[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 55 (Thursday, April 14, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2499-S2500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING SENATOR JOHN HEINZ
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, twenty years ago this month we lost Senator
John Heinz in an airplane crash. A family lost a husband and a father.
A Commonwealth lost a tireless advocate for older citizens and our
workers. I am honored to serve in the Senate seat he held from 1977 to
1991.
Senator Heinz understood that health care has a human face that
cannot be ignored. He appreciated that employers cannot shoulder the
burden of costs alone and understood changes needed to be made. He
worked hard to obtain results for individuals through his position on
the Finance Committee and his chairmanship of the Special Committee on
Aging.
[[Page S2500]]
Senator Heinz was a fighter for those without power, a voice for the
voiceless. He enjoyed the work that goes along with being a Senator. He
delved into policy issues and strived to figure out how government
worked and how it could work better. He promoted innovation, looked to
the future, and sought to find real solutions to the real problems
people faced. He worked with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle
to obtain results. As he once said, ``Our greatest strengths have been
our diversity and energy, our willingness to tackle problems and solve
them, our confidence in the future, and our refusal to be bound by the
present.''
This month we remember Senator Heinz and his legacy of public service
on behalf of all the people of Pennsylvania, especially those who
needed a Senator fighting for them every day.
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