[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 25140-25141]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        SENATOR FRANK LAUTENBERG

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell to the senior 
Senator from New Jersey: my dear friend and distinguished colleague, 
Senator Frank Lautenberg.
  This is a bittersweet occasion for me--sad because Frank will be 
leaving us soon, but sweet because he leaves us with so many fond 
memories and such a great example of what it means to serve the 
American people through this great institution.
  Frank Lautenberg has been one of my closest friends in the Senate. He 
has also been my colleague, confidante, mentor, and role model. 
Intensely patriotic and ethical, he takes his role as legislator very 
seriously without taking himself too seriously. A man of

[[Page 25141]]

deep and wide-ranging intellect, he is quick to grasp the essentials of 
any issue before the Senate yet slow to criticize others, even those 
with whom he disagrees. A tolerant and benevolent man, he is ever ready 
to compromise in the name of harmony yet firm in his core beliefs and 
steadfast in acting on them.
  Frank Lautenberg is a living embodiment of the American Dream. The 
son of poor immigrants, he served in World War II, graduated from 
Columbia University on the G.I. Bill, went into business with friends 
and developed one of the world's leading computer services companies. 
He chose public service not as a career move but as a way of giving 
something back to the people of his state and nation.
  During his three terms in the Senate, Frank Lautenberg has worked to 
defend and improve the health, safety, and security of every American 
family. He wrote the laws to raise the national drinking age, ban 
smoking on airplanes, toughen the standards on drunk driving, and 
prevent anyone convicted of domestic violence from owning a gun. He 
helped write the Superfund, Clean Air, and Safe Drinking Water Acts. 
And he co-authored the Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997, which put 
America on the path to sustaining Social Security and Medicare.
  Frank Lautenberg served the public good before he came to the Senate, 
and he will do so long after he leaves us. He founded the Lautenberg 
Center for General and Tumor Immunology three decades ago, and he 
continues to support its work as one of the world's leading cancer 
research institutions. A noted philanthropist, he continues to support 
charitable work in education, the environment, the arts, and the Jewish 
community.
  Mr. President, Frank Lautenberg is someone I could point out to my 
grandson and say, ``There is a man.'' He is a great human being, a 
great American, and a great Senator. His departure will be a great loss 
to the Senate, but his presence has been a great gift to us all. I 
thank him for all that he has done for me, for this body, and for the 
people of the United States.

                          ____________________