[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 11, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S5098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING SENATOR JOE BIDEN ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 10,000TH VOTE

 Mr. REID. Mr. President, two American soldiers have died in 
Kosovo, the first American casualties of a war to stop a genocide.
  The contrast between what is unfolding in the Balkans, and what is 
happening here in Congress, could not be more clear.
  A dictatorship, like the government of Slobodan Milosevic, imposes 
its will through force.
  A democracy expresses its will through the act of voting.
  Every vote that we cast in this body is an affirmation of the power 
of a democracy to solve its problems peacefully.
  Today, my colleague and good friend Joe Biden cast his 10,000 vote in 
this body. That number reflects a record of public service matched by 
very few even in an institution like this one, through which so many 
great men and women have passed.
  As Senators, we are all Members of a very exclusive club. We have 
been sent here on behalf of the good people of our respective States, 
to do their business.
  With his 10,000th vote, Joe Biden has joined an even more exclusive 
club.
  Over the history of this republic, thousands of men and women have 
served as Senators. But only a very few can say that they did such a 
good job--and kept doing a good job over such a long period of time--
that they lasted long enough to vote as many times, on as many 
different issues, as Joe Biden.
  But the thing that impresses me the most about Joe Biden's 27 years 
in the Senate isn't what he has done on the floor, or the number of 
votes he has cast--although his leadership, courage and dedication are 
well-known to those of us who are privileged to serve with him every 
day.
  Instead, what impresses me most is his role as a husband to his wife 
Jill, and father to his sons Beau and Hunter and his daughter Ashley.
  Joe Biden still lives in Delaware with his family and commutes every 
day between Delaware and Washington on the train.
  Those 10,000 votes represent thousands of hours spent alone on the 
train to Delaware so that Joe Biden could spend a few precious hours 
with his family each night before returning to Washington on the train 
the next morning.
  I also want to talk about the courage that my friend Joe Biden has 
shown during his long tenure as a Senator. I want to do this so that 
people know just what that number--10,000 votes--really means.
  Only one month after first being elected to the Senate in 1972, Joe's 
first wife Neilia died tragically in an automobile accident along with 
his one-year old daughter.
  In 1988, Joe was almost killed by a brain aneurysm. He under went two 
risky operations and returned to the Senate after only a few months.
  Mr. President, I speak of these tragedies today because I know that 
it has not been easy for Joe. But he has never complained--just done 
his work. Senator Biden is a great orator, but an even Better father, 
husband and friend.
  When you see what he has had to overcome, that gives a whole new 
meaning to that number 10,000.
  Those of us who work with Joe Biden have long known of his dedication 
to the ideals of this body, and his devotion to his family.
  With the attention that his 10,000th vote should bring, I hope that 
more people are able to see the qualities that we are privileged to see 
every day.

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