[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 16, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S10765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF GOVERNOR MEL CARNAHAN'S DEATH

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, one year ago today, America awoke to the 
terrible news that we had lost three extraordinary public servants: 
Governor Mel Carnahan, his son Roger, and their friend and aide Chris 
Sifford.
  Mel Carnahan was a remarkable man--the kind whose work proved that 
politics and public service can indeed be a noble profession.
  Like another man from Missouri, Harry Truman, Mel Carnahan was a man 
of plain speech and enormous political courage.
  Throughout his career, he worked to help people, to make government 
efficient, and to use the tools at his disposal to make a difference in 
people's lives.
  Whether it was improving public schools, expanding health insurance 
for children, protecting seniors through stricter safety standards for 
nursing homes, or making communities safer--Mel Carnahan never stopped 
working to make a difference.
  I have no doubt that he would have been a great Senator, just as he 
was a great Governor. Sadly, he never got the change to show us that--
at least, not directly.
  But his spirit does live on in this Senate. As Jean Carnahan has said 
so many times:

       Hopes and dreams don't die with people, they live on in all 
     the people we touch.

  Today, Mel Carnahan's hopes and dreams live on through all those he 
touched. But they have their most powerful voice in his wife of 45 
years, Jean Carnahan.
  It was one year ago that she pledged to keep the fire burning. And 
every day since--that is exactly what Senator Carnahan has done.
  In her tireless work to see that the economic victims of September 11 
get health care, unemployment benefits, and job training--we feel Mel's 
sense of justice and compassion. In her work to improve our nation's 
schools--we see Mel's commitment to the children of Missouri, and 
America. And when Senator Carnahan comes to the Senate floor, and 
commands here colleagues' attention with her clear and thoughtful 
arguments--we hear the echoes of Mel's plainspoken sensibility.
  One year after that cruel October morning, Jean Carnahan has become 
the great Senator that Mel Carnahan would have been had he been given 
the chance. That is one blessing that makes his loss more bearable.
  The poet Longfellow wrote:

     When a great man dies,
     for years beyond our ken,
     the light he leaves behind him lies
     upon the paths of men.

  During his life, Mel Carnahan cast a bright and shining light on his 
state and our nation. His death did not extinguish that light.
  That light continues to shine in the remarkable work and the 
indomitable spirit of his partner and our colleague, Senator Jean 
Carnahan.
  Today, especially today we thank her for her courage and for our 
inspiration.

                          ____________________