[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 26614-26615]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      TRIBUTE TO SENATOR ROD GRAMS

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I would like to take just a few minutes to 
comment on one of our friends who is leaving the Senate.
  We all, of course, feel strongly about the changes that take place in 
this body and the people with whom we work closely, and even those with 
whom we do not work closely, and certainly appreciate all the things 
they have done while they have been here. Frankly, it is always a sad 
thing to have people with whom you work leave.
  Of course, all Members have an impact in this body. All Members leave 
an imprint here and certainly in the areas they represent. Each of us 
has different ideas. That is the basis for our system. We bring those 
ideas here and seek to implement them, to the extent we can, by working 
with others to cause them to be implemented. We have disagreements, as 
we properly should have, and then we come to some decisions.
  So I want to comment for a moment about my good friend Rod Grams who 
has well represented the State of Minnesota in the Senate for 6 years 
during the same period I have been here. He served in the House prior 
to that, during the same time I was there.
  I think Rod has been one of the real good guys in terms of his 
dedication to doing the things he thought were best for the country, 
things he believed were best for the people of Minnesota. He has been a 
great legislator and an important friend to many of us.
  As I mentioned, Rod Grams was elected to the House in 1992. He served 
there for one term and then was elected to the Senate in 1994. I 
certainly have benefited from our association ever since. Rod is a 
proud conservative.
  Rod is one who is dedicated to the notion that there ought to be 
budget relief. He is dedicated to the notion that there ought to be 
Social Security reform. He is a champion of the $500-per-child tax 
credit and is the author of many successful tax measures. I think he 
has made a real contribution to the direction we have taken.
  Above all, however, I think that idea of having a philosophy, 
believing in some things that are good, and working for those things, 
but working for them in a way where others can also work on them with 
you, is really the greatest contribution any of us can make. I feel 
sure this institution will be poorer in the future because he is not 
here. But he will continue to contribute to our country.

[[Page 26615]]

  One of his legacies has been his determination; one of his legacies 
has been getting results. That is really what it is all about--to cause 
things to happen, to have legitimate debates and concerns about 
important issues.
  I think Rod will be sorely missed in the Senate, not only as a friend 
but as a driven legislator who has been a critical party to this idea 
of less government and more personal freedoms, which is a very 
important thing to most everyone.
  He will continue, of course, to make contributions to our country. 
Prior to coming here, he worked in the media through TV and newspapers. 
I suspect we will hear much more from him.
  I will not go on further, but I simply want to say I wish Rod great 
luck in whatever he does. I thank him for what he has done here. I just 
wanted to at least briefly recognize the contributions that have been 
made by Senator Rod Grams to this institution and to this country.
  I thank the Chair.

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