[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 17, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S4883]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Remembering John Paul Stevens

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, yesterday marked the passing of a giant in 
American law. Justice John Paul Stevens passed away at the age of 99. I 
just bought his most recent book. The subtitle of it is ``My First 94 
Years.''
  Justice Stevens was a favorite, born and raised in the city of 
Chicago. He was a lifelong Cubs fan. He was in the crowd of Wrigley 
Field as a very young man in 1932, on October 1, during a World Series 
game, when Babe Ruth made the famous called shot--hitting a home run 
over the fence.
  He attended the University of Chicago and Northwestern School of Law. 
Naturally, he graduated at the top of his class. In between, he served 
as lieutenant commander of the U.S. Navy during World War II and was 
awarded the Bronze Star.
  After law school and a clerkship with Supreme Court Justice Wiley 
Rutledge, John Paul Stevens became an accomplished attorney in Chicago, 
leading to his nomination to the Seventh Circuit in 1970. In 1975, he 
was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Gerald Ford and 
confirmed by the Senate 98 to 0. Judge Stevens served on the Supreme 
Court for nearly 35 years, bringing to the Court his midwestern blend 
of brilliance, courtesy, and humility.
  He leaves behind an enormous legacy. He was committed to safeguarding 
the rights and liberties protected by the Constitution, and he 
cherished the importance of the Judiciary as an ``impartial guardian of 
the rule of law.'' Those were his words in his famous Bush v. Gore 
dissent, where he said that judging of the Court as an ``impartial 
guardian of the rule of law'' was at stake in that majority opinion.
  He was respectful at all times and respected by his colleagues at all 
times, and by litigants, and by the American people.
  When he retired in 2010, at the age of 90, he was the third longest 
tenured Justice in the history of the Supreme Court. He was the last 
living Justice to have served in World War II.
  I want to extend my sympathy to Justice Stevens' family, including 
his surviving daughters, Elizabeth and Susan, his 9 grandchildren and 
13 great-grandchildren.
  Today we bid farewell to a giant, and we thank Justice Stevens for 
his decades of service to this country and for his profound 
contribution to American law.