[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 131 (Tuesday, November 16, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S11356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Farewell

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I wanted to come to the floor to say that 
this Senator is going to miss the booming voice and the southern drawl 
of the Senator from South Carolina who is one of a few who has 
relentlessly, over a long period of time, talked about the issue of 
international trade. He has talked about how it relates to our 
country's economy. Very few come to the floor to talk about the 
doctrine of comparative advantage and Adam Smith and the kind of things 
that I have had the privilege of hearing from Senator Hollings.
  As one who comes to the floor to talk about trade a lot, I am going 
to miss very much the work which has been done by Senator Hollings and 
which he has been doing for so many years. He is absolutely right about 
these issues.
  They will take a look at statements and say, well, he is a 
protectionist. I don't view Senator Hollings as wanting to put up walls 
around this country. I think if the charge is that Senator Hollings or 
I or others want to protect the economic interests of the United 
States, we ought to plead guilty quickly. That is why I am here and why 
he has served this country for so many decades. We want to protect the 
economic interests of this country.
  I wanted to say, having heard the comments just offered by my 
colleague from South Carolina, how proud I am to have served with him. 
Being here when Senator Hollings was here and when Senator Byrd has 
been here and a few others is a very special privilege for someone like 
myelf.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, will the distinguished Senator yield?
  Mr. DORGAN. Of course, I yield.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. I wanted to thank the distinguished Senator from North 
Dakota. He has been in the vanguard. He headed up our policy committee 
and we have learned more. I was on the original policy committee under 
Senator Mansfield. But it has been quite an education. He has really 
put the program so we can learn about the issues. I thank him for that. 
But I particularly want to commend him for his leadership on trade 
because he has been leading the way on that score. I thank him very 
much.
  Mr. DORGAN. I thank my colleague from South Carolina and wish him 
well.


                    Sinking Of The ``Leopoldville''

  Mr. President, yesterday I was privileged to be at a very moving 
ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
  Very few people will know of this issue, but I want to mention it 
because yesterday was the commemoration of the 60th year of the sinking 
of the SS Leopoldville, a troopship that was sunk in the English 
Channel on Christmas Eve 1944 by a torpedo shot by a German U-boat. 
Seven-hundred and sixty-three young American soldiers died in the 
frigid waters of the English Channel on that Christmas Eve.
  What was most interesting about this and in many ways the most tragic 
of this circumstance is that those young soldiers died in the waters of 
the English Channel, and virtually no one knew of them.
  On Christmas Eve of 1944, at a critical period, during the Battle of 
the Bulge, the announcement that 763 young American soldiers had been 
killed would have been devastating to the psyche of the American 
public, according to the Defense Department. So the result was there 
was no news. This was an enormous tragedy that occurred with virtually 
no one knowing of it.
  Yesterday, we placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I 
was proud to have been a part of the ceremony. My uncle was on this 
ship and was killed when it sunk. I walked down the aisle to place the 
wreath with Tony Martinez, one of the survivors from that night, and 
with Lucy Ruggles, the widow of one of the fellows who was killed in 
that event. I believe 20 survivors from this ship were there yesterday 
at Fort Myers and at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, along with more 
than 100 family members and friends.
  Let me say just a word about what happened.
  The Leopoldville was a Belgium ship staffed by a Belgium crew. It was 
within 5 miles of the French coast. They could see the lights of the 
French coast when the German U-boat hit it with several torpedoes. Then 
this ship sank. There were 2,300 soldiers on this ship, and 763 of them 
died on Christmas Eve 1944.
  There was no notice to anybody about the tragedy because the 
Americans, the English, the Belgiums, the French, and others decided to 
keep it silent. Sixty years later, we know much more about it largely 
thanks to a book that was written, by Allan Andrade.
  Let me say thanks to Carmella LaSpada, who is the Executive Director 
of the White House Commission on Remembrance, for putting together a 
program yesterday that was extraordinarily moving. At that program, we 
heard from the survivors of the Leopoldville. They told us that the 
Belgium crew in most cases didn't speak English. When the ship was 
torpedoed and began to sink, the Belgium crew got in the life boats, 
and by and large the young American soldiers were stranded on that 
ship, and 763 of them died.
  I was invited to be a speaker yesterday and to be at the Tomb of the 
Unknown Soldier as a part of the ceremony because my uncle, Allan 
Dorgan, was one of the casualties that evening.
  I have known a lot about this in recent years because there has been 
a lot of investigation done.
  I just wanted to say that yesterday was a very moving day with 
discussions and visits with those who survived this sinking, and also a 
tribute to the memory of those who perished in the sinking of the 
Leopoldville.
  I hope America remembers that the young soldiers, 19, 20, 18, and 21 
years of age who died that night in the frigid waters of the English 
Channel did not die in vain. They were patriots.
  There is an old saying that when the night is full of knives, the 
lightning is seen, and the drums are heard, the patriots are always 
there ready to fight and die as necessary for their country. These 763 
patriots died that evening, and the world didn't know it. But they know 
it now. Yesterday's ceremony was a tribute to their service to our 
great country.
  I know we have a 5:15 vote. My colleague, I believe, wishes to speak. 
I wish to speak just for a moment about a trade issue. Might I ask my 
colleague how much time he needs?
  Mr. BURNS. I will only require about 5 or 6 minutes.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I think as a courtesy to my colleague from 
Montana, I will not speak 5 or 6 minutes on trade. I will do that 
tomorrow because I think we have about 6 minutes before the vote.
  But let me just say this in 1 minute.