[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 93 (Monday, May 18, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2478-S2479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Remembering Tom Coburn

  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, in March, our country lost a great 
statesman and my fellow ``squealer,'' former Senator Tom Coburn of 
Oklahoma. A family physician who delivered more than 4,000 babies, he 
was known as ``Dr. Tom'' in Oklahoma, but in Washington he was called 
``Dr. No'' because of his fierce opposition to adding more red ink to 
the national debt.
  Having served just 10 years in the Senate before retiring in 2019, 
the year I was elected, I never had the honor to serve alongside Dr. 
Coburn. Nonetheless, his leadership and his efforts to eliminate 
government waste and overreach continues to be an inspiration to me and 
to many others.
  ``If you cannot find waste in any part of the Federal budget,'' he 
once commented, ``it can only be for one reason--you haven't looked.'' 
Many of the outlandish examples he exposed are now what I call 
legendary. Take, for example, the shrimp on a treadmill, and of course 
there was the ``bridge to nowhere.''
  Every Federal agency in Washington feared the notoriety of being 
called out in Dr. Coburn's annual report of government excess known as 
the waste book. He led the fight that ended congressional earmarks that 
were known as pork projects. While others got credit for creating new 
government programs, Dr. Coburn took on the thankless job of trying to 
unravel the maze of duplicative, overlapping programs and redundant and 
inefficient bureaucracy.
  The law he authored requiring the Government Accountability Office, 
or GAO, to identify duplication within Federal programs has saved our 
taxpayers more than $260 billion to date. I think the head of GAO said 
it best; that this law is ``the gift that keeps on giving, and it will 
for a long time.'' This effort is not just saving money; it is making 
government more efficient in other important ways.
  An egregious example found that as a result of Coburn's duplication 
law, there are 10 different agencies with 23 different overlapping and 
fragmented definitions for sexual violence. If we can't even define the 
problem, how are we going to stop it, folks? That is why I am proud to 
say that I have joined Senator Ron Johnson's efforts to clarify the 
definition of sexual violence and improve data collection so that we 
can address this issue head on.
  Another law Coburn authored with none other than then-Senator Barack 
Obama put all Federal expenditures online so that taxpayers could 
simply Google to find out how their tax dollars are being spent. Hailed 
as the greatest government transparency reform since the Freedom of 
Information Act, the public website, USAspending.gov is helping to keep 
Washington accountable for how every cent is spent. If you go on the 
website today you can find ridiculous examples of binge-buying 
bureaucrats who are ringing up tens of billions of dollars of last-
minute, unnecessary purchases at the end of a fiscal year, splurging on 
unnecessary things like tons of Tater Tots, $4.6 million on crab legs 
and lobster, and even a foosball table. When I heard of this outlandish 
spending, I embraced my inner Tom Coburn and took action, putting 
forward a bill to end Washington's year-end, use-it-or-lose-it spending 
sprees.
  Folks, Tom Coburn was not afraid to work across the aisle to find 
compromise without compromising his principles or values. There is no 
better example than the friendship he struck up with President Obama. 
The two were elected to the Senate the same year, and they were on 
opposite sides of nearly every major issue during their time in 
Washington. Yet Dr. Coburn would regularly call to offer encouragement 
to President Obama and pray for him and his family. The two of them 
could even be spotted hugging and laughing together at the State of the 
Union Address.
  At a time when the focus too often is on what separates rather than 
unites us, these are relationship goals we should all aspire to achieve 
with one another if we hope to tackle the unprecedented problems now 
facing our Nation.
  Our hearts and prayers are with Dr. Coburn's wife Carolyn and his 
daughters and grandchildren as they grieve his loss. While he can never 
be replaced, we can all take comfort knowing Tom Coburn has made this 
world a better place and that the legacy he left behind endures through 
many of his staff members as well, such as Roland Foster, who is now on 
my staff. The legacy he left behind endures and the crusade he 
championed continues.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor to my colleague from Indiana.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.
  Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I thank Senator Ernst for that beautiful 
testimony to Senator Tom Coburn.
  While I was running for Senate, I was often asked who my heroes were 
in the U.S. Senate. The first name that always came to mind was Dr. Tom 
Coburn.
  As a legislator, Dr. Coburn was a force of nature. As a conservative 
stalwart who stood by his principles--no matter the pressure--and with 
whomever would stand with him, regardless of party, Dr. Coburn's entire 
career was a profile in courage. He believed so strongly that America's 
best wisdom wasn't held on Wall Street or Pennsylvania Avenue but on 
Main Street, among the small business owners, doctors, families, and 
workers who really keep our country going.
  Dr. Coburn blasted a path for conservative outsiders to take on 
Washington orthodoxy on everything from national debt to term limits, 
to our broken healthcare system, and his career was an inspiration for 
me to leave my business and run for the Senate.
  His bedside manner was often brusque, but on the tough issues, like 
any good doctor, Tom Coburn told people what they needed to hear, not 
what they wanted to hear.
  To Dr. Tom Coburn, our towering national debt was not just a thorn in

[[Page S2479]]

America's side; it was a supreme moral failing. As one of the few true 
fiscal hawks in recent decades, Senator Coburn wore the nickname ``Dr. 
No'' as a badge of courage, understanding that there is nothing 
commendable about spending our grandchildren's money just because we 
will not be at the table when the bill comes due.
  If there is one thing that could fix Washington more than any other, 
it is strict term limits and more accountability for Congress. Inspired 
by Dr. Coburn, I made my pledge to only serve two terms a fixture of my 
campaign and am following his example by refusing to accept a 
congressional pension when I leave.
  Last year, my bill to make pensions for Congress optional passed the 
Senate, putting us one step closer to getting rid of this outdated, 
taxpayer-funded perk altogether.
  No Budget, No Pay, a bill Dr. Coburn championed in the Senate, was 
the first bill I introduced after taking office. It is a simple 
measure: Congress doesn't need a paycheck until they pass a budget. I 
am proud to say it has now cleared committee thanks to the work from 
fellow conservative outsiders like Senator Rick Scott and David Perdue.
  As a family physician who continued to see patients even as he served 
in Congress, Dr. Coburn always had a special passion for fixing our 
broken healthcare system. He understood better than anyone that our 
healthcare woes began at a fundamentally broken system in need of 
transparency, more choice for patients, and market-driven reforms to 
put decision-making back into the hands of Americans and their care 
providers.
  My bills to lower prescription drug prices and ensure every patient 
knows what they have to pay before they pay it were introduced with 
invaluable input from Dr. Coburn. As we all should, he recognized that, 
no matter how vast the distance between our positions seems to be, 
healthcare is and always should be a bipartisan issue where compromise 
is necessary to help patients.
  In the summer of 2018, I was honored that Dr. Coburn came to Indiana 
to campaign with me. I will never forget what he said to a young man 
from the crowd at one of our events.
  ``What can I do now if I want to be a Senator someday?''
  Dr. Coburn didn't tell him to go to law school. He didn't tell him to 
run for office or intern in a congressional office.
  ``Go work really hard at something for 40 years so you have something 
to say when you get there.''
  I loved it. Dr. Coburn ushered in the era of the outsider in 
Washington, the effects of which are only just now beginning to be 
realized. I think we could get a much better product out of DC with 
more people like him whose beliefs come from a deep well of real-world 
experience.
  He was more than just an inspiration for me and other conservatives 
to leave the private sector and shake up business as usual in DC. He 
was one of the greatest Senators, most effective problem-solvers, and 
most important conservative voices of our time--the great outsider.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sullivan). The majority leader.