[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16958-16959]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                          EULOGY FOR JFK, JR.

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the small, serious, tousled-hair lad seemed, 
even at the tender age of 3, to know just the right thing to do. With a 
straight back and a smart, entirely proper, military salute, John F. 
Kennedy, Jr. expressed the grief of an entire nation with a dignity far 
beyond his years. He was only 3, yet he gave the Nation a lasting, 
memorable, indelible image, an image that is remembered by millions and 
captured on videotape for generations to come.
  Now John F. Kennedy, Jr. has, himself, been lost at an age far too 
young for easy acceptance by a country which had affectionately watched 
him grow to manhood. His untimely death feels as heavy and oppressive 
as the too hot, too dry summer in which he lived his final days.
  Words fail to express the special deprivation that the human spirit 
feels when the young, the beautiful, the handsome, the vital among us 
are suddenly taken from our midst before they have fulfilled their 
potential promise. Especially, in this case, the mind reels at the 
spectre of yet another Kennedy, taken too soon, yet another unbearable 
sorrow for this family which has had so much sorrow to bear. Yet this 
incredible American family will undoubtedly once again demonstrate to 
the Nation that they will endure, and that it is how one lives, and not 
how one dies, that ultimately matters.
  John Kennedy, Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and his sister-in-law, Lauren 
Bessette have vanished in the summer night in the springtime of their 
years, and our hearts go out to the Bessette and the Kennedy families. 
I am particularly saddened for my good friend, Senator Ted Kennedy. He 
is a great Senator. He is a great figure on the American political 
stage. I know that his heart must be broken by this latest family 
tragedy, yet I am confident that his expansive spirit and his deep 
faith in God will see him safely to a harbor of peace and of comfort.
  My wife, Erma, and I offer our prayers and our deepest sympathies to 
him and to the families at this saddest of sad times.
  Ted Kennedy, in July of 1996--3 years ago--presented to me a book 
titled ``American Poetry.''
  I have chosen a bit of poetry by Nathaniel Hawthorne from that book 
for the Record today. It seems to me that it is most appropriate for 
this occasion.
  The title of this poem is ``The Ocean.''

     The Ocean has its silent caves,
     Deep, quiet and alone;
     Though there be fury on the waves,
     Beneath them there is none.
     The awful spirits of the deep
     Hold their communion there;
     And there are those for whom we weep,
     The young, the bright, the fair.
     Calmly the wearied seamen rest
     Beneath their own blue sea.
     The ocean solitudes are blest,
     For there is purity.
     The earth has guilt, the earth has care,
     Unquiet are its graves;

[[Page 16959]]

     But peaceful sleep is ever there,
     Beneath the dark blue waves.

  Mr. President, what is the scheduled time for the vote?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. At 1:15.
  Mr. BYRD. I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, I am going to honor the request by the distinguished 
majority leader, and I am going to yield the floor now. But I will ask 
unanimous consent that immediately after the vote, I may be recognized 
to make a second speech, to which I had alluded earlier, which will 
probably require no longer than 15 minutes at that time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered.
  Mr. BYRD. I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative assistant proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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