[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 12 (Wednesday, January 21, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S714-S715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO SENATORS


                              Barack Obama

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I want to take a moment to thank 
President Obama for his service in the Senate. Our new President has 
some very difficult challenges ahead, as he faces a serious economic 
downturn, and many critically important national security issues. But 
he has already shown his ability to handle tough challenges through his 
outstanding work here in the Senate since his election in 2004.
  From the moment he arrived, Barack Obama showed himself to be an 
outstanding legislator and public servant. I was very pleased to work 
with him on ethics and lobbying reform issues, first authoring a bill 
together, and then working together to pass the Honest Leadership and 
Open Government Act. Passing that landmark legislation took a 
determined, focused effort over many months, and then-Senator Obama 
showed that he was both a deeply principled, and very effective, member 
of this body. I was also pleased to work with him on a number of other 
issues, including the presidential public funding legislation, and I 
look forward to his continued support on that issue in this new 
Congress.
  I was proud to support his efforts, along with many other members, on 
the efforts to support our wounded warriors, which he championed. And, 
finally, I thank him for his support of my bill, authored with Majority 
Leader Harry Reid, to safely redeploy our troops from Iraq. His support 
helped to build momentum for our effort to redeploy the troops from 
Iraq and move toward a better national security strategy, and I thank 
him for it.
  We will miss his presence here in the Senate, but of course the 
Nation needs his unparalleled skills, and deep commitment to public 
service, more than ever as he is now President of the United States. I 
look forward to continuing to work with him on issues important to the 
American people, and I thank him once again for his service here in the 
Senate.


                              Joseph Biden

  Mr. President, it has been a pleasure to serve with Senator Joe Biden 
for the last 16 years. He is an outstanding colleague and a good 
friend, and I know that he will make a terrific Vice President. I have 
been pleased to work with him on so many issues over the years. For 
instance, I was proud to support him in his tremendous work on the COPS 
program. In turn I appreciate his steadfast support of campaign finance 
reform issues over the years.
  Most of all, I want to say how much I have enjoyed serving with 
Senator Biden on the Foreign Relations and Judiciary Committees. I also 
can attest to his mastery of the complicated issues he faced in both 
committees. It is a huge challenge to take on the chairmanship of a 
Senate committee, and to do it well, but to serve with such distinction 
as chair of two of the Senate's most important committees is very rare, 
and it speaks volumes about Joe Biden's service in this body.
  I have always found Senator Biden to be someone who I could talk with 
seriously about issues of mutual concern, or when we disagree. He is 
open-minded and he really listens. That quality will surely serve him 
well in his new position. He also, in my view, can be uniquely 
persuasive. He is one of the few Senators who I have actually seen 
change people's minds during a committee debate. In a policy fight 
involving complex issues, Joe Biden is someone who you want to have on 
your side.
  Now Senator Biden becomes Vice President, and I know he will serve 
the Nation with the same outstanding commitment and skill with which he 
served the people of Delaware. I thank him for his many years of 
distinguished service in the Senate, and look forward to continuing to 
work with him, and President Obama, in the years to come.


                         Hillary Rodham Clinton

  Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues in thanking Senator 
Hillary Rodham Clinton for her outstanding service in the Senate, and 
wishing her our very best as she becomes our Secretary of State. One of 
the many reasons I strongly support her nomination for Secretary of 
State is because I have had the pleasure of working with Senator 
Clinton, and I know what a skilled legislator and committed public 
servant she is. We have worked on a number of issues together over the 
years, including fighting for family farmers and especially the dairy 
farmers that are so important to both New York and Wisconsin. Finding 
common ground, we worked together to make sure dairy markets functioned 
properly, to improve the milk income loss contract or MILC program, and 
pushing for country-of-origin labeling, or COOL, legislation for dairy 
products. I was also proud to support the Paycheck Fairness Act, which 
she authored, and to work with her on many other issues.
  I also had the opportunity to travel with Senator Clinton and a 
number of other senators on an official trip to Afghanistan, Iraq, 
Kuwait and Pakistan, where we listened to service men and women on the 
ground, as well as local leaders. On that trip Senator Clinton deeply 
impressed me with her depth of knowledge on foreign relations and 
national security issues. Later I was very pleased to have her support 
for my effort with Majority Leader Harry Reid to safely redeploy our 
troops from Iraq, and I look forward to continuing to work with her on 
these critically important issues as she becomes our next Secretary of 
State. Once again, I thank her for her service in this body, and I wish 
her all the best as she continues her service to the American people.


                              Ken Salazar

  Mr. President, I join my colleagues in thanking Ken Salazar for his 
outstanding service to the people of Colorado over the last 4 years. It 
has been a pleasure to work with him on a number of issues; he is 
extremely easy to work with, both someone of integrity and great 
personal decency. In particular, he has been one of the Senate's 
leaders when it comes to protecting the rights and freedoms of the 
American people as we work to strengthen our national security. I was 
proud to work with him and a bipartisan coalition of Senators on the 
SAFE Act to change flawed provisions of the PATRIOT Act. I also 
appreciated his critical support of the NSL Reform Act, to address the 
serious misuse of the FBI's national security letter authorities. I 
also know Senator Salazar's deep commitment to public lands and energy 
resources issues, and I think he will be an excellent Secretary of the 
Interior. Again, I thank him for his service in this body, and I look 
forward to continuing to work with him as he assumes the leadership of 
the Interior Department.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I want to say a word of good wishes to the 
senior Senator, albeit very briefly, from Colorado, Ken Salazar, as he 
leaves the Senate to become Secretary of the Interior.
  As the son of 11th generation immigrants, from a family that farmed 
Colorado's San Luis Valley for a century and a half, no one has a 
deeper, more powerful connection to what opportunity means in this 
country than Ken Salazar.
  I can remember one of the first times I met Senator Salazar. After we 
had exchanged greetings, I said to him, ``My family came to America in 
the 1800s. When did your family come here?''
  He replied, ``Oh, about 500 years ago.''
  Indeed, it is remarkable to think that the descendant of a family 
that settled in the American West almost half a millennium ago will 
soon be a Member of the cabinet of first African-American President of 
the United States.
  Only in America.
  Indeed, though his parents, who served their country in World War II, 
were not college-educated themselves, they made sure that Ken, his 
brother, John, and their six brothers and sisters all graduated from 
college.
  To be sure, Senator Salazar is a son of Colorado--a small businessman 
who owned ice cream stores and radio stations and a farmer for more 
than 30

[[Page S715]]

years. Indeed, he practiced water and environmental law. Our 
colleague's affection for the pristine, majestic beauty of the Silver 
State and its people is embedded in his DNA.
  Senator Salazar also made a mark instantly on this institution. In 4 
years, he developed a reputation for bringing people together in common 
purpose--whether it was advancing renewable energy policy, confirming 
judges, standing up to abuses at the Justice Department, or championing 
the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
  And I would add that as we work to expand that latter program today, 
his leadership will be missed.
  His time in this institution was short, but he has made those moments 
count. As Senator Salazar seeks to find a balance between renewables 
and fossil fuels in the administration's energy choices, protect our 
public lands, and restore integrity to what has been a deeply troubled 
Department, I am confident that as Interior Secretary he will bring the 
same temperament to the job that he has brought to his responsibilities 
in the Senate, never forgetting those who came before us--whose sweat 
and heart remain at the very foundation of this great country of ours.
  And so, today, we thank Senator Salazar for his service and wish him 
well. As he has throughout his life, I have no doubt he will do a 
remarkable job for our Nation.

                          ____________________