[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 140 (Thursday, October 8, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S11960]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO SENATOR DAN COATS

  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I also wish to pay my compliments and 
accolades to Senator Dan Coats of Indiana. I have had the pleasure of 
knowing Dan Coats. He actually was elected to the House of 
Representatives in 1980, the same year I was elected to serve in the 
U.S. Senate. He had something unusual happen.
  When Dan Quayle was selected as Vice President and elected in 1988, 
Dan Coats was appointed to take his place in 1988.
  That almost sounds like it was easy, but it turned out he had to run 
for reelection in 1990; and he won. But that was only for a partial 
term, and so he also had to run for reelection in 1992. So he had the 
unenviable task of having really challenging races both in 1990 and in 
1992 for the U.S. Senate. He won both, and deservedly so, because he 
has been an outstanding U.S. Senator.
  I remember Dan Quayle telling me, ``You're really going to like Dan 
Coats.'' Dan Quayle and I were good friends. And Dan Coats and I have 
become very good friends. And he was exactly right. Dan Coats and his 
wife, Marcia, his family, are not only good friends of our family, but 
I would say anybody serving in this body--anybody--whether they be on 
the House side or the Senate side, cannot help but like Dan and Marcia 
Coats. They are a couple--they are a couple--in the greatest tradition 
of the Senate.
  His wife Marcia has been active in the Senate wives' groups and 
active with the prayer groups that many of our wives are involved with. 
They go to functions together. They are athletically involved. They 
both play tennis. They both play golf. They both have a good time. They 
keep their priorities straight. They both have a very strong belief in 
God and in their families, and work comes down somewhere below that.
  He has done an outstanding job as a Senator for the great State of 
Indiana. I would say he has done an outstanding job as a Senator for 
all of us in America, whether it be his work on the Armed Services 
Committee, whether it be his tireless efforts on welfare reform in the 
Labor Committee, his efforts to try to reduce poverty, his efforts to 
alleviate suffering amongst kids.
  Many of our colleagues are not aware of it, but he is national 
president of the Big Brothers program, which could probably be a full-
time job for anybody, but he is able to do that. He has been a Big 
Brother. He actually was a Big Brother in a town for a youngster who 
did not have a dad, did not have a mentor. Dan Coats became his 
mentor--as a matter of fact, became his best man at his wedding.
  What a great compliment for an individual who, of course, had 
unlimited demands on his time, was willing to take time out and serve 
as a Big Brother to a youngster who did not have a dad, and he did it 
for years. Ultimately this young man became quite a success, a success 
in his own right, and I think in large part because of the time and 
attention and love that Dan Coats gave to him. He selected Dan Coats as 
his best man at his wedding, which is quite a compliment.
  Dan Coats was recently selected as Christian Statesman of the Year by 
a national organization. They had a big banquet honoring him, and it 
was well deserved. I have the pleasure of knowing Dan Coats in many 
respects. His belief in God, it is sincere, it is real. He is the 
embodiment of a Christian statesman. And so that award was well 
deserved.
  He has been leader, as many of us know, of the Senate Prayer 
Breakfast that we have ongoing in the Senate that goes back for years 
and years. He has been chairman or president of that group for us for 
the last year or so and has done a good job--done an outstanding job in 
every respect.
  So he is absolutely a dear friend, and I hate to see him leave the 
Senate. He has served now in the Senate since 1988, so only for 10 
years. But he also served 8 years in the House, and before that he 
served a couple years in the Army. So he has given a lot of years in 
public service, and he deserves, I guess, a chance to do something 
else.
  But I am confident--absolutely confident--that whatever he does will 
be a great service to this country. He has been a real blessing to this 
body. He and his wife have been a real blessing to this country. And it 
is with great regret that I see Dan Coats join the group of retiring 
Senators. But I do wish every best wish to him and his family, and I 
compliment them for their outstanding service to their State, to their 
country, to God, and to their family.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________