[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 6 (Thursday, January 23, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S672-S673]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO SENATOR PAUL TSONGAS

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, this morning, several of our colleagues 
are traveling to Lowell, MA to say goodbye to one of our own, Senator 
Paul Tsongas. They carry with them the thoughts and prayers of every 
Senator.
  Whether or not we knew him personally, whether we served in this 
Chamber with him or came after him, we are all indebted to Paul Tsongas 
for the lessons he taught us in his too brief time here, and his too 
brief life.
  Paul Tsongas taught us important lessons about how to balance 
compassion and fiscal reality.
  He taught us, by example, how to reach beyond party labels to 
something bigger. He taught us about how to live with purpose. And, in 
the end, he taught us something about how to die with dignity.
  Paul Tsongas was the son of immigrants. His parents owned a dry-
cleaning shop in Lowell, MA. Paul Tsongas spent every afternoon and 
every Saturday working behind the counter in his family's business. It 
was there, he said, that he learned the dignity of work.
  Like many Americans of his generation, Paul Tsongas answered 
President Kennedy's call to join the Peace Corps. His experience in 
Ethiopia first sparked his interest in public service.
  He was elected to the House in 1974 and to the Senate in 1978. He was 
a young man when he came here, only 38 years old. His disciplined yet 
open mind and his capacity for original thought brought him deserved 
attention quickly.
  Paul Tsongas was a man of ideas and vision. He was a man of good 
humor who wasn't afraid to laugh at himself.
  In a town in which decibel levels are too often mistaken for 
conviction, Paul Tsongas stood out for his low-key, reasoned approach 
to lawmaking. It was an approach that served him--and our Nation--well. 
Senator Tsongas accomplished more in one term than many Senators who 
served here much longer.
  Paul Tsongas was 42 years old when he was diagnosed with lymphoma. He 
decided to step down after only one term in order to spend more time 
with his family--his wife, Niki, and their young daughters, Ashley, 
Katina, and Molly.
  Having lost his own mother when he was only 6, he knew how important 
it was that his own children know their father. You have to ``pour 
yourself into your children,'' he explained, ``so that when you're not 
around, you're still around.''
  Paul Tsongas won his battle against cancer. He came back to establish 
the Concord Coalition with another of our former colleagues, Senator 
Warren Rudman, and even to run for President in 1992.
  In a newspaper interview that year, he was asked why he would spend 
his time on a long-shot bid for the White House. He replied, ``I guess 
my answer is kind of syrupy. I survived, and there is an obligation 
that goes with that . . . I have an obligation to give something 
back.''
  Paul Tsongas was a man of unusual courage. He fought until the end--
even through pain and disappointment--to fulfill that obligation, to 
give something back. And, in the opinion of this Senator, he succeeded.
  Senator Tsongas's determination to tell the truth, even when it was 
not

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popular, earned him a nickname. Some called him ``St. Paul.'' Now St. 
Paul has gone on to meet St. Peter. And I suspect he is still working, 
trying to arrange some divine intervention to help us balance the 
budget.
  Years ago, when Paul Tsongas still sat in this Chamber, he spoke to a 
reporter about his hopes for his political career. He admitted that he 
might like to be President, if the opportunity were given to him.
  But, he said, ``if it turns out that my job in this business is to 
help provide direction--if that's what I end up being remembered for 
while someone else carries the ball--well, I could live with that. With 
a severe pang every once in a while, but I could live with that.''
  Paul Tsongas gave us a sense of direction. He lived with purpose and 
passion. And we will all miss him.
  Today, our thoughts and prayers go out to Senator Tsongas immediate 
family, to his twin sister, Thaleia Schlesinger and stepsister Victoria 
Peters, and to those who remember him as we remember him today. And we 
thank him for that.

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