[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 24288-24289]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    RETIREMENT OF SENATOR LAUTENBERG

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I wish to make a few brief remarks about 
one of our colleagues and a good friend of mine who is retiring this 
year.
  Senator Lautenberg is a perfect example of the American dream come 
true. He grew up the son of immigrants, joined the Army Signal Corps in 
Europe during World War II, and then attended Columbia University on 
the G.I. bill. After graduation, Senator Lautenberg helped found a 
payroll services company called Automatic Data Processing. He soon 
became the firm's CEO, and, with 33,000 employees, his company is now 
one of the largest computing services companies in the world.
  But Senator Lautenberg knew that the American dream isn't just about 
making it to the top. It's about giving back once you get there. That's 
why he ran for the United States Senate, and that's why, during his 
eighteen years in this Chamber, he's fought hard to make our country 
better for all Americans. He has fought hard to leave the ladder of 
opportunity down for others to climb. He's fought to improve 
transportation. His legislation and leadership has built and modernized 
highways and bridges and Amtrak rails across this country, and he's 
worked hard to make sure our planes and trains and cars are safe.
  Frank Lautenberg has fought to clean up our environment. Over the 
course of his career, he's worked on legislation to improve the 
Superfund program, redevelop Brownfields, force industry to cut down on 
pollution, clean up our beaches and protect our air and water. And he's 
fought to balance our budget. Senator Lautenberg focuses his sharp, 
business mind on the work of the Budget Committee, where he is ranking 
member and he helped move us from record deficits to record surpluses.
  And Senator Lautenberg has taken on special interests like few 
others. He took on the gun lobby when he authored the domestic violence 
gun ban and other laws to fight gun violence. And he's one of the 
strongest supporters of the Brady bill in this Congress. He took on the 
liquor lobby

[[Page 24289]]

when he became the lead sponsor of the bill that raised the drinking 
age to twenty-one. And he sponsored the recent provision in the 
transportation appropriations bill to lower the blood alcohol content 
standard to .08--a provision that's going to save hundreds of lives 
each year. And he's taken on big tobacco. When you fly on a commercial 
flight now, and you can actually take a breath without choking on smoke 
from other passengers, you can thank Senator Frank Lautenberg, because 
he wrote the law that bans smoking on airplanes.
  You know, after he got that bill passed, I was flying out to Iowa, 
and several flight attendants came up to me and said, ``Senator, can 
you please thank Senator Lautenberg for us. We can finally work now 
without all that smoke.'' I hear that to this very day, the 
distinguished Senator from New Jersey always gets first class service 
even when he sits in coach. I still can't quite believe that Senator 
Lautenberg is leaving us. But I hope that wherever he goes, he'll find 
a new way to use his energy, intelligence, and talent to serve the 
American people. Our country can't afford to lose someone of his 
caliber.
  My wife Ruth and I have been privileged to be friends of Frank since 
we first came to the Senate in 1985. We have been privileged to travel 
on many trips, on many congressional delegations with Senator 
Lautenberg, as he confronted our enemies abroad and spoke with our 
friends abroad, to strengthen our U.S. position both in our economic 
endeavors with other countries and in our military position overseas.
  We will miss him from this body, but I of course will not miss him as 
a friend. I sincerely hope that whatever Frank Lautenberg does in the 
future, he will make himself available for further public service. 
Someone of his caliber and of his talent, of his compassion, and of his 
interest in making sure we leave the ladder of opportunity down for all 
Americans to climb, someone such as that we can't afford to lose from 
public life.
  So, Frank, we wish you Godspeed, the best in all your endeavors, the 
best of health and happiness in your future life. But please, if duty 
calls for public service, I know you will answer.
  I thank the Presiding Officer for affording me the opportunity to 
make these comments this evening.

                          ____________________