[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 155 (Saturday, September 27, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9970-S9971]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO SENATOR PETE DOMENICI

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, let me take a few moments to say what an 
absolutely outstanding privilege it has been for me, for 10 of the 12 
years I have served in the Senate, to serve on the Energy Committee 
with Senator Domenici.
  It is rare to see a person in public office who cares equally as 
deeply about his family and his children and his work. Sometimes 
families get pushed aside because of the work of men and women who 
think the work they do is somehow more important than raising their 
children. I have experienced struggling for that balance in my own 
life, watching my father struggle with that balance. Sitting on the 
committee watching Senator Domenici has been an inspiration to me, to 
watch him handle some of the biggest issues of our time, truly, over 36 
years. He spoke about some of them--the budgets of the entire Congress, 
the nuclear renaissance in the country, major pieces of social 
legislation he has shepherded and nurtured and loved. But in between 
many of these discussions I have been privileged to have with him, he 
will stop in the middle of a conversation and talk about one of his 
children or one of his grandchildren. He is the father of eight. I am 
one of nine and the mother of two.
  I just want to tell him, in these brief moments--and I am just going 
to speak for 2 or 3 minutes--what an inspiration he has been to me as a 
man who loves his wife and his children and his grandchildren so deeply 
and has managed to serve his State with such passion and grace and love 
for 36 years. And New Mexico is not a next-door kind of place. New 
Mexico is a long way from Washington, DC, but it has never been long 
from the Senator's heart.
  The final thing I want to say is that, on behalf of the people of my 
State, I want the Senator from New Mexico to know we will be forever 
grateful for his leadership when it came to passing, for us, something 
in the nature of the Declaration of Independence. And I don't mean to 
belittle that document, but for the people of Louisiana, who for 60 
years have struggled to try to find some way to preserve this great 
coast of ours and to save our communities, our culture, and our 
economic livelihood, this Senator stepped up, this Senator from New 
Mexico--not much water there--and his heart was with the people of 
Louisiana and the gulf coast. He and his wife flew over this great 
expanse of land, which has been under water now for quite some time 
with these storms in the last years, and he basically took the lead on 
establishing for us something that had eluded us for 60 years--since 
President Truman was the President of the United States. Senator 
Domenici changed the fortunes of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and 
Alabama by putting in a major piece of legislation that will establish 
a way for us to secure this coast.
  So, Senator, I could speak for a long time--many more hours--about 
what you have done, but there are other Members much more senior to me 
and in your own party who wish to speak. I just wanted to lay down for 
the record the comment to you--and I will submit a more formal 
statement for the Record--that the people of Louisiana whom I represent 
will be forever grateful for your leadership.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I am sorry to see Pete Domenici leave the 
Senate for a variety of reasons but one highly personal: He is reducing 
by 25 percent the number of Senators now serving who served with my 
father. Senator Byrd, Senator Kennedy, Senator Inouye, Senator Stevens, 
and Senator Biden all served with my father, as did Senator Domenici. 
Now, he has told me that my father was never quite able to pronounce 
his name correctly, for which I apologize. I have learned how to do it 
so that the Bennett family is relieved of that particular problem.
  This demonstrates a degree of continuity and a degree of dedication 
to the problems related to the West because New Mexico and Utah are 
neighboring States. We touch at one tiny point. It is the only point in 
the United States where four States come together. It is called the 
Four Corners, where four States, in a straight divide, come and touch 
each other. But New Mexico and Utah share many of the same problems, 
and as I have come to the Senate with the problems of the West and had 
to turn somewhere for a mentor to help guide me through those problems, 
I have turned to Senator Domenici. His advice has always been good, his 
help has always been available, and he has proven to be as good a 
friend to his western neighbors as he has been to his New Mexican 
constituents.
  If the Senate seniority rule holds in place, I will succeed him as 
the ranking member of the Energy and Water Subcommittee of the 
Committee on Appropriations. These are very big shoes to fill. In true 
Domenici style, instead of just waving goodbye and walking out the 
door, he has tucked me under his arm and taken me around to all of the 
national labs to make sure that these beloved institutions, which he 
has tended and funded and guided so carefully, got introduced to me 
under his tutelage and so that he made sure that I understood fully how 
important they were. In very kind and subtle ways, he made it clear to 
me that if I didn't stand up to the responsibility of keeping those 
national treasures alive, he would haunt me in one way or another. Now, 
I hope he does. I hope he is available for years to come for advice and 
counsel.
  The other thing that has been referred to here, on which I have been 
delighted to join with him, is his crusade for insurance equality for 
the mentally disturbed. He and I both have some experience with that 
with members of our own families. We understand how

[[Page S9971]]

important that is, and it has been easy to be a foot soldier in the 
ranks, with Pete Domenici leading the charge.
  There is a phrase that has been used and vastly overused around these 
halls in Washington for a long time, but it applies accurately to Pete 
Domenici. He truly has been a national treasure, and we shall miss him 
but wish him well.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Levin). The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, what a privilege it has been for myself 
and many of my colleagues to sit here in the presence this afternoon to 
not hear a goodbye to the Senate, because the Senate, Senator Domenici, 
will always look up to you. You will be the model which young men and 
women coming to the Senate will wish to follow.
  I don't know whether anyone can do what you have done throughout the 
Senate with greater feeling and sincerity. Mr. President, when Senator 
Domenici greets and visits with you, he always finishes that with ``I 
love you, brother'' or ``I love you, sister.''
  God bless you and your family.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Thank you.
  Mr. WARNER. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader.

                          ____________________