[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 159 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S4801]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING DIANNE FEINSTEIN

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, we mourn the death of a 
trailblazer, my colleague and friend Senator Dianne Feinstein.
  I have been privileged to have known Dianne throughout her entire 
career in this Chamber and my entire time as well. She was my friend 
and seatmate on the Senate Judiciary Committee for over 20 years. When 
you are that close to someone politically--day in, day out, week in, 
week out--you pick up on the things that mean the most to her. 
Certainly, her family was the highest priority to her, over all things, 
but her life experience created what we know as the legacy of Dianne. 
How many times she told the story of serving on the pardon and parole 
board for the State of California--the cases that she remembered in 
detail that had occurred decades ago stuck with her and inspired her 
when it came to her service on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
  I think that situation also inspired her when it came to legislation, 
where she was looking for fairness. We certainly all know her efforts 
in dealing with the Violence Against Women Act. That was an 
extraordinary effort by her, on a bipartisan basis with Senator 
Murkowski, Senator Collins, Senator Ernst, Senator Patty Murray, and so 
many others.
  In addition to that, she recounted many, many times that terrible, 
unimaginable tragedy when the mayor of San Francisco was killed along 
with Harvey Milk, a commissioner. She was there at the bloody scene 
afterward. She recounted that so many times in the midst of her debates 
over an assault weapons ban.
  Think about that assault weapons ban. It was almost the holy grail in 
politics. So many people said that is the one thing we absolutely have 
to do; it has to be done. She did it. She, along with Senator Schumer, 
who was then a House Member, put together the bill that established an 
assault weapons ban and reduced the number of deaths in America by 
gunfire. They did it, and she was the leader, inspired by that terrible 
tragedy with Mayor Moscone.
  I can also remember, there was a time, years ago, when we engaged in 
debate in this Chamber on stem cell science and biology. It was a 
complicated debate. Many of us liberal arts lawyers were lost as they 
went into the detail. Dianne not only led that debate; she had mastered 
the subject. And time and again in the caucus, when we would discuss 
it, she would be the one to stand up and straighten everyone out on the 
basics. She was a gifted person in that regard.
  But I do want to say that there is one thing that Senator Collins 
noted that I noted many times. Members of the Senate, in the committee 
hearings, were given a notepad in front of them--the Senate Judiciary 
Committee was no exception--and a pencil nearby to make notes in the 
course of our business. Sitting next to Dianne all those years, I can't 
tell you how many flowers I saw her draw on those notepads. I asked her 
for one, one time. She signed it, and I have kept it. But it is an 
indication of the sweetness and the elegance in her life; that, on the 
one hand, she could be arguing the most serious life-and-death issues 
in the committee but, on the other hand, show that kind of dignity and 
determination to bring the human side to the debate.
  She was one of the best, and I was honored to call her a friend.
  There were many times that she made the rollcall in the Senate 
Judiciary Committee, the last year or 2, when I know it was an 
extraordinary sacrifice. She was going to show up because that was her 
responsibility. I respected her so much for that. And the committee 
divided 11 to 10, I needed her. She knew it, and she was there. She 
answered the call.
  She served California with such distinction. She often talked about 
her beloved Golden State, but we all know that she was also a treasure 
to the Nation.
  Dianne Feinstein inspired many, particularly many women, to public 
service. She served California well, and she served our Nation, and it 
was my honor to serve with her.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Alaska.

                          ____________________