[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 200 (Wednesday, December 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7828-S7829]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO BILL NELSON

  Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, Mr. President, I have come here to speak about 
a dear friend and a wonderful colleague, the senior Senator from 
Florida, Bill Nelson.
  A Floridian born and bred, Bill Nelson didn't grow up with a silver 
spoon in his mouth. Everything he has achieved in life, he achieved 
because he worked for it. Hard work is one of his credos.
  In high school, Bill raised cattle in his spare time. That is not 
every teenager's idea of a good time, and that is something we never 
did in Brooklyn, but it led to a lifetime association with Florida's 4-
H Program, which continues to support Florida's agricultural community 
today.
  Just as important, Bill's extracurricular animal husbandry allowed 
him to save up the $10,000 he needed to attend college at the 
University of Florida. Even then, public service was never far from 
this generous man's thoughts. He gave his first political speech as a 
candidate for junior high school president--a race he won. In college, 
he interned for Florida's Senator George Smathers, whose son Bruce 
happened to be his roommate.
  That internship turned out to be the lesser contribution of Bill's 
friendship with Bruce because a few years after law school, Bruce would 
introduce Bill to Grace Cavert, who became Grace Nelson, the love of 
Bill's life.
  For those of us who know Bill, we know he loves Grace more than 
anything in the world. They are truly a dream team. Just to watch them 
together, caring about each other so, brings joy to anyone's heart--
certainly mine. Many of my colleagues, of course, know Grace as well 
and have worked closely with her, not the least reason being that she 
is the authority in that household today.
  With Grace by his side, Senator Nelson embarked on what would be a 
distinguished career in public service in Florida as Congressman, tax 
commissioner, and eventually Senator. Of course, along the way, Senator 
Nelson would also earn the title of ``payload specialist'' abroad the 
Space Shuttle Columbia. As most folks know, then-Congressman Nelson, 
who was chair of

[[Page S7829]]

the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, participated in a 
weeklong space flight on the Columbia. What most folks don't know, 
however, is that the launch for the mission was aborted not once, not 
twice, but three times. Eventually, though, the liftoff was achieved, 
and Bill became only the second sitting Member of Congress to leave 
Earth's atmosphere, where, in his words, he saw ``the blue brilliance 
of the earth from the edge of the heavens.''
  There is a name given to the shift in perspective experienced by 
astronauts called the overview effect. Seeing the Earth from the window 
of a space shuttle--that pale-blue marble in the vast emptiness of 
space--makes you realize how fragile and also how beautiful our planet 
truly is. Senator Nelson experienced something of an overview effect, 
and although he already cared about the environment, he became a 
lifelong champion of environmental causes.
  Bill Nelson protected and preserved the Everglades, Florida's 
beaches, and offshore waters by standing against offshore drilling. 
There is none in Florida, and I have to a say that the reason is 
sitting right to my left--Bill Nelson. Time and again, when rapacious 
companies and others wanted to drill and risk the beauty of Florida's 
coastline and its economic vitality, there was Bill Nelson, like 
Horatio at the bridge, preventing it from happening. After the BP 
oilspill, Bill Nelson made sure Florida's gulf communities got the 
restitution they deserved from BP's settlement.
  Senator Nelson has always been a loud voice speaking about the need 
for action on climate change, as his beloved State of Florida gets hit 
by ever more powerful storms and the low-lying areas, like Miami, get 
flooded regularly.
  Of course, seeing the Earth from space didn't just focus Bill's eyes 
downward. This man is capable of doing many things at once. He kept 
them firmly fixed on the horizons as well. It will be a long time 
before the Senate sees a champion for NASA and space exploration like 
Bill Nelson. It may never see one as committed again.
  The Senate, the State of Florida, and the country will miss Bill 
Nelson, as will Iris and I. He was even-tempered even in tempestuous 
times. He was always civil in the midst of such incivility. When so 
many of us are prone to looking backward, trying to figure out what we 
did wrong or what we could have done differently, Bill was always 
looking forward and upward.
  I have had the pleasure not only of being Bill's colleague but being 
his friend. What a fine human being. One of my greatest regrets here is 
that some fine human beings are not going to be with us next time, and 
this Chamber and this country will show they are missed.
  There is nothing Bill is now looking forward to more than spending 
time with his beloved Grace and visiting his children, Bill Junior and 
Nan Ellen.
  Every one of us salutes the great senior Senator from Florida, 
everything he has accomplished in his distinguished career in the 
Senate, and just the great man that he is.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

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