[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 141 (Thursday, October 3, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12261-S12262]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO SENATOR BILL COHEN

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute and bid a 
reluctant farewell to an outstanding leader, friend, colleague, and 
mentor--and an individual who has been a tremendous credit to this 
institution and to his home State--the senior Senator from Maine, Bill 
Cohen.
  The U.S. Senate is often referred to as the greatest deliberative 
body on earth, a reflection on the stature of its most outstanding 
individuals throughout our history. These leaders have all faced 
different challenges in different ages, but share the traits that bind 
men and women to greatness: courage, integrity, and a thoughtful 
approach to the issues of the day. They are people for whom public 
service is a calling, not a career; and a solemn trust not ever to be 
broken.
  Senator Bill Cohen is one of these people.
  Bill Cohen grew up in Bangor, ME, and would forever be instilled with 
the solid, common-sense, honest characteristics that are the hallmark 
of any good Mainer. From humble but hard-working roots, Bill Cohen 
would learn the values that have made him a great legislator, and a 
great leader.
  Mainers are a proud and independent people, who believe in thinking 
for themselves but also in helping each other. They understand that 
there are no free rides--no endless summers. For every action there is 
a consequence, and with every right comes a responsibility. People are 
expected to make the most of the opportunities they have, but also to 
make certain those opportunities exist for others. They insist that a 
person keep their promises and be true to their word. And they believe 
the ultimate measure of any man or woman is how close they remain to 
their principles precisely when it is most difficult to do so.
  It is against this backdrop that Bill Cohen started his political 
life, and he has carried these ideals with him throughout his tenure in 
the public arena. He entered politics knowing that he would have to 
make difficult decisions and willing to make them--but not knowing what 
or when. As it turned out, his moment would come very quickly.
  It became clear early on that Bill Cohen would follow in the 
tradition of great Maine leaders like Margaret Chase Smith and Edmund 
Muskie. Indeed, from his earliest days in Congress, Representative 
Cohen distinguished himself as an island of reason in a stormy sea of 
scandal. While America was suffering a crisis of confidence, Bill Cohen 
charted a course straight through the heart of the storm as a member of 
the House Judiciary Committee considering Articles of Impeachment 
against a President. Although just a freshman in the House, Bill was 
already a man of conscience and courage--someone who was willing to 
make the tough calls and risk his political future for the sake of 
truth and America's honor.
  One of our distinguished colleagues, Senator Robert Byrd, once said 
``What we really need is a constitutional amendment that says, `There 
shall be some spine in our national leaders' ''. I think Senator Byrd 
might agree that if we had more Bill Cohen's, we might not need such a 
measure.
  Maine and America have come to know that they can count on Bill Cohen 
to approach issues with thoughtfulness and reason, and I think that 
Senators on both sides of the aisle have a tremendous respect for his 
intellect and integrity.
  I think that is what Americans want in their leaders. Bill Cohen not 
only listens to his constituents, but has the capacity to put the day's 
problems and events into historical perspective. He has the intellect, 
the integrity, and the strength to know the right thing to do--and the 
right way to do it.
  Bill Cohen does not rise and fall with the political tide, but at the 
same time he is very much aware of the issues and concerns swirling 
across America as well as the world. In much the spirit of lighthouse-
keepers of Maine's past, Bill Cohen has always stood strong in the face 
of the often turbulent seas of politics, ever watchful and every ready 
to guide us in the right direction.
  He has been a leader who believes it is his solemn responsibility not 
simply to echo public sentiment, but to deliberate upon the issues of 
the day and to add his own voice to the debate.

  In fact, in 1992 he admonished that ``Those of us in Congress must be 
willing to tell the American people what they need to know, not just 
what they want to hear.'' Otherwise, as he said just Friday in his 
eloquent farewell speech, ``You don't need me; you just need a 
computer. * * *
  It is that kind of powerful eloquence that has been such a persuasive 
voice for reason in this body. As we well know, Mr. President, Bill 
Cohen knows just the right thing to say for almost any occasion, and 
certainly has a gift for the language. Of course, it's not unusual 
people in our line of work to sprinkle their speeches with pithy little 
quotes from some famous writer. But let's be honest--most of these are 
usually stumbled upon by some clever speech writer leafing through 
``Bartlett's Famous Quotations.'' I mean, when was the last time you 
were actually gazing wistfully out the window, thinking, ``You know, 
right now I'm reminded of that line in `The Iliad'* * *.''
  Except for Bill. He really is sitting there, thinking about the cost 
of some arcane weapons system relative to gross national product and 
how it all reminds him of that line in ``The Iliad.''
  How many of us use timeless poetry and literature to inform our 
views? Even more remarkably, how many of us use our own poetry and 
writings?
  That is why those of us in this Chamber are well aware that Bill is 
about more than rollcall votes and unanimous-consent agreements. He is 
about the thoughtfulness and beauty of poetry; he is about 
contemplating our place in history; and he is about taking the time to 
really think about the world around us. He knows that what is really 
important--what is really lasting and worthy of our attention--is not

[[Page S12262]]

something that can be gleaned from a briefing book. It must come from, 
as Plato might have said, the examined life. For Senator Cohen, the 
examined life is the only life worth living, and this philosophy is 
reflected in his public service.
  Indeed, one might say that when it comes to values like honesty, 
integrity, and fairness, Bill Cohen helped write the book.
  In the Senate, Senator Cohen has been there to defend the 
defenseless. He has been a compassionate pragmatist who believes, as I 
do, that we can balance the budget and still have room for humanity. As 
Woodrow Wilson once said, ``The firm basis of government is justice not 
pity,'' and in that spirit Bill Cohen believes that we should help give 
people a hand up, not a hand out. And with boundless optimism and in 
the best Republican tradition, he believes in the power and potential 
of the individual. Bill said it best in a speech he gave on the Senate 
floor: ``Is there anything more un-American than to deny a human being 
the chance to be the best he or she can be?
  Indeed, there is a common thread that runs through Bill Cohen's 
career in government. In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote, 
``Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'' It is upon 
that fundamental principal that Senator Cohen has based his work, and 
the yardstick against which he measures our quality of life--and 
Government--in America.
  In a passionate speech he gave in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles 
riots, Bill was typically eloquent and straightforward when he said: 
``If we expect people to be guided by the rule of law and the hand of 
justice, then justice must be done. * * * We who hold positions of 
honor and responsibility as lawmakers have an absolute duty to see to 
it that laws we pass are carried out with fairness and with complete 
impartiality.''
  Senator Cohen has been a tireless champion for justice, whether for 
seniors, minorities, women, and even the U.S. Government. In fact, 
especially the U.S. Government. Bill believes in the system--and he 
does not take lightly to that system being tarnished by corruption, 
waste, or special privileges. He was there to champion lobbying reform; 
he was there to ensure that criminal wrongdoing by public servants 
would not be tolerated; and he was there to strengthen the code of 
ethics for all who are entrusted with the public good.
  Bill has also long been a respected and expert voice on intelligence 
and defense issues. As chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on 
Seapower and as former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, 
Bill's leadership role at a key time in history laid the groundwork for 
many of the successes we enjoy today--from keeping communism at bay, to 
helping bring about the end of the cold war.

  Throughout it all, the political battles, the tough votes, the late-
night sessions, Bill Cohen never forgot where he came from. Since 1969, 
when he was first elected to public office as the mayor of Bangor, ME 
people have put their trust in Bill Cohen. He has never failed that 
trust. He has never failed to honor us with his service and he has 
never failed to make us all proud to call him Senator. I have certainly 
been proud to call him Senator, even senior Senator, but I feel even 
more privileged to be able to call him my friend.
  Bill set the standard in modern Maine politics for all of us to 
follow. Indeed, if we ever had any hope of being successful, we had to 
follow it. And his advice and wise guidance over the years has been 
invaluable to me. I will forever appreciate the kindness he has shown. 
He has been a colleague, a mentor, and an inspiration, and I will miss 
him.
  Mr. President, as Senator Cohen is about to embark on an exciting and 
fulfilling new journey, I wish him nothing but the best. But know this: 
This institution, his State, and this country, will miss him dearly 
because he has been, as an editorial once said, ``as close to the ideal 
definition of a public servant as one can get.''

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