[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 24281-24282]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     TRIBUTE TO SENATOR LAUTENBERG

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to another of our 
retiring colleagues, Senator Lautenberg.
  Frank Lautenberg is a remarkable man in a great many respects. He has 
lived the American dream, and devoted his life in public service to 
making the American dream alive and available to each and every 
American--regardless of race, creed, or station in life. He has made a 
lasting and indelible mark on the laws of our nation--and in the 
process made our nation a better place for all.
  The son of immigrants, Frank was born in Paterson, New Jersey. His 
family moved some twelve times during his boyhood in search of work. 
His father spent most of his time laboring in the silk mills of 
Paterson.
  Frank served in World War Two in the European theater. He attended 
Columbia University on the G.I. bill. After graduating from Columbia, 
he and two boyhood friends began a business. As chairman and CEO, it 
grew to become one of the largest computer services companies in the 
world.
  Frank became a very successful man financially. The time came when he 
decided to give something back to the country that had given him and 
his family so very much. For the past 18 years in the Senate, that is 
exactly what Frank Lautenberg has done.
  Frank is one of those rare people who rises to a high place in life 
and never forgets where he came from. He did not pull up the ladder of 
opportunity once he had climbed it. He fought to keep it in place and 
make it stronger for those who came after him. He has always, I think, 
seen a bit of himself in the faces of the children and working people 
whom he has served.

[[Page 24282]]

  It so happens that one of America's finest poets, William Carlos 
Williams also called Paterson, NJ his home. Williams was a doctor. He 
made house calls, carrying his black medical bag up and down the stairs 
of Paterson's tenements. He wrote poems at night, or scratched them out 
during brief intervals of his busy days tending to the sick and scared. 
He wrote once that there are ``No ideas but in things''. Frank 
Lautenberg must intuitively graps the meaning of Williams poetry. For 
him, the noble ideas that have motivated his public service have taken 
shape in the things he had done--in the resources he has brought home 
to the people of his state, and in the laws he has written on behalf of 
all Americans.
  In his eighteen years as a United States Senator, Frank Lautenberg 
has amassed a remarkable record of public achievement. There are few 
areas of environmental, transportation, budget, and anti-crime policy 
that have not benefited from his careful mind and strong hand.
  On the environment, Frank helped write landmark legislation to 
cleanse our air, provide safer drinking water, and clean up more toxic 
waste sites. He authored measure to make America's beaches cleaner, and 
to ban the ocean dumping of sewage.
  He has shaped our nation's transportation policy. Frank understands 
as few others do that our nation can only grow and prosper to the 
degree that it is able to move people, goods, and services safely and 
efficiently. Along with Senator Moynihan and others, his leadership has 
been instrumental in ensuring some modicum of balance in our funding 
for mass transit as opposed to roads and highways. He has been a leader 
in the ongoing effort to support Amtrak and the important cause of 
commuter and intercity passenger rail service, which can do so much to 
reduce traffic congestion and keep our air clean.
  And no one has done more to promote transportation safety, on the 
road as well as in the air. Frank Lautenberg authored the law to 
establish 21 as the legal drinking age, and to ban smoking on 
airplanes. And he is responsible more than anyone else for the landmark 
provision in this year's transportation appropriations bill lowering 
the legal standard for intoxication to .08 percent blood alcohol 
content. The drinking age law alone as saved an estimated 12,000 lives 
since its enactment in 1984. It's estimated that his ``.08'' measure 
will save an additional 600 lives each year in this country.
  Frank Lautenberg also understood that we must do more to protect law-
abiding citizens from the scourge of gun violence. He authored the bill 
to close the gun-show loophole. He has fought for child-proof handguns. 
And his support for measures like the Brady bill was instrumental in 
bringing about a nationwide reduction in gun violence over the past 7 
years.
  Lastly, as ranking member of the Budget Committee, Frank has played a 
valuable role in bringing about an end to budget deficits and putting 
our nation on the path to paying off our national debt. He has also 
worked to strengthen the solvency of Medicare and Social Security.
  I said a while ago that Frank Lautenberg proved to be a very 
successful businessman. He accumulated great financial wealth. No one 
would have faulted him if he just retired, having made that achievement 
and contribution for the private sector.
  I think all of us, regardless of party and political persuasion, 
admire people who want to give something back and who are willing to 
jump into this arena of public life, running the risks that we all do 
when we place our name on ballots all cross this country. The fact that 
Frank Lautenberg decided at the end of his private life to become a 
public citizen and make a significant contribution to his country 
stands as a wonderful model for others who have done well to follow and 
when they want to give something back.
  Not everyone runs for public office, nor should they, but there are 
ways in which people can make contributions every day to improve the 
quality of life for people. Frank Lautenberg is a living embodiment of 
that concept and that principle.
  The colleagues I have talked about, the wonderful colleagues who have 
served so admirably and so well, Dick Bryan, Bob Kerrey, Frank 
Lautenberg, and my friend, Stan Israelite, are examples of public 
servants who I will miss terribly every day. These are good Americans 
who have made a difference in the lives of all of us as citizens in 
this country.
  I will find time to talk about my good friends, Connie Mack and Pat 
Moynihan, but I see my colleagues on the floor. I thank them for their 
indulgence. I talked a little longer than I anticipated. I thank the 
Senators for their patience.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Brownback). The Senator from Oklahoma.

                          ____________________