[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 18, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2287-S2288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING BARBARA BUSH

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, tonight I want to talk about the passing 
of an extraordinary woman--a woman who captured the hearts of Americans 
across every spectrum.
  Barbara Bush was one of the most popular people in America--and for 
good reason. One of only two women in the history of our country to be 
both the First Lady of the United States and also the mother of a 
President, she consistently used those platforms that, as she would 
say, God graced her with, for good causes.

[[Page S2288]]

  There are many stories, but one I would like to recount was shortly 
after President Bush's election. She went to an AIDS hospice here in 
Washington, DC. This was a time when the AIDS epidemic was a huge 
crisis. Frankly, there was a stigma attached to it and a lot of 
nervousness about the disease.
  Barbara Bush picked up a baby with AIDS and cradled that baby. She 
hugged and kissed kids with AIDS. The message was very clear: There 
should be no stigma. We have nothing to fear. It is time for us to 
embrace these people. Her quote that day was everlasting: ``There is a 
need for compassion.'' She spoke to the heart.
  She also used the platform she had to empower people through 
literacy. This was one of her great causes. She believed the world 
would be a much better place if everyone could read, write, and 
comprehend, and the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy 
continues to do amazing work. She has touched the lives of so many--so 
many young people, so many adults--and brought them into a new world 
through literacy.
  She accomplished a lot more through her distinguished life. She was 
dignified, straightforward, witty, and well-intentioned. She had a 
habit of speaking her mind freely, and sometimes that got her in a 
little bit of trouble, but, frankly, when she did that, almost all of 
us nodded our heads in agreement.
  Interestingly, her Secret Service code name was ``Tranquility.'' For 
anyone who knew her personally, that might have seemed to be an odd 
code name. Probably she chose that code name herself, by the way. She 
wasn't always tranquil. In fact, she was sometimes feisty--famously so.
  One story that I think shows some of her feistiness was when she was 
having dinner one night with the President of the United States--43, 
who happened to be her son--and in front of many others, including 
staff, she commented critically on his table manners, which, of course, 
she loved, and so did he.
  The night before she left us, that feistiness was on display when 
Barbara Bush, instead of asking for pain medication, asked for a glass 
of bourbon and, with a smile, took a sip.
  I think the name ``Tranquility'' was also fitting for her. It was 
fitting for her because she was a calming influence. She made things 
more tranquil. I saw that firsthand at the White House, where she made 
life easier for everybody.
  I had the pleasure of first getting to know her when I was doing 
volunteer advanced work for her husband, then-Vice President Bush. I 
traveled overseas with them, traveled around the country some with 
them, and got to see the calming influence she had on everyone around 
her.
  Later, when I was in the counsel's office at the White House, I got 
to see how she made everybody feel more comfortable--including me, as a 
young White House staffer--encouraging me, knowing people, saying hello 
to them, talking to them, ensuring that the morale was good.
  Tranquility. It was helpful then, and it was helpful through her 
life, as she was there as the rock, as the adult.
  My wife Jane and I had recently become married. We had a child when I 
worked at the White House. Barbara Bush couldn't have been more 
gracious. She was a dear friend ever since. In fact, a few years later, 
when I first ran for public office--I ran for the U.S. House of 
Representatives in Cincinnati, OH, the Second Congressional District of 
Ohio--she came to campaign for me. This was early in 1993. Recall that, 
in 1992, George H.W. Bush--41--had lost his reelection.
  We did a political event in Cincinnati. I took her to Skyline Chili, 
which is a famous place in my hometown and all around Southwest Ohio. 
Although Skyline Chili and Cincinnati chili is an acquired taste, she 
at least acted like she really enjoyed it. She wore the bib, and people 
loved it. Maybe most importantly for me, while she was there, she cut a 
radio ad for me. In that radio ad, she said: ``I always enjoy having 
Skyline Chili with Rob Portman when I'm in Cincinnati.'' She said some 
other things that were kind. Frankly, as I look back on that race--
there were 10 people in the primary. My name identification was about 6 
percent, half of whom thought I was somebody else with a similar name. 
I think that radio ad played a huge role in my first election, my 
ability to be here today and to serve the people of Ohio. Barbara Bush 
was an important reason I won.
  In that election, by the way, I had stuck with George H.W. Bush, who 
had just lost his reelection, when others were being critical, because 
I had so much respect for him and so much respect for her. Frankly, I 
think her popularity was an important reason I was able to win.
  In recent years, I made a habit of making a pilgrimage to Maine every 
summer to see them, sometimes going to Houston during the winter as 
well, but going to Maine has been a wonderful way to connect with them. 
I have gone with my daughter. I have gone with my wife Jane a few 
times. I sit with them. President Bush loves to give advice still, and 
I love to get it.
  Barbara Bush loved the political gossip, and we loved to talk about 
people and things and what was going on in Washington. She was curious, 
engaged, sharp, and up to speed.
  She loved George H.W. Bush so deeply. She sometimes called him 
``FLFW,'' former leader of the free world. Again, her wit was on 
display everywhere she was.
  I remember being with them last summer on the porch. She always 
insisted on eating lunch outside. The waves were coming in on the Maine 
coast and the Sun was reflecting on the waves. Family was always 
around. That is when she was happiest.
  I will certainly miss those moments we shared, the encouragement, and 
the very candid advice that she was never hesitant to offer, but as we 
mourn the loss of this authentic and admired American, we should all 
find comfort in remembering the way she lived and the incredible legacy 
she leaves.
  She never ran for political office herself, but in a way she 
represented all of us, and I think she represented the best in all of 
us. I think that is one reason she was so popular. She showed us how to 
handle the spotlight and responsibility with grace, with dignity, and 
with the incredible way that she, again, was able to bring tranquility 
wherever she was.
  No wife, no mother, no grandmother was more devoted to her family. 
She had unconditional love for her children, including the 43rd 
President of the United States, with whom she had a great relationship. 
Her true partnership with George H.W. Bush, in service to the country, 
all the way from the time he was an 18-year-old Navy pilot through his 
career as President and after is an inspiration, that unconditional 
love and that partnership--an inspiration certainly to me and to Jane 
as a role model but an inspiration to all of us as Americans.
  I know I speak for all of my colleagues in the United States Senate 
as we pay tribute to her and also send our condolences to the entire 
Bush family.
  Barbara Bush is now in a better place. I can imagine her smiling, 
surrounded by family, including her beloved daughter, Robin, whom she 
lost as a child. She is on a coast somewhere, dignified, witty, and 
feisty, all at once, and she is earning that code name ``Tranquility.''
  I yield the floor.

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