[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 153 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9465-S9466]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO SENATORS


                              John Warner

  Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President, I rise today with a heart that is not 
totally joyful because I am going to be talking about four of my 
colleagues who are leaving the Senate. Pretty soon, I will be talking 
about my own leaving the Senate but not today. I will save that for 
another day. The first one I want to talk about is John Warner of 
Virginia. I have gotten to know him and his wife Jeanne.
  It is with great pride and honor that I pay tribute to my friend and 
distinguished colleague from the Commonwealth of Virginia, Senator John 
Warner. He served in this body for 30 years; I have served for 36. So 
the arithmetic is simple: I have been with him for all of his 30 years 
in the Senate. He dealt almost exclusively, and with perfection, on 
military matters. I did the budget for the Senate for a long time, and 
I have been privileged to work for the last 5 years on energy matters. 
In between, it was nothing but joy on my part to work on matters of the 
Senate. I believe the same was true for John Warner, who not only 
worked in military matters and worried about our troops, but he also 
from time to time got over into public works.
  Early in his Senate career, Senator Warner and I served on the 
Environment and Public Works Committee. More recently, our work 
together has centered on defense and national security and, as I 
indicated, of late homeland security.
  He earned the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle 
because of his unique ability to negotiate and foster positive working 
relationships with fellow Senators. There was much being said about 
working across the aisle and being bipartisan. Clearly, when things had 
to be partisan because it was the nature of things, John Warner was a 
partisan. But obviously, when it was a matter that pertained to 
something that could be worked out between Democrats and Republicans, 
one could bet that he was quick to raise his hand and lift it across 
the aisle and work with Senators from the other side.
  He has been a leader on a broad range of issues. As I indicated, he 
is someone who makes me proud.
  Prior to his five terms in the Senate, John served his country as a 
United States Marine, was later appointed Under Secretary of the Navy 
and was eventually appointed and confirmed as the 61st Secretary of the 
Navy. Early in our Senate career, Senator Warner and I served on the 
Environment and Public Works Committee together. Over the past several 
Congresses, our work together has centered on defense, national 
security and homeland security matters.
  During his Senate, tenure John has earned the respect and admiration 
of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle because of his unique 
ability to negotiate, accommodate, compromise, and foster positive 
working relationships with fellow Members. Through this approach, John 
Warner has been a leader on a broad range of issues such as 
strengthening our defense and national security, fighting the global 
war on terrorism and decreasing carbon and other emissions globally. 
While in the Senate, he dutifully served on the Armed Services 
Committee, Intelligence Committee, Environment and Public Works 
Committee, and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
  John has been a long time colleague of mine, and I will dearly miss 
him. The Commonwealth of Virginia has been fortunate to have John on 
their side. He has been an asset not only to his state, but also to our 
Nation. In the course of working together for so many years, I have 
developed genuine respect for Senator John Warner. I thank him for 
years of distinguished service and wish him the very best in all his 
future endeavors. My wife Nancy and I wish John and his wonderful 
family all the best during his retirement.


                              Larry Craig

  At this time I would like to take some time to talk about Senator 
Larry Craig and to thank him for his service here in the Senate and for 
his service and dedication to his home State of Idaho.
  I have been fortunate enough to work with Senator Craig on many of 
the same issues over the years. More often than not we were on the same 
side of those issues. We worked for many hours together on energy 
policy, and more specifically, nuclear energy policy. In addition, the 
States we represent, New Mexico and Idaho, are similar in that they are 
both in the west, are largely rural, have vast swaths of Federal land, 
and are home to Federal research laboratories. These similarities--
between the States we represent--brought us together by way of common 
interests on many of the same policy subjects.
  Senator Craig and I served on the Appropriations Committee together 
for many years. During that time, we worked together to make sure the 
Departments of Energy and Interior were taken care of in terms of 
funding. As many of us know, Senator Craig comes from a strong 
agriculture background. At times we had to try to fend off, as best we 
could, efforts to change the Milk Income Loss Contract program. The 
changes to the program would have compromised dairy producers from each 
of our home States. Dairy farmers in New Mexico and Idaho knew that 
Senator Craig was a formidable ally for their cause, and I thank him 
for his help and support.
  As chairman and ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources 
Committee, I have always admired Senator Craig's command of public 
lands policy. He has been a great leader on public lands issues 
throughout his career and without the leadership of Senator Craig, we 
would have never been able to pass the Healthy Forests bill in December 
2003. It was also through his leadership we passed the Secure Rural 
Schools and Community Self-determination Act which has been so 
important to both our states. He led the Republican side on public 
lands and forest issues as chairman or ranking member of the Public 
Lands and Forest Subcommittee from 1995 until 2007.
  Some of our most important work together took place in the nuclear 
arena. Senator Craig has done a tremendous job of promoting nuclear 
power as a safe, reliable and clean source of energy. I appreciate his 
outstanding work on nuclear matters, and I appreciate his support and 
encouragement along the way for my efforts in this important area.
  Many people know that because of where we live and what we do in our 
States, Senator Craig and I naturally work on similar matters. That is 
as it turned out. I will talk about some matters that have been very 
big for our country that are not natural to our States.
  First, I served with him on the Committee on Appropriations for a 
number of years. We worked together on energy policy and, more 
specifically, nuclear energy policy. The States we represent are home 
to national research laboratories.
  As many of my colleagues know, Senator Craig comes from a strong 
agricultural background. At times, we had to try to fend off, as best 
we could, efforts to change the Milk Income Loss Contract Program, 
called the MILC Program. That sounds like something we should all be 
for. It turns out that dairy farmers in New Mexico and Idaho knew 
Senator Craig was a formidable ally when it came to subsidies that 
would help some and hurt others. We were generally on the hurt end 
because we were smaller States that had that particular set of facts. 
We worked hard

[[Page S9466]]

on those issues. I learned to respect him greatly.
  He led Republicans on public lands issues and forest issues as 
chairman and ranking member of the Public Lands and Forest Subcommittee 
from 1995 through 1997. This led to the enactment of the healthy forest 
bill in December of 2003--I was part of that with him--and the Senate 
Rural Schools and Communities Self-Determination Act, which was his. I 
am sure most of the thinking to put it together was his. It was an 
absolutely stellar bill that got assistance to schools across his State 
and other Western States that lost some or all of their revenues for 
their schools because of the curtailment of timber sales in the area. 
He and the distinguished Senator from Washington worked together to get 
this done.
  Senator Craig and I have spent a great deal of time on matters 
pertaining to nuclear power. Nuclear power is making a renaissance in 
America. We will soon have many of them built in the United States. We 
have more than any other country in the world, but we only get 20 
percent of our electricity from nuclear power. Countries such as France 
have gone way ahead of us and now have 75 to 80 percent. Other 
countries of the world have as well, since America has made its bid, 
saying: We are going to change our minds, for which I am very proud. I 
took the lead in that, with Larry's help, and we have changed America. 
With it has come a renaissance in nuclear power.
  I wish him the greatest success in his retirement. I am sure we will 
hear from him. He is too young to be quiet. He will be doing something, 
and we will hear about it.


                              Chuck Hagel

  I also wish to take this time to pay tribute to Chuck Hagel, the 
senior Senator from Nebraska, who is retiring after serving for two 
terms in the Senate.
  Senator Hagel, a fourth generation Nebraskan, has served his State 
and his country in many ways. He served as an infantry squad leader 
with the U.S. Army's 9th Infantry Division and is a decorated Vietnam 
veteran, having been awarded many honors including two Purple Hearts. 
As a U.S. Senator, Chuck Hagel has served on four committees: Foreign 
Relations; Banking; Housing and Urban Affairs; Intelligence and Rules.
  During his time in the Senate, coinciding with mine, it has been my 
pleasure to work with the distinguished Senator on issues affecting our 
Nation. I can recall a chance meeting between a member of my staff, one 
of my constituent groups from New Mexico and Senator Hagel, in which he 
took time out of his busy schedule to speak with my New Mexico 
constituents to offer his insights and share some very kind words. Such 
a small genuine instance like this made all the difference in their 
trip to our Nation's Capital.
  As I said, when he came here, for some reason, I think I became one 
of his very first friends. He must have decided that I was a big 
chairman, and when I went on a trip with the Budget Committee to 
Europe, I asked him if he would go, and he jumped to it. So we got to 
know each other during the first 2 or 3 months of his term on a trip to 
Europe where we learned about the new monetary system that was about to 
take place in Europe. We did a number of other things together.
  Obviously, he has been an exemplary Senator in all respects. He will 
return to his State and to America filled with ideas and ready to do 
other things for this great land. My wife Nancy and I wish Chuck and 
his family all the best.


                              Wayne Allard

  Now I rise to speak about Senator Wayne Allard from Colorado who 
announced in January 2007 he would not seek reelection in 2008, keeping 
his promise of only serving two terms. I would like to thank Wayne for 
his service here in the Senate and for his service to the State of 
Colorado.
  In the course of working together with Senator Allard for many years 
on the Senate Budget Committee and more recently on the Senate 
Appropriations Committee, I have developed genuine respect for Senator 
Allard. We have a lot in common, fighting for the interests of our 
predominantly rural, Western States. Although we did not always agree, 
we worked well together, and I valued his commitment to his home State.
  Senator Allard announced in January of 2007 that he would not seek 
reelection in 2008, keeping his promise to serve only two terms. Some 
of us were sorry that he did that. I was one. I would like to thank 
Wayne for his service in the Senate, for his service to the State of 
Colorado, my neighbor.
  We worked together for many years on the Budget Committee. More 
recently, we worked on appropriations. Colorado is my neighbor to the 
north, and we have much in common in fighting for the interests of much 
of our rural way of life that Western States have. At the same time, we 
have growing metropolises with the problems of transportation and the 
like, which he has spent much time on. He has supported many things I 
have worked on. For that, I am grateful and thankful to him today.
  He and his wife Joan will return to non-Senate life. I don't know if 
he is going home. I haven't asked him personally. But wherever he goes, 
it is obvious he will make an impact.

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