[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 154 (Thursday, December 14, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11781-S11782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO SENATOR CHUCK ROBB

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to my colleague on 
the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, Senator Chuck Robb. As 
his career in the Senate comes to a close, Senator Robb leaves behind a 
career in public service that he and the Virginians he served so well 
should be proud of.
  Chuck Robb has served his nation as a United States Marine, as 
Lieutenant Governor and Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and 
for the last twelve years as a member of the United States Senate. 
Chuck Robb has been a public servant in the truest sense. He has always 
put the nation's interest first, and self-interest last.
  During the twelve years I have served with Senator Robb on the Armed 
Services Committee, he has proven himself to be a champion of a strong 
national defense, of the men and women who wear our nation's uniform, 
and of his fellow veterans.
  On the Armed Services Committee, he has been first and foremost a 
devoted advocate of a strong Navy-Marine Corps team. While Senator Robb 
has never been one to tout his own accomplishments, his pride in and 
love for the United States Marine Corps is one thing he has never been 
able to hide.
  Senator Robb has worked hard on military readiness, quality of life, 
and modernization. He sponsored the targeted recruiting and retention 
bonuses Congress enacted last year for critical skills where they would 
have the most payoff for the military. He was a leader in providing 
promised health care benefits to military retirees. He has worked hard 
to get the Navy to develop a long term plan to fund enough ships to 
maintain the Navy we need for the future, and on securing additional 
funds to keep the ships we have today ready. And he has been a leading 
proponent of making our defense budget as efficient as possible and has 
pushed the Defense Department to rigorously examine both their strategy 
and their organization.
  Chuck Robb has devoted enormous time and energy to America's national 
security. He is the only Senator ever to serve on the Armed Services, 
Intelligence, and Foreign Relations Committees simultaneously. On 
countless occasions we have benefitted from having his voice of reason 
and experience at the table.
  Chuck Robb has never forgotten America's POWs and MIAs and their 
families. Both as a member of the Armed Services Committee and the 
Select Committee on POW/MIA affairs, he has devoted himself to a full 
accounting for our soldiers who are still missing in action.
  While Senator Robb is best known as a champion of a strong national 
defense, he has been much more than that. During his Senate career he 
has worked hard to make America stronger in every way. Senator Robb has 
devoted himself to making the United States a more productive nation 
and, more importantly, a more just nation.
  Both as Governor and as a Senator, Chuck Robb has been a strong voice 
for protecting the environment, for civil rights, for improving 
education for both students and teachers, and for putting new 
technology to work for our students, our military, and our nation.
  Chuck Robb has been a leader in fighting discrimination against 
African American farmers, in expanding opportunities for women and 
minorities at both the federal and state government levels, and in 
honoring courageous civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King, 
Jr.
  He is also renowned for his steadfast devotion to fiscal discipline. 
Chuck Robb has never been afraid to cast an unpopular vote to restrain 
spending or reject unwise or unaffordable tax cuts. Senator Robb was 
steadfast in his belief that we have an obligation to pay for the 
programs we enact rather than

[[Page S11782]]

passing the costs on to our children. I hope he will take pride in he 
role he played during his twelve years in the Senate in turning record 
deficits into a record surplus.
  He displayed that same political courage on the Armed Services 
Committee. Representing a state with numerous military installations, 
Senator Robb has nevertheless joined with Senator McCain and me in our 
efforts to allow the Defense Department to close excess military bases, 
because he knows it is the sensible thing to do. In his four years as 
the Ranking Minority Member on the Readiness Subcommittee he has also 
been a strong advocate of our committee's policy of only funding those 
military construction projects that have the highest priority in the 
military's plans, even though that required him sometimes to say ``no'' 
to his colleagues.
  I shall miss Chuck Robb more than these words will be able to 
express. He has personally inspired and supported me as ranking member 
on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He's the kind of man you 
entrust your children to, or in combat would want to be in a fox hole 
with.
  The Senate and the Nation have benefitted from the example of public 
service he has set. He now has the chance to spend more time with his 
truly remarkable wife Lynda and their beloved children. We know how 
much that will mean to him as he takes on the next challenge in his 
remarkable career of public service.

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