[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 18, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7831-S7833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN MEMORY OF SENATOR PAUL COVERDELL

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I will take a few minutes to talk about Paul

[[Page S7832]]

Coverdell. There were a number of occasions in Washington, and once at 
the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, that someone walked up 
to me and said: Senator Coverdell.
  Now, I always pictured myself as more of a Robert Redford type--that 
is what I expect to see in the mirror, but it never turns out that way. 
Factually, I am not the Paul Coverdell type, not a real big bruiser of 
a person. I guess that is why, perhaps, Paul Coverdell and I got along 
so well. We were a lot alike. When we think of the great orators of the 
Senate, Daniel Webster and Everett Dirksen, we don't think of Paul 
Coverdell. But when we think of those Senators who were able to get 
things done, he was one of those. That is why when Senator Lott had a 
difficult legislative and dangerous assignment on the Senate floor, we 
would see Paul Coverdell.
  He was almost a shy man. He was not boisterous, loud, or aggressive 
in his actions, but he was effective in his actions. I spent lots of 
time on the Senate floor trying to work issues out with him. When we 
had the bankruptcy bill or the education bill, with scores of 
amendments, he and I would try to work through them, trying to move the 
legislation along.
  Paul and I worked on many difficult pieces of legislation together. 
We spent a lot of time trying to hammer out differences on bills. We 
rarely had differences. We were not as much interested in the substance 
as procedure, moving things along. We began negotiations knowing we 
were confident we could help move things along.
  Senator Coverdell believed we could civilly and respectfully discuss 
opposing points of view, which, after all, is what the Founding Fathers 
envisioned when they saw the Senate. Paul Coverdell was in the best 
tradition of the Senate, someone who believed in legislation, 
recognized that legislation was the art of compromise, legislation was 
consensus building. He was a very graceful man without being forceful. 
He was confident and determined without being obnoxious and 
condescending. Maybe that is because he knew what it was like to be in 
the minority, having been the Republican leader in Georgia when the 
Senate Republicans numbered 5 and the Democrats numbered 51.
  Senator Coverdell's evenhanded touch, no question, was the reason 
Senator Lott and Republican leadership depended on him time and time 
again to help them work their way out of difficult situations. The 
Democrats who knew Paul Coverdell best had the highest regard for him. 
I spent a lot of time with him. That is why I was flattered and honored 
when I received a call from Phil Gramm asking if I would be one of the 
Democratic Senators--there are two of us, Zell Miller and me--to meet 
with Phil Gramm and Senator DeWine to talk about things we could do to 
recognize the service of this very fine man.
  I was flattered and have appreciated being involved in the group. We 
have done some things to recognize Paul Coverdell: the Peace Corps 
building, a facility in Georgia. But those Democrats who have worked 
with Paul Coverdell on the State and Federal level know what a good 
person he was. Senator Zell Miller had so much confidence in Paul 
Coverdell's judgment that Paul Coverdell's chief of staff is Zell 
Miller's chief of staff.
  I miss Paul Coverdell. He wasn't somebody with whom I socialized. We 
didn't go out to ball games together or movies or dinner, but we spent 
a lot of time being Senators together. I will always remember the 
service of that shy, somewhat reserved man, the Senator from Georgia, 
Paul Coverdell.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be dispensed with.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor and celebrate the life 
of a dear friend, the late, able Senator Paul Coverdell of Georgia. I 
am pleased to see in the Chamber this morning his successor, an 
outstanding Senator, Zell Miller. I appreciate the courtesy that he 
would allow me to speak first this morning as we remember this dear 
friend. I thank Senator Miller and Senator Reid, Senator Gramm, and 
Senator DeWine who have been involved in trying to find a fitting 
tribute to the memory of this outstanding public servant.
  Just last night legislation was sent to the White House for the 
President's signature that will name the Peace Corps Headquarters the 
Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Headquarters. I know this and other 
efforts are being made both here and in Georgia to appropriately 
recognize the service that Paul rendered to his State and to our 
country, and to do it in a way that does not involve a scattergun 
approach but accomplishes that which would really mean an awful lot to 
Paul if he were here.
  The Senate still grieves and mourns the passing of one of its most 
talented Members. I certainly feel his absence every day. I think about 
him an awful lot. After decades in Washington, I know how rare it is to 
find a Senator or Congressman who works equally well with individuals 
on both sides of the aisle. In fact, in many ways he always reminded me 
of Senator Reid of Nevada, and they worked together very closely: 
Somewhat reserved, understated, but tremendously effective--both of 
them--in the way they dealt with legislation, how hard they worked, and 
how they dealt with their fellow man and woman and how they dealt with 
their colleagues in the Senate.
  Paul had a deep sense of humility, tireless spirit, and ready humor. 
In fact, whenever I think of him, I always smile, not only in 
appreciation for what he did but the meetings we had almost always 
ended with a laugh because I liked to pick at him, actually. As many 
people recall, I even had a nickname for him because as a Senator and 
as a member of our leadership--actually after only having been in the 
Senate for 4 years he was elected to the Republican leadership--we kind 
of had a rule that if there was a job to be done that no other leader 
wanted to do, we could always call on Paul. He reminded me of the 
commercial about the little boy named Mikey. The other kids wouldn't 
eat the cereal and they would shove it over to Mikey; and say, ``Give 
it to Mikey, he'll try anything.'' Well, I called him Mikey because I 
knew he would try anything and he would do it with great spirit and 
enthusiasm. That is the kind of utility player he was. That is the kind 
of commitment, that is the kind of willingness to work and do the jobs 
that other Senators would not do that makes this place really function 
the way it should.
  Paul was a Senator and legislator in Georgia, but he was from 
Missouri where he received a journalism degree. I guess that served him 
well. He joined the Army and left as a captain in the early 1960s. I 
never thought of Paul as being an infantryman, but maybe that is really 
what he was. He was on the line, doing the heavy duty every day. He 
helped run his family's small business when his father's health failed. 
He soon turned that small business into a very successful marketing 
firm, Coverdell & Co.
  Paul was always compelled to want to serve others, going back to 
early activity in government and activities in Georgia. He was elected 
to the Georgia State Senate as a Republican in 1970, at a time when 
most Georgians had not even seen a live Republican. But there he was, 
and he was in the legislature in the Senate. And his peers elected him 
the Senate minority leader, a position he held for the next 15 years. 
Of course, there were only three Republicans. So there was the leader, 
the whip, and the whipee, I guess. At least Paul was not the whipee. He 
got to be the leader. He did a lot to make the Republican Party 
credible in Georgia. But beyond that--I am sure Senator Miller will 
remember this--he learned there to work across the aisle. When you are 
in those small numbers, you have to, to survive. But he became a major 
player in the legislature even in those limited numbers.
  In 1989, he entered the national political stage when he became 
Director of the Peace Corps under President George H.W. Bush, where he 
worked for 2 years. I remember I used to harass him about that, too. He 
particularly worked with emerging democracies in Eastern Europe. But he 
had a vision for the Peace Corps, too.

[[Page S7833]]

  That this small guy from a small town in Missouri, and a Georgian who 
served in the Army, then wound up with a world vision was quite an 
achievement.
  Paul had fundamental beliefs in America, the great Republic. He 
believed in free trade, free markets, and freedom for all the 
citizens--not only for the people of his State but people around the 
world. He worked at making it available and accessible to everybody 
every day.
  He spent a lot of time in the Senate working on education. He was 
innovative from the beginning. He was one of the early ones talking 
about the need for some flexibility in how funds are used in education. 
He worked across the aisle to help solve that problem.
  He was really committed to allowing parents of children in elementary 
and secondary education to have some way to be able to help their 
children. That is what I like to call the Coverdell savings accounts. 
He had a broad base of support for that.
  He was very aggressive in seeking safe and drug-free havens for 
learning in our schools.
  I met him way back in the 1970s when I made trips into Georgia, and I 
always appreciated his tenacity and the work he did there. But I really 
will miss him the most in our leadership because I came to rely on him 
so much.
  Some people have written about, yes, one of the majority leader's key 
players and that he misses him. I don't deny it for a minute. In life, 
you lose friends and you see good men and good women pass on. You 
mourn. You learn lessons from working with those people, and then you 
find others who try to fill the void. But in some respects, you never 
fill the void left by a person such as Paul Coverdell. He was loyal. He 
was sensitive. He really cared. He made a difference in his State, in 
our party, in the Senate, and in our country.
  So I think it is appropriate today that we honor his memory, after 
having lost him 1 year ago, and to celebrate the things he did to make 
it a better place for all of us to live and learn.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I compliment the distinguished Republican 
leader for his eloquence and for his heartfelt expressions of fond 
remembrances of a very special U.S. Senator. Those of us who watched 
the relationship flourish over the years as we served in the Senate are 
reminded again today of the friendship and joy Senator Lott and Senator 
Coverdell had. It was a rare friendship, a special friendship, one that 
was evident to all of us as we watched and as they worked.
  So it comes as no surprise that Senator Lott would be the first on 
the floor today to talk about a man about whom he cared deeply. While 
we were not as close and did not enjoy that wonderful proximity in 
friendship, we certainly had a great deal of admiration for the Senator 
from Georgia. It was 1 year ago that we were stunned and saddened by 
the sudden death of our colleague. On that day, we lost not only a 
friend but, as Senator Lott noted, a gifted leader.
  A while back, I came across the story of a hot Saturday he spent at a 
county fair in north Georgia. Despite the casual setting, he was 
wearing a coat and tie. When a long-time aide asked him why, Senator 
Coverdell responded, ``Well, I've noticed that if there's ever any kind 
of emergency and people are trying to figure out what to do, they 
always go to the guy with the tie on.''
  A year after his death, we still miss being able to go to Paul 
Coverdell.
  Although Paul and I didn't see eye to eye on a lot of matters, I 
can't think of a single time that he was not fair, that he was not 
decent, that he was not honest. He was a reminder to all that we can 
disagree without being disagreeable.
  While I may not have agreed with him on every detail, I never 
questioned his deep commitment to the people of Georgia and the 
principles that he and we hold dear.
  One of the principles in which Paul Coverdell believed most deeply, 
of course, was the right of every child to go to a good school. So it 
is fitting that we are creating a living tribute to him by seeing to it 
that the educational accounts for which he fought so hard will now bear 
his name.
  There is another way in which Paul Coverdell's spirit of kindness, 
fairness, and bipartisanship live on today in the Senate. That is the 
work of his fellow Georgians, Zell Miller and Max Cleland.
  In the final years of his life, I am told that Senator Coverdell 
developed a passion for gardening as well. I think that is entirely 
fitting because so much of his work in public life was about nurturing 
and about helping things grow. That was evident in his leadership of 
the Peace Corps and in his commitment to educational opportunity. These 
educational savings accounts, which now will bear his name, will help 
ensure that the seeds he planted continue to take root and his work 
continues to blossom.
  We miss him, and we thank him for his public service.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I may ask the Senator from Georgia and 
others to allow 1 minute to follow up on what Senator Daschle 
mentioned, we have an agreement on this initiative. I thank Senator 
Daschle for his comments and for doing this. This is the kind of thing 
that brings us together in many possible ways.

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