[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 159 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S4806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING DIANNE FEINSTEIN

  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, like so many this morning, I rise to 
mourn the loss of a true champion in the U.S. Senate.
  Dianne was one of the kindest, most thoughtful people that I had the 
pleasure to know. When I first got to the Senate--and I have heard some 
of my colleagues this morning talk about as new Senators--she was so 
gracious. As a new Senator, she would invite me to dinner with 
colleagues, and she was such a lady and so professional and so elegant. 
Every time you went to dinner with Dianne, you can be guaranteed that 
she would have a little set of flowers for you at your place at the 
restaurant. And then she would have a little parting gift for you, 
whether it was a little coin purse or something to show just truly who 
she was. And I heard this morning from my colleagues, similarly, the 
stories of Dianne's kindness and her respect for others.
  She was a fighter her whole life, leading on so many important 
issues. In the coming days and weeks and months and years, as people 
around the world really honor Dianne's memory, many will speak to her 
leadership--and rightfully so--on women's rights and foreign affairs.
  But I want to take the time to highlight a place where Dianne did so 
much. And most people don't know, unless you are a part of Team Tahoe, 
Dianne loved Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is a beautiful, pristine Alpine 
lake that both Nevada and California share. In 1997, Dianne and then-
Senator Harry Reid got together and passed legislation to protect this 
pristine lake.
  And since that time, once a year, Dianne has been instrumental in 
bringing people around the lake together to address the needs for Lake 
Tahoe. That was all Dianne.
  So when I first got to the Senate in 1997, one of the first things we 
talked about, she pulled me aside and said: We are going to have the 
Tahoe Summit this year. I hope you are there, and I hope you will be 
there always to support Tahoe.
  And I said: Dianne, I grew up around this lake. The first time I was 
there was when I was 18 years old. My mother grew up around this lake. 
We love Lake Tahoe in Nevada, and you can guarantee that I will always 
be there for it.
  And if you sat and talked to Dianne, the first thing you will hear 
her talk about in Lake Tahoe are her memories--her memories of riding 
her bike as a young girl around the lake. Her memories of times when 
she was there with her family, having the opportunity to enjoy 
incredible Lake Tahoe.
  So I couldn't pass this day without recognizing, of course, all the 
incredible things Dianne has done; but what most people don't know, 
unless you are a part of Nevada and California, is the hard work that 
she has done around this lake for the people who live there, for the 
people who cherish this lake, for the tourists that come here every 
single day. And it is not just the work that she has done here in the 
Senate. This was 2017. This was the first opportunity that I had as a 
young Senator to join Dianne. And as you can see, Dianne was hosting it 
that summer, the Lake Tahoe Summit.
  But Dianne had this ability not only to have this summit once a year 
to talk about how we protect this lake, but she brought together 
incredible stakeholders and experts around the lake--people who live 
there, people who worked in our State--to address not just the quality 
of the lake and the pristineness to protect it, but everything else 
around it from the transportation side to the wildfires that were 
happening to the environment. And she had a luncheon, a regular 
luncheon after the Tahoe Summit to talk about how we continue that work 
together.
  And because of Dianne's prestige, she had the ability to bring 
incredible speakers to the Tahoe Summit once a year. First, President 
Clinton; then one time, President Obama; and just recently, we had our 
former Speaker, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi speaking. We had one of 
our incredible Senators, chairwoman of Energy and Natural Resources at 
the time, Lisa Murkowski. It was about how we work across party lines 
to really focus on protecting, for everyone who wants to enjoy this, 
Lake Tahoe.

  She was a true champion, and she will be missed. On behalf of Team 
Tahoe, which is what she coined it--Dianne never took credit for 
anything she did around this lake. Even though people wanted to 
recognize her and show that support, she never took the credit. She 
said: This is about a team. This is Team Tahoe. This is what we do 
together. This is how we work together.
  This is the legacy of her work in the U.S. Senate, carried forward 
right here in Lake Tahoe.
  So, to Dianne, to her family--her incredible family--and to everyone 
on Team Tahoe, we will miss Dianne Feinstein. She will always be a part 
of the work we do. Her legacy will live on not just around Tahoe but in 
so many other areas as we have talked about today.
  I am going to miss her. I am going to miss the opportunity to sit 
with her at lunch and talk about what we still need to do to fight to 
protect this incredible, pristine lake.
  Thank you, Dianne, for your service.
  With that, I yield the floor.

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