[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 78 (Friday, June 16, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6004-S6006]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              FATHER'S DAY

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a few moments we will be closing for the 
week. Before we leave, I want to take just a few moments to reflect on 
a very special holiday coming up this weekend, and that is Father's 
Day.
  On Sunday, families all across America will celebrate their dads with 
dinners and lunches and gifts and, if my

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family is typical, some gentle teasing over the course of the day.
  It is a day that we show our gratitude and how important our dads 
are--and have been and continue to be--in our lives.
  In my own case, I cherish my memories of my dad. I think of him each 
and every day. He was my mentor in medicine, mentor in public service, 
mentor in humanitarian efforts, and my friend. It was his love and his 
wisdom and his encouragement that gave me the confidence to work 
outside of the box, to take risks, and to set high goals.
  As I was thinking back a few moments ago as to what I would say, I 
remembered and recall most vividly, after returning back to Nashville, 
TN, and working at Vanderbilt--after having been away from Nashville 
for a long period of time with college and medical school and my 
internship and residency and training and moving back to Nashville--
every day I would drive by my parents' home on the way to work at 
Vanderbilt Hospital.
  As I would go by that house--and, ironically, it is the same house I 
live in today, but as I would go by that house, I would think, each 
day, about the values that dad--both parents and really the entire 
family--instilled in each of us.
  I also used it as a marker place in coming home every night. As I 
drove by that white house, I would call. That number would be dialed as 
I was driving by. And by the time I got home, we would complete our 
conversation, on a daily basis--each and every day.
  Indeed, he was an extraordinary man in many ways, not in his 
accomplishments or just being a great physician, a humble physician 
treating people throughout middle Tennessee, but in his acts of 
generosity and in his kindness, known throughout the community for his 
good works.
  My father died in 1998. Mother and Dad both died within about 36 
hours of each other of totally independent causes. In truth, it was 
referred at the funeral as a great love story. A lot of people arrived 
for the funeral of my dad--my mother died about 30 hours later--and 
there were two caskets there. Thinking about how tragic it was, in 
truth it was a manifestation of what was a great love story, a marriage 
of over 65 years.
  Dad, not too long before he died, wrote a letter to his grandchildren 
and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren that he would 
never know--that is the way he opened the letter to them--passing on in 
about a two-page letter the insights he had in very simple ways, humble 
ways. It is a long letter, and I won't read the whole of it but just a 
few paragraphs.
  Again, this is a letter he left to be passed on to future 
generations. His advice was:

       Be happy in your family life. Your family is the most 
     important thing you can ever have. Love your wife or your 
     husband. Tell your children how great they are. Encourage 
     them in everything they do.
       Be happy in your community. Charity is so important. 
     There's so much good to do in the world and so many different 
     ways to do it.

  A little bit later in the letter he wrote:

       The world is always changing, and that's a good thing. It's 
     how you carry yourself in the world that doesn't change. 
     Morality, integrity, warmth, and kindness are the same things 
     in 1910, when I was born, or in 2010 or later when you will 
     be reading this. And that's a good thing, too.

  Dad is the one who had the high ideals. I have done my best to try to 
live up to those ideals and to that sterling example he set before us. 
I have worked hard as a dad to instill those same values and 
commitments in my own sons.
  This weekend, as we celebrate our fathers and the good news that 
America's fathers are more present in their children's lives than ever, 
we all realize that they have a huge impact. Children involved with 
loving fathers are more likely to do well in school, to have healthy 
self-esteem, to show empathy, to avoid destructive behaviors. Kids do 
better with their dads around.
  For a while, America seemed to forget this. But now we know in our 
kids what we have always known in our hearts: America's dads deserve 
our respect and our support, dads on the frontline who risk their lives 
for our freedom, dads on the home front who work hard to support their 
families.
  Fatherhood is the most important responsibility a man will ever take 
on. It is also the most rewarding.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, banks of day lilies are celebrating their 
brief moments of glory as they turn their vibrant orange faces to the 
sun. The days are warm and mellow, not too hot for working in the 
garden or in the yard. The evenings linger, fading slowly into velvet 
nights filled with the trill of crickets, the sparkle of lightning bugs 
and the soft songs of whippoorwills. These are perfect evenings to 
spend on a country porch, watching the day slide into night. Late 
spring, almost summer--it is a lovely time of year.
  On Sunday, June 18, the Nation will celebrate Father's Day. Father's 
Day does not arrive with quite the same fanfare as Mother's Day. To be 
sure, stores have been busy reminding us to shop for Father's Day, and 
the racks are full of Father's Day cards, but there doesn't seem to be 
the same level of intensity as that which surrounds Mother's Day. The 
long distance lines will not be as busy. Florists will not be swamped 
with orders. But fathers around the country will be treated to brunch 
or to some other family gathering. They will open presents of golf 
shirts, ties, or cologne bought by family members frustrated because 
dad always just buys what he really wants whenever he wants it. He is 
forgiven for this fault only because his family is fairly sure that dad 
is unaware of the approach of any holiday, including Father's Day. Of 
course, fathers will put their dramatic skills to the test in order to 
express their gratitude. The comedian Bill Cosby famously once said, 
``Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is `soap-on-a-
rope.' ''
  This is not to say that Nation does not appreciate men. Far from it. 
We observe the birthdays of our Founding Fathers. We celebrate the 
fathers and other men who brave the terrors of distant battlefields to 
defend the Nation. We have monuments and parks, schools and mountains 
named after men who have won battles, made important discoveries, or 
who have contributed to the growth and prosperity of our Nation. But 
rarely, if ever, are these memorials dedicated to the important role 
that men play in their own families. The role that fathers play in the 
lives of their children, in helping to shape the future of the Nation, 
certainly merits this one day of recognition. The poet William 
Wordsworth observed: ``Father!--to God himself we cannot give a holier 
name.''
  Fathers carry a heavy load of duty, responsibility and worry. Every 
day, and during many sleepless nights, they worry about big things, 
like the state of the economy or the impact of trade agreements on 
their jobs. Will they be able to support their families and make their 
mortgages on time? Will they keep their job or lose it to an overseas 
competitor? Is their pension secure? Will they have health care--not 
for themselves, for men are not very good about going to the doctor 
regularly, but for their families. Fathers also worry about small 
details, like oil level in the lawn mower or that suspicious drip under 
the sink. Is the prime interest rate going up or down, and how will 
that affect their ability to pay the monthly bills? Everything that can 
affect their families is a concern for fathers, who take their role as 
providers for their families very seriously, indeed.

  By June 18, children are out of school at last. In days past, that 
would mean long summer days to while away with swimming and in play, 
and idle hours spent reading a book in the shade. In today's world, 
however, summer vacation for children out of school is often a headache 
for families with two working parents. Summer becomes instead a 
scheduling nightmare of day camps or sitters, or of latchkey kids who 
must spend the day indoors behind lock and key because there is no 
adult available to supervise their play. Instead of two working parents 
meaning a better life, today two working parents may as easily signal a 
family working hard just to keep up. Many fathers endure long commutes 
between work and home so that their families can live in a nicer 
neighborhood than those same fathers did growing up. Fathers are often 
portrayed as workaholics who live for their jobs and who see families 
as a minor annoyance, if they notice them at all. In truth, fathers 
worry about their jobs because they fear that, if they do not 
concentrate on their work,

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they will lose their jobs and not be able to provide for their 
families. Today's economy is too uncertain, too volatile, and too 
global to take for granted.
  This Father's Day, so many fathers are in harm's way in Afghanistan 
or in Iraq facing daily dangers that have already taken too many other 
fathers from their wives and children. To them and to their families, I 
offer my prayers of thanks and of safekeeping. May God bring them 
safely home. The families for whom this Father's Day will be a mix of 
loving remembrance and painful loss, I can offer only the comforting 
words of sympathy and the acknowledgment of their sad, sad loss. These 
fathers in heaven, for there they surely are, still have an important 
place in the family. Like all fathers, they teach by example. In this 
case, their example is one of bravery and sacrifice, patriotism and 
service.
  Clarence Budington Kelland once wrote of his father: ``He didn't tell 
me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.'' These fathers 
in uniform, like good fathers everywhere, teach by the example of their 
own lives. ``The words that a father speaks to his children in the 
privacy of home are not heard by the world, but, as in whispering-
galleries, they are clearly heard at the end and by posterity.'' Jean 
Paul Richter made that observation, and that truism captures the 
essence of a father's importance. Each day they gird themselves for 
battle, whether that battle be in Iraq or in an office or a factory. 
They go, and they return. They do not complain, or at least not much, 
about how much time they must spend away from home. They simply do the 
best that they can for their families, day after day, year after year. 
They love their children. They play with them when they can. They 
monitor schoolwork and behavior. They set standards and measure 
performance. They mete out discipline. They scrutinize their children's 
friends. They say ``yes'' as often as they say ``no.'' Good fathers 
participate in all aspects of their children's lives.
  Our families are our Nation's greatest resource and greatest 
treasure. I am proud each year to take a few minutes to recognize the 
critical role of mothers and fathers on the days set aside for each of 
them. It reminds me to think always of how families are affected by the 
votes I cast here in the Senate. The votes we cast here affect the 
lives and well being of mothers and fathers and families. We need to 
make life easier for families, not harder. We should not send fathers 
into battle without good cause. We should not add to the burden of debt 
without good cause. Our spending decisions should add to the prosperity 
and well-being of the Nation and our families, first and foremost.
  I close with a favorite poem of mine, one that I often recite for 
Father's Day. I learned it as young boy, and the words and the lesson 
have come to mean more to me with each passing year:

                            That Dad of Mine

     He's slowing down, as some folks say,
     With the burden of years from day to day;
     His brow bears many a furrowed line;
     He's growing old--that dad of mine.

     His shoulders droop, and his step is slow;
     And his hair is white, as white as snow;
     But his kind eyes sparkle with a friendly light;
     His smile is warm, and his heart is right.

     He's old? Oh, yes. But only in years,
     For his spirit soars as the sunset nears.
     And blest I've been, and wealth I've had,
     In knowing a man like my old dad.

     And proud I am to stand by him,
     As he stood by me when the way was dim;
     I've found him worthy and just as fine,
     A prince of men--that dad of mine.

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