[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 159 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S4803]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING DIANNE FEINSTEIN

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I follow my colleague from California, 
and I believe he said it correctly--the legacy of Dianne Feinstein.
  Our colleagues are in shock today, even though we knew Dianne was 
ill, even though we knew she was 90 years old, even though we knew she 
was the longest-serving woman Senator. The fortitude that she showed 
and demonstrated was constant. Sitting here just a few months ago in 
all-night vote-arama sessions, when the youngest of us wanted to crawl 
into our hideaways and sip coffee at 2 a.m., Dianne was at her desk 
voting.
  At 90, she had the fortitude, as Senator Murray said, to vote just 
yesterday. I don't know if it was the steel that was cemented into her 
at that moment of the mayor's assassination or the tragedy and cost of 
serving and knowing that you still had to move forward. No matter how 
disastrous the situation was, Dianne moved forward.
  I am so blessed to have served with her. But I want people to know 
the Nation has lost a legislative giant, women have lost a hero, and 
the Senate has lost a true colleague. Those of us who are out here 
today know when we say the word ``true colleague,'' we mean like a true 
collegial colleague. Sometimes we say the word with a little more 
disdain, like our ``frustrating colleague,'' or as Senator McConnell 
said, our ``good friend,'' when maybe in reality, it is hard to get 
those words out.
  But Dianne was the epitome of what the Senate is losing. Let's just 
face it. Dianne, one of her most famous phrases was ``I have to go home 
and read tonight.'' I bet you her family or her staff heard her say 
that because she meant it. She meant: I don't know enough about this 
subject to go just spur off. I am literally going to study and analyze 
and find out what it actually is all about.
  How many times did Dianne stand up in caucus and say: I have been 
reading a lot about this subject, but I think we need to know a lot 
more? And she would communicate what she knew and, as many of my 
colleagues know, she was always asking questions.
  For me, as a young Member coming here more than 20 years ago, I was 
amazed and astounded at what I might call the polite pushiness of 
Dianne Feinstein. I don't know how she did it, but serving on the 
Judiciary Committee with her--and Dianne will observe--when Dianne's 
time ran out and somebody tried to cut in and debate her, Dianne had 
this way of saying: Mr. Chairman, this is a really important point and 
I just need to make this point. And the chairman would let Dianne go on 
for another 5 minutes. And I thought, How does she pull this off? Well, 
I will tell you how she pulled it off: because people knew she was 
serious about legislating. She was serious about working across the 
aisle.
  And probably in my early days here, she forged the greatest 
impression of what working across the aisle was really all about. There 
were times, probably, when I didn't even agree with her, but she had 
the cache of a Senator who could put a deal together with both sides.
  I saw her great work on the California Desert Protection Act, 
landmark legislation protecting California. I saw it on the 2007 energy 
bill where we raised CAFE standards for the first time in 25 years. 
Dianne had a provision called Ten-in-Ten. She just evangelized every 
minute of the day about why we needed higher fuel efficiency standards. 
She thought we could improve it 10 miles in 10 years and she was right, 
and it became the basis of what that bill was. She never let anybody 
off the hook during those negotiations. She made sure that we got that 
done.
  I saw her work tirelessly as my colleague Senator Murkowski--she may 
not have been here yet--but she worked with Jon Kyl on water 
legislation until the cows came home, because Arizona and California 
had real water issues and Dianne was forever adamant about trying to 
address this issue for the western part of the United States.
  So for me, I want to thank her family for your sacrifices, for 
sharing Dianne with us, letting us have her as long as she was willing 
to serve and for making it the dedication of her life.
  Yes, that personal side of her was also so sweet. Most of us doodle, 
but Dianne doodled in masterpieces. And she was always inviting people 
to dinner, always doing those kind little things for us, which means 
that you really made the Senate a more human place. That is what she 
really did. She just made this a more human place by just giving a 
little time and attention to some of the needs of your colleagues. But 
what sweet blessings; what sweet stories.
  I want to honor Dianne by remembering her great legacy and thanking 
all of those who were part of her life because, for women, we didn't 
really know how to get all of this done here--how hard you push, how 
loud you can be, how much you can just get in here and grind away 
sometimes. Dianne showed us that, yes, we can be trailblazers and do it 
and that the results really, really, really, really matter for people.

  I hope that people will remember that legacy of her and the kindness 
that went along with it and realize that this institution really does 
need to return to the ways of Dianne Feinstein.
  And if you are from California, you should be damn proud that your 
Senator is going to go in the history books as a forerunner for so many 
other women and for policies and behavior that we should be amplifying.
  I thank the President.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.

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