[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 69 (Thursday, May 8, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S2877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. McCASKILL (for herself, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Levin, and Mr. 
        Rockefeller):
  S. 2308. A bill to designate Union Station in Washington, DC, as 
``Harry S. Truman Union Station''; to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am truly delighted that my colleagues 
from Missouri, Senators McCaskill and Blunt, have today introduced 
legislation to name Washington, DC's Union Station after our 33rd 
President Harry Truman, legislation of which I am proud to be an 
original cosponsor.
  It is long overdue that we honor President Truman in this way. While 
much, in life and in politics, loses its luster as time passes, the 
Truman Presidency has only grown in stature and historical significance 
over the decades. There are many reasons for this, but let me focus on 
just a few.
  First, history has shown the significance and wisdom of Truman's 
leadership in forging America's post-war foreign policy consensus. 
Truman and America understood the hard lesson of World War II: that a 
failure to engage in the world could have tragic consequences for our 
Nation, for our friends and allies, and for humanity. He understood the 
importance to the free world of helping to rebuild our chief enemies in 
that war, Germany and Japan. He understood the importance of working 
across party lines to build and maintain a consensus for these policies 
so that they did not depend on any one President or party to continue.
  We in Michigan are especially proud of the role that our Senator 
Vandenberg, a Republican, played in helping to build this consensus 
along with a Democratic President. Their hard work resulted in one of 
our Nation's most lasting and important achievements, ensuring 
America's enduring role in leading a rising tide of freedom around the 
world.
  A second aspect of the Truman legacy is his commitment to open, 
ethical and responsive government. He achieved public notice in the 
Senate as chairman of a committee tasked with fighting fraud and waste 
in defense contracting during World War II. He was among the earliest 
Washington politicians to call for lobbying reform. Ever since Truman's 
time, any government official who has sought to deflect responsibility 
or accountability in that time-honored political tradition of buck-
passing has suffered in comparison to the Truman policy that ``The Buck 
Stops Here.''
  Lastly, I will mention this: Harry Truman was a simple man. He was 
regularly described as ``plain''--and to his detractors, this was no 
compliment--but he wore it as a badge of honor. He understood that this 
Nation was built on the hard work, dedication and commitment of 
ordinary working people--because he came from ordinary working people. 
He talked straight, often bluntly. He demonstrated that one could rise 
to the highest office in the land based not on clever rhetoric or by 
currying favor, but by charting the best course for our Nation and 
clearly explaining that course to the people we all serve. He proved 
that wisdom is in the power of our ideas--nothing more and nothing 
less.
  It was a train that carried Harry Truman on his ``Give 'em Hell, 
Harry!'' whistle-stop tour during the 1948 campaign. It was from a 
train that he held up that famous headline--``Dewey Defeats Truman''--
that serves to this day as a rallying cry for the underdog. He rode the 
train from Union Station a lot, going home to be with his beloved wife 
Bess. So naming the train station of our Nation's capital, within sight 
of the Capitol where he served so well, is a fitting tribute.
  I join my Missouri colleagues in urging the Senate to adopt this 
legislation and pay due honor to President Harry Truman.
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