[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 166 (Wednesday, December 15, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10280-S10281]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTES TO RETIRING SENATORS


                             Arlen Specter

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, if you asked anyone in this body to 
summarize Arlen Specter, I think the words that would come up most 
often would be he is a real fighter. Arlen Specter fought to defend our 
Nation in Korea. He fought crime in the streets of Philadelphia as a 
district attorney. He has fought cancer and won three times. And he has 
fought for Pennsylvania every day he has served with us here in the 
U.S. Senate.
  Senator Specter has witnessed three decades of progress in 
Washington. He is a man who has risen above party lines to demonstrate 
his independence time after time. But his independence was not about 
him; it was about the people of Pennsylvania, whom he has served with 
honor and dignity for 30 years, even when cancer tried to keep him from 
doing so.
  I have known and served with Senator Specter for almost 30 years, and 
I have come to admire his service and dedication. We have not always 
agreed on how to solve the issues facing America, but he has always 
been willing to listen to me and any other Senator in the hopes of 
forging bipartisan agreements that would help the country. He is a very 
principled man, a man who does what he believes is right, even when few 
others agree with him.
  Senator Specter was raised in the Midwest by his mother and a Russian 
immigrant father who came to the United States and later served his new 
country in World War I.
  He first discovered Pennsylvania as an undergraduate student at the 
University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a degree in international 
relations. After serving 3 years in the Air Force during the Korean 
war, he attended law school at Yale and established a successful law 
practice in what would become his home State, Pennsylvania.
  Just as his father left his native land and served his new home as a 
member of the United States military, Senator Specter left his home in 
Kansas and served his adopted Commonwealth in a different way--first as 
a district attorney in Philadelphia for 9 years, and then as a U.S. 
Senator for the last 30 years. And he did this with his tenacity. He 
lost a number of elections. He kept coming back, never giving up.
  As a Member of Congress, he has been a stalwart for justice, health, 
and education. He has presided over several Supreme Court confirmation 
hearings, and played a major role in many more.
  He has ensured that vital and potentially lifesaving research for 
cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other diseases receives Federal 
dollars to pave the way for real breakthroughs.
  One personal experience with Senator Specter--the so-called economic 
recovery package, the stimulus. He was the key vote--one of the three 
key votes. He was a Republican. He and the two Senators from Maine made 
it possible to pass that. But his passion in that legislation was the 
National Institutes of Health. Part of the deal was that they had to 
get $10 billion. Money well spent. But it is something he believed in 
fervently, and we were able to do that.
  He has also worked to cover children and seniors who struggle to get 
access to health care they desperately need. He has done that as a 
member of the Appropriations Committee, where he has worked to make 
more education available to all students with the help of scholarships 
and student loans. Furthermore, his work with constituents of every 
stripe makes a difference every day.
  Senator Specter is a throwback to a previous chapter in the history 
of the Senate--a time when moderates were the rule, not the exception.
  When I came to Washington, Republicans such as Arlen Specter were 
every place. That is not the case now. He is a rare breed and will 
truly be missed.
  I wish Senator Specter, his wife Joan, and their two sons and four 
grandchildren the very best in the coming weeks, months, and years.


                            Blanche Lincoln

  Mr. President, Arkansas has given America a lot of which to be proud. 
From the late Senator William Fulbright, whom I did not know, to 
President Clinton, whom I do know, Arkansans have always produced proud 
public servants.
  I had the good fortune to serve with two of the finest Senators we 
have ever had in this body, Dale Bumpers and David Pryor. I have said 
publicly--I will say again--the finest legislator I have ever served 
with--I do not want to hurt anyone's feelings here--is David Pryor. 
David Pryor was a superb representative of Arkansas and the country.
  Blanche Lincoln has continued that long tradition of Arkansans who 
have come to Washington to shape our Nation. And Blanche has never 
forgotten from where she came.
  Senator Lincoln has been a trailblazer during her time in the Senate. 
In 1998, she became the youngest woman to ever be elected to the 
Senate. She was also the first woman elected to represent Arkansas in 
the Senate since World War II. She was the first woman and first from 
Arkansas to chair the Senate Agriculture Committee.
  A dozen years ago, Blanche was one of the youngest people in this 
body. But from day one, she earned a reputation for being very wise, 
wise beyond her years. She has always understood we are here to serve, 
first and foremost, and she has never forgotten that.
  Senator Lincoln once said:

       I am not normally a betting person, but I say that putting 
     your money on the American people is about as close to a sure 
     bet as you are going to get.

  Blanche Lincoln always bet on the American people, and particularly 
the good people in Arkansas who first sent her to Washington to get 
things done in 1992.
  Senator Lincoln never sought the national spotlight. She has always 
been focused on making sure the people of Arkansas are represented 
fairly and forcefully. Her legislative accomplishments are too long to 
list here today.

[[Page S10281]]

Her impact will be felt long after she leaves this Chamber.
  Perhaps her most important work has been her tireless efforts to 
protect America's children. Senator Lincoln was the lead driving force, 
along with the First Lady, on the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free 
Kids Act to make sure our children have access to healthy meals.
  She was a cofounder of the Senate Caucus on Missing, Exploited, and 
Runaway Children. She is also the current chair of the bipartisan 
Senate Hunger Caucus.
  So I am honored to call Senator Lincoln a friend and a colleague, and 
I join my friends and colleagues in saluting her remarkable 
accomplishments. I will miss her. But we know her too well to think we 
have heard the last from her.
  It would not be appropriate not to say something about her wonderful 
family. Her doctor husband and her twins are remarkably good 
individuals. Her husband is one of the nicest people I have ever met. 
He has such a great presence about him. I have met him on the many 
occasions we have been able to get together as a Senate family, and he 
certainly, to me, is part of that family.
  But if I ever need to find Senator Lincoln, I will always know where 
to look. Because if there is an issue that has gone unnoticed or a 
person who feels forgotten or a cause that is worth fighting, Blanche 
Lincoln is probably not far behind and already on the case.
  I wish Blanche and her family the very, very best. It has been a 
pleasure to get to know Blanche Lincoln. I look forward to our future 
association.


                             Russ Feingold

  Mr. President, I have served with Russ Feingold in the Senate for 18 
years. There has never been a point where I did not know where he stood 
and what his core principles were.
  Senator Russ Feingold came to the body in 1992 with one goal in mind: 
To always represent the people of Wisconsin--not the special interests, 
not the establishment. And he never compromised his principles, even 
though sometimes it made it very difficult for me. But he is a man of 
principle, and that certainly is the truth.
  When Russ first ran for the Senate in 1992, he famously wrote down 
five core promises he would always keep if he were elected. He wrote 
them on a piece of paper, and then he affixed this piece of paper and 
these promises to his garage door at his home.
  The promises were: To rely on Wisconsin citizens for most of his 
contributions; to live in Middleton, WI, and send his children to 
school there; to accept no pay raise during his time in office; to hold 
listening sessions in each of the 72 Wisconsin counties each year of 
his term in the Senate; and to make sure that the majority of his staff 
are from Wisconsin and with a Wisconsin background.
  It should surprise no one that he held true to each of these promises 
and surpassed every expectation that any Badger could have had for this 
good man who hails from Janesville, WI.
  As quick as Senator Feingold has been to voice thoughtful opposition 
to anything that would go against his core principles, he never 
hesitated to reach across the aisle and work in good faith with every 
Member of this body.
  Because of his bipartisan efforts, our system for financing political 
campaigns is cleaner, more transparent, and more free of undue 
corporate influence. It is too bad the Supreme Court has so weakened 
the McCain-Feingold legislation.
  In 2002, Senator Feingold spoke on the Senate floor during the 
campaign finance debate, and he spoke remarkable words about why he 
fought so hard for that legislation. He said:

       Nothing has bothered me more in my public career than the 
     thought that young people looking to the future might think 
     that it is necessary to be a multimillionaire or somehow have 
     access to the soft money system in order to participate, to 
     participate as a candidate as part of the American dream.

  It is a simple statement, but it truly helps us understand why the 
people of Wisconsin were always proud of their junior Senator--because 
he spoke simple truths, fought passionately for the middle class, and 
was able to always tap into what people were discussing over their 
kitchen tables every night.
  Russ Feingold often stood in the minority to voice his positions that 
were not necessarily popular. He was a strong advocate for equal rights 
for same-sex couples even when it wasn't the popular thing to do, and 
he opposed the 2003 Iraq war from the very beginning and has stayed 
true to his feelings on this issue since then. But that is the very 
essence of Russ Feingold. He stands on principle and his core beliefs 
even when it isn't convenient. He speaks the truth even when it ruffles 
feathers. As someone who has been elected to public office for a long 
time, it is very difficult to express to everyone within the sound of 
my voice what a special type of person Russ Feingold is. He is the type 
of person who will remain firm and steadfast in all the ways he serves. 
He is that special kind of person.

  He has continued the tradition of some of the greatest Members of 
this body. He combines the tenacity of Paul Wellstone with Ted 
Kennedy's desire to always fight for the underdog. Russ Feingold has 
etched himself into the fabric of this body and for many of us will 
always be a part of our collective conscience. If we follow the example 
of Russ Feingold, we can rest easy at night knowing that when we stand 
on principle, we never have to worry about second-guessing ourselves.

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