[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 34 (Thursday, March 23, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1692-S1693]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ALASKA'S MAN OF THE CENTURY

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure to acknowledge my 
good friend Senator Ted Stevens' special honor as Alaska's Man of the 
Century, which I understand will be awarded to him this Saturday in 
Anchorage.
  Speaking as a Senator from the State of West Virginia, it is a 
fitting tribute, I believe, for a man whose life has been devoted to 
Alaska since long before Alaska became a State.
  Calvin Coolidge once said:

       No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has 
     been the reward for what he gave.

  Calvin Coolidge was a man of few words.
  The Bible says:

       A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of 
     silver.

  Calvin Coolidge spoke words that were fitly stated. Senator Ted 
Stevens has given much to Alaska, and he has given much to the Nation. 
He has given much to the Senate. He served his nation in war as a pilot 
in the 14th Air Force in World War II. As chairman of the Defense 
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, which he also leads 
with great distinction, and as a cofounder of the Senate Arms Control 
Observer Group, Senator Stevens has continued to look after U.S. 
national security interests and the men and women who serve, as he did, 
in the uniform of her armed forces.
  Senator Ted Stevens has served his nation well in war, and he has 
served his nation well in peace, upholding the laws of the land as an 
attorney, as a U.S. attorney, and as a solicitor for the Department of 
the Interior. He has served in the executive branch of Government 
working as an assistant to the then Secretary of the Department of the 
Interior, Mr. Seaton, to create and pass legislation making Alaska the 
Nation's 49th State.
  I am proud to have voted to support the entry of both Alaska and 
Hawaii into the National Union. I am the only person on Capitol Hill 
who voted for statehood for both Alaska and Hawaii. I believe that is 
right. I was in the House when I voted for statehood for Alaska.
  Senator Stevens has been a leader in the legislative branch as a 
Senator from Alaska, looking out first, last, and always for the unique 
interests of his unique State, as well as for the interests of the 
Nation while serving as the assistant Senate Republican leader, serving 
as the Republican whip, and serving as chairman of the Appropriations 
Committee. His legislative accomplishments in behalf of Alaska are 
many--many--and they reflect the challenges of living, working, and 
traveling in a State that possesses half of the coastline of the United 
States, some of the most varied and spectacular terrain in the Nation, 
ranging from giant glaciers to volcanoes, and some of the most 
punishing weather, as well as some of the most delightful weather, on 
the planet.
  The old adage says that cream rises to the top, and it is safe to say 
then that Senator Stevens is the cream of the cream, the very best, for 
he has risen to the top of every profession, every endeavor, every 
challenge that he has ever tackled. His fellow Alaskans will add the 
cherry on top of the cream of the cream by recognizing his 
multitudinous accomplishments, his supreme dedication, and his deep 
passion for service when they bestow upon Senator Stevens the very 
distinct honor of naming a very special man, Senator Stevens, Alaska's 
Man of the Century.
  Now the century is not over yet. I hope the people of Alaska 
understand that. Our own people need to understand that as well. The 
century is not over yet, nor is the second millennium. It is still 
going on. The new millennium will begin next year, not this year, and 
the new century will begin next year, not this year. But this is the 
man, the Man of the Century for Alaska.
  Although he was not born in the earliest years of this century, his 
legacy for Alaska is more than enough to span the century and to reach 
into the next century as well.
  Senator Stevens is a worthy representative of his great State. He is 
the kind of Senator whom the framers of the Constitution had in mind 
when, on July 16, 1787, they reached the Great Compromise out of which 
came this, the greatest Senate of the world in all of the history of 
man.
  His sometimes fiery temper matches the fiery volcanoes that rim the 
Aleutians, while his dogged persistence mirrors the inexorable push of 
the icy glaciers of the frozen North. His understanding of the 
appropriations process is as thorough as an Alaskan snowfall, 
blanketing every nook, every cranny, every corner of the budget. But 
his warm and courteous consideration of his colleagues and his staff 
reflects the loyalty and the teamwork necessary to survive in the cold 
wastes of faraway Alaska.
  I know him to be a worthy competitor. I know him to be a loyal 
friend, a man of his word. What more can a man say? And only the Man of 
the Century could be like this man. He is an honest speaker of even the 
hardest and difficult truths, a man of surprising compassion and 
unexpected mirth. I am proud to see him honored. I wish I could be in 
Alaska when he is honored. I would like to just have a few minutes in 
Alaska to speak about this man to his own people. They know him best. 
The Bible says:

       A prophet is not without honour save in his own country, 
     and house.

  But you see how this man's own house, how his own country, how his 
own State, how his own constituents, how his own people who know him 
best, how they honor him. I am proud to see him honored. I hope he 
enjoys the good wishes and the attention that will be his on Saturday.
  Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said this:

       Through our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts 
     were touched with fire. It was given us to learn at the 
     outset that life is a profound and passionate thing. While we 
     were permitted to scorn nothing but indifference, and do not 
     pretend to undervalue the worldly rewards of ambition, we 
     have seen with our own eyes, beyond and above the gold 
     fields, the snowy heights of honor, and it is for us to bear 
     the report to those who come after us.
  Ted Stevens of Alaska surely has a heart touched early by the fire of 
public service. That flame has fueled his passion through a long and 
distinguished career which continues to burn brightly. But the report 
on Senator Stevens is already in. From his fellow Alaskans. And they 
view him admiringly. And in their eyes he has crowned the snowy heights 
of honor. And in my eyes he has also.

     ``How far away is the temple of fame?''
     Said a youth at the dawn of the day.
     He toiled and strove for a deathless name;
     The hours went by and the evening came,
     Leaving him old and feeble and lame,
     To plod on his cheerless way.

     ``How far away is the temple of good?''
     Said another youth at the dawn of the day,
     He toiled in the spirit of brotherhood,
     To help and succor as best he could.
     The poor and unfortunate multitude,
     In its hard and cheerless way.

     He was careless alike of praise or blame,
     But after his work was done,
     An angel of glory from heaven came
     To write on high his immortal name,
     And to proclaim the truth that the temple of fame
     And the temple of good are one.

     For this is the lesson that history
     Has taught since the world began;
     That those whose memories never die,

[[Page S1693]]

     But shine like stars in the human sky,
     And brighter glow as the years go by,
     Are the men who live for man.

  I did not write the poem, but I dedicate it to my good and dear 
friend, Alaska's Man of the Century, Ted Stevens.
  May God continue to bless him and his family always.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
  Mr. BYRD. Yes.
  Mr. STEVENS. I am once again humbled by the words of my good friend 
from West Virginia. There is no man, I think, in history who knows more 
about the Senate, and loves and serves it better, than the Senator from 
West Virginia. The honor to be here and serve with him is honor enough 
for this Senator.
  I am still humbled by the award I will receive on Saturday night. But 
I am warmed by the Senator's comments, and thank him for his comments 
about this honor I will receive.
  Believe me, I think if there is a Man of Two Centuries, it is the 
Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. BYRD. Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, with complete humility, may I ask to be 
associated with the remarks of the distinguished Senator from West 
Virginia on behalf of our colleague.
  I have had the privilege of serving both with the Senator from West 
Virginia and the Senator from Alaska. This is my 22nd or 23rd year, I 
think. I have lost count. But in those years, I have come to so respect 
both Senators. As we look at life in the Senate, there are no moments 
that are more cherished, no more well deserved than when a colleague 
rises at his or her own initiative to speak from the heart, as our 
distinguished Senator from West Virginia has done. He evoked the great 
quote from the Bible about the prophet without honor. But I would say 
to my friend from West Virginia, I have never thought of Senator 
Stevens--until this moment--as being a prophet, but I have always 
thought of him with honor.
  Although we are from the same side of the aisle, we have had very 
strong and vigorous debate in dissent, but I have never left the 
Chamber with less than the feeling that it has been a fair fight, and 
an honest fight, having even greater respect for our distinguished 
colleague.
  How richly he deserves this honor. Like you, I say to the Senator, I 
only wish I could be there. But we will be there in spirit.
  I thank my colleagues.
  Mr. BYRD. We will.
  I thank the Senator.

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