[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 55 (Monday, May 8, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S3575]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN MEMORY OF MIKE EPSTEIN

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Madam President, first I want colleagues to know, and 
of course this is for Democrats and Republicans, and with Mike it is 
for staff and support staff and just about everybody who works here, 
pages and others, there will be a service for Mike in the Mansfield 
Room. It will be at 3 tomorrow. That is room S-207.
  Many Senators came to the floor and spoke about Mike last week, on 
Thursday. It was wonderful. I thank you. About 70 people came to our 
office and did videos. All of this was sent to his family. Mike heard 
it. It was read to Mike. It meant a great deal to him. Letters have 
come in. It has really been wonderful to recognize such a great, great 
person.
  Mike passed away on Saturday. We had a very small service for him 
today. He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery. Rabbi David 
Saperstein was there, Mike's family was there, and a few friends of 
many years were there. Then tomorrow we will have a service here. I 
look forward to that because it is wonderful, I say as a friend of 
Mike, the unbelievable impact he made.
  I could go on forever. I will not because if I try to, the truth is I 
probably will not be able to go on at all. I just would not be able to 
do it here on the floor. I will say one unimportant thing because it is 
about me, and then I will say one important thing, and then I will be 
finished.
  The unimportant thing is in some ways I will just be lost without 
him. It is not like Mike was my assistant; it was like he was my 
teacher. But I will talk to him every day.
  The second thing I want to say, which is much more important, is if I 
had to summarize a life, I would say the reason there has been such an 
outpouring of love is because Mike loved his family; he loved his work. 
And do you know what else? This is the best thing of all. He really 
loved and believed in public service. He loved his country. He was just 
steady. It was just who he was. He never changed.
  The world is going to miss him. The Senate is going to miss him. Most 
important of all, his family is going to miss him. Sheila and I are 
going to miss him.
  Evan Bayh, who went through a real tragedy in his own family and lost 
his mother at an early age, was kind enough, last week, to say to me: 
Paul, it's not how long you live your life; it's how you live your 
life.
  I think Mike is one of the five greatest individuals I have ever met 
in my life. He lived a wonderful life.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. Madam President, I know all of us share in Senator 
Wellstone's grief. I know I have lost, in the past, one of my chief 
staff persons. You never know how important they are until they are not 
with you. I know the Senator's chief of staff was an outstanding person 
whom we all appreciated for his ability.
  I am sure I speak for all Members on this side of the aisle: We share 
in the Senator's grief. We want him to know that.
  I yield to Senator Kennedy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, first of all, we all reach out again to 
Mike's family. I think all of us in the Senate, just a few days ago, 
were very grateful of our good friend and colleague, Senator Wellstone, 
for giving us the opportunity to add a word to the comments on the 
extraordinary life of Mike Epstein.
  As Paul--Senator Wellstone--had pointed out last week, the hours were 
passing along and there was very little time left. But I think the 
challenge for all of us is to live a productive and useful life. That 
is the criterion the great philosophers have defined as the purpose in 
life, and Mike lived that. We all are the beneficiaries of it.
  Our hearts reach out to Paul at this time, and to all the members of 
the family. I think Mike would feel right at home here this afternoon, 
where we are debating the education act. He had strong views about 
these issues, as well as many others.
  He made life better for people in this country. We will think of him 
during the course of this debate, too.
  I thank the Chair.

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