
             tell them how much we appreciate them, across party lines, 
             across those lines that ordinarily divide us. They came 
             from different parts of the country, they arrived in the 
             Senate with different objectives, they will leave under 
             different circumstances. But I want to again let them know 
             that each and every one of them had a positive impact on 
             me and I think a wonderful impact on the future of this 
             country. So I wish them well. God bless and Godspeed.
                                            Thursday, December 13, 2012
               Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I am proud today to honor my 
             colleague from Virginia, Jim Webb. In just 6 years in the 
             Senate, he has proven himself to be an agile and 
             independent thinker on both military matters and issues of 
             economic fairness, as well as a tireless advocate for 
             veterans. His candid and moderate voice in the Senate will 
             be sorely missed.
               Jim Webb has spent an impressive career working in 
             public service and on behalf of our veterans and active 
             troops overseas. The importance of discipline and service 
             to country was instilled in him as a young boy, as he 
             moved with his father, a career Air Force officer, to 
             various Air Force bases across the country. A graduate of 
             the U.S. Naval Academy, Senator Webb served as the 
             Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs under 
             President Reagan, as well as the U.S. Secretary of the 
             Navy, before coming to the Senate in 2007.
               Senator Webb demonstrated his unwavering commitment to 
             our troops and veterans on his very first day in the 
             Senate when he introduced the post-9/11 GI bill of rights. 
             He won passage for this important piece of legislation, 
             the most comprehensive GI bill since World War II, in only 
             his 2d year as a Senator--a remarkable feat. Since its 
             passage, thousands of post-9/11 veterans have applied to 
             use their GI bill benefits. The GI bill has been 
             instrumental in providing a great opportunity and a 
             demonstration of gratitude for our troops as they separate 
             from service.
               I personally had the privilege of working closely with 
             Senator Webb on a bill that aims to preserve the valor of 
             our decorated military heroes. I was proud to join him in 
             introducing the Military Service Integrity Act, which 
             creates criminal penalties for individuals who lie about 
             receiving military medals for personal gain. On behalf of 
             the nearly 60,000 veterans in North Dakota and all of our 
             active troops, it was an honor to work with him on this 
             legislation in ensuring that the integrity of our Nation's 
             military awards are not belittled by those attempting to 
             seek a profit.
               Apart from his dedication to our military heroes, I also 
             respect Senator Webb for his commitment to fiscal 
             responsibility. Together with Senator McCaskill, he formed 
             the U.S. Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and 
             Afghanistan to analyze the efficacy and expenditures of 
             Federal contractors abroad. When the findings of the 
             commission were published, he subsequently introduced 
             comprehensive reform legislation to address the failures 
             and mismanagement of overseas contractors. As chairman of 
             the Senate Budget Committee, I deeply respect his 
             initiative and commitment to eliminating any waste, fraud, 
             or abuse in our national security operations.
               It is a deep loss for the Senate to be losing such a 
             candid and independent voice. Senator Webb has set an 
             extraordinary example of discipline, initiative, and 
             candor in his work on behalf of working-class Americans 
             and military families. I thank Senator Webb for his career 
             of service in the Senate and the armed services and wish 
             him all the best.
                                            Thursday, December 20, 2012
               Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, in these final days of the 
             112th Congress, the Senate is bidding farewell to a very 
             special member, the junior Senator from Virginia, Senator 
             Jim Webb.
               He came to this body with unique and extraordinary 
             credentials: a graduate of the Naval Academy and first in 
             his class of 243 at the Marine Corps Officer School at 
             Quantico, a much-decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam 
             war, and Secretary of the Navy during the Reagan 
             administration.
               I would point out one more of his sterling credentials. 
             I guess I can say this now, because he is retiring, and a 
             political opponent will not use it against him: Jim Webb 
             is an intellectual with a passion for ideas and knowledge. 
             For goodness sake, he writes books, excellent books, the 
             kind that win glowing reviews in the New York Times, and 
             get turned into documentaries on the Smithsonian Channel.
               Senator Webb has put this past experience to superb use 
             here in the Senate as an active member of the Committee on 
             Armed Services, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and 
             the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
               To his great credit, before coming to the Senate, he was 
             an outspoken critic of the invasion of Iraq, warning that 
             it would be a unilateral war with no exit strategy. After 
             the invasion, he was equally outspoken in challenging the 
             Bush administration's conduct of that war.
               At the same time, as a member of the Committee on 
             Veterans' Affairs, he worked hard to pass legislation to 
             provide enhanced education benefits for veterans, a 21st 
             century GI bill, for those who have served in the military 
             since the attacks of 9/11.
               I admire Jim Webb as a friend and colleague. I have the 
             greatest respect for his lifelong commitment to protecting 
             America's national security, and fighting for economic and 
             social justice here at home. There is no question in my 
             mind that Jim will find other avenues for public service 
             in the years ahead. I certainly wish Jim and Hong Le all 
             the best in the years ahead.

               Mr. REED. Madam President, at this time, I wish to take 
             a few minutes to salute my colleagues who are retiring at 
             the end of this year with the conclusion of the 112th 
             Congress: Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Jeff Bingaman of New 
             Mexico, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Kent Conrad of North 
             Dakota, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Kay Bailey Hutchison 
             of Texas, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Jon Kyl of Arizona, 
             Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Richard Lugar of Indiana, 
             Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Jim 
             Webb of Virginia. They have all worked ceaselessly to give 
             their constituents the best representation and give the 
             country the benefit of their views, their wisdom, and 
             their experience. They are men and women who are committed 
             to the Nation, and they have every day in different ways 
             contributed to this Senate and to our great country.
               I wish to thank them personally for their service, and, 
             in so many cases, their personal kindness to me; for 
             listening to my points and for, together, hopefully, 
             serving this Senate and this Nation in a more positive and 
             progressive way.
               In particular, let me say a few words about some of the 
             Members with whom I have had the privilege to work more 
             closely. ...
               Jim Webb, a decorated combat veteran, is someone whose 
             love for this Nation was manifested very early, as he led 
             marines in combat in Vietnam. His extraordinary courage is 
             only matched by his quiet demeanor and his calm sense of 
             confidence that project outward in every different 
             capacity.
               Of course, he has taken it upon himself to make sure we 
             do not forget our veterans. He was the architect of the 
             post-9/11 GI bill and, in doing so, he has enriched the 
             lives of so many who were willing to risk their lives for 
             this Nation. I, again, salute him for all he has done. ...
               I could go on with all of my colleagues, just thanking 
             them for their friendship, for their camaraderie, and for 
             their commitment to the Nation and the Senate. As they 
             depart, they have left an extraordinary legacy. Now it is 
             our responsibility to carry on in so many different ways, 
             and I hope we measure up to what they have done. If we do, 
             then we can go forward confidently.
               With that, I yield the floor.

               Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, Jim Webb has served our Nation 
             in ways that few Americans can match. He is a decorated 
             combat veteran of the Vietnam war, where he was awarded 
             the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, two Bronze Star Medals, 
             and two Purple Hearts. His experiences in Vietnam helped 
             him shape a series of novels for which he has received 
             justified critical praise and which helped readers 
             understand the experience of war and those who fight it. 
             He served as the first Assistant Secretary of Defense for 
             Reserve Affairs, and later as Secretary of the Navy. He 
             won enormous praise for his TV coverage of the Marine 
             mission to Beirut in the 1980s, and later for Born 
             Fighting, a history of Scots-Irish immigrants to America.
               For the last 6 years he has been serving his Nation in 
             the capacity we in the Senate have seen first hand, as 
             U.S. Senator from Virginia. It has been my privilege to 
             serve with him on the Armed Services Committee, and as 
             chairman, I have benefited greatly from his intelligence, 
             his experience, and his dedication to the men and women 
             who wear the uniform of our military. Let me reflect on a 
             few of the ways in which I have seen up close Senator 
             Webb's dedication to service.
               Senator Webb is rightly recognized for his work on 
             national security, but that has not been his only concern 
             in the Senate. He has been a welcome voice here on issues 
             of economic fairness. Soon after his election to the 
             Senate, he wrote in the Wall Street Journal of an urgent 
             need to address growing economic inequality. He wrote:

               [T]he current economic divisions in society are harmful 
             to our future. It should be the first order of business 
             for the new Congress to begin addressing these divisions, 
             and to work to bring true fairness back to economic life.

               He has acted on those words, fighting for a tax system 
             that is more equitable to working families; for trade 
             policies that recognize not just the benefits, but the 
             costs, of free trade; and for education policies that give 
             all Americans, including those already in the workforce, 
             the skills and opportunities to prosper.
               An issue on which I have been able to work closely with 
             Senator Webb is the posture of U.S. military forces in the 
             Asia-Pacific region and, in particular, the plan to 
             realign Marine forces in the Pacific. I traveled with him 
             to Okinawa and Guam, and even the island of Tinian, and 
             saw first hand his extraordinary knowledge and 
             understanding of the issues. I have benefited greatly, as 
             I know Senator McCain has, from his insights on this 
             complex and difficult issue, which involves pressing 
             strategic issues, enormous budget pressures, and the 
             concerns of our close ally Japan. Senator Webb's hard work 
             on this issue has helped resolve the impasse that was 
             blocking progress on the plan to move some of the marines 
             off of Okinawa and move us closer to an achievable, 
             affordable plan for Marine realignment that will benefit 
             the people of Japan and the United States while better 
             serving our national strategic and security interests in 
             this important region.
               What is perhaps most notable about Senator Webb's 
             service in the Senate is the way that he has joined three 
             of his concerns--America's national security, the need for 
             greater economic fairness, and his affection for the men 
             and women of our military.
               This is perhaps best expressed by the post-9/11 GI bill, 
             legislation he introduced on his first day in office, and 
             whose passage he pursued with great determination. When 
             signed into law in 2008, the post-9/11 GI bill provided 
             the largest expansion of educational benefits for veterans 
             since World War II. Just as the original GI bill honored 
             the service of World War II veterans and helped pave the 
             way for millions of servicemembers to earn college 
             degrees, so, too, has Senator Webb's legislation honored 
             the generation that has served in Iraq and Afghanistan and 
             elsewhere. The impact of this legislation--in improving 
             the lives of our veterans and in its benefits for our 
             Nation as a whole--will be large and long lasting.
               Senator Webb has been a tireless advocate for the men 
             and women of our military, in particular for our junior 
             enlisted troops. As chairman of the Subcommittee on 
             Personnel, he has fought for adequate pay and benefits, 
             and against the unscrupulous who would seek to profit by 
             taking advantage of these young men and women. Senator 
             Webb speaks eloquently of the great strains of more than a 
             decade of high operational tempo on these men and women 
             and their families, and of the ``moral contract'' between 
             our Nation and the troops who defend us. He speaks as the 
             descendant of veterans, as a veteran himself, and as the 
             father, father-in-law, and brother of veterans. The 
             Senate, and the Nation, have been better off the last 6 
             years having that voice in the Senate. I have been 
             grateful for his counsel, and I am sorry we soon will no 
             longer have the benefit of his service on the Armed 
             Services Committee or in the Senate. Even though we will 
             miss him, I have no doubt Jim Webb's service to our Nation 
             will long continue, and I wish him every success.

               Mr. COONS. ... There are so many other Senators I want 
             to speak about today [besides Daniel Inouye], but let me 
             turn to a few, if I might, and give some insight for the 
             folks who only see Members of this Chamber on cable TV 
             shows or in the give-and-take of election season or who 
             only know them as the cutout and caricatures that the 
             public thinks of as Senators. If there is a common thread 
             between them, it is that they share that loyalty, work 
             ethic, and humility that so characterized Senator Inouye 
             in his decades here. ...
               Serving with Senator Jim Webb of Virginia has been an 
             honor. He, too, is a member of the Foreign Relations 
             Committee. As a retiring colleague, he knows there are 
             things in this world and in our lives more important than 
             our politics. He was a decorated marine, a celebrated 
             author, a former Secretary of the Navy, and now a 
             respected Senator. His tireless work has helped to make 
             the world safer, our veterans stronger, and our criminal 
             justice system more fair. I will truly miss his company. 
             ...
               So here we are, 5 days before my family celebrates 
             Christmas and 12 days before the new year and the 
             beginning of the so-called fiscal cliff. Our politics have 
             paralyzed this Chamber and this town. But what the example 
             of all of these remarkable Senators has shown us, what it 
             has taught me is that we can still be better than our 
             politics.
               The humanity of this place, too often shoved aside by 
             the politics of the moment, shows us that we can do 
             better. One by one, these Senators, in delivering their 
             farewell addresses to this Chamber, stood at their desks 
             and each in turn urged us to find a way to return to the 
             days when Senators knew each other and worked together. 
             What will it take to get us to that point again--a 
             horrific tragedy in an elementary school, a dangerous 
             economic cliff, some devastating attack, a cyberassault on 
             America?
               Our retiring colleagues are each telling us, each in 
             turn, that it is not too late to restore the humanity of 
             this Chamber and make a positive difference in the lives 
             of all we serve. Will we heed their call? I hope and pray 
             we will because we can do better. We must do better. In 
             the spirit of each of these departing colleagues, I will 
             do my level best. I hope we all can commit to doing the 
             same.
               Thank you, and I yield the floor.
                                              Friday, December 21, 2012
               Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, as we have all learned, it 
             doesn't always take a lifetime of service to make a 
             difference, especially here in the Senate. Jim Webb is one 
             of those unique individuals who had an impact here 
             although he only served for one term before deciding to 
             retire. I know I will miss him and his great support for 
             our Nation's military and his heartfelt concern for our 
             Nation's veterans.
               As I have had the opportunity to come to know Jim a 
             little better, it is clear that he is a man of strong 
             convictions. As we say in the West, he is someone who 
             means what he says and says what he means. He walks his 
             talk.
               When he first arrived in Washington he made it clear he 
             wasn't going to be someone who could be taken for granted, 
             especially when it came to those things in which he 
             strongly believed. He put his home State of Virginia first 
             and he was going to work hard to ensure that the concerns 
             of the people back home were heard--and heard clearly--
             whenever an issue was taken up that was going to have an 
             impact on them.
               A Vietnam veteran himself, he had a great interest in 
             national security issues. His determination to make a 
             difference in that area became clear right from the start. 
             Serving on the Veterans' Affairs Committee he worked hard 
             to ensure that our veterans were able to access the 
             benefits they had earned with their service.
               Jim is a good writer and he has several books to his 
             credit. They have received a great deal of notice, and one 
             of his stories has been made into a movie.
               I know I join with many of my colleagues in wishing him 
             all the best as he returns to Virginia. I don't know what 
             his next great adventure will be, but I do know his skills 
             and talents will provide him with a number of 
             opportunities to choose from in which he can continue to 
             play an active part in his State.
               Thank you, Jim, for your willingness to serve--not only 
             here in the Senate but in our Nation's military. The 
             recognition you earned with your efforts will continue to 
             inspire others. Because of you our Nation's veterans have 
             had a champion in committee and a warrior on the Senate 
             floor who did everything you possibly could to ensure our 
             veterans would never have to settle for anything less than 
             the best. They have earned that and so much more with 
             their service, their many sacrifices on our behalf, and 
             their unsurpassed love for our country.
                                            Thursday, December 27, 2012
               Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, although he has served just 
             one term in the U.S. Senate, retiring Senator Jim Webb is 
             no stranger to public service. A highly decorated combat 
             veteran of Vietnam, Jim Webb's prior public service as an 
             Assistant Secretary of Defense and a former Secretary of 
             the Navy uniquely suited him as a fierce defender of our 
             troops serving overseas, and when they come back home.
               Senator Webb has been a positive force on a number of 
             issues, and particularly through his roles on the Foreign 
             Relations Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the 
             Veterans' Affairs Committee. His commitment to our 
             Nations' veterans and to supporting and strengthening our 
             military has been a cornerstone of his Senate career.
               I worked with Senator Webb on a number of issues in the 
             last 6 years, especially on prison reform and the criminal 
             justice commission. His initiative is something the Senate 
             and our judicial system should follow and set as a guide.
               Senator Webb brought a unique perspective to the Senate 
             based on his years of dedicated public service. He has 
             been a powerful advocate for military and veterans' issues 
             and criminal justice reform, all while promoting 
             Virginia's best interests. I wish him and his family the 
             very best in the future.
                                              Friday, December 28, 2012
               Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I would like to pay tribute 
             to the Senators who will not be returning when the 113th 
             Congress commences next month. I have already spoken about 
             Senator Kyl and about Senator Inouye, one of the truly 
             great Americans and giants of this institution. At the 
             time of his death, Senator Inouye was just a few weeks 
             short of celebrating 50 years of Senate service. Only 
             Senator Byrd served in this institution longer.
               Turnover is a natural occurrence, but it's important to 
             acknowledge that the Senators who are departing have 
             served in the Senate for a combined total of 237 years, or 
             nearly 20 years per Senator, on average. Add Senator 
             Inouye, and the total is close to 300 years. That service 
             represents an enormous amount of expertise on issues 
             ranging from national defense and foreign affairs to the 
             Federal budget to energy policy. The departing Senators 
             will also take with them vast institutional knowledge and 
             bipartisan friendships and working relationships that will 
             leave a void we will need to fill. ...
               Mr. President, Senator James Webb is a highly decorated 
             combat veteran of the Vietnam war, the first Naval Academy 
             graduate to serve as a civilian Secretary of the Navy, 
             lawyer, and accomplished author. Senator Webb grew up in a 
             military family and noted in his 2004 book, Born Fighting: 
             How the Scots-Irish Shaped America, that his ancestors 
             fought in every major American war. Senator Webb's father, 
             a career officer in the U.S. Air Force, flew B-17s and B-
             29s during World War II, and dropped cargo during the 
             Berlin Airlift. After Senator Webb graduated from 
             Annapolis, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 
             the U.S. Marine Corps. As a first lieutenant during the 
             Vietnam war he served as a platoon commander with Delta 
             Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines. He earned a Navy 
             Cross, the second highest decoration in the Navy and 
             Marine Corps for heroism in Vietnam. He also earned the 
             Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts. 
             Senator Webb's son Jimmy has continued the Webb family's 
             long, proud record of military service to our Nation as a 
             rifleman and Marine Corps sergeant, serving a tour of duty 
             in Iraq with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion 6th Marines.
               Senator Webb has served just one term but he has made it 
             a productive one, passing the 21st century GI bill to 
             provide the same educational benefits to post-9/11 
             veterans that the World War II Greatest Generation 
             received. He introduced the bill his first day in office, 
             and saw it enacted into law. Thousands of veterans have 
             since received educational benefits through the program. 
             What a wonderful legacy for Senator Webb to have.
               Senator Webb also dedicated his time in office to 
             refocusing and rebalancing our relationships in East Asia. 
             He has long argued that getting mired in Iraq and 
             Afghanistan was a strategic mistake, and that our long-
             term interests lie with Asia. As chair of the Senate 
             Foreign Relations East Asia Subcommittee, he visited 
             nearly every country in the region, focusing particularly 
             on the countries of mainland Southeast Asia and our treaty 
             allies. His 2009 trip to Burma was the first by a U.S. 
             leader in 10 years; the visit is widely credited as the 
             beginning of efforts to change our relationship with that 
             country. Senator Webb remains the only U.S. leader to have 
             met with General Than Shwe, the former junta leader, and 
             he also met with Aung San Suu Kyi while she was under 
             house arrest. Senator Webb has worked continuously to 
             resolve the basing issues with our main ally in the 
             region, Japan, and to help pass a trade agreement with 
             South Korea.
               A hallmark of Senator Webb's lifelong service to our 
             Nation is his willingness to tackle the tough, unglamorous 
             issues. Here in the Senate, he led an effort to reform our 
             criminal justice system, introducing legislation to 
             establish a commission of experts to review the entire 
             spectrum of the American criminal justice system from drug 
             laws to sentencing, prison conditions, recidivism, and 
             judicial reform.
               Mr. President, these men and women who will be leaving 
             the Senate soon have made extraordinary sacrifices to 
             serve our Nation. We are fortunate that they have chosen 
             to spend significant parts of their lives in public 
             service. All Americans owe them a debt of gratitude. Those 
             of us who will be in the Senate next month when the 113th 
             Congress convenes can best honor the legacy of our 
             departing colleagues by reaching across the aisle as they 
             have done so many times to forge bipartisan consensus and 
             solutions to our Nation's most vexing problems. The men 
             and women who will be leaving the Senate at the end of 
             this Congress understand that compromise isn't a dirty 
             word; it is the genius at the heart of our political 
             system. We will miss them.
                                              Monday, December 31, 2012
               Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I wish to recognize my 
             colleague Jim Webb for his distinguished service and 
             leadership on behalf of our country and the people of 
             Virginia.
               I will always have a special place in my heart for Jim 
             Webb, and that is because he and I were members of the 
             same incoming class of Senators back in 2007. We ran for 
             the Senate at the same time in 2006, and to this day I 
             will never forget how he wore his son's old combat boots 
             on the campaign trail. Day in and day out, no matter where 
             he went, no matter what the weather, Jim was walking tall 
             in those boots.
               Since his very first days in office, Jim has been a 
             tireless champion for our men and women in uniform. On day 
             one, he introduced a 21st century GI bill to deliver the 
             most comprehensive educational benefits since World War 
             II. It led to legislation that was eventually signed into 
             law, and it has made it possible for thousands of post-9/
             11 troops and veterans to afford a college education.
               While Jim is best known for his leadership on defense 
             and military issues, he has also earned a reputation for 
             being a problem solver who takes a commonsense, bipartisan 
             approach to legislating. Time and again, Jim has reached 
             across the aisle to put politics aside and get things done 
             for the good of the country. He has been a clear and 
             consistent voice for energy independence and a stalwart 
             advocate for policies that benefit the middle class. As a 
             former prosecutor, I have greatly admired his work to 
             improve our criminal justice system from top to bottom--
             not just by strengthening law enforcement, but by 
             addressing systemic challenges of reentry and recidivism.
               Jim, it would be impossible to do full justice to your 
             legacy in a single statement. So instead allow me to end 
             by saying this: The Commonwealth of Virginia is better 
             because of your leadership, and so is our country.
               You will be missed in the Senate, but given everything 
             you accomplished before you were elected--as Secretary of 
             the Navy, as an Emmy award-winning journalist, as the 
             author of nine books--I'm confident you will find some way 
             to occupy your time in retirement. I know you will 
             continue to find ways to improve our great country and 
             give back to the State you love so much. Thank you, 
             Senator Webb. I wish you the best.
                                             Thursday, February 7, 2013
                            ORDER FOR PRINTING OF TRIBUTES
               Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
             there be printed as a Senate document a compilation of 
             materials from the Congressional Record in tribute to the 
             retiring Members of the 112th Congress.

               The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so 
             ordered.
