[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 146 (Wednesday, November 13, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10850-S10854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN REMEMBRANCE OF PAUL WELLSTONE

  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, on October 25, I lost a good friend, 
the Senate lost a leader, and the American people lost an advocate who 
was never afraid to stand up and speak for those who had no voice.
  I rise today to honor my friend and colleague, Senator Paul 
Wellstone, who inspired so many people to speak up and to serve. Even 
as I stand here today, I cannot imagine that when I turn around I won't 
see Paul standing at his desk, his arms flailing in the air, making 
some point with great passion.
  Paul, with his energy and optimism, has left a mark on all of us. In 
1990, when Paul Wellstone ran for the Senate, a lot of people were 
watching him and following his race. Political pundits said he could 
not win. But as I watched him, I became motivated. At the time, I was 
serving in the Washington State Senate, and I, too, was frustrated by 
what I saw happening in Washington, DC.
  In Paul I saw someone who cared about the little guy and who spoke 
passionately. Paul was never afraid to voice his ideas or take on big 
fights. Not only did he win that Senate race, but in the process he 
inspired a generation of young people to serve their communities.
  On a more personal level, Paul inspired me to run for the U.S. 
Senate. His brilliant example reminded me that you don't need to be 
powerful or rich--or even tall--to make a difference. You just need to 
have an honest concern for others, an optimistic spirit, and the 
courage to act.
  Over the last 10 years, I have agreed--and disagreed--with Paul on 
any number of issues. But never once did I doubt his conviction, and 
never once did Paul let his policy disagreements soften the love and 
friendship he felt for all of us. Paul and I worked on everything from 
domestic violence and education to providing health care for veterans 
and protecting families from asbestos.
  I could always count on Paul to remind me that so many Americans have 
been dealt a tough hand in life. So many families, through no fault of 
their own, find themselves struggling, and they need an advocate to 
speak out for them in this Congress.
  No matter what pressures he faced in the Senate or even with his own 
health, Paul always reminded me how lucky we are to be able to serve in 
the U.S. Senate.
  One thing I will not forget about Paul is that every one of us was 
important to him and he proved that time and again. A few months ago, I 
held a meeting in my office to develop a legislative strategy on a 
bill. I wanted to keep the discussion small and focused and frank, so I 
invited two other Senators and told them not to bring any staff 
members. When it was time to start the meeting, Paul bounced through 
the door with three people in tow. Even though staff were not invited, 
Paul didn't mind. But these weren't his staff--they were his interns. 
He proudly introduced each one of them to us, and they all stayed for 
the entire meeting. We were still able to get everything done that we 
needed to do in the short time we had. Those young students got to see 
democracy up close. They got to sit in on a closed-door meeting, and 
they got a sense--just for a moment--that they, too, belonged there and 
they, too, could do it.
  Paul never stopped showing people what they could accomplish, and 
that is because he knew that people--plain old people--were important. 
He didn't care about pollsters and consultants; he cared about people. 
His love did not depend on whether they could write him a check.
  My favorite all-time campaign event with Paul was not a fundraiser, 
but--in true Paul style--it was a ``time-raiser.'' On a cold Saturday 
morning, Paul jammed a hall with folks who could not write a check but 
who could donate 2 hours of time to call or leaflet or answer phones. 
Judging from the enthusiasm of that crowd, yelling to the rooftops in 
the packed room, Paul was their Senator and their guy. He valued them 
and they valued him.NOTICE

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[[Page S10851]]

  I remember another event when Paul wasn't even scheduled to speak, 
but he ended up stealing the show. Earlier this year, I was at a press 
conference on education in the Dirksen Building. Senators Kennedy, 
Harkin, Reed, and others were scheduled to talk about making classrooms 
less crowded. Out of nowhere, Paul Wellstone rushed into the room 
looking a bit confused. My colleagues and I looked surprised because 
Senator Wellstone was not scheduled to speak and was not on the agenda. 
When Paul got to the podium, the first thing he said was:

       I am not sure if I am in the right room. When I ran into 
     Ted Kennedy on the floor a while ago, he asked me if I was 
     going to the education press conference, and I said I hadn't 
     heard about it, but I would be there.

  He continued:

       Frankly, I don't even know if I am talking to the right 
     group, but I am going to tell you why we need to fight for 
     our kids.

  Everyone laughed. Paul went on to give a passionate, off-the-cuff 
speech that wowed and inspired every person in that room.
  To me, that really captures Paul's spirit. Wherever some cause needed 
a voice, he would rush in--regardless of the schedule--and give his 
impassioned best. If there were a need, he would be there to speak out.
  Paul had said he didn't know if he was in the right room, but today I 
can say with confidence that Paul was in the right place all along.
  We are all poorer for the loss of Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, 
his daughter Marcia, the members of his staff, and the pilots who were 
taken from us on that dark day. It is sad to say that the Senate will 
no doubt change without Paul. No one will pace down this aisle and 
speak as passionately as Paul did for so many causes. But I hope that 
each one of us who are here will take on part of Paul's legacy--for 
example, the spirit to speak out for the underprivileged, for students 
in classrooms with leaky roofs, for the woman on welfare not because 
she wants to be, but because of domestic violence and she is trying to 
get back on her feet.
  I hope we will pick up his legacy and speak out for the workers who 
are out of a job because this economy has left them behind, or for 
those who are trying to overcome mental illness and just need some help 
from their insurance company.
  I hope, too, that we will carry on Paul's legacy of respect. Paul 
spoke from the heart and he spoke passionately. But he never held any 
disrespect for those with different views. I saw him so many times 
debate long and hard against another Senator and then step away from 
the microphone and share a laugh or a hug with the very person he had 
just debated a few moments before.
  If we can remember to fight for all Americans, no matter what 
challenges they have been dealt, and if we do it with respect and 
dignity, then Paul's legacy will live on in the Senate, as it lives on 
in our hearts and in our minds. I, for one, am going to miss him very 
much. He was all heart and soul. He is impossible to replace.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Carper). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise to speak in morning business to 
pay tribute to Paul and Sheila Wellstone. It is a difficult thing to 
do. It is a difficult thing for all of us to do. It is easier for me, 
right now, to imagine Paul standing over there and articulating a great 
point, a great point that would be for the consideration of some group 
of people or an individual about whom he would be deeply concerned--he 
was clear, passionate, and very forceful in his advocacy for them--
rather than to think of him as being gone but he is.
  You cannot really measure the height of a tree until it is down. That 
is, unfortunately, again, the case for Paul and Sheila Wellstone. He 
was a really tall man. They were really tall trees in what they did.
  I had the great fortune to be able to work with both Paul and Sheila 
on an issue we cared a lot about--the trafficking of individuals across 
country borders, generally for reasons of prostitution but also for 
other purposes. We found this was going on.
  Actually, Sheila discovered this was happening by visiting with a 
number of Ukrainian women, some of whom had been trafficked themselves 
when the Soviet Union fell, when the superstructure that was the Soviet 
Union came down.
  It turned out that gangs, groups came in, the Mafia-type 
organizations, to operate in the former Soviet Union, and they would 
run a number of different things. They would run drugs, they would run 
weaponry, and they would run people. It turned out the trafficking of 
people was actually their third most profitable operation. It was a 
real despicable thing they were doing. They would actually go into 
communities, trick young ladies, generally--sometimes young boys, but 
generally young girls--saying: We have this great bit of excitement for 
you. We are going to be able to have you travel to Europe or to the 
Middle East.
  With the fall of the Soviet Union, they didn't see hope or 
opportunity in their own country, and they would sign on, only to have 
their papers taken away once they crossed the border. They would be put 
into a brothel, in some cases chained and tortured until they would 
submit to prostitution. And then they would even be moved from brothel 
to brothel. It was a real seamy, dirty, ugly thing that was taking 
place. It was a dark side of the globalizing economy. It was a dark 
side of the fall of the Soviet Union. And Sheila found out about it by 
meeting with Ukrainian women.
  Now, I am sure there were not many votes at all in Minnesota that 
were going to hinge on whether or not Paul or Sheila were going to work 
on the issue of the trafficking of young girls from the former Soviet 
Union, Nepal, and India, or from other places. Generally, there was 
trafficking from poorer countries into richer countries. But Paul was 
such a champion of the value and the beauty of each person and the 
needs and the dignity of that individual, and Sheila was as well, that 
they were willing to put this issue forward and fight for it over a 
period of a couple years, until we could get the bill passed.
  Sheila found out about it. She brought it to Paul's attention. He 
learned about it and talked with some of these women who had been 
trafficked. I started to hear about it. I met with women who had been 
trafficked and found out about the despicable nature of this new form 
of human slavery, a human slavery of which one person even wrote a book 
entitled, ``Disposable People,'' because it happened in a situation 
where they would be moved from one brothel to another, and then, as 
they would get sick or diseased--in some cases they would get 
tuberculosis, AIDS--the owners would even throw them out on the street 
and say: Well, we are done with that one. It was just the most ugly 
act.
  I remember being in a home for girls who had been trafficked and 
returned to Nepal. There were 50 girls, 16 to 18 years of age. Many of 
them had been trafficked when they were 12 to 14 years of age. And a 
lady was helping run this home. This was a recovery house for girls 
after they would come back from the brothels. This woman was trying to 
teach them a trade, trying to get them back into the community in 
Nepal. She would point around the room and say: That girl has 
tuberculosis and AIDS and she is dying. This girl is dying. That girl 
has this disease; I don't know if she is going to make it. These were 
girls who were 16 years of age who should have been in the very flower 
of their lives, and they were all dying.
  They saw it. They were willing to fight for these other people. And 
we were able to get through legislation on sex trafficking.
  Paul joked with me afterwards. He is a more liberal Member and I am a 
more conservative Member. After that legislative session, he commented 
that he moved from being the most liberal Member to the second most 
liberal Member of the Senate, and he blamed it on working with me. I 
said: Well, just hang around with me, Paul, and we will get you 
reelected.
  He had that kind of humor. He was a friend. He was a friend that was 
not

[[Page S10852]]

scared of ideology splitting people apart. He had his beliefs; I had 
mine. We all do. But he did not let that separate him. He did not judge 
a person's soul by their ideology. He judged people by their character 
and their heart, where they would be willing to stand.
  I would often see him come over to greet and talk with Jesse Helms. 
He and Jesse disagreed on a number of issues, but they both had 
passion, soul, and heart. That is what they respected and loved about 
each other, and that is what I continue to see and love about Paul and 
Sheila Wellstone, that passion, heart, and soul that would carry them 
forward.
  I do not know that there is a better quote one could put forward than 
from Dr. Martin Luther King. He once noted that the ultimate measure of 
a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort but where he stands 
at times of challenge and controversy.
  If we measure Paul and Sheila by that measurement, they stand as a 
very tall tree. Paul knew controversy. He knew difficulty. He knew 
challenge. It rallied him. It made him taller. It made him stronger. It 
was not comfort that he sought. It was not comfort that he wanted to 
have. I have often thought that in this life it is challenges that 
build us, it is not comfort that builds us; that God has created us to 
meet challenges, not to sit back and to eat bon-bons or to let things 
go by in a measurable way, but He puts challenges in front of us. The 
more we are willing to accept, the more He is willing to give, and the 
more He is willing to test us.
  Paul and Sheila accepted challenge after challenge, controversy after 
controversy, always with a pure heart, wanting to do the right thing to 
help people, regardless of what it might mean to themselves. They were 
there to do it and they wanted to do it. They relished doing it and 
they grew in doing it. He was a spirited fighter.
  I remember reading about--certainly I was not in this body then--when 
Hubert Humphrey served in this body and was dying of cancer and they 
had a tribute to him in Time magazine. I remember so vividly reading 
about it. The title of it was ``Happy Warrior,'' because he was a 
warrior and he was happy about it, that his course, his challenge, in 
life was to be a warrior. He relished in the opportunity to be a 
warrior.
  I did not know him personally, but he could not imagine, as I 
understand his personality, that there would be any calling any better 
than to be a warrior.
  Paul followed in those footsteps in a great and magnificent way. He 
was a happy warrior, happily fighting for his cause, happily pressing 
forward, knowing that people disagreed with him. I disagreed with him 
often, but I could never disagree with that passion. Nor could I ever 
disagree with that heart. We developed a really good friendship.
  He is a man I was very fond of and I am fond of even now. As I say, 
it is hard to think of him being gone. I suppose that is because he and 
Sheila really probably still are here.
  My prayers have been with them, with the other people who went down 
in that plane. So tragically their lives were ended early. None of us 
will know why on this side of eternity, but we can always learn and 
grow from him. We are caused to grow in our life by each person with 
whom we come in contact. I was caused to grow in a very profound and 
very personal way by my contact with Paul and Sheila. I am indebted to 
them. I pay tribute to them and what they have done. God bless them.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I would like to join my colleague, Senator Brownback, 
in paying tribute to the life of Paul and Sheila Wellstone. It is also 
so important for us to remember the staff and others who were on that 
airplane. We have people in this country who serve every one of us, and 
their lives were given in service of their country also.
  Paul was a unique individual, no doubt about it, a man who made us 
smile even when we were in debate against him. He was a happy warrior. 
I think that is a good description of him.
  All of this points out, as the Scripture says, that life is but a 
vapor. We are only here a short time. We might as well pour ourselves 
into it and fight for what we believe. Else, what is life all about?
  He did that. He poured himself into his job, poured himself into his 
view of the world and life in general and fought for that. His 
political agenda was an expanded government. He wanted to help people 
in need. He was passionate about that. He wanted to help people. To a 
large degree, I suppose the disagreement I had with him was that he 
believed that government was the way to make that happen, but the goal 
was good. I know Paul liked me, and I loved him. He was an individual 
who was very special.
  I feel real sad about this entire event, as do all of us in this 
Senate. I remember his vote against the Iraq resolution, which was 
something I felt very strongly in favor of. He was the only Member of 
this body who was up for reelection who had to answer to the voters on 
that issue. He did not see it the way I saw it, and he did not tack to 
the wind. He voted against that resolution and went back home and 
answered to people of Minnesota. He told them why he did it, and either 
they agreed with him or they forgave him. He was able to cast what many 
thought was an unpopular vote and not suffer the apparent political 
consequences.
  I believe Paul was a special person. He set a good example for all of 
us to realize that life is short. We are only given this opportunity to 
serve in the greatest deliberative body of the greatest country in the 
history of the world for what we have to assume is a very short time. 
We might think constantly that therefore we should use this office for 
the people's good, and if we do that, we will have honored his name, 
honored the commitment he made to public service, and honored the 
people of the United States.
  I will miss Paul. He was a man of great strength and character. This 
body will be poorer for his absence. Our thoughts and prayers go out to 
his family and friends.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. President, I take a moment to pay my personal 
tribute to Paul Wellstone. Paul was a dear friend and someone for whom 
I had a great deal of respect, someone with whom I enjoyed working. We 
served on the Health, Education, and Labor Committee together. We 
served on the Workforce Protections Subcommittee together. We had many 
opportunities to deal on differing positions, obviously, on that 
committee, but always with great congeniality and with a great deal of 
affection for one another.
  He and I were both in very heated reelection campaigns, very tight 
reelection campaigns, and oftentimes discussed before the adjournment 
our mutual desire to be able to campaign in our States.
  I share the grief of my colleagues in the loss we have all 
experienced, the State of Minnesota has experienced, along with his 
family and what they are enduring. We also look back with a great deal 
of joy at the life he lived and the contribution he made not only to 
his State, to his country, but to each one of our lives.
  I recall so often Paul standing at his desk. He took the desk of one 
of my predecessors in the Senate, Dale Bumpers from Arkansas. He was a 
good successor for that position. Where Senator Bumpers would often 
walk up and down that aisle with great passion, so, too, Paul Wellstone 
would use the entire length as he wandered that aisle and as he spoke 
with such passion and such conviction.
  I remember often his referring to himself, as he would speak, ``as a 
Senator from the State of Minnesota.'' He would use that expression. I 
don't know if that is as commonly used as he used it--``as the Senator 
from the State of Minnesota''--and he stated his position and 
conviction. I thought that phrase, ``a Senator from the State of 
Minnesota,'' summed up an awful lot of Paul Wellstone. He was proud of 
the State of Minnesota, representing the State of Minnesota and the 
people of Minnesota. He was proud also of this institution, being a 
Senator. He never lost the love and the awe for serving in

[[Page S10853]]

this great institution. In my mind, I will always be able to hear 
echoing Paul Wellstone as he spoke on issue after issue as a Senator 
from the State of Minnesota.

  The area in which we found mutual interest and, though from very 
opposite ends of the political spectrum, similar feelings was the area 
of human rights, especially on the cause of China and the people of 
China, telling the world about the human rights abuses that continue 
even to this day in China. Paul and I held many press conferences with 
Members, colleagues from the House, who shared concerns about China. He 
and I made many floor speeches about the remembrance of the Tiananmen 
Square massacre and some of the tragedies in the past.
  I speak today with great affection, great admiration, and a great 
sense of loss about Paul Wellstone. He was a person who had great 
convictions. He was a man of great conscience. He was a man who did not 
mind if he upset the political order. He did not care that it might 
disrupt someone's schedule if he needed to make a speech on a position 
about which he felt very deeply. As one who admired him for his 
conscience and his passion, I simply pause today to express my 
appreciation and admiration for the contribution he has made to all of 
us.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I would like to add my voice 
to the many already heard today in remembrance of a passionate, 
intelligent, spirited man, Paul Wellstone.
  Senator Wellstone was an original in a crowd abounding with 
characters. Paul first gained notoriety for earning this office logging 
miles on a green school bus, traveling across the State of Minnesota 
touching the lives of everyone he came across. Once in Washington, Paul 
made his mark quickly on each Senator, aide, reporter, and officer who 
has been lucky enough to serve this institution, with him.
  Paul Wellstone was a man of principle who provided thoughtful 
analysis of every issue, but unlike some passionate statesmen, for Paul 
it was never personal. He respected differences in opinion though he 
was unwavering in his own beliefs. And although I only served with him 
for two years, I saw many times his warmth towards those around him 
regardless of political ideology.
  A few weeks ago we were on the floor giving tribute to another of our 
Members, Senator Jesse Helms, who will be retiring this year. Senator 
Wellstone eloquently praised Senator Helms, who has been so often on 
the other side of the ideological divide. At the conclusion of his 
remarks, he embraced Senator Helms.
  Paul was a man of ideas, but also a man of the people. He will be 
sorely missed and our thoughts and prayers are with his sons, the 
Wellstone staff, and the people of Minnesota during this difficult 
time.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise today to remember a man who is 
deeply missed. He was a colleague, a leader and a friend: Senator Paul 
Wellstone of Minnesota. Since joining the Senate in 1990, Paul earned 
his reputation as a great leader and a man of the people. He had strong 
convictions and an unparalleled passion for supporting the under-
represented.
  As a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, 
Senator Wellstone was a tireless advocate for the concerns of working 
Americans. He pushed for expanded school funding and for improved 
teacher quality. He championed expanded financial aid to make sure that 
money was not an insurmountable hurdle for those who wanted to go to 
college. He fought for a higher minimum wage and better working 
conditions. He wanted to help the average American by working to 
provide better, more affordable, more available health care. It was 
visible to all who watched him that Paul truly loved his work, and the 
people for whom he did that work.
  Paul was a strong voice in the Senate and across the country in the 
battle for human rights. For example, Paul and his wife Sheila crossed 
the country fighting against domestic abuse. But his concern for the 
dignity of human beings did not stop at our country's borders. He 
championed a trade policy that would protect foreign workers from being 
exploited by multi-national corporations. He was a vigorous supporter 
for peace in the Middle East and an advocate of foreign aid to help 
vulnerable children and the persecuted of all races and religions 
around the world. There wasn't an issue that affected human beings or 
our quality of life that Paul did not actively pursue; he fought for 
the people, stood up for his beliefs and let the political chips fall 
where they might.
  Senator Wellstone was also a leading proponent for American Veterans 
and their families. Year after year, in ways small and large, Paul 
Wellstone fought to improve health care and other benefits for those 
who had served their country. Many veterans disagreed with his views on 
defense and foreign policy, but that did not matter to Senator 
Wellstone. He understood that those who had put their lives on the line 
for their country deserved special treatment and special respect 
whether they supported him or opposed him.
  People didn't always agree with his position, but he was always 
forthright. There was never a question of motives with Paul. Senator 
Wellstone never let policy disagreements get personal; he always had a 
ready wink or smile or joke to share when the debate had ended. And he 
had a sense of humor that was downright infectious.
  I worked most closely with Senator Wellstone on agriculture issues. 
Paul was a fighter. He worked tirelessly to improve policy for the 
farmers in Minnesota and other rural states. Minnesota's dairy farmers 
couldn't have asked for a more vigorous ambassador in the fight for a 
fairer dairy program; his efforts paid off in the 2002 farm bill, which 
made great strides in leveling the playing field for Midwestern dairy 
farmers. Paul worked on conservation issues, supported farm payment 
programs to family farmers and worked to improve nutrition programs in 
the farm bill. Senator Wellstone also understood the value of strong 
communities in rural areas and tirelessly pushed for rural economic 
development. As with everything else he worked on, Paul brought a 
unique passion and unceasing efforts to these battles.
  Paul also worked side-by-side with me after the Red River flooded 
Grand Forks and East Grand Forks in one of the worst flood disasters in 
our history. His advocacy was invaluable as we secured disaster aid to 
rebuild the communities that had been devastated by flooding and fires. 
When a battle was truly important and people's livelihoods were on the 
line, there was no one who would fight harder than Paul Wellstone.
  We also worked together on the issue of mental health parity. I can 
well remember when Senator Wellstone took this issue to the Senate 
floor during the debate on health insurance portability. The managers 
of the bill had crafted a delicately balanced bill and agreed to oppose 
all amendments in order to preserve their compromise. But that would 
not stop Paul Wellstone. He offered his amendment, and gave a typically 
passionate, personal plea to put an end to the injustice that condemns 
those with mental illnesses to inferior health care coverage. I was 
privileged to join Senator Domenici and former Senator Alan Simpson in 
making the case for this amendment. And, despite the bipartisan 
opposition of the leadership on the bill, Paul's passion and the 
personal stories shared by his allies carried the day overwhelmingly.
  Paul's enthusiasm was infectious and deeply respected by his 
colleagues. No loss on an amendment or other setback could keep Paul 
down; he was always ready to rejoin the fight and perpetually 
optimistic that he would expand his coalition and find a way to win the 
battle the next time. It is his character and good humor that we 
remember, and it is his unquenchable desire to help human beings of all 
kinds that will prove to be the greatest loss.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, Paul Wellstone was a committed and 
effective Senator who will be deeply missed by millions of often 
ignored

[[Page S10854]]

Americans, people who relied on him not only to fight their battles, 
but to win important victories on their behalf.
  I worked closely with Senator Wellstone for many years, in a number 
of areas important to both of us.
  As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I know that 
he was a tireless fighter for the men and women who had served in 
America's armed forces, especially for ill and aging veterans, those 
least able to fight for themselves, yet most in need of our help.
  He fought for children, for their education and health care. And he 
worked to fashion a welfare system that encouraged work and protected 
children, without becoming punitive or unreasonable.
  He also worked on behalf of the unskilled and unemployed, for a 
living minimum wage, for job training, and for education benefits to 
promote workers' 21st century skills. And I knew I could always count 
on his support for West Virginia's steelworkers and all workers 
threatened by unfair practices in an increasingly complex economy.
  Senator Wellstone's many battles earned him a reputation as an 
ideologue and a firebrand. But I saw him reach across the aisle many 
times in his career. His first loyalty was to people, not to party, and 
his work with Senator Domenici on the groundbreaking Mental Health 
Parity Act stands as testimony to the strength of his priorities and 
the effectiveness of his approach. I am proud to be able to continue 
his work to bring equitable treatment to those who suffer from mental 
illness.
  Paul Wellstone never believed that having principles and sticking to 
them somehow meant you couldn't get things done in the United States 
Senate. Instead, he believed that you had to stick to your principles, 
or you couldn't get anything worthwhile done. It was an approach that 
made him unique and won him unusual respect and admiration from every 
member of this body.
  Senator Wellstone's tragic death, along with the deaths of Sheila and 
Marcia Wellstone, staffers Tom Lapic, Mary McEvoy, and Will McLaughlin, 
and pilots Richard Conroy and Michael Guess, have left a void in the 
Senate and in our hearts.
  But all of us who worked with him, or knew of the work he did, will 
find some cheer in the memory of Minnesota's great voice for justice 
and opportunity.
  Many will remember him for his fiery speeches and outspoken opinions.
  But atomic veterans finally receiving treatment for their service-
related disabilities, and homeless veterans with a new chance to find 
their way off the streets; parents whose children are learning from 
better teachers and enjoying better access to health care; activists 
who found an ally in their struggle to end violence against women; 
workers receiving job training; and entrepreneurs, especially women, 
minorities, and the urban poor, profiting from a changed and expanded 
federal small business loan regime.
  All these people will remember Paul Wellstone, as I will, not just 
for what he said, but what he did.

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