[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 95 (Wednesday, July 19, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7898-S7899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO WINTHROP PAUL ROCKEFELLER

  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from West Virginia 
and my colleagues from Oklahoma and Vermont for allowing us this 
opportunity.
  Today I rise to pay tribute to one of Arkansas' great public 
servants, business leaders, and philanthropists, our Lieutenant 
Governor, Winthrop Paul Rockefeller. Winthrop passed away quietly last 
Sunday after a period of illness. Words can hardly express the sense of 
loss we in Arkansas feel at the passing of Winthrop.
  Everyone has heard of the Rockefeller name, there is no doubt. It is 
renowned the world over. Truth be told, Win could have used that name 
and the family fortune to do whatever he wanted or nothing at all. Many 
in similar circumstances have chosen to indulge themselves in personal 
excess. But not Win. He chose to live the life of a servant.
  He had a plaque placed at his home on Petit Jean Mountain in Arkansas 
that really sums up how he lived and what he believed. The plaque 
quoted Micah, chapter 6, verse 8:

       He has showed us, O man, what is good. And what does the 
     Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to 
     walk humbly with thy God.

  All through his life, you see evidence of his desire to live out that 
Scripture. He was compassionate and thoughtful. He showed a strong love 
for his fellow man and a commitment to leaving this world a better 
place than he found it. Part of that commitment was expressed through 
his work at Little Rock-based Winrock International--one of the world's 
leading incubators of economic progress for developing economies.
  His work there not only has had a profound impact on 107 nations 
spread across the globe but also has impacted Arkansas' rural areas as 
well. I have worked closely with Winrock International on many of those 
initiatives and have been proud to do so.
  His Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation has also helped enrich the 
quality of life for rural America, particularly in the area of home 
ownership in my home area; that is, the Mississippi Delta.
  He also strongly believed in developing the potential in our young 
people. One of his favorite organizations was the Boy Scouts of 
America. He served on the executive board of the National Council, and 
he was president of the Quapaw Area Council in 1997 and thereafter was 
a vice president. He also founded a program called Books in the Attic 
in which Boy Scouts could collect used books to distribute to families. 
Most importantly, however, he served for many years as an assistant 
Scoutmaster for Troop 12, and he attended Scout camp with his son 
regularly, as well as Scout meetings.
  Win was also the father of two special needs children. His desire to 
see them and others like them succeed in life moved him to open a 
school for differently abled children called the Academy at Riverdale 
in Little Rock. This is just another example of the kind of heart he 
possessed.
  Throughout his lifetime, Win also served in charitable organizations 
in many ways. The list is long, but some of the charities include the 
Arkansas State Police Commission, the President's Council on Rural 
America, and on and on. He served as a Texas Christian University 
trustee and was on the national boards of Ducks Unlimited, and the 
Nature Conservancy.
  He served on the boards of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center and 
the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation. He was a trustee of the Winthrop 
Rockefeller Charitable Trust and Rockefeller Foundation.
  In his spare time he was one of the finest Lieutenant Governors the 
State of Arkansas has ever known.
  As I close paying tribute to this thoughtful, kind man, I am reminded 
of the story of David. He was looked upon as the most unlikely of men 
to become king of Israel. In the same way, it was easy for many to 
believe that they could look at outward things--Win's money perhaps, 
family connections, and his status--and draw conclusions about who he 
was.
  But, as with David, man looks on the outside but God looks in the 
heart. Win's heart was always in the proper place, a faithful place. I 
truly believe that his heart has now found its rightful place in the 
hands of his King.
  My condolences go out to his lovely wife Lisenne, his three daughters 
and five sons, to his extended family and my very dear friend and 
colleague, Senator Jay Rockefeller, and I pray the Lord will keep this 
entire Rockefeller family in this time of grief.
  Mr. President, I am proud to yield to my colleague from the great 
State of Arkansas, Senator Pryor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas is recognized.
  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, we lost a great Arkansan this week and also 
a great American. I rise today to give tribute to Winthrop Paul 
Rockefeller.
  When I think of Win Paul, I think of a man who demonstrated 
throughout the course of his life great faith, courage, and humility. 
He was a friend to me, but he was a friend to thousands of people 
around our State and around our Nation. He set a high standard for 
public service and for philanthropy and a high standard for leadership. 
In fact, he is one of those people who, regardless of his station in 
life, even had he

[[Page S7899]]

been born without a penny to his name, would have been selfless, and he 
would have lived a sacrificial life just as he did.
  He has done so many great things for the State of Arkansas, for the 
country and for the world. Let me just name a few of the charities that 
he has been deeply involved with: The Boy Scouts of America, Project 
ChildSave, the Arkansas Literary Festival, the President's Council on 
Rural America, the Bill Fish Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, the Nature 
Conservancy, the Arkansas Coalition for Juvenile Justice--to name just 
a few.
  He has helped so many people along the way. He has inspired people 
with the time he spent with them but also with his generosity.
  I experienced that when I was about 10 or so years old. My father was 
the newly elected Governor of Arkansas and Win Paul walked in, a young 
man, and on the spot he bought for the Governor's mansion and gave to 
the State of Arkansas a new stove for the kitchen because he thought 
that Liza Jane Ashley, the cook at Governor's mansion, should not have 
to labor over that old, dilapidated stove she had. That is the way he 
was. We will never know the thousand acts of kindness he did for 
people.
  I have to single out one organization that he loved so much and he is 
closely identified with in Arkansas and that is the Boy Scouts. He was 
involved in that organization for 30 years, and he led by example. The 
Boy Scouts' motto is ``Be prepared.'' I think that Win Paul Rockefeller 
was always prepared to help his fellow man. He was always looking for 
ways to be of service. The Boy Scouts' slogan is ``Do a good turn 
daily,'' and certainly he lived by that and lived by a very deep faith. 
He demonstrated his faith every single day that we all knew him.
  Like my colleague from Arkansas, we extend our prayers to Lisenne, 
their children, and to Jay Rockefeller and the entire Rockefeller 
family and all of their friends and all the people they have touched. 
We just want to say we know that he is in a better place. We know that 
he has been greeted at the Pearly Gates with open arms.
  We will truly miss Winthrop Paul Rockefeller.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I thank the chairman of the full 
committee and ranking member for their generosity in allowing, 
hopefully, 15 minutes for eulogizing Win Paul. Win Paul was my first 
cousin. I think people need to know, he died from a really horrible 
form of cancer. We knew it was going to be difficult. He went to 
Seattle to get a variety of bone marrow transplants, and wasn't going 
anywhere. So, in effect, he came back to Arkansas, his home. In many 
ways like his father, in some ways under the shadow of his father, but 
in all ways committed to the people of Arkansas.
  He originally came back to Arkansas at the age of 24 when his father 
died. He wanted to do good. When I think about him, I just think of his 
desire to be helpful to people. Both of my colleagues from Arkansas 
mentioned his relations, working with the Boy Scouts. One thing he was 
really proud of is that he racially integrated the Little Rock Boy 
Scouts, so that there were two sides.
  I feel a great sense of loss personally as his first cousin, who knew 
him very well. He had a great affinity for Arkansas, which is a State 
that I love because it is very much like West Virginia.
  He had a wonderful family, eight children. Several of them have very 
difficult developmental disabilities. He has, for that reason, and I 
think because of his general humanity, poured himself into people who 
do have developmental problems. Both Senators from Arkansas mentioned 
the Riverdale Academy, which I think tripled in size since it was 
founded in 2004.
  He was ultimately a Lieutenant Governor who wanted to be Governor to 
do what all Governors want to do, which is to live out their vision, 
make his vision for Arkansas come true. He didn't have that chance. He 
gracefully withdrew from the race when it became evident to him that 
things weren't going to be very good in terms of his health. He came 
back to Arkansas a very, very sick person to die, to his home and to 
his God.
  I am going to miss him. I thank my colleagues for indulging in this 
moment of thought about a family member to me and a political leader 
and friend to my two beloved colleagues from Arkansas.
  He will be at home in Heaven.

                          ____________________