[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 183 (Monday, December 8, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10800-S10801]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO SENATORS


                              ted stevens

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise once again to honor a 
distinguished colleague and the longest serving Republican in the 
history of this body, Senator Ted Stevens.
  I said it this morning. I will say it again: In the history of this 
Nation, no one man has done more for one State than Ted Stevens--no 
one. His commitment to the people of Alaska has been as constant as the 
Northern Star. And the list of things he has done on their behalf in a 
remarkable 40-year career is as vast as the State itself.
  Today we remember that legendary service, and the man who achieved 
it.
  Born in Indianapolis 85 years ago this week, Ted Stevens made his 
mark early. At 19, he was flying C-46 transport planes over the 
Himalayas in support of the legendary Flying Tigers. His appetite for 
adventure took him to Oregon and Montana for college, and then to even 
more exotic places as a pilot in the Army Air Corps. For his bravery, 
Ted would receive a Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal. It was 
the first of many, many honors.
  A decorated war veteran by his early-twenties, Ted returned to 
California to resume his studies, and later enrolled at Harvard Law 
School. After law school, Ted came to Washington, married a girl named 
Ann, and then set out on a new adventure in the vast expanse of the 
Alaska territory.
  He would go on to devote the rest of his life to helping the people 
of Alaska achieve the same rights and privileges that those in the 
lower 48 took for granted. And today, the name Ted Stevens is 
synonymous with the State he loves. It always will be.
  Who else can say that they helped draw the borders of the State in 
which they live? Well, Ted can. As Senator Murkowski put it: ``for 
forty years, Ted Stevens has been Alaska.'' He was there at the 
creation. And an entire generation of Alaskans have grown up not ever 
knowing the Senate without him.
  Ted will tell you he works so hard because there is so much work to 
do. Alaskans don't have the benefit of centuries of infrastructure and 
planning that much of the rest of the country does. Of the giant 
State's more than 200 villages, only a handful had running water when 
Ted came to the Senate. Thanks largely to him, roughly half of them do 
now.
  No one has done more for the U.S. Armed Forces than Ted Stevens. He 
secured funds for the F-117, to replace Air Force One, for unmanned 
aerial vehicles like the Predator and Global Hawk, and for a 
replacement Coast Guard icebreaker and the F-16 program. Ted was 
instrumental in ensuring funds for early military research on 
everything from breast cancer to AIDS.
  Ted Stevens once said:

       They sent me here to stand up for the state of Alaska.

  For 40 years, he fulfilled that charge with passion and purpose. And 
the Senate will never forget Ted Stevens.


                              GORDON SMITH

  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I would like to honor my friend and 
colleague from Oregon, Senator Gordon Smith.
  I have worked with Gordon since coming over to the Senate in 1998. It 
has been an honor and privilege to serve on both the Senate Finance 
Committee and Energy and Natural Resources Committee with him. Gordon 
has a long list of accomplishments to show for the people of Oregon and 
the Nation. He has served the people of Oregon well, and I know they 
are proud to call him one of their own. His leadership in the Senate 
will be missed, and it has truly been an honor serving with him.
  I thank Gordon for all of his contributions to the U.S. Senate, and I 
wish him and his family the best of luck in their future endeavors.


                             ELIZABETH DOLE

  Mr. President, today I pay tribute to my distinguished colleague from 
North Carolina, Senator Elizabeth Dole, who will be retiring from the 
Senate at the conclusion of the 110th Congress.
  I have worked with Senator Dole since she was elected to serve the 
people of North Carolina in 2002. I have also had the privilege of 
serving on the Senate Banking Committee with Senator Dole. She has 
dedicated her adult life to serve her country proudly. Senator Dole has 
had the distinct honor to serve in several capacities such as Deputy 
Assistant to the Nixon administration for Consumer Affairs, as a member 
of the Federal Trade Commission, Secretary of Transportation under 
President Reagan, and Secretary of Labor under President George H.W. 
Bush. Her heart and character can also be summed up by her work as the 
President of the American Red Cross and the impact she has had, on not 
only the lives of Americans, but also those abroad. A person of that 
caliber will be missed in the Senate.

[[Page S10801]]

  I am honored to know her and to have worked with her. I would like to 
thank Senator Dole for her contributions to the Senate and to the 
country we both love. I wish her and her family the best in all of 
their future endeavors.


                             JOHN E. SUNUNU

  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I wish to join my fellow Senators to 
honor a colleague and a friend, Senator John E. Sununu, who is 
departing the Senate at the close of this Congress. I have enjoyed 
working with Senator Sununu over the years--first in the House of 
Representatives and later in the Senate.
  While in the Senate, I have had the great fortune of serving with 
John on the Senate Finance Committee. He is a revered advocate of 
fiscal discipline, personal responsibility, and free markets. The two 
of us have stood together on numerous issues--most notably tax--and I 
have always believed that we could accomplish any goal because I had 
his voice of conviction and intellect by my side.
  Representing New Hampshire, Senator Sununu has proven to all Granite 
Staters that he will fight for the simple motto that reads on their 
State license plate: Live Free or Die. Whether the item of the day was 
social security, trade, or any other topical issue, including the 
original intent of the Constitution, Senator Sununu has proven that he 
is up for any debate.
  The U.S. Senate will not be the same without Senator John Sununu. In 
a time when many politicians try to increase the role of government in 
American life, Senator John Sununu has always bet on the American 
people rather than government. I will miss John Sununu.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, four of our most valuable Senators will 
not return next year and we will miss them.


                             elizabeth dole

  Elizabeth Dole began her career in public service at about the same 
time I did. We were both in the Nixon White House in 1969, and since 
then I have enjoyed following and watching and occasionally bumping 
into her remarkable career. She began that career at a time when women, 
even if they graduated from Harvard Law School as she did, had very few 
options. Elizabeth made her options--in the Cabinet, heading the 
American Red Cross and pioneering in a Presidential race in 1999. I 
have thoroughly enjoyed working with her, as well as knowing even 
better Bob Dole during these last 6 years. She truly is one of 
America's most admired women.


                              gordon smith

  Gordon Smith is the most eloquent among us Senators. Every Republican 
Senator would say that, and any Democrat who had heard him would agree. 
He has a quiet way, an intelligence and a way of speaking that commands 
attention and respect. He has his feet firmly planted on the ground in 
Pendleton, OR. He understands the private sector. He has been 
courageous in his willingness to support and chide and criticize his 
party when needed. He will be sorely missed.


                              john sununu

  I met John Sununu when he was a college student and his father and I 
were Governors of our respective States. He arrives and leaves as the 
youngest member of the Senate. But, in our caucus, his voice is one of 
the voices most carefully listened to. His intelligence, his 
philosophical integrity and his persistence have made him a most 
valuable player in our Republican Conference. He has a bright career 
ahead of him.


                              ted stevens

  I have often thought that I should write a book called ``some things 
you don't know about the people I work with.'' Someday I will. And I 
will start with Ted Stevens, who flew the first cargo plane into 
Peking, as it was then called, at the end of World War II. This was a 
dangerous, bold mission. It helps to explain the life of this 
remarkable man who helped Alaska become a State and then has defended 
and supported it in the Senate for 40 years. With the departures of Ted 
Stevens and two other Senators of whom I have already spoken--Pete 
Domenici and John Warner--the Senate loses more than 100 years of 
service. More than that, this country loses three men whose view of 
America was rooted in the last years of World War II and the remarkable 
ascendancy of our country since then. Looking around the Senate, it 
will be difficult to find many among those of us who remain with the 
breadth of vision and old-fashioned patriotism that these men have 
contributed.

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