[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 155 (Saturday, September 27, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9972-S9973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SENATOR PETE DOMENICI

  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, if I may, to Senator Domenici, with whom 
I have worked on the Energy Committee since I came to the Senate, I 
want to give him my accolades and also to wish him well in his days 
ahead. When I arrived in the Senate some 3\1/2\ years ago, he was one 
of the people who welcomed me here. He welcomed me here as the man from 
the land of enchantment, la Tierra Encantada, as we say in Spanish in 
New Mexico. He did so in large part because many of my family members 
are from the State of New Mexico. My family helped found the city of 
Santa Fe, the city of Holy Faith, now over 400 years ago.
  During many times as I was growing up as a young man, and later on in 
my professional life, traveling in New Mexico, I would hear about the 
great Senator of New Mexico, the great Pete Domenici. Now, for the last 
4 years it has been a tremendous privilege and personal honor for me to 
be able to serve with him.
  I want to make two comments about him--first, in terms of the 
substance of the legislation that we have worked on together. We have 
passed three significant pieces of bipartisan energy legislation with 
him--in 2005, the Energy Policy Act of that year; again, we passed 
another energy package in 2006; and again in 2007. In the passage of 
those major pieces of legislation, it was Senator Domenici, working 
closely with his good friend, Senator Bingaman, who said that we could 
agree on things for the future of this country on this signature issue 
that is so important to our national security and to our economic 
prosperity. He brought us together to make sure that we would work on 
those things that we all agreed upon. That is why we were able to pass 
those very important pieces of legislation. I very much appreciate what 
he has done in that committee.
  Second, as he and I have talked many times over the last several 
years, there are issues that are unique to the West, the issues of 
public lands, where much of our lands--for example, in my State of 
Colorado, 33 percent is owned by the Federal Government. It takes an 
understanding of those realities, of issues like payment in lieu of 
taxes, or how we deal with the mining law in the West, or how we make 
sure that the water issues of the West are protected, and how we 
recognize the compacts of our States as being important. For all those 
issues he has been a tremendous leader and an inspiration.
  I will miss him dearly as a friend. He has been a dear friend. But I 
also will miss his leadership because on so many issues he has worked 
across the aisle. I appreciate his leadership as well in what he has 
done for mental health parity for the United States of America.
  There will be not hundreds of thousands, not millions, but hundreds 
of millions of Americans who will come to benefit from his leadership 
on the mental health parity issue. Also, the building blocks he has 
laid for us to try to take the moon shot that will get us energy 
independence. Those building blocks will remain in place for decades 
and for generations to come.
  So I appreciate his leadership, and I appreciate his service.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I want to thank my good friend, Senator 
Salazar, from the State of Colorado. I don't know what brought us 
together on our Energy Committee. Maybe it was a little bit of common 
language--we both spoke a little Spanish to each other, and it made us 
both understand and feel like we were friends. But we became that, we 
became friends rather quickly in his short 4 years.
  I obviously remember your very first 6 months when we became friends 
and worked on many issues. I compliment you on your constant effort to 
work in a bipartisan way on issues. It is tough around here. It is 
going to have to move in that direction or we are going to continue to 
have trouble getting things done. For that, I hope you will stand your 
ground and at least keep trying.
  I appreciate the kind words you said in my behalf. Let's hope we see 
each other frequently, if not in your State, in New Mexico, the Land of 
Enchantment.
  Thank you very much, Senator.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia is recognized.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, these are one of the periods of our lives 
in the Senate we shall always remember. My good friend, the Senator 
from New Mexico, steps down and departs the floor. But you will be a 
Member of this decisionmaking body through the next few days, which 
will be critical when your vast experience will be brought to bear on 
this decision, as it will.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Senator, I tell you, I said a little bit in my remarks 
a while ago about it. I get very excited and anxious because it takes 
too long. But that is the deliberative body. But we don't have a long 
time to give the Secretary of the Treasury the kind of authority he 
needs to fix a broken train.
  We have had a wreck--lots of wrecks. All the freeways are clogged. We 
have to take away the things that are clogging them. We could look at 
it as a freeway with cracked-up cars, but actually the assets that are 
piled up there are the toxic assets that have been accumulated by those 
banks. If you don't get them out of the way, the line continues growing 
because of the broken-down cars, the toxic assets. The running cars can 
run no more. They are stopped in place. They contain everything that 
has given us a decent life in America.
  We have to fix that. I am going to be here. Let's hope our 
negotiators will put something together that the executive branch tells 
us will work and that the world accepts it with confidence. When we 
come off this floor, when we vote that in--whatever it is, Monday or 
whatever--we will join, you and I, with great confidence that we have 
once again done something important.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I was present today in our group of 
Senators. When you spoke, you inspired them. We have got to rebuild the 
confidence in America. That is what underlies this decision. I also 
wish to say a few words about our dear friend from Colorado. I cannot 
altogether make these remarks without divulging I have a bias. I have 
visited that beautiful State many times. But my daughter makes her home 
there, together with my grandson, and the Senator from Colorado allowed 
my grandson to be an intern in his office. He served as an intern 
briefly in my office, both without pay to the taxpayers, I hasten to 
say, when I make these remarks.
  But he has been a great friend. We have worked together on many 
things. He has dignity. But above all it is his enthusiasm and love for 
this institution. There is not a day when he walks on this floor, 
either to say to other Senators or to say it quietly to himself: How 
fortunate I am to be a Senator, to come here to represent the people of 
Colorado, to represent the people, as each Senator does, of the whole 
of the United States.
  So as I step down, and others, we do so with a sense of confidence, 
behind us remain individuals like yourself and indeed the distinguished 
Presiding Officer who for 30 years, he and I have

[[Page S9973]]

served together on the Armed Services Committee. He will remain on. The 
Senate will be in good hands with you and our other colleagues to carry 
on and solve the problems for this great Nation and indeed much of the 
world.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.

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