[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 26 (Thursday, March 1, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1727-S1728]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       COMMENDING SENATOR ENSIGN

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, for more than 30 years, Senator Richard 
Bryan and I served together in various public offices. We took the bar 
together. We became inseparable friends. We were known in Nevada--and 
are still known--as the ``Gold Dust Twins.'' So when Senator Bryan 
decided to retire, it was a tremendous personal blow to me. I really 
miss Richard.
  But in life you move on. I feel so fortunate to be able to serve with 
John Ensign. John and I have known each other for a long time. His 
family, prior to 1998, were some of my biggest supporters. In 1998, of 
course, we ran against each other. It was an extremely close race, one 
of the closest races in the history of the State of Nevada, and, of 
course, in the history of the country.
  It is easy to be gracious when you win; it is not so easy when you 
lose. It shows the goodness of a person as to how they are able to take 
defeat. John Ensign could write a book on how people who suffer 
adversity should react.
  Twenty-four years prior to that race between Reid and Ensign, I lost 
a very close race in the State of Nevada. I didn't handle it nearly as 
well as John Ensign handled his loss. I only wish I had handled the 
loss in 1974 the way John Ensign did in 1998. To his credit, not only 
did he handle it, as my father would say, ``as a man,'' he handled it 
extremely well. Not only that, he came back and 2 years later was 
elected to the Senate. One reason he was elected as easily as he was is 
how he handled the loss in 1998.
  I am happy to be on the floor today at the time of the maiden speech 
of the junior Senator from the State of Nevada. I am sure his parents 
were watching on C-SPAN, and I know how proud they are. His father is a 
very quiet man. He goes to very few public functions. When he does, he 
is easy to find because he is always back someplace, usually alone, 
watching his son. His mother is more in the mix of things, but I am 
sure they were watching this morning as their son delivered his first 
speech on the Senate floor. I am sure they are very proud of John, as 
they should be. He has been a real good son.
  He is well educated. He is a doctor of veterinary medicine. He is 
someone who has been a successful businessman, both in the veterinary 
field and also in the business field. More important than that, John 
Ensign has something his parents are more proud of than how he has 
succeeded in his professional public life. They are more proud of how 
he succeeded in his personal life. His wife Darlene and he have been 
extraordinary parents. I called John at home not long ago and Darlene 
took the phone. I said: Could I speak to John; what is he doing? She 
said: He is on the bed playing with the kids. That is what dads are 
supposed to be doing.
  Mr. President, Mayor LaGuardia in New York City started a saying that 
we all use now: There is no Democratic or Republican way of cleaning 
the streets. That is true. In that same vein, there is no Democratic or 
Republican way of handling the problems that come to us in the State of 
Nevada, as they come to people in the State of Virginia. There is no 
strictly Democratic or Republican way of fixing the problems in the 
State of Nevada.
  John Ensign and I know that. That is why as soon as the election was 
over this past November he and I got together and said that we were 
going to set an example for the people of the State of Nevada. Everyone 
knew of the friendship of Richard Bryan and Harry Reid, but people were 
doubtful how Harry Reid and John Ensign could represent the State of 
Nevada. Were we simply going to cancel each other's votes and be mean 
spirited about how we reacted to each other?
  We were not going to vote the same way all the time, but we decided 
we would be gentlemen in the way that we handled the problems of the 
people of the State of Nevada. We believed there was no reason we 
couldn't become friends, just as Harry Reid and Richard Bryan were 
friends. While we are only a few months into this relationship, we both 
feel very good about it. We are on the road to setting an example for 
having the best bipartisan relationship in the history of the State of 
Nevada. We are going to try to do that. We vow to work closely together 
to protect the interests of our home State and protect the interests of 
bipartisanship.
  We are here now. The Senate is 50/50. It is not going to stay that 
way. We don't know how much longer, whether the Democrats are going to 
control the Senate or the Republicans. Regardless of that, Ensign and 
Reid are going to work together and have a good bipartisan 
relationship.

  I ask unanimous consent to speak for 2 additional minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. REID. Today Senator Ensign in his maiden speech talked about 
substantive issues. These are substantive issues he has talked about 
for a number of years. He feels strongly about education and other 
matters. I am very proud of his first speech. I can remember my first 
Senate speech. Presiding over the Senate that day was Senator David 
Pryor of Arkansas. I gave a speech on the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights. 
That is now law. I was very fortunate the man that ran the subcommittee 
that had jurisdiction over this issue liked what I said. Chuck Grassley 
was listening. He was also interested in this issue. Immediately I got 
bipartisan support for the legislation, and it became law.
  I salute my friend John Ensign for his first speech. I look forward 
to many years of service to the State of Nevada by John Ensign. I look 
forward to many years of friendship between John Ensign and Harry Reid.
  Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 1 
minute.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, I say to my good friend from Nevada--I 
call him that, too--he has welcomed me to the Senate. He has shown me 
the ropes. As he discussed, we are going to work for the people of the 
State of Nevada because there are a lot of issues that affect our State 
that are very unique to it. They are not Republican or Democratic 
issues. We have agreed to disagree on issues that we feel strongly 
about that are national issues, and that is fine. We hope to also set 
an example for the rest of the Senate of how one can agree or not agree 
but not be disagreeable.
  I thank the senior Senator from Nevada. He is representing our State 
in the tremendous position he is in today. We in Nevada are all very 
proud of him. I thank Mr. Reid for attending my maiden speech on the 
floor. I look forward to many great years of working together.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, as

[[Page S1728]]

amended, the time until 11:17 shall be under the control of the Senator 
from Wyoming, Mr. Thomas.

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