[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 133 (Wednesday, December 6, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11247-S11249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REFLECTIONS ON SENATE SERVICE

  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, as the time for my departure from the 
Senate draws near, on behalf of the greatest blessing in my life, my 
wife Susan, and on behalf of myself, I thank all of my colleagues for 
their many courtesies and friendships that have been forged during the 
past 6 years and offer a few concluding reflections about our time here 
together, as well as talk about the future of our Republic.
  Our foremost statesman in Virginia, Harry Byrd, Jr., observed that 
with the exception of the Presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin 
Roosevelt, no time in the history of our country has witnessed more 
problems and challenges of great magnitude than these past 6 years.
  When I arrived here in January of 2001, America was at peace, or so 
it

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seemed, and so we thought. And then on that bright blue sky morning of 
September 11, the skies suddenly darkened with clouds of smoke from the 
Pentagon and the horrific collapse of the World Trade Center towers in 
New York City, and our world changed forever.
  A cascade of other great challenges soon followed in rapid 
succession, issues foreign and domestic, challenges locally and 
nationally, threats manmade and disasters decreed by nature.
  Through all of these unprecedented storms, it was our responsibility 
to make careful decisions for the safety, security, and prosperity of 
the people of our country. I am particularly grateful to the people of 
the Commonwealth of Virginia for the opportunity to serve here, to give 
voice to their values, and fight for the future of this country, our 
commonwealth, while serving in this, the world's most distinguished 
body.
  We all understand and respect the will of the people, whom I call the 
owners of the Government. They are the leaders of our representative 
democracy who bring us here and who may, at some point, take us away.
  I have been honored by the people of Virginia, first as Governor and 
now as a Senator, to be a part of important initiatives that have borne 
fruit for the people of our Commonwealth and our country.
  As Governor, we worked across party lines to accomplish honest change 
that Virginians desired and deserved. We abolished the lenient, 
dishonest parole system in Virginia, cracked down on violent criminals, 
and there are fewer victims of crime in Virginia. We reformed the 
welfare laws by promoting the work ethic, and now there are tens of 
thousands of Virginians who are leading more independent, self-reliant 
lives. In education, we established high academic standards and 
accountability in our schools, and our students are learning better, 
and we invested in higher education throughout the Commonwealth of 
Virginia.
  We sent a message to the world that Virginia was open for business, 
and cut taxes, and implemented prompter permitting in the Commonwealth, 
and were able to recruit in technology companies. In fact, the No. 1 
manufactured export from Virginia now is computer memory chips, 
surpassing cigarettes. That is a great transformation from the Old 
Dominion to the ``Silicon Dominion.''
  When I came to the Senate, my goal was to use this perspective and 
these experiences to continue and build on this work. I have been able 
to do that, and I am grateful to so many of my colleagues for working 
in partnership with me on so many issues that are vitally important for 
the lives, safety, and prosperity of our citizens.
  Whether it is making sure that avaricious State and local tax 
commissars don't put an 18-percent tax on one's monthly Internet access 
bill, or whether it is the nanotechnology initiative, working with my 
colleague across the aisle, Senator Wyden, or whether it was increasing 
the paltry death gratuity that went to the next of kin of one of our 
fallen Armed Forces members, increasing it from $12,000 to $100,000, 
from a grateful nation, these are good successes, reflecting the values 
and virtues of our country.
  I am particularly grateful to our State's senior Senator, John 
Warner, who at each step of the way has been by my side as a partner 
and even more as a gracious mentor, wise counsel, once in a while an 
encourager of various ideas, and once in a while, occasionally, a 
corrector, but, most of all, an unwavering friend. He is the epitome of 
the Virginia gentleman, and the model of an honest, hard-working 
Senator. I will leave here enriched immeasurably by this latest and 
best chapter of our partnership of several decades.
  Now, next month, I will no longer have the privilege of serving with 
Senator Warner and many of my colleagues here in the Senate, but I 
pledge to keep working and advancing and advocating ideals and values 
and shared principles that I think are important missions for the 
future of Virginia and our country.
  There are three key missions that I think are important for our 
country's future. First is to protect our freedom, and that starts with 
making sure our great men and women in our Armed Forces have the 
equipment, the training, and the armaments for their safety. We need to 
support their families as well. We need to work with other countries 
and allies in coordinated efforts to adapt and adjust our tactics, our 
operations, and our strategies to face the evolving threat of these 
vile, radical terrorist organizations and threats.
  Our second mission is to preserve our values, and that starts with 
making sure that nominated and confirmed are judges who understand 
their role is to apply the law, not invent the law, not legislate from 
the bench.
  My very first speech as a Senator on the floor was asking my 
colleagues to treat the nomination--first, asking the President to 
renominate Roger Gregory, and then asking my colleagues here on the 
floor, in my first speech, to treat Roger Gregory fairly, consider him 
fairly. I asked my colleagues to rise above partisanship and rise above 
the worshiping of process, to treat this gentleman fairly.
  The President renominated him, and my colleagues did treat Roger 
Gregory fairly, and accorded him a vote, and now he is serving with 
great distinction on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals as the first 
African American serving on that distinguished court.
  Now through the years, we have seen obstruction of judges, which I 
thought was very unfair, for example, in the treatment of Miguel 
Estrada. We even have the nomination of John Bolton. Although a 
majority of Members are for him, he will not be accorded the fairness 
of an up-or-down vote.
  I urge my colleagues to treat nominees, judicial nominees and others, 
fairly, according them the fairness of an up-or-down vote. It is part 
of representative democracy. And let's have John Bolton be the last 
casualty of the unfortunate partisan obstructionism. If you want to 
vote against a nominee, vote against him, but have the Senate vote, and 
treat people with consideration; but vote. That is what the 
Constitution instructs us to do.
  Now, our third mission for Virginia and, in fact, our whole country 
is to make sure America is a land of opportunity for all, a place where 
every American is only limited by their imagination, hard work, and 
ingenuity. Looking ahead, we need to recharge our competitiveness by 
making sure taxes are not increased on families and small business 
owners. We need to keep taxes off of access to the Internet. We need to 
create a climate where the entrepreneurial spirit can flourish. We need 
to also achieve energy independence from the Middle East and other 
hostile parts of the world, and foreign energy. This is not just an 
economic necessity, this is also a national security imperative.
  We need more of our energy explored here in America, produced and 
grown in America, so hundreds of billions of energy dollars stay here 
in America for American jobs, American competitiveness, and American 
national security, rather than having to worry about the whims of some 
dictator in a hostile part of the world.
  Finally, we need to strive to make sure that the United States is the 
world capital of innovation. To achieve this goal, we need more young 
people, no matter their gender, no matter their race, no matter their 
ethnicity, interested in science, technology, and engineering. If we 
are going to be the world capital of innovation, that needs to be done 
with investment, encouragement, motivation, incentives, and even 
scholarships to make sure young people are encouraged to get into these 
key fields of the future of our country, which must be the world 
capital of innovation.

  So, my friends, as I prepare to take leave, I am humbled and I am 
grateful for the tremendous honor and privilege that has been accorded 
to me by the good people of the Commonwealth of Virginia. I leave here 
with many new and enduring friendships, with valuable lessons learned, 
with an unrestrained optimism about the potential of America, about our 
Nation's future, and with pride in our accomplishments together.
  My friends, do not let these challenging times along our national 
journey divert your focus from what truly matters. The tree of American 
liberty is as strong as ever. Our roots run deep into a wellspring of 
values that are as old as our Republic and, indeed, much older still.
  Four hundred years after our Nation's beginning at Jamestown, we are

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still--we are still--in the springtime of life as a nation. We are 
still planting seeds and bearing fruit. We are still growing and 
creating, still inspiring and innovating, still providing life and hope 
for people around the world seeking to escape the chains of tyranny, 
and to embrace the blessings of liberty.
  Indeed, the sun is still rising on a bright American morning. And if 
we will keep the faith, no matter the challenges or the choices we 
face, generations to come will remember and think well of us for this: 
We never gave up. We never backed down. And we always stood strong for 
freedom.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida is recognized.

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