[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 166 (Wednesday, December 15, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10241-S10244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         FAREWELL TO THE SENATE

  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, I rise today to say farewell to the 
Senate after 12 years. I would like to take time to convey my heartfelt 
thanks to all of those who have helped me during my time in the Senate 
and to reflect briefly on the work we were able to get done, work that 
I think made a difference for the people of my State and our Nation.
  I also will share a few observations with my colleagues, both those 
who are staying as the 112th, as well as Senators yet to come. At this 
stage in my life, I look back on my 44 years in public service and I 
cannot help but thank God for the immeasurable blessings he has 
bestowed upon me. Each time I walk the steps of the Senate, I look up 
at the Statue of Freedom on the top of our Capitol dome, and I think of 
my grandparents who came to America with nothing but the clothes on 
their back. They could not read or write and spoke only a few words of 
English.
  I have to pinch myself as a reminder that this has not been just a 
wonderful dream. The grandson of Serbian and Slovenian immigrants who 
grew up on the east side of Cleveland is a U.S. Senator. Only in 
America.
  Truly none of us should take for granted the economic and political 
freedoms we have. My dad used to say the reason we have more of the 
world's bounty is because we get more out of our people because of our 
free enterprise and educational systems. Mr. Gudikuntz, my social 
studies teacher, said: A democracy is where everyone has an equal 
opportunity to become unequal.
  So during my final days in the Senate, I think of the people in my 
life who have gotten me up the steps to this hallowed Chamber: My wife 
of 48 years Janet is God's greatest blessing to me. She has never 
pulled or pushed me, but she has always been at my side; my three 
children on Earth, George, Betsy and Peter, and my angel in Heaven, 
Molly, and my eight grandchildren, my siblings and their extended 
families. It is not easy to have a father, brother, or uncle in this 
business. The people of Ohio who have facilitated my election to seven 
different offices, who have stuck with me even though on occasion they 
have not agreed with me, have my deep appreciation. I can never thank 
them enough. I hope they know that every decision I have made and every 
policy I have crafted, although not always the easiest or most popular 
at the time, was aimed to improve and make a positive difference in our 
lives. I am very humbled to have been given the privilege to serve them 
through the years.
  Here in the Senate, my wonderful staff, both in Ohio and in 
Washington, I am so proud of what they have done for me and the people 
of Ohio. I take fatherly pride in having had the chance to touch their 
lives and see them grow. I also think of our colleagues in the other 
Senate offices who have helped and cooperated with them as we worked 
together to solve our Nation's problems, meet challenges, and seize 
opportunities. My colleagues and I should be most humble; for all we 
are is a reflection of these wonderful, loyal, hard-working 
individuals.
  I also thank all of you in this Chamber for your courtesies you have 
extended to me. I miss my first 2 years when I presided over the 
Senate, the first one to get to 100 hours in the chair. It was a 
wonderful time, and thank you all for what you have done for me over 
the years.
  The folks in the Attending Physician's Office have taken care of me 
physically. Our two great Chaplains, Lloyd Ogilvie and Barry Black, 
along with the wonderful priests at St. Joseph's on the Hill have 
helped me grow spiritually. I have to mention Jim Inhofe, hosting our 
Bible study each

[[Page S10242]]

week. He honored me by inviting me to a codel to Africa this year. 
There is no one in this Senate who has done more for public diplomacy 
for the United States in Africa than Jim Inhofe.
  I have learned in my life that you cannot do anything alone. So, of 
course, I think of my colleagues in the Senate whom I have learned to 
know and respect. I have been blessed to call them friends. The 
American people have made it clear that they are not happy with 
partisanship in Washington. But the fact is, there are some great 
partnerships here, and those partnerships and relationships result in 
action.
  I do not think many people outside Washington understand that a lot 
gets done here on a bipartisan basis. Many Americans think the only 
action in the Senate is on the floor of the Senate. But much of the 
action in the Senate is in the committees and meetings with other 
Members off the floor, as well as through unanimous consent.
  Once a bill gets through committee, perhaps one or two people might 
have a problem with it, but we work it out, call them, go see them, it 
gets done. But it is never reported in the paper about how we are 
working together on so many pieces of legislation.
  I am proud of the contribution I have made to the country in the area 
of human capital and government management. The fact is, though, 
without my brother, Dan Akaka--and he is my brother--the changes never 
would have occurred. There is nobody who has done more to reform the 
way we treat our Federal workers, to make us more competitive and work 
harder and smarter and do more with less than what Dan and I have tried 
to do over the years, 12 years of working at it. It is an area that is 
neglected by most legislators because they do not appreciate how 
important the people are that work in government. I call them the A-
Team. Any successful organization has to have good finances and good 
people.
  I am also proud of my work in helping to relaunch the nuclear 
renaissance, which will help deliver baseload energy for America, 
reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and reignite our manufacturing 
base in Ohio and in our country. I could not have done this without 
Senator Tom Carper, who has been both a friend and a colleague since 
our days as Governor. Tom's leadership was key to organizing our recent 
successful Nuclear Summit in Washington, and Tom has taken the baton 
from me and will carry nuclear energy to the finish line as part of the 
future of America's energy supply, along with Mike Crapo, Jim Risch, 
Lamar Alexander, and others.
  I also recall the passage of the landmark PRO-IP bill, a bill to 
protect our intellectual property, by the way, the last bastion of our 
global competitiveness. It was a multiyear process that would not have 
succeeded without the work of the business community and my friend, 
Evan Bayh, whom I first met when we were Governors of neighboring 
States.
  As many of you know, I have been an ardent champion for my brothers 
and sisters in Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, and the countries of 
the former Yugoslavia. As such, I am proud to have led the effort to 
expand NATO and increase membership in the Visa Waiver Program. These 
two accomplishments would not have happened without the bipartisan 
leadership of Dick Lugar and Joe Biden on the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee and the help of Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins on the 
Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

  I pray that the bipartisanship that I have witnessed and enjoyed in 
both foreign relations and homeland security will continue. I must also 
acknowledge Senator Jeanne Shaheen for her keen interest in southeast 
Europe. We traveled together to the region in February of this year, 
and I am heartened that she has picked up the mantle on our mission to 
ensure the door of NATO and European Union membership remains open to 
all states in the Western Balkans, which is key, I believe, to our 
national security.
  I have also championed the cause of monitoring and combatting anti-
Semitism, making it a priority within the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe and our State Department. The progress that has 
been made over the years could not have happened without the leadership 
of Senator Ben Cardin, Congressman Chris Smith, and the late 
Congressman Tom Lantos.
  One of the highlights of my career was the passage of the global 
anti-Semitism bill, which created a special envoy at the State 
Department to monitor and combat global anti-Semitism. These are just a 
few examples of great bipartisan work going on in the Senate. But much 
of the time this is blurred because of the media's addiction to 
conflict.
  Even though I do not agree with the bipartisan resolution on 
extending the Bush tax cuts, I compliment the President and leaders in 
Congress for sitting down and working together to find a compromise.
  One of my frustrations after working so hard to find common ground on 
significant issues over the past 12 years has been that it does not 
happen often enough. The American people know that even when members of 
a family get along, it is difficult to get things done. So they most 
certainly know that when we are laser focused on fighting politicking 
and messaging, their concerns and plight are forgotten, and nothing 
controversial gets done.
  There is a growing frustration that Congress is oblivious to their 
problems, anxieties, and fears. Frankly, I think one action leaders 
could take at the beginning of each Congress is to assess the issues at 
hand. What are the items that Republicans and Democrats agree should 
get done to make our Nation more competitive and make a difference in 
people's lives, and set a common agenda. By setting collective goals, 
by an agreement from leadership, I believe that will set the 
environment for committee chairmen and ranking members for the year.
  Think about it. What kind of planning do we do? Most successful 
corporations have 5-year plans: Where are we going? What are our 
priorities? What are the things we agree upon? Let's not spend time on 
those things where we disagree.
  Additionally, an unacceptable amount of time is spent on fundraising. 
It is my estimate that 20 to 25 percent of a Senator's time is spent on 
raising millions of dollars, and with it comes the negative fallout in 
terms of the public view of Congress, bowing to contributions from 
special interests. In addition to this negative impression, the time 
spent raising money too often interferes with the time we need for our 
families, our colleagues, and, most importantly, doing the job the 
people elected us to do. My last 2 years have been my most productive 
and enjoyable because I have not had to chase money at home and around 
the country. None of us like it, but nothing seems to get done about 
it--nothing seems to get done about it.
  Ideological differences aside, it is necessary for us to have good 
working relationships if we are going to get anything done for the 
people who elected us. I know it is possible from my personal 
experience. As mayor of Cleveland, I worked side by side with George 
Forbes, the most powerful Democratic city councilman in Cleveland's 
history. My entire city council was Democrats. George and I first met 
when our children attended the Mayor Works Program in the Cleveland 
Public Schools System. Who would have guessed that we would become the 
tag team that turned Cleveland around after it became the first major 
city to go into bankruptcy?
  I was pummeled by the media on occasion in regard to who was actually 
running city hall. My answer was, both of us. Forbes and I worked 
together as friends and partners. One of the great satisfactions when I 
left the job of mayor was that USA Today highlighted both of us: The 
tall African-American Democrat, Big George, and the short White 
Republican, Little George, working together to bring about Cleveland's 
renaissance.
  In Columbus, I found a worthy adversary when I was Governor in 
Democrat Vern Riffe, who was speaker of the house for my first 4 years 
as Ohio Governor. My office was on the 30th floor of the building named 
after Riffe while he was still alive and serving an unprecedented 22 
years as speaker.
  Well, every day when I went over to the Riffe Tower, I had to 
genuflect before his bust. But, somehow, Vern and I decided we were 
going to figure out how we could work together and move Ohio forward 
and become good friends.

[[Page S10243]]

  Needless to say, folks, I was dismayed when I learned this year that 
President Obama had held only a single one-on-one meeting with Mitch 
McConnell. One meeting. When I was Governor, I met with Vern Riffe and 
Stan Aranoff, who was president of the senate, every 2 weeks, 
developing good interpersonal relationships and a trust which allowed 
us to move Ohio forward, from the Rust Belt to the Jobs Belt.
  I am hoping we have entered a new era in the relationship between the 
President and leadership in Congress. Our situation today is more 
critical--more critical--than at any time in my 44 years in government. 
How we work together will determine the future of our country. We must 
also recognize that if we diminish the President in the eyes of the 
world, it is to the detriment of our Nation's international influence 
and will impact our national security. We are on thin ice, and we need 
the help of our allies. They need our help as well.
  For example, the START treaty. Although I have had some reservations 
about it, they have been satisfied. It is vitally important to get done 
this year or, alternatively, we must make it clear the Senate will 
ratify the treaty as soon as the 112th Congress convenes. To not do so 
will do irreparable harm to America's standing with our NATO allies and 
would be exploited by our enemies, particularly those factions in 
Russia that would like to break off communication and revert back to 
our Cold War relationship. There are plenty of them over there still 
smarting from the fact that the wall went down, NATO expanded, and we 
encroached on their area of influence.
  Two weeks ago Janet and I attended a farewell dinner hosted by Mitch 
McConnell. Although I have had differences with Mitch, I have to credit 
him with keeping the Republican team together. There is no one more 
strategic than Mitch, Jon Kyl, and Lamar Alexander. Still, I share the 
concern of many of my colleagues that too often the herd mentality has 
taken over our respective conferences. At the dinner Mitch hosted, I 
shared with my Republican colleagues what Ohio State University coach 
Jim Tressel defines as success in his book ``The Winners Manual.''

       Success is the inner satisfaction and peace of mind that 
     come from knowing I did the best I was capable of doing for 
     the group.

  Success is a team sport. Hopefully, this will become the Senate's 
definition of success, because finding common ground and teamwork is 
what it will take to confront the problems facing our Nation.
  My colleague Senator Chris Dodd hit the nail on the head when he 
said:

       It is whether each one of the 100 Senators can work 
     together--living up to the incredible honor that comes with 
     the title, and the awesome responsibility that comes with the 
     office.

  We do have a symbiotic relationship, and I am encouraged that more 
and more of my colleagues understand that. I was quite impressed with 
the fact that 60 percent of the Senate representation on the National 
Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform supported the 
recommendations of the chairmen, including Tom Coburn, Mike Crapo, Judd 
Gregg, Kent Conrad, and Dick Durbin. As far as I am concerned, they are 
true patriots.
  As our colleague Tom Coburn said just before the commission vote:

       The time for action is now. We can't afford to wait until 
     the next election to begin this process. Long before the 
     skyrocketing cost of entitlements cause our national debt to 
     triple and tax rates to double, our economy may collapse 
     under the weight of this burden. We are already near a 
     precipice. In the near future, we could experience a collapse 
     in the value of our dollar, hyperinflation or other 
     consequences that would force Congress to face a set of 
     choices far more painful than those proposed in this plan.

  Here we are, in a situation where we are on an unsustainable fiscal 
course caused by explosive and unchecked growth in spending and 
entitlement obligations without funding. We have an outdated Tax Code 
that does not sufficiently encourage savings and economic growth, a 
skyrocketing national debt that puts our credit rating in serious 
jeopardy and should give all of us great pause.
  For Fareed Zakaria posed questions that should haunt all of us in 
Monday's Washington Post.

       So when will we get serious about our fiscal mess? In 2020 
     or 2030, when the needed spending cuts and tax hikes get much 
     larger? If we cannot inflict a little pain now, who will 
     impose a lot of pain later? Does anyone believe that 
     Washington will one day develop the political courage it now 
     lacks? And what if, while we are getting around to doing 
     something, countries get nervous about lending us money and 
     our interest rates rise?

  I believe the American people get it. They recognize that our fiscal 
situation is in the intensive care unit on life support.
  As I walk down the steps of the U.S. Capitol for the last time, I 
pray the Holy Spirit will inspire my colleagues to make the right 
decision for our country's future and work together to tackle our 
fiscal crisis. You have the future of our Nation and the future of our 
children and grandchildren in your hands.
  I have already spoken too long. If my wife Janet were here, she would 
be scratching her head. That is the signal she always gives me. I got 
your signal, dear.
  But I would like to finish with a reading from ``One Quiet Moment,'' 
a book of daily readings from the former Senate Chaplain Lloyd Ogilvie 
which I read every day for inspiration and proper perspective. Perhaps 
some of my colleagues are familiar with his writings. This was his 
election day admonition:

       . . . May the immense responsibilities they assume, and the 
     vows they make when sworn into office, bring them to their 
     knees with profound humility and unprecedented openness to 
     You. Save them from the seduction of power, the addiction of 
     popularity, and the aggrandizement of pride. Lord, keep their 
     priorities straight: You and their families first; the good 
     of the Nation second; consensus around truth third; party 
     loyalties fourth; and personal success last of all. May they 
     never forget they have been elected to serve and not to be 
     served.

  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Ohio is 
recognized.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, as Ohio's junior Senator, I wish to 
add my remarks, as well as I am able, to the comments of Senator 
Voinovich. He didn't talk much about himself and his career, and I will 
do that for a moment.
  In his almost 50 years of public service, he always has been his own 
man, whether as a State legislator, county auditor, a county 
commissioner of Cuyahoga County, Lieutenant Governor, as mayor of 
Cleveland, Governor of Ohio, and now his 12 years in the Senate. He has 
always been his own man. He was rewarded in some sense when, as a 1958 
graduate of Ohio University, the school created the Voinovich School of 
Leadership in Public Affairs. It is not often that a State university 
or any public entity names something after someone still in office, 
particularly something as prestigious as the Voinovich School of 
Leadership. I have visited it many times. There are always stimulating 
discussions that are uplifting to the public discourse. I thank Senator 
Voinovich for that.
  No matter how high George Voinovich rose, he always lived with his 
wife Janet and his children and grandchildren nearby in Collinwood, OH, 
in the same house, the same neighborhood in Cleveland, never forgetting 
where he came from. That tells me a lot about him as a public official.
  He likes to say, reflecting on our State's tremendous potential, 
``the rust is off the belt,'' as people used to refer to Cleveland as 
the rust belt but now see it as so much more. It is going be the first 
place in the Nation with a field of wind turbines on the fresh water of 
Lake Erie. Clearly, this city has turned around. This is, in some 
significant measure, due to the efforts of Mayor and Governor and 
Senator George Voinovich.

  There are four things I particularly think of when I think of George 
Voinovich. One is Janet. Janet often travels back and forth with 
George, and I see both of them on our flight from Cleveland to 
Washington. Janet has always been at his side, whether as first lady or 
as his loving life's partner. The relationship they have is inspiring 
to Connie and me and many others. We thank you most importantly for 
that, George.
  When I think about the career of George Voinovich, I think of what he 
brought to this body--the perspective of an executive, of a Governor 
and a mayor. That is something many of us look to--Governor Shaheen, 
now Senator Shaheen, and soon-to-be Governor

[[Page S10244]]

Brownback. It helps in our deliberations that someone has had the 
experience as a big city mayor in challenging times, and Governor of 
Ohio and, perhaps a less challenging time but a challenging time 
nonetheless, from the perspective that George Voinovich has brought as 
a chief executive coming to the Senate, sharing those thoughts and 
ideas with legislators.
  The second thing I think of is Lake Erie. If you live in northern 
Ohio or in the right places in Wisconsin and Minnesota and Michigan and 
Indiana and Illinois and New York and Pennsylvania, you think about the 
great lake you live near. In northern Ohio there is an old story. I 
grew up about 75 miles from the lake, and George grew up much closer. 
There is something about people who have grown up within 10 miles of 
Lake Erie. You can ask them wherever they are, which way is north, and 
they always seem to know.
  From what he has done with Asian carp and his belief in the 
importance of our greatest national resource, the five Great Lakes, his 
commitment is always to maintaining the pristine quality of that lake 
in terms of recreation, in terms of drinking water, in terms of 
industry, in terms of all the things that the Great Lakes, especially 
Lake Erie, do for Cleveland and everything in between. George Voinovich 
gets much credit for that.
  I think about George Voinovich in that he is always elevating the 
discussion about the quality of the Federal workforce. The term 
``public servant,'' unfortunately, doesn't mean in the public's mind 
what it used to; partly deserved, perhaps, because of some people's 
missteps or worse, but mostly because people run campaigns against the 
government, whatever the reasons there. The term ``public servant'' is 
so important to George Voinovich, and he has done more than just mouth 
the words and compliment workers, which he has done often and 
deservedly. I applaud him for that. He has played a major role in 
shining the light on how we improve our Federal workforce. How do we 
give them opportunities for advancement, how do we do training, attract 
the right people to public service. I still think we have a terrific 
public workforce. Whether it is at the city, county, State, or Federal 
level, it is of high quality. And, in the great majority of cases, that 
is because of a few--and I say a very few--public servants such as 
George Voinovich who has kept the public spotlight on government 
service. I know Ralph Regula, the Congressman from Canton who retired 
in 2008, has shared a lot of those thoughts and ideas and continues to 
in his retirement with Senator Voinovich.
  Whether it is his work on Lake Erie or his contributions here, he has 
certainly made the Senate of the United States a better place. He has 
made the United States of America a better country. I thank him for 
that, as my senior Senator.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to my colleague. 
What a great gentleman. This is an august body, a wonderful place, a 
delightful place to serve. It has great issues before it. There are 
people who are gentlemen and gentleladies in it who conduct themselves 
in one of the highest regards and highest abilities. And when I think 
of that, I think of George Voinovich. He is a really good guy, a real 
gentleman in the Senate, and a man who lives his faith, believes it, 
which is tough to do in this body. It is tough to do in any position in 
life. Yet he does it and has done it for over four decades in public 
service to the people in the State of Ohio and the people of the United 
States. That is quite a tribute.
  He and his wife I get to see often. When I think of the expression 
``two people becoming one,'' I don't know if I could describe it any 
better than the Voinovichs, how two become one.
  The smile is the same. The look is the same. The attitude is just a 
wonderful togetherness that the two of them live. At a time when 
marriages have a lot of difficulties, it is great to see an example of 
somebody in high office who has lived in public life for over four 
decades and then has this oneness in their marital relationship. I 
think they both have served in that capacity, whether it is for their 
family or for the people of Ohio or the United States.
  Living publicly the right way and living privately the right way are 
both beautiful attributes and difficult things to be able to get done, 
and it is great to be able to see it happen. For that, I give great 
tribute to a wonderful American, George Voinovich.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bennet). The time allotted for morning 
business has expired.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of 
order for perhaps 2 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, thank you very much.
  Mr. President, George Voinovich and I served as Governors together 
for 6 years. He chaired the National Governors Association, and he was 
good enough to let me be his vice chairman. I got here and, lo and 
behold--in fact, for a while he chaired a national dropout prevention 
program called Jobs for America's Graduates. I was his vice chairman. I 
got here, and he chaired a subcommittee on the Environment and Public 
Works Committee, the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, and 
I got to be his vice chairman. So I am used to being his second banana. 
But I love the guy, and I have learned an enormous amount from him.
  He is one of those people who really, every day, try to say: What is 
the right thing to do--not the easy thing to do, not the expedient 
thing to do, but what is the right thing to do? And he tries to do it. 
He is the kind of person where we go to the Bible study group that 
meets about every Thursday with the Chaplain and some of our 
colleagues, and we are always reminded by Barry Black that the Golden 
Rule is treat other people the way we want to be treated. It is the 
cliff notes of the New Testament, and George really personifies that. 
He treats everybody the way he would want to be treated.
  He is a person who focuses on excellence in everything he has done--
as mayor, as Governor, and here in the U.S. Senate--and he is always 
looking for ways to do better what he does and calls on the rest of us 
to do the same.
  Finally, this guy is tenacious. He does not give up. If he thinks he 
is right and he knows he is right, just get out of the way, and you 
know he is going to prevail.
  He has wonderful folks on his staff who are here with him today, and 
we salute all of you. He knows how to pick--you are--good people and 
turn them loose and really to inspire them and us.
  I do not think Janet is here today. Maybe she is watching on 
television. I hope so. But to her and their family, thanks very, very 
much for sharing with us an extraordinary human being.
  We love you, George.
  Mr. President, I yield back.

                          ____________________