[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 11, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6057-S6058]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          A LEGISLATIVE GIANT

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from New Mexico. On 
behalf of the people of Ohio, I join all my colleagues in paying 
tribute to a legislative giant who left the stage of the U.S. Senate 
just a few moments ago.

[[Page S6058]]

  The Bob Dole America saw earlier today is a person we all in the 
Senate know: A man of character, a man of integrity and a man of utter 
devotion to the future of this country.
  It is strange in politics, it is really an oddity in politics that a 
person's public image sometimes differs from his or her true qualities. 
That sometimes is the case with Bob Dole.
  I have watched some of his press conferences earlier in the campaign 
and particularly read some of the earlier stories and newspaper 
articles about him. When I did that, I realized there was something 
missing, that this really was not the Bob Dole that I have seen for the 
last 18 months.
  The Bob Dole that I have seen was the real Bob Dole, the individual, 
the leader, the war hero, the consensus builder and a man of enormous 
compassion. In listening to his speech earlier today on this floor, I 
did see those qualities clearly on public display, as did the American 
people. This is Bob Dole, many times a man of few words, but a man who 
shows tremendous character and leadership in his actions.
  Upon joining the Senate a little over a year ago, I became a Bob Dole 
watcher. I had the opportunity as a Member of the House for 8 years to 
watch him from afar, but I have had the opportunity now for a little 
over a year to see him up close and watch how he operates and watch how 
he gets things done. I have seen him, as we all have, preside over four 
different meetings at once, moving from room to room to room and never 
lose track of what is going on.
  Bob Dole is someone who keeps in mind the big picture. I think the 
majority leader of the U.S. Senate always has to keep the big picture 
in mind. Yes, he has to understand details, he has to understand the 
nuances of legislation, how you get bills passed, but he also has to 
keep in mind the big picture: That you have to ultimately get the job 
done, that you ultimately have to get the bill passed, that you 
ultimately have to get things to happen.
  This is the Bob Dole I saw earlier today. Earlier today, Bob Dole 
told how he and Senator Moynihan and others made the last, brave 
attempt to reform Social Security in 1983, with the result that Social 
Security is safe for another generation.
  That leadership ability is still there. I had the opportunity to see 
that many, many times in the last year, year and a half, but my 
favorite example that I use to illustrate Bob Dole's leadership is the 
welfare reform bill that we passed. Unfortunately, the President 
ultimately vetoed the welfare bill, but the bill we passed in the 
Senate, Bob Dole was able to get 87 votes for.

  I do not think anyone in this Chamber, anyone in this country, none 
of the political experts a year ago, a year and a half ago, if we had 
been talking about welfare reform, would have thought Bob Dole could 
have brought a welfare reform bill to this Senate and could have gotten 
87 votes. What an achievement--what an achievement.
  Bob Dole was able to deal with the Governors, trying to put that 
together, certainly no easy task, and the Senate, equally difficult. 
And he put together a fair and balanced welfare reform measure. He was 
able to accomplish this amazing feat, because he never lost sight of 
the need to ultimately reform a system that has long failed the people 
it was intended to help.
  Mr. President, here is a man who is capable of making tough decisions 
and right decisions. As he pointed out in his speech earlier today, the 
Senate is not like the House of Representatives. The Senate leader has 
fewer tools to control the Senate than the House Speaker possesses in 
the House. The Senate leader rules--not rules--really leads by 
consensus. He cannot dictate, he must lead, and I have seen, as we all 
have in this Chamber, Bob Dole lead.
  I have been to more than one meeting with Senators, and Senators 
only, where a Senator complained that he or she had not been consulted 
on an issue or had some other complaint to the leader, Senator Dole, 
about how things were going, what he had done, not done. I had seen Bob 
Dole look at them, as only Bob Dole can, and say, ``Well, if you want 
someone else to lead, if you want someone else to be a leader, that's 
fine, but you elected me to lead. As long as I am the leader, I intend 
to do just that.'' And that was the end of the conversation. That is 
Bob Dole. That is leadership.
  But, Mr. President, my admiration for Bob Dole goes far beyond his 
ability as a majority leader. It is personal as well. Bob Dole has the 
insight born of someone who suffered an enormous and unexpected 
tragedy. He was a star athlete who went off to war and came back with 
crippling injuries. This is not campaign hype of anything. Senator Dole 
would rather downplay, and always has throughout his life, the 
struggles that he encountered when he came back and what he had to go 
through when he came back from World War II. He would rather downplay 
what he struggles with every day, since he was literally blown apart in 
World War II.
  We all expect in life to lose our parents, even a spouse. Certain 
things you expect to happen, but there are other defining tragedies 
that go beyond the normal course of events, that go beyond what we are 
taught to expect. I have thought about this often since suffering the 
loss of our daughter, Becky. I, too, am also very reticent to talk 
about such a deep and personal tragedy, but I cannot help but admire 
the way Bob Dole has worked through his own suffering. He understands 
daily pain, and I take great comfort from seeing this in him. He 
understands that life is not fair. Through dealing with pain, he has 
learned to understand himself, and these, Mr. President, are not bad 
qualities to have in a leader or in a President.
  The President who comes to mind who reminds me the most of Bob Dole 
in some ways is Franklin Roosevelt, who also faced physical disability 
with silent courage. Like Roosevelt, Bob Dole's identity and his 
understanding of life were forged by pain. When Senator Dole made the 
historic announcement last month that he would leave the Senate, the 
room was very crowded. It was so crowded that where I was, I could not 
see the expression on his face as he made the speech, but I could hear 
the emotion in his voice. Bob Dole has the two seemingly opposite 
qualities of toughness and compassion. He had to be tough to leave the 
Senate. Most people do not leave voluntarily after spending a lifetime 
to get here. But he showed his more emotional side, too, when he made 
his announcement. His voice quivered during his announcement, not an 
easy public display for him, and he was even more emotional when he 
broke up during an earlier private meeting with us.

  But as difficult as this decision was for him, I believe he will find 
it liberating to have left the Senate. I recall my own decision to make 
a second run for the Senate after losing the first time. I realized at 
that point that if I lost the second bid that my political career was 
over. If I lose this race, what happens? The same is now true for Bob 
Dole who said he has ``nowhere to go but the White House or home.''
  Bob Dole had fixed in his own mind that his time as majority leader 
had passed and that the time had come for another challenge. Once he 
made the mental leap from the Senate Chamber, it was time to act.
  This is the real Bob Dole. And as he said goodbye to us then and 
again today, his friends and coworkers, Bob Dole looked like a leader. 
He looked like a President.
  Mr. President, I, like the rest of my colleagues, will always 
remember the demeanor and courage of this great statesman as he said 
farewell to the U.S. Senate.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Thompson). The clerk will call the roll.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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