[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 137 (Tuesday, October 25, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11792-S11793]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE LATE SENATOR PAUL WELLSTONE
Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, 3 years ago today a chartered plane
crashed in northeastern Minnesota killing Minnesota's senior Senator,
Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, and their daughter Marcia. Also on
board were Mary McEvoy, our State Democratic Party's associate chair;
Tom Lapic, a long-time Senate staffer; a young aide, Will McLaughlin;
and two pilots. There were no survivors.
They were flying to Minnesota's famed Iron Range to attend a friend's
father's funeral when the plane crashed just before landing and before
Senator Wellstone's reelection just 11 days away.
Paul and I were political allies and personal friends for over 20
years, and he was my colleague and mentor during my first 2 years in
the Senate. In 1982, Paul was the Democratic Farmer-Labor or DFL
candidate for State auditor in Minnesota, while I was its candidate for
the Senate. We both lost.
Eight years later, we switched. Paul ran for the Senate; I ran for
auditor. We both won. In between, we officed and worked together on
energy and economic development programs for the Governor of Minnesota
and became good friends. When Paul ran for reelection to the Senate in
1996, I agreed to be his finance chair. Paul hated fundraising as much
as I did, so we made quite a team. Fortunately, Paul's great popularity
in Minnesota and his nationwide reputation as champion for important,
progressive causes prevailed, and he won a decisive reelection victory.
Four years later, Paul helped me win my election to the Senate.
Everyone who knew Paul and Sheila Wellstone knows that they were
extraordinary, unmatchable, and irreplaceable. Marcia, Mary, Tom, and
Will were very accomplished and special people in their own rights, and
their losses were as searing to their families and friends as Paul's
and Sheila's.
Senator Paul Wellstone was unique. He was the leader, the heart, and
the soul of Minnesota's Democratic Party. He had more passionately
devoted followers, supporters, and political organizers than anyone
else in Minnesota, perhaps more than anyone in our State's political
history, for Paul Wellstone was truly a man of, by, and for the people,
especially, as he jokingly referred to himself and to them, the little
fellers. He stood for, spoke for, and worked for the many against the
powerful, the wealthy, and the narrow special interests.
In 1990, he pulled one of the greatest political upsets ever by
defeating a well-entrenched Republican incumbent, despite being
outspent by 7 to 1 and being 40 percent behind in the polls at Labor
Day. He came to Washington, immersed himself in the work of the Senate,
and over his 12 years, won respect and friendships on both sides of the
aisle.
Whether they agreed or disagreed with Paul, everyone knew that he
truly believed his position was right, that he passionately cared about
the people he was trying to help, and that he had the unflinching
courage of his convictions. He also had the oratory eloquence to win
skeptics to his side and the genuine good humor to keep even his
opponents his friends.
He used his skills, his terrific mind always absorbing new ideas, his
nationwide network of friends and advisers, his growing seniority in
the Senate, and his passion and persistence to accomplish much more
than time permits me to recount. During his first term, he authored and
passed the landmark ``gift ban'' legislation that virtually eliminated
all lobbyist gifts to Members of Congress and staffers. He was an
original cosponsor of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill.
In Paul's own words, he said:
I am proud to be a politician because I believe strongly in
democracy. My father, a Jewish immigrant from Russia whose
family had to move from town to town because of czarist
persecution, taught me to cherish free elections and the idea
of ``government of, by, and for the people.'' But I am not
proud of the current state of campaigns and politics in our
country.
The ethical issue in our time is that money has come to
dominate politics and the democracy my father so deeply
believed in is so severely compromised. Campaigns match
image-makers against image-makers, pollsters against
pollsters, and millions of dollars against millions of
dollars. It is a superficial, trivialized politics of attack
ads, manipulated advertising and 9 second sound bites. Most
importantly, money corrupts the process. This is a much more
serious corruption than the wrongdoing of a single
individual. This is the kind of corruption which results in
too few people having too much wealth, power, and say and too
many people being denied a voice. It is the politics of
democracy for the few, not democracy for the many.
Paul also worked tirelessly for years in partnership with Senator
Domenici to enact mental health parity, requiring that mental illness
be treated similar to any other illness. This important cause pitted
Senators Wellstone and Domenici against very powerful and profitable
special interests--insurance companies and for-profit health providers,
whose profits increased by not providing or not paying for needed
health care services.
[[Page S11793]]
The two Senators succeeded in winning Senate passage of their
amendment to the Kennedy-Kassebaum health insurance health protection
bill with 70 votes in favor. Unfortunately, their amendment was
defeated in the conference committee.
The two Senators continued working together to enact their historic
legislation. Tragically, the Senate effort has lagged since Senator
Wellstone's death, despite the present majority leader's pledge in his
remarks on the Senate floor of October 24, 2003 ``to ensure that mental
health is appropriately addressed in this Congress.'' That legislation
has not been voted on in the Senate, either in the last session of
Congress or in this one.
It would be the best possible commemoration of Senator Wellstone's
life, and the giving of his life in the service of his country, for the
Senate to pass that legislation and insist that it becomes law.
There is so much more that Paul Wellstone achieved, such as
protecting women and children from domestic abuse, on which he and his
wife Sheila worked closely together, and which he wanted to achieve
before his life was tragically ended.
His uniqueness recalls the words of Ernest Hemingway:
Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their
fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their
society. Moral courage is a rarer quality than bravery in
battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential,
vital quality of those who would seek to change a world which
yields most painfully to change.
Paul Wellstone dedicated his life to change the world for the
betterment of people. That is why he and Sheila meant so much to so
many people in Minnesota and across the country.
All of us--their family, friends, and admirers--still feel their
loss. They and Marcia, Mary, Tom, and Will all had so much life left to
live. We will cherish them forever.
I close with a brief passage from Paul Wellstone's political
autobiography, ``The Conscience of a Liberal.''
When I am in coffeeshops with people, no one asks, Are you
left, right or center? No one cares. What people want is that
your politics be about them.
Tip O'Neill once declared, ``All politics is local.'' But I
would go further. All politics is personal. These are people
who more than anything else yearn for a politics they can
believe in. They want politicians whom they can trust and who
are at least most of the time on their side.
With Paul Wellstone, people had the very best on their side all of
the time. He will always be missed. May his life--all of their lives--
be an example and inspiration to us all.
I yield the floor.
____________________