[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 123 (Thursday, July 20, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S4103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Thinking About Senator McCain

  Mr. President, I am here to speak about healthcare, but before I turn 
to that subject, I want to spend a few minutes talking about our 
wonderful colleague John McCain.
  Some of the most satisfying moments I have had in public life have 
been serving with John McCain. When I came to the U.S. Senate--Oregon's 
first new U.S. Senator in almost 30 years--I had the honor of being 
chosen to serve on the Senate Commerce Committee, which was chaired by 
John McCain. And what an exhilarating way to begin serving in the 
Senate. We tackled big, meaty, important issues of the future--the 
question of multiple and discriminatory taxes on internet commerce. We 
focused, for example, on Enron and what went wrong there when so many 
consumers were ripped off. We dug into consumer rights. John McCain was 
an early advocate for saying that if you rode on an airplane, it didn't 
mean you ought to sacrifice basic consumer rights, and some of those 
same issues are getting more attention today.
  Then, of course, we built on this floor the Y2K measure. When 
everybody was so concerned about what would happen at that time, 
Senator McCain gave me the honor of being his Democratic partner in 
putting together a bill. We had the benefit of incredible work from the 
private sector and first responders and smarter Federal policies. We 
all know that some of the calamitous predictions about Y2K didn't come 
to pass.
  John McCain did some extraordinary work at that time. As a young U.S. 
Senator, what a thrill it was to be able to be involved with a real 
American hero on some of those first experiences I had in the Senate.
  As we begin to absorb the news of last night, what struck me is that 
now we are counting on John McCain's legendary strength to give cancer 
its toughest fight ever--toughest fight ever.
  I just wanted to come to the floor today and say we are rooting for 
you, dear friend. We are rooting for you and Cindy and your wonderful 
family, and we are thinking about you this afternoon.