[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S6543]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO SENATOR TED STEVENS

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I seek recognition to congratulate my 
friend Senator Ted Stevens on becoming the longest serving United 
States Republican Senator in the history of the Senate. He has had a 
long and distinguished career in public service representing the State 
of Alaska in the Senate for over 39 years, casting over 14,000 votes, 
and never receiving less than 67 percent of the vote in any election.
  My recollections of Ted Stevens, during the 27 years we have served 
together in the Senate, focus on his chairmanship of the Defense 
Appropriations Subcommittee, where he has done so much to promote our 
national security. For example, his management of the $87 billion 
supplemental appropriations bill for fiscal year 2003 earned him high 
praise by President Bush during the signing ceremony.
  Ted's temper is generally misunderstood except by those who know him 
well. He doesn't lose it, but he does use it--and very effectively. 
However, it is true that on occasion he makes Vesuvius look mild. I 
recollect one all-night session during Senator Howard Baker's tenure as 
majority leader when Ted expressed himself in an unusually emphatic 
way. As I recall it, the debate arose over Senator Proxmire's comments 
about submitting vouchers for travel expense in Wisconsin on his 
contention that Washington, DC, was his home base. That prompted a 
reaction from Ted, who was aghast at the thought of Washington, DC, 
being any Senator's home when he had the majestic Alaska to claim as 
his home.
  Some thought that the middle-of-the-night incident might have cost 
him a couple votes, which could have been decisive, on his election for 
majority leader in November of 1984, when the count was 28 to 25 in 
favor of Senator Dole, but it was reliably reported that his loss 
occurred because of the significant slippage in votes caused by the 
tobacco interests.
  In any event, Senator Stevens has had a profound effect on the Senate 
and the Nation in his roles as chairman of the Defense Appropriations 
Subcommittee, chairman of the full Appropriations Committee, and as 
President pro tempore.
  It is also important to note that Senator Stevens' career in public 
service began even before he arrived in the U.S. Senate. He is a 
distinguished veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps, having flown support 
missions for the Flying Tigers of the 14th Air Force during World War 
II, for which he was awarded numerous medals, including the 
Distinguished Flying Cross. He had a strong academic career, graduating 
from UCLA and Harvard Law School. In the 1950s, he practiced law in 
Alaska before moving to Washington, DC, to work in President 
Eisenhower's administration. He subsequently returned to Alaska and was 
elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1964 and soon became 
majority leader. Finally, in 1968, he was appointed U.S. Senator from 
Alaska and has represented his State ever since with pride and 
devotion.
  His recognition as ``Alaskan of the Century'' is a real tribute, and 
I have no doubt that when the passage of time calls for the designation 
of ``Alaskan of the Millennium,'' it will be Senator Ted Stevens.

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