[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 161 (Thursday, December 13, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7991-S7992]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTES TO DEPARTING SENATORS


                               Herb Kohl

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we on the Democratic side are going to 
recognize that seven of our Senators are retiring, and that is 
unfortunate, but that is the decision they have made. As I have 
indicated on more than one occasion, parting is sweet sorrow. We had a 
celebration last week and talked about those seven Senators and it was 
truly a wonderful evening.
  I have come to the Senate floor to talk about these individual 
Senators, and today I am going to talk about Senator Herb Kohl. Herb 
Kohl, as has happened to other Members of this body, has had to 
overcome adversity to become a Senator.
  The history of Herb Kohl and his family touches me. He is a very 
humble man. He doesn't talk very much, and even though we have served 
together for 24 years, I was stunned last week when we had a guest 
rabbi, Rabbi Kohl, from Canada. Hearing the name didn't mean much to me 
because it is a fairly common name. But after the rabbi finished, Herb 
Kohl, this man of humility, stood on the floor and gave us all a little 
bit of his background, which we had never heard before.
  Senator Kohl's cousin, Rabbi Baruch Kohl, served as guest chaplain 
and he offered the invocation to convene the Senate. After the 
benediction, Herb Kohl, the senior Senator from Wisconsin, shared the 
family history.

[[Page S7992]]

  Herb Kohl's father Max and Rabbi Kohl's father Jack were brothers. 
During World War I, when Max and Jack were teenagers, the brothers were 
captured by the Russian military, jailed, and forced to march more than 
150 miles, with little food, no proper clothing, and the constant 
threat of physical violence. On occasion, they didn't have shoes, and 
they were walking basically to Siberia is where they were headed. The 
boys' parents didn't know where they were for more than 2 years.
  Max and Jack were then convicted by a tsarist army as spies and sent 
on an epoch 5-month journey by rail across Siberia. In 1916, the 
brothers were dumped off in a remote corner of that wintry waste. Exile 
was frequently a death sentence. Fortunately, in this instance, it was 
not. The brothers survived relying on the kindness of strangers, and 
2\1/2\ years later Max, Herb's father, made his way back to his 
hometown.
  During their exile, young Jack looked after the even younger Max. Max 
eventually--this would be Herb Kohl's father--immigrated to the United 
States. He sent for his older brother after he had earned a few dollars 
here in America. So the Rabbi's dad was brought to America by his 
brother--Herb Kohl's dad.
  The brothers' bond passed through the generations to their sons. 
Senator Kohl and Rabbi Kohl are first cousins, and it was very dramatic 
to see the connection they shared on the Senate floor. The success 
enjoyed by Max Kohl, a Polish immigrant, and later by his son, a 
Senator for 24 years, is a testament to the American dream.
  Despite a rough start in life, Max founded a chain of Wisconsin 
grocery stores. Herb eventually became president of the Kohl's chain, 
with one little store, but he was a successful businessman before he 
took over his dad's chain of stores. He became the CEO of that chain 
started by his dad.
  Initially, after getting his bachelor's degree at the University of 
Wisconsin and his MBA at Harvard, Herb founded a successful real estate 
and stock investment firm. At the time, he was also serving as an Army 
Reservist. He took over as president of Kohl's grocery and department 
store in 1970. He successfully grew the company for a decade.
  But as strong as his passion for business is, Senator Kohl was an 
even greater athletic fan. He had a passion for sports. In 1985, he 
bought the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks to keep the team from leaving 
Wisconsin. He couldn't stand the thought of an outsider buying the team 
and moving the team from Milwaukee, and that was the talk everybody had 
heard.
  Everyone said Herb Kohl made a bad deal. Why did he pay so much money 
for that basketball team? But his decision to buy the Milwaukee Bucks, 
which at the time some said was crazy, proves doing the right thing and 
doing the profitable thing are often one in the same. Today, the Bucks 
are worth ten times what Herb paid for the team and they are an 
important pillar of that vibrant Milwaukee community.
  Herb was also one of the original investors in the Milwaukee Brewers, 
owned by his childhood friend Bud Selig. Senator Kohl and Major League 
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig were roommates at a fraternity at the 
University of Wisconsin, but they knew each other when they were little 
boys. They lived in the same neighborhood. Herb and Bud still have 
lunch at Jake's Deli whenever Herb is back in Milwaukee, which is 
almost every week. They do this on Saturday.
  Senator Kohl is also passionate about education. He founded the Herb 
Kohl Educational Foundation Achievement Award Program, which awards 
grants and scholarships to graduating seniors, teachers, and schools 
all across Wisconsin. He donated $25 million to the University of 
Wisconsin to build a state-of-the art, new athletic facility--the Kohl 
Center.
  Since he was elected in 1988, Herb Kohl has been a champion of public 
education, fighting to give students the tools they need to succeed in 
a modern workforce. He has also made fighting crime in Wisconsin and 
across the Nation a priority, advancing investments in antidrug and 
antigang programs. He has worked to reduce juvenile crime and ensure 
proper funding of State and local public safety agencies, and he has 
been a strong voice for Wisconsin dairy farmers.
  Herb has also been a valued member of the Appropriations Committee, 
the Banking and Judiciary Committees, as well as a strong chairman of 
the Special Committee on Aging. He has done so much for the aging 
populations we have in America today.
  He has been a leader on many different legislative initiatives. Herb 
Kohl is a fine man, a wonderful human being, and I so admire and 
appreciate him. He is a distinguished Senator, a devoted representative 
of the people of Wisconsin, and his presence will be missed in the 
Senate. I wish him the very best in his retirement.
  Would the Chair announce the business of the day.

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