[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 212 (Tuesday, December 15, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S7492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Remembering Theodore ``Ted'' Watts

  Finally, for the fifth Pennsylvanian whom I will talk about, we go 
back out to the northwestern end of the State--Northwestern 
Pennsylvania, Crawford County.
  Theodore Watts was known as ``Ted.'' Ted Watts, as he was known, is 
someone who was born in Pittsburgh, PA, but he spent most of his life 
in Meadville which, as I mentioned, is in Crawford County, just south 
of Erie, just to give people the geography.
  Ted was a lawyer who first served his country in the JAG Corps of the 
U.S. Army. After separating from the Army, Ted married Shirley Barnett, 
and they settled in Meadville, PA, where Ted went into private 
practice.
  Ted also served as the solicitor for the Penncrest School District 
and served as the Crawford County solicitor and the legal 
representative for the housing authority and the water authority of 
Meadville in Crawford County.
  One of his most significant professional accomplishments came through 
his time as an attorney for the redevelopment authority, during which 
time he helped to set the stage for future ``brownfields'' legislation 
to safely reclaim contaminated industrial sites.
  Ted is remembered by his family, friends, and colleagues for being 
community-oriented, a mentor, and someone who would ``do anything,'' as 
someone said, for the people he cared most about.
  He was an avid runner, finishing more than 40 marathons, and was the 
power behind the Thurston Classic, a large hot air balloon rally.
  Ted loved the Pittsburgh Steelers, holding season tickets, and was 
both an athlete and a great coach for soccer and a referee for 
football.
  Ted passed away from complications of COVID-19 in October of this 
year and leaves behind an extended family, as well as many people in 
Meadville and Crawford County whose lives he touched through his years 
of public service.
  We, of course, offer our condolences and sympathies to Ted's family.
  Let me say in conclusion that the Pennsylvanians whose stories I 
shared today are, of course, just a fraction--a fraction--of the now 
12,890 deaths in our Commonwealth. Sadly, given the current rate at 
which the virus is spreading nationwide and in our State, the death 
toll will only rise higher in the coming weeks and months. On a day 
like today--and, I hope, on so many other days--we pray for the 
grieving families who have loved and lost. They have lost someone they 
were very close to, someone they cared about, someone who brought joy 
to their lives, someone whom they will miss.
  I am reminded again of the great song by Bruce Springsteen, ``You're 
Missing.'' He wrote it after 9/11, and it has application, of course, 
to all kinds of circumstances where someone lost a loved one--lost a 
loved one in 9/11, lost a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan or in so 
many other tragedies. In this case, I will use it to talk about what 
these families have lost because of this terrible virus and the COVID-
19 pandemic. I won't recite, of course, all the lyrics, but Bruce 
Springsteen, in the song ``You're Missing'' has a refrain:

       You're missing when I shut out the lights
       You're missing when I close my eyes
       You're missing when I see the sun rise

  He goes on to sing the rest of the song about a person missing.
  All of these families will miss their loved ones, not only when they 
are shutting off the lights and when they rise in the morning but every 
day and, in many cases, every hour of every day. So we pray for them.
  And I think we have an obligation ourselves to these families. To 
honor those we have lost, we must all do our part.
  What does that mean? It means following public health guidance 
regarding social distancing, wearing masks, and other steps we can all 
take, each of us, to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and to save as many 
lives as possible until the vaccines are widely available.
  Let's do what we can. Of course, we should express condolences and 
sympathy. Of course, we should pray for an end to this terrible 
scourge. But we all have an obligation to do more to get those death 
numbers down.
  But I wanted, in some small way, to recognize these Pennsylvanians, 
representative of all 12,890, which we pray will not grow very much 
from that number, just to say a word about the lives they lived and the 
families they left behind.
  May God bless all of them.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cassidy). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that our vote 
begin now.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.