[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 76 (Monday, June 3, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3887-S3888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING FRANK R. LAUTENBERG

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, when I learned early this morning that Frank 
Lautenberg had died, of course, I immediately became very sad. I served 
with him for 2\1/2\ decades or more in the Senate.
  I see there are flowers on his desk. It seems the flowers have barely 
wilted on the desk--which is right behind me--of Senator Inouye. So I 
have a heavy heart.
  As we all know, the senior Senator from New Jersey and my friend 
Frank Lautenberg died this morning. My thoughts are with his lovely 
wife Bonnie, his children, and 13 grandchildren.
  Few people in the history of this institution contributed as much to 
this Nation and to the Senate as Frank Lautenberg. His success story is 
what the American dream is all about.
  He came from a family of working-class immigrants from Eastern 
Europe--Russia and Poland. His parents struggled. I heard Frank talk 
about how they struggled. They worked so hard. They moved around New 
Jersey often.
  When Frank was 18, during the middle of World War II he enlisted in 
the U.S. Army. During World War II he served with distinction in the 
Army Signal Corps. I can remember Frank talking about his experiences 
in the European theater. While he was in the Army Signal Corps, he said 
he could

[[Page S3888]]

see the war going on in his sight while he was up on a wooden power 
pole.
  He talked about the many experiences he had during World War II, as 
he said, making him a better American. He was very proud of his 
military service. He is the last World War II veteran having served in 
the Senate. We don't have any World War II veterans anymore. His death 
is a great loss to this institution in many different ways.
  When Frank came home from the war--he was obviously very smart--he 
was permitted to attend the very prestigious Columbia University. He 
did it, of course, on the GI bill--just as so many of the other 
returning Americans did.
  He quickly founded his own company. He started the company with two 
boyhood friends. All three kids were from New Jersey. Under his 
leadership, his firm, Automatic Data Processing, known as ADP, grew 
into the largest computing company of its kind in the world.
  He was so very proud of that company, and he never hesitated to tell 
everyone that he made money. He became rich. He was a poor boy who 
became wealthy as a result of being able to fulfill his dreams, as 
people can do, in America.
  Frank wasn't content with his personal success alone. He was proud of 
the civic and charitable things he did, but nothing made him more proud 
of what he did outside government than when he served as the top lay 
leader of the United Jewish Appeal, known as the Jewish Federations of 
North America. He was very proud of that.
  Frank Lautenberg was known for many things before he came to the 
Senate. He ran an impossible race for the Senate and was elected. He 
came to the Congress in 1982, the same year I did. Over the course of 
three decades he worked tirelessly on behalf of his State and the 
country.
  He retired once. He could not stand retirement. He hated retirement. 
He could not stay away from public service, and he returned to the 
Senate in 2002.
  He had a remarkable career. I just touched upon a few of his 
accomplishments. He had determination that made him successful in the 
private sector and also served him well in the Senate. Motivated by his 
own experience, Senator Lautenberg, a World War II veteran, cowrote the 
21st century GI bill of rights. Recognizing how much this meant to him, 
he wanted to ensure that the vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan 
enjoyed the same opportunities for education that helped him become so 
successful.
  My youngest boy just hated cigarette smoke, and it really made him 
ill. There was a time when people could smoke everyplace in the 
airplane and then finally in a different part of the airplane; however, 
it didn't matter. Everybody sucked in the secondhand smoke.
  Frank Lautenberg took care of my boy and millions of other people who 
would no longer have to suck in that smoke in an airplane. He is the 
one, more than anyone else, whom we have to thank for protecting us 
from deadly secondhand smoke in an airplane because his legislation 
banned smoking on airplanes.
  He was also a long-time member of the Environment and Public Works 
Committee. Had he not retired in that very short period of time that he 
did, he would have been chairman of that committee. However, because he 
wasn't there, I had the opportunity to be chair of that committee on 
two separate occasions.
  He focused on this Nation's infrastructure, such as roads and 
highways. One of the ideas he thought would make this country a much 
safer place was to pass a drinking limit so a person could not drink 
alcohol anyplace in the country until they were 21 years of age. It was 
called a national drunk driving standard.
  He believed in helping the State of New Jersey as well as helping the 
country, but I am not sure in which order. It was hard to understand 
the difference because he was focused on the country and New Jersey at 
the same time.
  Frank wanted to make sure that women and children were protected from 
gun violence. Thanks to him, we passed legislation that convicted 
domestic abusers so they could not own firearms.
  Those are just a few examples of his work in the Senate that 
literally saved lives. He came from his sick bed--in a wheelchair--to 
vote on gun legislation. He agreed with 90 percent of the American 
people--that people who had severe mental problems or were felons 
should not be able to buy guns. He agreed with 90 percent of the 
American people.
  He came from his bed to be here and vote with us. He was so happy to 
be here. After that, he came once--just a few days ago--to vote when we 
needed him again. He tried so hard.
  When I talked to Bonnie today, she said he was confident he would 
live to be 100. He was a very strong man physically.
  A couple years ago, I took a big delegation to China. It was a 
bipartisan group. It was a wonderful trip. For Frank Lautenberg, that 
was his last foreign travel. I can remember indicating what a strong 
man he was physically. I had never been to the Great Wall of China. I 
don't know how many of the other 10 Senators had been there, but I had 
not. It is pretty steep, and there are big rocks that have been there 
for centuries and centuries. Because Frank was 88 years old at the 
time, somebody grabbed his arm to help him go up. He pushed them away. 
He wanted no help from anybody. He was on his own, and that is the way 
he wanted to be.
  I and our Nation owe a great debt of gratitude to Frank for his 
outstanding service. He had always been so kind to me. He was someone 
who appreciated serving. He appreciated being here. He loved being in 
the Senate, and the Nation is going to miss his strength and his 
progressive leadership.
  The other attribute that probably a lot of people didn't know about 
Frank Lautenberg was his sense of humor. I always had him tell stories 
because no one could tell a story like him. Another reason I liked 
Frank is he laughed at his own jokes. He thought they were funny, as 
did most everyone who listened to them.
  One of our favorite jokes was about two wrestlers. It would take 5 
minutes or more to tell the story, but it was hilarious. No one could 
tell it like Frank. He had a sense of humor, and we certainly 
appreciated that. Even though the Senate has Al Franken, there was room 
for two funny people prior to Frank's death this morning. Frank 
Lautenberg--and Al Franken--always made us smile and often made us 
laugh. Now I guess it is going to be up to Senator Franken to do this 
alone, because they were both funny, together and apart.

  It is with deep sadness that his Senate family is going to say 
goodbye. We are going to do that Wednesday morning. We will say goodbye 
to an exemplary public servant and a faithful friend, Senator Frank 
Lautenberg.
  I note the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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