[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 212 (Tuesday, December 15, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7484-S7485]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Tribute to Doug Jones

  Madam President, Doug Jones only served for a short period of time, 
like Martha McSally, but he made his mark as well.
  When he gave his farewell address, I was here, and I said he reminded 
me of Ted Kennedy in this way: He kept his liberal principles. I didn't 
ever see him deviate from them, just like Ted Kennedy. He would stand 
back there and roar about this, that, or the other and make great 
fodder for the Republican Lincoln Day Dinners and Reagan Day Dinners in 
Tennessee. I used to say, when I was elected, if they had elected my 
opponent, my opponent would have come up here and moved Fred Thompson's 
desk over, and he would have set it right down between Ted Kennedy and 
Hillary Clinton and made it one vote harder for George W. Bush to have 
led our country and represent our values.
  The Republicans liked that because they heard Ted Kennedy's liberal 
speeches, but I also said, when I made my maiden address, that, without 
my knowing it, Senator Kennedy had gone around and gotten 20 Democratic 
cosponsors. He was always working to get a result where he could. Doug 
Jones has been the same way here, and I want to congratulate him for 
that.
  He had a distinguished record in civil rights in Alabama--a 
courageous record--in prosecuting the Klansmen. He worked with Tim 
Scott, Senator Patty Murray, and me--with Senator Tim Scott last year 
to permanently fund historically Black colleges, which was a goal that 
had been sought for many years--and he took a big step on simplifying 
the FAFSA, the Federal aid application form that 20 million American 
families fill out every year.

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