[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 19 (Friday, January 30, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1115-S1117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        OUR COUNTRY'S CHALLENGES

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I rise today with full and 
humble appreciation for the critical scrutiny a Senator's maiden speech 
usually attracts. I am also aware of the somewhat forgotten tradition 
here in which freshmen Senators took some considerable time before 
throwing caution to the wind, opening their mouths, and hoping to 
enlighten their wiser and more experienced colleagues. That tradition 
like many others has eroded over time, such that in recent years 
freshmen Senators have taken to the floor early and often. I hope my 
words today will not encourage a revival of the older tradition.
  I am also aware that many new Senators use the occasion of their 
first speech to introduce a specific bill or to

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speak at length about pending legislation. I hope to do something 
different today. I will not speak about specific legislation, but I 
will speak about this moment in our country's history, the perils we 
face, and my sincere hope that we will address the critical issues of 
our time in a new way, with less rancor and with a shared commitment to 
bridge the partisan divide that has characterized so much of our recent 
political experience.
  We have inaugurated a new President and a new administration, and a 
new Congress is taking shape. These developments represent a fresh 
start, a new start, one in which every American, regardless of party or 
political affiliation, can rejoice because if there were ever a time 
when our country hungered for a fresh start, it is here and it is now.
  The American people are impatient with politics, and with good 
reason. Our country is facing significant peril. More of our fellow 
citizens are losing their jobs and their homes. Credit is drying up. 
Businesses, large and small, are cutting back. Americans have seen the 
value of their college and retirement savings plans reduced 
dramatically. We may be facing the most significant and difficult 
economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
  This has put me in mind of a great and courageous predecessor, 
Senator Edward Costigan, who served here, from Colorado, from 1931 to 
1937, the very depths of the Great Depression. I have reverence for 
Senator Costigan because he was born of the progressive tradition of 
the West--a tradition the Udall family has participated in over many 
generations. Senator Costigan is largely remembered for his effort to 
pass an antilynching law at a time when people of color were under a 
constant threat of mob violence. He was also a champion of economic 
reform.
  I found it interesting that Senator Costigan, in this Chamber in 
1932, spoke on behalf of a stimulus bill--which was then called a 
relief bill--using words that are eerily relevant 76 years later. 
Arguing for the bill, Senator Costigan said:

       One almost despairs of the ability of America's industrial 
     and political generals to save America in its present crisis. 
     . . .

  Thankfully, we have not reached a point of economic collapse anything 
like that which occurred when Senator Costigan spoke. But Americans who 
have lost their jobs or their savings know this crisis is every bit as 
real and every bit as devastating.
  This current crisis is made worse by our continued addiction to oil 
and our dangerous dependence on foreign oil in particular. While the 
global market price of oil and gasoline dropped remarkably from record 
highs of last year, no one should be under any illusion that this price 
slide will continue. Continued instability in the Middle East, combined 
with ever-increasing demand in China, in India, and other global 
markets, will inevitably mean that the price of oil will rise. We have 
not seen the end of the energy crisis that crippled our economy last 
summer. We did survive the first wave of this energy tsunami, but we 
must prepare for the waves to come.
  This economic crisis is also made more perilous by the fact that our 
country is still engaged in two unfinished wars. Mr. President, 150,000 
of our best and bravest are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our Army 
has been stretched to the breaking point, and our national security 
depends on implementing a new strategy that includes rebuilding our 
defense capability.
  Elsewhere in the world, in North Korea, in Gaza, in the winding 
alleys of Pakistan, in the shadowy corridors of power in Iran, we face 
threats from new enemies, the risks of widening conflict, and the 
gravest danger of all in the new century--the potential for a nuclear 
weapon to fall into the hands of terrorists.
  David Sanger points out in his compelling book, ``The Inheritance,'' 
that America's response to 9/11 has not been without strategic error. 
America's position in the world, military and economic, has been 
weakened at the very moment we need to lead the world.
  This list of challenges is daunting, and it does not include other 
pressing problems bearing down on us, such as the escalating cost of 
health care, a Federal budget deficit that threatens to wash away the 
foundation for our children's economic future, illusive solvency for 
key programs such as Medicare and Social Security, a broken immigration 
system, and mounting evidence that global climate change is threatening 
our natural environment.
  In addition to losing influence on the world stage and struggling to 
restore a wrecked economy, in addition to Iraq and Afghanistan, we may 
also have a third war on our hands--this one with Mother Nature. If 
Mother Nature fails, our list of challenges will seem small by 
comparison.
  The question, then, before us is, Will this be a moment of anxiety or 
optimism? In truth, I believe it is both. The challenges we face are 
among the most significant ever faced by a new President and Congress.
  Although I join the Senate as a proud western Democrat, buoyed by the 
success my party enjoyed in the last election, I think it would be a 
terrible mistake to see the challenge of this moment in purely partisan 
terms. The problems we face are not Democratic or Republican problems, 
they are American problems, and they will only be met by American 
solutions. Much lipservice is given to the idea of bipartisanship and 
the notion of working across the aisle. Frankly, I have to tell you, I 
think it is cynicism to breathe life and action into these words that 
hamstring us.
  Like many of you, I was serving in the Congress on 9/11. That tragedy 
awakened a deep spirit, a deep spirit of shared purpose. I call it the 
spirit of 9/11, in the best sense of that term. I want to invoke it 
here, not to use it as a patriotic bludgeon but to remind us how it 
felt to know our country had been attacked and that we were united in 
our response and in our resolve. If there were ever a time when we 
needed to recapture that spirit of 9/11, it is now. Surely we do not 
need another tragedy to unite us in that common response and resolve. 
We need only look ahead at the deep challenges we face.
  I am comforted by our history. A reading of our history shows that we 
have been through worse. We have endured a terrible Civil War, two 
world wars, and an economic catastrophe of far greater dimension. With 
each successive American generation, we have worked to cleanse the 
Nation from the stain of slavery, bigotry, and racial prejudice. With 
each successive generation, we have grown wiser, more enlightened, and 
more prosperous. We have seen the great middle class lifted and engaged 
in building the strongest and most creative economy the world has ever 
seen. So if history is our guide, I know we will meet the challenge of 
this moment.
  As a son of the West, I am also proud of our special history. Of 
course, every region of America has a story to tell and a contribution 
to make to the whole. Among many qualities in the West, we particularly 
treasure independence and we have little time for brooding pessimism. 
The great western writer Wallace Stegner put it best when he wrote 
about the people he called ``stickers,'' those who settled the West 
against all odds and obstacles. He called them stickers because they 
were not quitters and they did not leave the scene of a challenge. They 
stuck to the land because of their spirit, their courage, and their 
hopes for a better community in which to raise their children--and, to 
be honest, because they were too doggone ornery to give up.
  We are a country of stickers, and now it is up to the 111th Congress 
to be stickers too. The American people have vested their hopes and 
aspirations in us, to serve them well in the institutions of democracy 
we call the Congress.
  As I close, I want to return to my predecessor in this seat, Senator 
Edward Costigan, and his long fight against the evil of lynching. In a 
speech on this subject in 1935, he expressed the hope that partisan and 
sectional division would give way to a true common purpose. He said:

       Ours is truly at last a new South, a new North, a new East, 
     and a new West, unitedly building a new America of common 
     humanity, guarded by just and ever more equal laws.

  Senator Costigan was calling for a new way of looking at the 
political challenge in his day, one that looked toward a uniting 
purpose. We have a similar calling today. We may often divide as 
Republicans and Democrats on

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what we think is best for our country. Debate is good. We should 
encourage a vigorous exchange of ideas and not fear disagreement. But 
we ought always, always to strive for a common purpose.
  I wish to express my deep thanks to my fell Coloradans who have given 
me the opportunity and honor to represent them here at this challenging 
and important time in our history.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Udall of Colorado.) Without objection, it 
is so ordered.

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