[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 27522]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 27522]]

                    IN HONOR OF SENATOR JOHN CHAFEE

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, every Member of our Senate family was 
gripped in sadness and grief when we heard of the death of John Chafee.
  John Chafee was a giant for many reasons. He was a kind man. He was a 
truly gentle and a magnificently decent Senator.


  Time and time again, as towering Senators of the past, John Chafee, a 
pragmatist, a moderate, a man of sound judgment and good sense, worked 
to cool the partisan passions in this body and led his colleagues of 
both parties toward common ground.
  He was one of those Members to whom Senators looked for advice and 
for leadership on the host of issues in which he was an expert--health 
issues, environmental issues, transportation, and many issues where he 
was one of the most knowledgeable and effective leaders of this body.
  He brought to this body an experience which was invaluable, as a 
marine, a war hero in two wars, and in the legislative battles of the 
Senate. One frequently sensed in John Chafee the kind of quiet self-
confidence and steady determination of somebody who had survived real 
combat.
  John Chafee was direct. He was without guile. He did not posture as 
he ambled about this body. He just talked straight and let his friends 
and his colleagues know what was on his mind and asked how he might be 
helpful.
  There were no hidden agendas with John Chafee--just a 
straightforward, good-natured, decent and kind human being who cared 
deeply about the people of Rhode Island and of this Nation and who 
shared everything he had with us and with this Nation.
  I visited often with John Chafee in his office, going there for 
advice to try to gather from him some of the wisdom which he had 
gathered over the years.
  I shall miss, as will every Member of this body, his shy smile, his 
special integrity. He left an indelible mark on our hearts. I don't 
know whether his name is carved yet in that desk which has the flowers 
upon it. But he left a very deep mark on all of our hearts, on all of 
our souls, and on all of our spirits.
  We can only hope his family takes comfort in the certain knowledge 
that John Chafee will be missed by a legion of friends, by all of his 
colleagues, and we will be sustained by his memory, by his integrity, 
by his character, and by his good nature.
  As long as we serve in the Senate, every one of us who had the honor 
and privilege of serving with John Chafee will remember him in a very 
special way.
  Again, I thank the Chair.
  I yield the floor.

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