[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4536-S4537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Remembering James M. Inhofe

  Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Madam President, I rise today to take a 
moment to reflect on the remarkable life of Senator Jim Inhofe, who 
passed away and is now spending time with his Lord and Savior in 
heaven.
  I rise for a number of reasons: One, because he was such a fantastic 
public servant who served our Nation in the U.S. Senate for nearly 30 
years. I rise because, as a member of the U.S. Army, he served his 
Nation valiantly and selflessly. I rise because here is a man of great 
faith who dedicated his life to public service.
  But I also rise because of the slanderous headlines that marked his 
death. People wonder time and time again why the American people 
continue to lose faith in our media, when the headlines from Associated 
Press or Politico, New York Times and ABC News reflects a partisan 
difference on policy and leads them to label his death in such a 
negative way. It does, indeed, cripple their credibility in the eyes of 
the American people when the Washington Post speaks of the death of an 
ISIS terrorist by saying he was an austere, religious scholar at the 
helm of the Islamic State. But Senator James Inhofe, the Oklahoma 
Senator and climate change denier, dies at 89. It saddens me, as an 
American, that our press pays so little attention to the sacrifice of 
public servants and so much respect for those who kill because they 
can.

  Jim Inhofe will be remembered in Oklahoma and around the country as a 
man of deep faith, as a man who sacrificed on behalf of a country that 
he dearly and deeply loved, and as a man who brought people together in 
Bible studies and faith communities and, frankly, around the world.
  I remember traveling with Senator Inhofe a number of years ago on 
what we call a congressional delegation. It was a 7-day trip with 10 
country stops. If you wanted to sleep on Senator Inhofe's codels, you 
slept on the plane because there was too much to do when the plane 
landed.
  I recall him bringing together African leaders who had been warring 
against each other, and having a moment of prayer before he found a 
way, courageously, to bring two warring factions to the same table to 
solve deeply rooted problems that seemed impossible to solve.
  I remember with great affection seeing some of his reelection acts, 
where he was flying a plane upside down at the age of 84 or 85.
  Jim Inhofe was a great man, and his family does not deserve to read 
the headlines of media outlets that denigrate his public service, 
denigrate his character, and lessen his reputation. Thankfully, no one 
can touch his character. They can only darken the shadow around it, 
because he indeed was a man of great character.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

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