[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 200 (Wednesday, December 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7829-S7830]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Remembering George H.W. Bush

  Mr. President, I want to make one comment on something that happened 
3 or 4 weeks ago, when we lost an American hero. Everyone talked about 
George H.W. Bush, and they talked about their experiences. The reason I 
wanted to wait a while before making any comments on that is because I 
have known George H.W. Bush for many, many years, before I was actually 
in politics. My wife Kay and I are praying for the entire Bush family 
as the Nation mourns and honors one of America's loyal sons.
  George H.W. Bush was one of the only men I have ever known who could 
truly love someone into changing his mind. He loved God. He loved his 
family. He loved his country and served it tirelessly with passion.
  Listen to all of the things he has done. He was a naval aviator, an 
Ambassador, Director of the CIA, President of the United States, and 
Vice President of the United States. He has done it all.
  George H.W. Bush put service to his Nation and love for his family 
above all else. Kay and I have known the Bush family for a long time, 
dating back to their time in the Texas oil fields. He would go back and 
forth to what he referred to as his second home, which is Tulsa, OK. We 
were friends before we were in politics, and I am grateful for that 
friendship. I will always remember that friendship.

  This portrays him very well. Back when I was mayor of Tulsa and 
George Bush was Vice President, he came to Tulsa, OK, to do a 
fundraising event. It

[[Page S7830]]

was a fundraising event. My wife, in spite of her reputation to the 
contrary, is a pretty shy person. At these events, she always insists, 
if we are going to be at the head table, that she be seated next to me 
at that table. She is not insecure or any of that stuff, but 
nonetheless this is something she got in her head a long time ago, and 
she has always wanted that.
  So on this occasion--this is when George Bush came to Tulsa, OK, to 
participate in a fundraiser--she snuck up there and looked at the table 
and the name tags and looked at me and said: You can't do that. You are 
not seated next to me. I have to be seated next to you.
  I said: Who are you seated next to? She said: George Bush.
  Well, apparently, one of the security guys or someone went back and 
told George Bush about that. So he came up behind her--I will always 
remember--and he put his arm around her and said: I don't bite. He said 
further: I will take care of you; don't worry about a thing.
  Now, during her conversation up there--she conceded, of course, to 
sit next to George Bush--he said: You don't happen to know someone 
named Marian Bovard, do you?
  And she said: Well, of course, she is a good friend.
  He said: I haven't seen her in a long time.
  Kay said: Well, she is sitting right over there. You can see her from 
here.
  So he sent one of his Secret Service people over there to bring 
Marian Bovard, an old friend, to visit.
  It turned out that my wife and George H.W. Bush found out that they 
both had many mutual friends. Every time he would bring someone up, it 
happened that that person was there. So he would come over and remind 
her. She became George Bush's social director, I think, for the 
remainder of the fundraiser. I think she even ate his broccoli for him.
  Now, before I got to Congress, I was a builder and developer in South 
Texas for many years. Of course, Bush was from Texas. We knew each 
other at that time. He came to see me a few times when I was working 
down there, and, somehow, it always happened to be on days when I was 
fishing, because I fish every day down there. That is one of the many 
hobbies I have, and I enjoy doing that.
  One day he said to me, after he was President: You know, I envy you.
  This is kind of strange to have the President of the United States 
say: I envy you. The reason he said that is because he always enjoyed 
fishing, and he knows I have a whole bunch of kids and grandkids who 
all like to fish, and he doesn't. So he envies me.
  There is a fishing guide, who my old chief of staff, Richard 
Soudriette--who, incidentally, is one who is very similar to George 
Bush in that I have never heard him be mad at anyone or dislike anyone 
or talk in a profane way about anyone, and that is the same as we have 
heard so many people say about George Bush. So Richard Soudriette, who 
also likes to go fishing with me, knew this fishing guide. Not many 
people are aware of this. Bush had this fishing guide here in 
Washington, who would sneak in early in the morning, and they would go 
fishing. His name was Angus. He went to the White House early one 
morning to go fishing with the President. He was there so early that 
the Secret Service escorted him up to the residence where he had coffee 
with the Bushes, who were still in their pajamas.
  This is a good story. You should read the whole thing. It was in the 
Washington Post, and it is on my website.
  But President Bush was restless and sometimes impatient, which are 
not usually characteristics that make a really good fisherman. But 
because he was steady and dedicated to the task at hand, he did OK, and 
he even got a few fish, they told me, on that day.
  When he was running for President, he came to Tulsa for a fundraising 
function at the Mayo Hotel. He knew everyone in Tulsa. We did the 
normal routine we always do. We greeted supporters, gave remarks, and 
then opened it up for questions. I will never forget this. Ellen 
McGuire, who is a person who is kind of a party regular in the 
Republican Party, stood up and said: Are you part of the international 
communist conspiracy?
  George Bush didn't even blink. He looked over at the organizer and 
said: Where do you find these nuts? Next question.
  When he was Vice President, he and Barbara came to Tulsa another 
time, and I went with a group who was in charge of picking them up at 
the airport. I was mayor at that time. So we had a guy on my staff 
named Charlie Burris, also a security guy. So we thought he would be 
the perfect person to pick up Barbara and George Bush and take them 
into town.
  So we get there, and Charlie goes and picks up the luggage and hands 
it to the person behind him, thinking it was me, and said: Take this to 
the hotel.
  He turned around and saw that instead of it being me, it was Barbara 
Bush. She looked a little stunned, but she took the bags and took them 
and off she went. The cars that came to pick him up were the cars we 
always used when we had somebody coming to Tulsa. Why invest in 
limousines down there? They were funeral home limousines. Vice 
President Bush took one look at them, looked in the back, which I think 
still had a wreath that said ``Rest in Peace'' on it, and said: You 
must have a cheap mayor. Well, that mayor was me. I told him I 
preferred the word ``frugal.''
  George Bush knew Oklahoma better than any President in history. 
Before that date, he was even telling reporters that he wanted this to 
be his turf, his State. He frequently called Tulsa, OK, his second 
home. Bush regularly held up Oklahoma as an example of ``points of 
light,'' a State that knew how to use public-private partnerships to do 
all of the right things and thrive and be successful.
  These are just a few stories about a man who strived to make every 
man, every woman, every child whom he met feel valuable in his eyes.
  George Bush saw life as a series of missions, and he completed those 
missions with fervor and grace. He never wasted a minute, and for that, 
I am grateful.
  As the Nation continues to mourn one of her most loyal sons, let us 
find solace in the fact that he is holding hands, reunited with Barbara 
again.
  President Bush, you are a true American hero. Mission complete. God 
bless you.
  One more thing, today, December 19, Kay and I are celebrating our 
59th wedding anniversary. I just want to say: Kay, I still love you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sullivan). The Senator from Kentucky.