[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 31, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S1397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, Senator Landrieu and I come to the Senate 
floor for a painful--for us--but necessary task, and that is to live up 
to our wager with colleagues from the great State of Illinois and 
congratulate them on the Bears' defeat of the New Orleans Saints in the 
NFC championship game.
  Of course, the Bears won fair and square 39 to 14, but that score 
really doesn't reflect how the game was actually played. It was much 
closer than that for a long time. The Bears' defense played 
exceptionally, hats-off to them, strong pass rush that really put the 
Saints' quarterback, Drew Brees, in some precarious situations. They 
also played overall a really tough physical game, defensively and 
offensively. Because of some of the bone-crunching hits delivered by 
the Bears' defenders, the Saints had multiple turnovers, and certainly 
that was part of the problem from the Saints' perspective. But, really, 
I think the Chicago Bears won the game because of their incredible 
ability to manage field position. Each time the Saints' offense took 
the field, it appeared as if they had their back to the wall, including 
when a safety was scored against them.
  So congratulations to the Chicago Bears. Again, Senator Landrieu and 
I are here to fulfill our commitment and pay our debt. By the way, we 
just served Senator Barack Obama's staff a lunch of great Louisiana 
food, and we are about to do the exact same thing for Senator Durbin 
and his staff.
  But as we give the Bears their due, I know both Senator Landrieu and 
I also want to praise the Saints for an absolutely unbelievable season 
with the biggest turnaround in NFL history, going from a 3 in 13 last 
year to the NFC championship game this year. Much more importantly than 
just that, they serve as a wonderful example of renewal and rebuilding 
from which we all can learn and emulate in terms of the rebuilding of 
the gulf coast.
  A lot of folks say it is just football, it is just sports, but 
particularly in the context of everything folks in the greater New 
Orleans area are going through post-Katrina, the Saints meant an awful 
lot to us this season, and their example of leadership and integrity 
and great turnarounds and commitment is something we all took pride in 
and I think something we all learned from. That example is going to be 
repeated in many other different walks of live as we spur on our 
recovery on the gulf coast even further.
  So with that, Mr. President, I again congratulate the Chicago Bears. 
I congratulate our two Senate colleagues from Illinois. I wish them all 
the best in this Sunday's Super Bowl. But I also note, maybe they are 
going to need that good luck because they face another New Orleans 
powerhouse, Peyton Manning, in Miami. So good luck to them.
  I yield the floor to Senator Landrieu.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Speaking in my capacity as a Senator from 
Minnesota, I will say that our team, the Vikings, went four times and 
never won the Super Bowl, so there is always hope.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for joining me this 
morning to deliver some delicious, piping hot, and very spicy red beans 
and rice that he and I cooked through the night to deliver to our 
colleagues, Senator Obama and Senator Durbin. I would like to 
personally congratulate the Bears on their victory and say it was a 
hard-fought victory during a great game of icy and cold conditions, but 
our Saints stood up under the tremendous pressure of their defensive 
line.
  As Senator Vitter said, the final score doesn't reflect the battle 
that was actually played that day on that field. But we congratulate 
the Bears on their victory and look forward to watching them in the 
Super Bowl this Sunday.
  But to the Saints, I have to say again, as I have said several times 
on this Senate floor, thank you for being so reflective of and 
mirroring the spirit of the people from Louisiana, from New Orleans, 
from the region, and from south Louisiana who have struggled, and like 
you, have been fighting back to bring our cities and our communities, 
large and small, urban and rural, back from the brink, in many cases, 
of utter destruction. The Saints have shown us the way, having 
experienced themselves as players and family members the loss of their 
homes, the loss of their places of worship, the loss of the schools 
where their children attended but, like so many hundreds of thousands 
of citizens, have literally marched their way back to victory. So we 
are very grateful for their inspiration and their encouragement, every 
member of the team.
  But to the Bears, led by Rex Grossman, who proved himself to be a 
Super Bowl quarterback, to, again, their extraordinary defense on the 
field, we congratulate them.
  Senator Vitter and I love pizza. We were looking forward to that 
Chicago pizza, but we ended up, because of what happened, having to 
deliver our local favorite, red beans and rice, to Senator Durbin and 
Senator Obama. But our congratulations to them and to the people of 
Chicago and to the citizens of Illinois who, I know, will be pulling 
for their team.
  I also want to say we will be looking forward to seeing Peyton 
Manning on the field. He is a wonderful quarterback from a great family 
in New Orleans that has also helped us and inspired us a great deal.

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