[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8977-8978]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SENATOR BIDEN'S 10,000TH VOTE

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I rise to congratulate my 
esteemed colleague, the Senator from Delaware, on his 10,000th vote in 
the Senate. This is a tremendous milestone which few Senators ever 
reach. For our colleague to

[[Page 8978]]

reach it at the young age of 56 is even more impressive.
  I am proud and fortunate to count Senator Biden as one of my best 
friends. Since he came into the Senate in 1972, we have worked 
together, learned from each other, and swapped stories. One story I 
recall in particular is that Senator Biden used to practice 
``speechifying,'' as some of our predecessors in the Senate would have 
said, in front of his classmates to overcome a stuttering problem. 
Well, Mr. President, I think we all will agree that he has overcome 
that problem quite nicely and has learned to excel at speechifying.
  One of the most amazing facts of Senator Biden's career is that he 
was elected to this body at the ripe old age of 29. His 27 year-old 
sister was his campaign manager, and he saved mailing costs by having 
volunteers hand-deliver campaign literature to every house in the 
state. Of course, Senator Biden's campaigns are run a little more 
professionally now, but he has not lost touch with the people of his 
state. In fact, the Senator from Delaware has told me stories about 
virtually every town in his state, no matter how small. He is as 
familiar with his constituents and as concerned with their needs as any 
Senator I have known.
  Of course, his devotion to his constituents has not prevented Senator 
Biden from playing a sometimes crucial role on national stage. As we 
all know, Mr. President, he presided over two of the most controversial 
Judiciary Committee hearings for Supreme Court nominees in American 
history: those for Judge Robert Bork and Justice Clarence Thomas.
  Senator Biden was one of the foremost proponents of expanding the 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Last year, he led the successful 
effort to expand NATO. In 1997, he led the successful effort to ratify 
the Chemical Weapons Convention. Today, the Senator from Delaware 
continues to take an active interest in events in the Balkans, the 
Middle East, and Asia, and as Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations 
Committee, he remains an outspoken voice on foreign policy matters.
  Senator Biden has been a leader also in the fight to protect women 
from violence. He authored the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act, which was signed into law in September 1994. This act, 
which included the landmark Violence Against Women Act, was the first 
comprehensive law to address gender-based crimes. The desire to prevent 
crime and help crime's victims has long been one of the guiding lights 
of our esteemed colleague's career. In 1984, he co-authored the Victims 
of Crime Act, which provides hundreds of millions of dollars to crime 
victims each year, paid for by criminals.
  Senator Biden was the lead sponsor of the Juvenile Justice Prevention 
Act of 1974 and the Juvenile Justice Prevention Amendments of 1992, 
which provided states with federal grants for a comprehensive approach 
to preventing juvenile crime and improving the juvenile justice system. 
And in 1996, Senator Biden led the floor fight to restore 1996 
appropriations to fund crime bill initiatives, most notably the 
Community Oriented Policing Services program to help local and state 
governments hire more police.
  The Senator from Delaware has long been a leader on Women's Health 
issues. He sponsored the Medicare Mammography Screening Expansion Act, 
which became law as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1998. For five 
years running now, he has authored the annual National Mammography Day. 
And, in 1998, the President signed into law a bill co-sponsored by 
Senator Biden, which required the creation of a breast cancer postage 
stamp, with proceeds from the stamp's sale going to breast cancer 
research.
  Like many of his colleagues, the Senator from Delaware has had to 
triumph over adversity to attain his many professional achievements. 
The hardships faced and overcome by my dear friend and colleague 
include the injury of his sons and the death of his beloved first wife 
and infant daughter in an auto accident shortly after his election to 
the Senate in 1972, and his own recovery from two operations for a 
near-fatal brain aneurysm in 1988. Despite this tragedy and adversity, 
Senator Biden has never succumbed to pessimism or forgotten his role as 
a public servant. He has never ceased working to serve his state and 
his nation. He remains optimistic about America's future and his 
ability, working within the Senate, to improve his state and nation.
  The Senator from Delaware has called serving in the Senate the 
greatest, most privileged post-graduate education in America. I think 
all of us will agree, Mr. President, that he has passed this education 
with flying colors. There is no more devoted, hard-working member of 
this body than Senator Biden. He is known for his integrity, bipartisan 
collegiality, and desire to serve the public good. These qualities will 
always be cherished in this body, as in all walks of life. For any 
young Americans seeking a public figure to emulate, I can think of no 
better role model than the Senator from Delaware. And that, Mr. 
President, is the greatest compliment I can think to pay my dear 
friend, Senator Biden. For 27 years, it has been my great honor and 
pleasure to serve with him and to count him as a friend. It gives me 
great pleasure to know that before he leaves this great institution, 
Senator Biden almost certainly will receive accolades on the casting of 
his 20,000th vote.

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