[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13570-13575]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 13570]]

                     EXTENSION OF MORNING BUSINESS

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the time allotted 
for the remembrances for Senator Coverdell be extended for an 
additional 15 minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Dayton). The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, at a time in my personal life when I am 
feeling the pain of the loss of a family member, I reflect upon the 1 
year which has passed since the loss of a member of our Senate family, 
Paul Coverdell.
  As frequently happens in politics, I first met Paul as an adversary. 
A good friend of mine, who came to the Senate at the same time I did in 
1986, Senator Wyche Fowler, had become embroiled in an unusual runoff 
election in the fall of 1992. Georgia had a provision, which I 
understand has subsequently been revised, that unless a candidate 
received an absolute majority in the general election in November, then 
there was a runoff between the two highest candidates.
  Senator Fowler had narrowly failed to get the majority vote and was 
in a runoff with Paul Coverdell. A number of colleagues went to Georgia 
to help Senator Fowler in his campaign. It was in those circumstances 
that I first met Paul.
  There has always been somewhat of a special tension between Georgia 
and Florida, going back at least to the Revolutionary War, where 
Florida remained loyal to George III and provided troops to fight 
against the rebels from Georgia who were supporting the new 
revolutionary government that was to become the United States of 
America.
  More recently, in the 1930s, the then-Governor of Georgia came to 
Jacksonville to give a speech about how good things were in Georgia in 
the middle of the Depression. At the end of the speech, one of the 
Jacksonville members of the audience asked Governor Talmadge: If things 
are going so well in Georgia, why is it that so many Georgians are 
moving to Florida? To which the Governor's response was: We like it; 
every time it happens, it raises the IQ level of both States. So that 
describes the nature of the special relationship between our States, 
which continues now with the close friendships that exist between 
Senator Nelson and myself and Senator Cleland and our newest colleague, 
Senator Zell Miller, as it did with Senator Coverdell.
  I came to know Paul as a friend in his too short Senate career. In 
every sense of the word, Paul Coverdell was a gentleman. He was a man 
who had strong personal views and a wide array of characteristics to 
put those views into effect. But he always did so with a graciousness 
and a politeness and a respect for others.
  Paul Coverdell was a man who cared about using Government as a means 
to improve the lives of the people that he represented and the people 
of the United States of America.
  As has been previously indicated, education was his passion. I 
personally had the opportunity to work with Senator Coverdell on a 
number of education issues, including how to make higher education more 
affordable, by providing a means through which families could begin to 
prepare to finance the cost of college, and to provide school districts 
with a wider array of means by which they could finance school 
construction. Those are examples of the creativity that Paul brought to 
his senatorial service.
  Paul Coverdell was a strong Republican. As indicated, he came to the 
Georgia Legislature when they were few in number. He helped build the 
Republican Party in that State. But he always operated with a clear 
understanding of the importance that if you were to build sustaining 
public support for your idea, it would emerge from the roots of 
bipartisanship. So he reached out across the aisle to explain, 
advocate, and bring to his causes Members of both political parties.
  Paul Coverdell has been and will be missed but he leaves a proud 
legacy, a legacy added to today with the naming of a portion of the 
Internal Revenue Code, for which he was particularly responsible, in 
his honor, as well as the naming of the Peace Corps offices in his 
honor. These are appropriate recognition of a proud and distinguished 
public career, which we, on the 1-year anniversary of his being taken 
from us, recognize and honor.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, my grandmother used to say as long as 
anybody remembers you, you are not dead. We are proving today that my 
grandmother was right, as I suspect she was on so many things, that 
Paul Coverdell is not dead. In fact, as long as I live I am going to 
remember Paul Coverdell. Who could forget a person as thoroughly 
lovable as Paul Coverdell?
  It was my great honor to work under the leadership of Zell Miller and 
to work with Mike DeWine and Harry Reid in trying to come up with a way 
to properly honor Paul Coverdell. We put together a bill introduced by 
Senator Lott. I was proud to introduce it with him and Senator Miller. 
The bill had two major features: first, it named the headquarters of 
the Peace Corps in Washington after Paul Coverdell, who was proud 
throughout his life to have served as one of the great Directors of the 
Peace Corps; and, secondly, it created an authorization to fund the 
Paul Coverdell Building for Biomedical and Health Sciences at the 
University of Georgia.
  Senator Miller and I had the honor of going to the University of 
Georgia, meeting with the university president, the provost, and Nancy 
Coverdell, and going to the site to look at the plans, and we decided 
that there was no better way to honor Paul Coverdell than to build this 
great edifice and to name it after Paul Coverdell. It is not just a 
beautiful building, but a building that will be alive with bioscience 
research, and will contribute not just to Georgia but to America and to 
the world.
  I am proud to say that we adopted that bill in the Senate in February 
and yesterday it was adopted in the House. It will go to the President 
and be signed.
  The headquarters here in Washington of the Peace Corps will be named 
after Paul. We have authorized the building of this major research 
facility in Georgia. I would like to remind my colleagues who do not 
remember the debate on the original bill, that we are going to put up 
$10 million at the Federal level; the State is going to match that 
money; and the University of Georgia is going to provide the bulk of 
the funding.
  The State of Georgia has already acted in providing the money. The 
university is out raising their part of the money. When we come to the 
proper appropriations bill this year, we will complete our action in 
terms of providing this most significant honor. We added to the honors 
that Paul Coverdell's work bestowed on his life today when we named the 
education savings accounts that were part of our tax bill after Paul 
Coverdell.
  I still see evidence every day of Paul's good work. As many of you 
will remember, he was very active in forensic sciences and providing 
funding for the States. We authorized a bill which is now named after 
him, providing $512 million to get rid of this backlog we have all over 
the country with DNA evidence, to modernize our State labs, and to 
build a national DNA database. Senator Byrd named the classroom 
building at the Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia after Paul. 
And Paul's work on teacher liability and volunteer liability is still 
very much debated in Congress, and I am convinced will eventually 
become the law of the land.
  So a year after Paul Coverdell's death, his stature continues to grow 
in the Senate. He is still fondly remembered by his colleagues. I do 
not think we will soon be forgetting Paul Coverdell. His gentleness 
reminds us all as to how we should behave. I feel blessed that I had 
the opportunity to get to know and to work with Paul Coverdell.
  Let me conclude by thanking Zell Miller for his leadership on these 
efforts to properly honor Paul. I think

[[Page 13571]]

Paul would be proud of what we have done. I think the investments we 
have made in honoring him will yield a good return to the American 
people.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, in a culture and in an institution 
where the word ``friendship'' is used so casually that it often has 
little meaning, it is difficult to express on this anniversary of Paul 
Coverdell's death what he meant to each of us and the nature of our 
relationships with him. I am left with few words other than to simply 
claim that he was a friend, a friend that I admired.
  I rise today in recognition of his loss because of the injustice of 
it, and that all of us probably recognize that as much as Paul did, it 
was but a downpayment on what his life was to be.
  This is not a man who had made his final contribution. His life had 
not run its real course. Paul Coverdell was an enormously talented man. 
He was a very good man.
  From almost the moment I joined this institution, I came to know Paul 
and work with him on a very close basis, unlike, perhaps, the 
relationship I have had with many or maybe all Members of the other 
party. We fought together for education savings accounts and we failed 
for years. But it is the best thing I could say about Paul Coverdell, 
that every time we failed on the education savings accounts, he took 
out his piece of paper, he worked the list again, and we came back.
  Few may ever remember that indeed the massive tax reduction plans 
voted upon and passed by the Congress this year closely resembled the 
tax plan that Paul Coverdell introduced in 2000 in the midst of the 
Presidential campaign. I joined with him in that effort. I believe they 
became an inspiration for what President Bush later proposed himself. 
This was a creative man.
  History is filled with what might have been. It is enough for Paul 
Coverdell's family to live with the notion that he made a great 
contribution and was a good and decent man, but in truth, many of us 
will always wonder, had his life lived its natural course, the 
leadership positions he would have filled and the contributions he 
might have made.
  Life was finished with Paul Coverdell, but he was not finished with 
life.
  I, like Phil Gramm, believe it is still special that all of us 
remember him. In that way, he never dies. It also leaves us, in an 
institution where humility is so rare, to remember that no matter what 
titles we give to each other, no matter how powerful the institutions 
might be in our own minds that we build, we are all ultimately so 
powerless in this life of ours.
  Paul Coverdell, you were a good man. Wherever you are, we remember 
you. We thank you. Generations of Americans who may never know your 
name--because, indeed, history will never have a chance to truly record 
all that you might have done--will live better lives because of the 
all-too-brief life that you lived yourself.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Dayton). The Senator from Georgia.
  Mr. MILLER. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues and those who loved 
Paul so much for their moving and heartfelt remarks this morning.
  We find it hard to believe that a year has passed since our friend 
and colleague, Senator Paul Coverdell, died so very unexpectedly. I 
remember that day vividly. I was at home in Young Harris. When I heard 
it, I immediately turned on the television, and I watched many in this 
Chamber, in tears and in disbelief, pour out their hearts in tribute to 
this good man and this great public servant.
  I will never forget one of the things Senator Gramm said about that 
frail body that had within it the heart of a lion. That described Paul 
Coverdell so very well.
  The shock and the sadness I felt on that day a year ago remain with 
me until this day. Georgia, and America, lost one of its greatest 
public servants in Paul Coverdell--as has been said, a decent, soft-
spoken workhorse who was always there and who always put people first 
and politics second. In a public career spanning more than three 
decades, from the Georgia Senate, where I served with him for 12 years 
and knew him so well, to the Peace Corps, and then the U.S. Senate, in 
all of those positions, Paul served with great dignity. He served with 
great ability, and he earned the respect of everybody who knew him or 
saw him or watched him along the way.
  I also will never forget sitting up there in that gallery a year ago 
on the morning that I was to be sworn in as Senator Coverdell's 
successor. Once again, I listened to the overwhelming outpouring of 
love and tears for Paul. The heartfelt sentiment and the high praise 
from this Chamber were a tremendously moving tribute to one of 
Georgia's finest sons. I had never felt so inadequate in my life. Here 
I was. How in the world was I ever, even in the most remote way, going 
to come anywhere close to filling those shoes? The Lord knows, I have 
tried.
  Immediately upon Senator Coverdell's death, folks in Washington and 
in Georgia began to think how we could remember this great Georgian in 
a worthy and enduring way. In a bipartisan fashion befitting Senator 
Coverdell, Senator Lott appointed two Republicans, Senators Gramm of 
Texas and DeWine, and two Democrats, Senator Reid and myself, to sort 
through the many good ideas for memorializing Paul. They have been 
mentioned this morning already on the floor. I will not go into them. 
We wanted to make sure that whatever we decided on was fitting and, 
very importantly, that it was something of which Nancy Coverdell would 
approve.
  We thought one very important way to honor Paul's commitment to 
education, research, and agriculture in a grand way was at the State's 
flagship school in Athens, the University of Georgia. The Paul D. 
Coverdell Building for Biomedical and Health Sciences will be a $40 
million state-of-the-art science center where scientists from different 
fields will collaborate under one roof to improve our food supply, 
clean up our environment, and find cures for disease. It is a joint 
project, as Senator Gramm mentioned, with the university itself raising 
$20 million, the State of Georgia appropriating $10 million, and the 
Federal Government providing the remaining $10 million.
  I am pleased that the bill authorizing Congress to approve this 
memorial for Senator Coverdell has been passed in the Senate and in the 
House, and the President is expected to sign it next week. It is our 
hope that the scientists who gather in this center named for Senator 
Coverdell will do great things and will make discoveries that will 
improve people's lives in Georgia and around the world for years to 
come.
  A day does not go by that I don't think of Paul Coverdell. And I 
remain honored and humbled to have succeeded such a great man in the 
Senate. I believe in life after death. I believe in a loving Heavenly 
Father. And I believe that Paul is up there watching what we do, 
watching what I do. That is why I try every day to live up to the high 
standards of dignity and integrity and bipartisanship that were the 
hallmarks of Paul Coverdell's distinguished career.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, when I was preparing for this morning's 
tribute, I could not help but reflect on the year that has passed since 
the untimely departure of our friend and colleague, Paul Coverdell.
  What a year this has been--and what he would have made of it all.
  We used to joke that the Senate schedule had become ``All Coverdell, 
all the time,'' because his fingerprints were everywhere: education, 
tax reform, fighting for peace, standing for freedom.
  It was my privilege to work with him on the Republican leadership 
team, and to see firsthand that phenomenal energy that kept him working 
behind the scenes long after the Senate had shut down for the night or 
before it convened. Descriptions of him nearly always include the word 
``workhorse''--and that is a name he certainly earned over and over. He 
was an idea generator with a boundless enthusiasm for

[[Page 13572]]

public service and a willingness to undertake any chore, no matter how 
thankless, to move the agenda forward.
  He would have relished the many challenges that our party has faced 
over the past year, because he was a loyal partisan. Years ago, when he 
was one of only four Republicans in the Georgia State Senate, he took 
on the task of rebuilding the State's Republican Party. Later, his 
first run for the U.S. Senate was an uphill battle against an 
incumbent. This was a man who looked for big challenges and never 
faltered in advancing his party's standard.
  Yet despite his partisanship, he was known for his civility and his 
ability to get along with members of both parties--and I might add, his 
ability to get along with the variety of temperaments that abound in 
this institution. Paul Coverdell had a warmth that many people felt on 
even a short acquaintance. Those who regarded him a friend are legion.
  The shock we felt at this time a year ago may have passed, but the 
bereavement remains. Georgia lost an ardent and effective spokesman, 
the Nation lost a patriot, and the Senate lost a true friend.
  Many have talked about the legacy of Paul Coverdell--the work he did 
for the party, the stamp he put on the Peace Corps, the legislation he 
wrote and speeches he gave in the Senate. But I think his lasting 
legacy is written on the hearts of those who knew him.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia, Mr. Cleland, is 
recognized.
  Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, I thank my colleague, Senator Miller from 
Georgia, for his eloquent words. As he describes our dear friend Paul 
Coverdell, I am reminded that Paul Coverdell was a kinder, gentler 
politician and person before ``kinder, gentler'' was in vogue.
  Proverbs tells us, ``Good men must die, but death cannot kill their 
names.'' In the year since Paul Coverdell has passed, I continue to see 
the evidence of his hard work everywhere. I see it in the success of 
the Georgia Project in Dalton, GA, an immigrant education project in 
the north Georgia mountains that we worked closely together on. I see 
him in the education savings account amendment that passed as part of 
the President's tax package, something so close to his heart throughout 
his career in the Senate. And most of all, I see it in my colleagues 
faces as they continue to honor him through their work on issues that 
were important to him.
  Paul and I were sworn into the Georgia State Senate on the same day 
in 1971. We were elected in the election of 1970. He sat just in front 
of me. In Georgia, we sit by numbers of senatorial districts. We did 
not sit across the aisle, party to party. So, in effect, we were all 
together in that State senate. So Paul sat right in front of me; and 
what an appropriate position for him to be in, because I followed his 
lead in so many ways, just as I have tried to do in the years in the 
Senate. He worked quietly; he worked tirelessly. But he had a single-
mindedness of purpose that belied his mild manner. He would toil away 
on a project for months, even years, then submit his results, and leave 
the judgment and praise for others.
  When I came to the U.S. Senate, I felt as if I was following behind 
Paul Coverdell again. Paul was with me as I was sworn in right here in 
this Chamber. After that day, he helped me, he guided me, and he 
tutored me in the ways and rhythms of the Senate, this body he loved so 
dearly. We were on different sides of the aisle, but we were still 
great personal friends. He helped me learn because he was a good man 
and a good friend, and because he knew it was good for our country and 
for Georgia. He always fought for our State, our farmers, our 
businesspeople, and the average citizen.
  From his time in the Georgia Legislature to his post as head of the 
Peace Corps under President Bush, to his quiet and demonstrative 
leadership in the Senate, Paul had a peaceful and resolute efficiency 
about his work that I hope we can all emulate.
  Alphonse de Lamartine once said, ``Sometimes, when one person is 
absent, the whole world seems less.''
  That is the way I feel today. I share this feeling with my 
colleagues. That is certainly the case as we remember Paul and absorb 
the magnitude of this loss in this Senate and the people he served. 
Paul was, indeed, a leader, a legislator, and a dear personal friend. I 
miss him terribly.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant Republican leader is recognized.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I compliment both of our colleagues from 
Georgia for their statements, and also Senators Gramm and Torricelli 
for the statements they have made.
  I have been in the Senate for 20-plus years. A year ago today was 
probably one of the saddest days of my career because we lost a real 
friend, a true Senator, an outstanding Senator, Paul Coverdell, a 
person who achieved a lot in his very brief career in the Senate. He 
was in the Senate for a little over 8 years. He accomplished a lot. He 
was elected to leadership in his first term in the Senate. That is very 
unusual on our side of the aisle. That doesn't happen very often.
  Paul Coverdell was very unusual, very exceptional, very talented, 
very likable, a very popular U.S. Senator. He did a lot. So we are 
commemorating the 1-year anniversary of his death and celebrating, to 
some extent, the contributions that he has made. Naming the Peace Corps 
building after him, the National Peace Corps headquarters building, is 
a real tribute to his leadership. The building at the University of 
Georgia, the Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, which will 
conduct research for decades and generations to come and will save 
countless lives, no doubt, will be a real contribution in recognition 
of his service to the country.
  The education savings account that bore his name, as Senator 
Torricelli said, after years of battle--unsuccessful at first, but 
finally successful--was signed into law this year. Naming those the 
``Coverdell savings accounts,'' where individuals can put in up to 
$2,000 a year and use that for education K-12, hails a very significant 
achievement; it showed real tenacity, real forcefulness. It was 
something that Paul Coverdell would not give up on, and it is now the 
law of the land. It will enable thousands of people to be able to 
provide for, save for, and improve their education. Because of his 
foresight, leadership, tenacity, and his perseverance, it is now the 
law of the land.
  Paul Coverdell had a very positive impact on countless millions of 
people in the United States and across the world. It is only fitting 
that we pay him a proper tribute.
  I remember the memorial services in Georgia when our colleagues Phil 
Gramm and Zell Miller, our newest colleague, made statements that were 
as moving as any I have heard when they talked about the contributions 
Paul Coverdell has made to the State of Georgia, our country, and the 
Senate. So it is with regret that we recognize the 1 year passing of 
Paul Coverdell, but it is only fitting and proper that we recognize and 
say thank you to Paul Coverdell and wish Nancy Coverdell all of our 
best in the years to come.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California is recognized.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I join in the tribute to Senator 
Coverdell. As a Senator from California, I found him to be a remarkable 
man. He was a humble man. In a way, he was a prototype of the Southern 
gentleman. He was a determined man; he was a skilled legislative 
craftsman. I was really delighted to have the pleasure to work with 
him.
  Paul had a profound interest in improving the education of our young 
people. I worked with him closely as an original cosponsor of his 
Educational Savings and School Excellence Act, and during that time, I 
found him to be energetic. He was determined and, most importantly, I 
found him to be very easy to work beside. He was also very much above 
political correctness, and he strived to do what he thought was really 
doable, practical, and would help people.

[[Page 13573]]

  Another common interest we shared was in reducing the amount of 
illegal drugs on the streets of America. In fact, we worked together on 
several antinarcotics efforts. We debated together in this Chamber the 
issue of certification. I was his Democratic cosponsor of the Foreign 
Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. This law made it easier to crack 
down on leaders of the major drug cartels operating in Latin America. I 
believe these efforts are paying dividends today because U.S. law 
enforcement is more able to close in on some of the cartel leadership.
  Paul Coverdell knew these were important debates, and I will never 
forget because the Republican Party was in the leadership, and every 
time he called me, he asked if he could come to my office to talk with 
me. It was a very interesting effort on his part because the fact that 
he was willing to come to my office and sit down to have a discussion 
on an issue that we would work on together made me even more dedicated 
to the success of that effort.
  I had a wonderful across-the-aisle relationship with Paul Coverdell. 
The Narcotics Kingpin Act, the educational savings account, and 
Excellence in Schools Act are a few specific tangible pieces of 
legislation on which he put his leadership stamp.
  All I can say is: Paul Coverdell is missed in the Senate of the 
United States. I truly wish all of God's blessings on him. He was a 
wonderful man.
  I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I believe everyone is aware that Senators do 
a certain amount of posturing. We are a political body. People who are 
watching us, however, I am sure, cannot get a sense that none of this 
is posturing. Everything that has been said by Republicans and 
Democrats alike is heartfelt. We miss Paul Coverdell very much and, as 
someone said, it does not seem it has been a year he has been gone.
  The outpouring of affection for Paul is very real because of the kind 
of individual he was. Most people can never know what Paul Coverdell 
meant to the Senate, to his home State of Georgia, and to people on 
both sides of the aisle. Unless you were a part of this body and worked 
with Paul on a daily basis, it would be impossible to know what he 
meant to all of us. I hope, though, by this tribute today, people will 
get a little bit of a sense of what Paul meant to all of us.
  He was a friend. He was a counselor. He made things happen in the 
Senate, and it was never with any personal aggrandizement or publicity 
on his part. There was no fanfare when Paul did his work.
  He will be known, even though only having served a relatively short 
period of time in the Senate, as one of the most effective Senators who 
ever served here.
  It is instructive that the person who took his place in the Senate, a 
great public servant in his own right, former Governor and now Senator 
Zell Miller, asked how he could ever begin to fill Paul Coverdell's 
shoes. The reason he cannot and none of us can, of course, is that Paul 
Coverdell was unique and no one can ever do exactly what Paul Coverdell 
did. We can each aspire to have his attitude, selflessness, friendship, 
and helpfulness to others. If we all aspire to do that, this Senate 
will be a better place.
  We do hear every week: We need a Paul Coverdell to solve this problem 
or solve that problem. That is how Paul is remembered: as a person you 
could always turn to, to get something done when no one else could 
quite figure out how to do it, and frequently, by the way, that was 
because of personalities.
  Paul had a way of bridging the gap between people who were of strong 
minds on something; he would find a way to bring them together.
  As Senator Feinstein just said, we miss Paul Coverdell very much. We 
love him. We love his wife, Nancy. We wish her and the family the very 
best.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I will never forget this day last year 
when it was announced that we had lost our friend and colleague, Paul 
Coverdell. His death was a shock to all of us. It was something that 
most of us were so emotional about that we could not speak in the first 
few days after learning of his death because we knew that we would not 
be able to get the words out. Those who did speak will be remembered; 
they did, indeed, have a hard time getting through the words they 
wanted to say.
  It is very rare that after a year from losing a Senator or a Member 
of Congress that loss is still so vivid, but that is the case with Paul 
Coverdell. I miss him today just as much as I missed him a year ago 
today. He had that kind of impact.
  The interesting thing is he accomplished so much in a very short 
time. And there is not anyone who knew him who did not like him.
  He was also a leader. In his career in public service, which he 
actually did after a very successful private sector career, he made a 
difference wherever he was.
  In 1989, Paul Coverdell took the reins of the Peace Corps. He looked 
at the Peace Corps in 1989 and said: What should be the mission? He did 
not just take the reins of the agency and do more of the same. He 
stepped back and said: What does the world need today from the Peace 
Corps?
  Of course, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia at the time were emerging 
from the Iron Curtain. So Paul Coverdell said: We have these countries 
now emerging from the cold war, trying to seek democracy. Maybe the 
Peace Corps can play a part in keeping the peace.
  He began to send volunteers from the Peace Corps into Eastern Europe 
and the former Soviet Union countries. He blazed a new trail for the 
agency that made a difference, maybe in a small way, but a lot of small 
things build, to Poland and Hungary where the first Peace Corps 
volunteers went after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Those are two 
countries now firmly in the democratic camp. They are countries that 
have just joined NATO.
  Paul Coverdell made a difference because he stepped back and was 
thoughtful. He was a leader in the truest sense.
  The Coverdell education savings accounts were an extension of his 
leadership at the Peace Corps and his interest in education. He said: 
What can we do to help parents who have a hard time buying a band 
uniform, a computer, or something that will give a child that extra 
opportunity to excel and succeed? He came up with the concept of 
education savings accounts.
  As usual in Congress, it does not happen easily, even if it is a 
great idea. But Paul Coverdell was dogged in his determination that 
being able to save tax free to buy your children the things that would 
help them succeed in their educational experience was worth a fight. He 
fought and he won. It is fitting that we named the education savings 
accounts the ``Coverdell education savings accounts.''
  The other thing that is significant about Paul Coverdell is that he 
built the two-party system in Georgia. Georgia, like Texas, 15 years 
ago was an entirely Democratic State. They did not have Republican 
county officials in very many counties in Georgia or Texas. They did 
not have Republicans in numbers in the State legislature. In fact, Paul 
Coverdell was the minority leader of the State senate in Georgia, and I 
believe there were three Republicans in the entire State senate. He was 
the person who came in and said I think democracy works best when there 
is a strong two-party system. He became the first Republican every 
elected to the Senate from Georgia.
  At the same time, Paul Coverdell was respected and liked by 
Democrats. At his funeral, Governor Barnes, the Democratic Governor of 
Georgia, made a wonderful presentation about his friendship with Paul 
Coverdell from their days in the legislature. He said Paul Coverdell 
was his mentor in politics.
  We have heard former Governor Zell Miller, now Paul Coverdell's 
successor, speak eloquently about his relationship and the impact that 
Paul Coverdell had on Georgia, as well as Senator Cleland and other 
Democrats

[[Page 13574]]

who have spoken in the Chamber about what a wonderful person Paul 
Coverdell was.
  He was a leader through being creative and innovative. He was a 
fighter for what he believed was right. He persevered. He usually won. 
He built the Republican Party while having a loyal following of 
Democrats. He had the kind of respect it took to walk that kind of very 
fine line.
  He could bring people together. He could calm the waters. When 
tempers flared, he would tell a joke and dissolve the tension. He was 
an extraordinary person.
  The most telling of all the things one could say about Paul Coverdell 
is he is truly talked about and missed every day, even a year later. 
The vacuum left by Paul Coverdell's sudden death last year at this very 
time has not been filled. I am glad we are taking time to pay tribute 
to this extraordinary man. I am proud I was able to be his friend.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I can safely say, unless it is the 
death of a family member, usually by a year after someone's passing you 
sort of have gotten over it and moved on. Yet here we are a year after 
the death of our good friend, Paul Coverdell, and Senator after Senator 
after Senator on both sides of the aisle is making the point that we 
have not gotten over it. We still miss him. We think about him almost 
every day because he was such an indispensable part of this Senate 
which people have come and left for over 200 years.
  I met Paul back in 1988. I was one of the people trying to help 
President Bush get the Republican nomination--the first President 
Bush--and I was traveling in the South. It was not a pleasant week. The 
former President had lost the Iowa caucus. This was between Iowa and 
New Hampshire. His potential to be nominated was very much in doubt at 
that point. Part of my travels took me to Georgia where I met State 
Senator Paul Coverdell, obviously an intimate friend of the Vice 
President, and I was involved in his campaign in 1980, 8 years before 
that, prior to the nomination of President Reagan.
  Our paths continued to cross. He came to Washington as Director of 
the Peace Corps. I was a member at the time of the Foreign Relations 
Committee and had a chance to deal with him. Then my wife, Elaine Chao, 
succeeded him as Director of the Peace Corps when Paul went off to have 
the most extraordinary experience in getting to the Senate. Paul has to 
be in the Guinness Book of Records for having won the most elections to 
get to the Senate.
  He ran in Georgia in 1992. I don't know what the law of Georgia is 
today, but in 1992 you had to win a majority of the votes for your 
party to win the primary. If you didn't, there would be a runoff. So 
Paul had a very close primary election and had to have a runoff, an 
additional election, to get the nomination. So it took him two 
elections to become the Republican nominee in 1992. Then Georgia also 
had a curious law with regard to the general election. I don't know 
whether it is still the law of Georgia or not, but at that time in 1992 
in order to be elected to the Senate you had to get 50 percent of the 
vote, plus one. Paul, in his contest against former Senator Wyche 
Fowler, had gotten about 47 percent of the vote. Wyche Fowler came up 
short of 50 percent, and there was a third party nominee, so that was 
the third election.
  The fourth election was a runoff, a month after the regular election, 
after President Clinton had been elected, after everybody else who was 
going to serve in the Senate, if that Congress had been chosen. There 
was yet another election going on in Georgia, 30 days after the first 
election. Paul managed to win that election and came to be sworn in to 
the Senate, having had to win four elections in 1 year to get here.
  I cite that not just to recount his resume but to make the point of 
what incredible tenacity it took to go through all of that to make it 
here.
  As all of our colleagues have indicated, once he arrived, his 
personality, his work habits--he was peripatetic; he was everywhere. No 
matter what the issue might be, no matter what little group might be 
discussing a particular matter, Paul was always there in a 
nonthreatening way in a body in which people have a tendency to compete 
with each other constantly. His personality was such that no one ever 
thought of him as a competitor. His interests were vast, across the 
board, everything my colleagues have said, everything from education to 
foreign policy. He had wide interests.
  He was elected to our leadership in the first term which, as Senator 
Nickles said earlier, is quite unusual in our party. He was unfailingly 
polite, competitive but polite, and had a way of engaging in politics 
to make friends rather than enemies. So many people in politics acquire 
numerous enemies in the process of participating in the business in 
which we are all engaged. Paul, quite the opposite, tended to add 
friends. He was a truly remarkable man, a leader not just for Georgia 
but for all of America. It was a great tragedy his life was cut short. 
He would have had many more years in the Senate making an enormous 
contribution to his State and the Nation and enriching the lives of all 
of us who had the privilege of getting to know him.
  We still miss you, Paul, and we are confident we will see you again 
some day in the future.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment in 
remembrance of my good friend and our colleague, Senator Paul 
Coverdell, who passed away a year ago today.
  It hardly seems an entire year has passed since Paul was with us on 
the Senate floor. Paul served the State of Georgia and our Nation nobly 
for almost 40 years, in the Army, in the Georgia State Legislature, as 
a respected businessman, as the head of the Peace Corps, and as a 
member of the U.S. Senate. Paul believed, as do I, that people flourish 
when they have the freedom to work and make their own decisions, and he 
worked day after day to ensure these freedoms for all Americans.
  Last year as we were preparing the Treasury and General Government 
appropriations bill for fiscal year 2001, we were shocked to learn of 
the passing of our colleague, Senator Coverdell. As we moved forward 
with that bill, S.2900, I inserted a provision requiring the naming of 
a building at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, 
GA, in honor of Paul Coverdell. Our House colleagues agreed and we 
included this language in the conference report which was signed into 
law. I am pleased to let my colleagues know today that the ceremony to 
name the building will be conducted next month.
  There is an American Indian saying, ``When legends die, there are no 
more dreams. When there are no more dreams, there is no more 
greatness.'' Well, I can assure you that Paul's dreams are alive in us 
and his greatness will transcend the years.
  Mr. President, I respectfully request this body take a moment to 
remember our colleague and his family.
  Mr. FRIST. I rise today to honor the memory of our colleague, Senator 
Paul Coverdell of Georgia. It's hard to believe a year has passed since 
he left us, but his legacy of integrity, compassion and commitment 
remains a model for us to emulate.
  Throughout his long career in public service, Paul Coverdell was a 
tireless champion of freedom. He believed in America and the power of 
the American spirit. Paul Coverdell knew what was right and he fought 
for it with all his might. He was a husband, a citizen, a Senator, a 
patriot, and he is sorely missed.
  For me, as a newcomer to the U.S. Senate now seven years ago, Paul 
Coverdell was a mentor. I had the honor and privilege of watching his 
courage up close working on Medicare and education in particular where 
his expert guidance helped us communicate our message to the American 
people. Whether on the practicalities of how to structure a U.S. Senate 
office to broader policy implications on the issues of the day, Paul 
Coverdell was the conscience and guide to whom we turned for advice and 
counsel.

[[Page 13575]]

  To help honor the life and work of Paul Coverdell, I am drafting 
bipartisan legislation authorizing two new initiatives--the Paul 
Coverdell Stroke Disease Registry and the Paul Coverdell Health Care 
Corps. The untimely death of our friend points to the need to provide 
more comprehensive stroke care and to learn more about providing a 
better quality of care to the more than 700,000 people who suffer a 
stroke each year. Our first step in doing so is introducing the STOP 
Stroke Act, which requires the Department of Health and Human Services 
to develop a national disease registry.
  The Paul Coverdell Health Care Corps is a tribute to the values 
incorporated into the Peace Corps while he was Director and further 
demonstrates our dedication to providing American expertise to 
developing nations. This new Corps would provide skilled health care 
professionals for countries dealing with the crises of HIV/AIDS, 
tuberculosis and malaria. The Paul Coverdell Corps would be an 
extension of the changes made in 2000 in which all Peace Corps 
volunteers serving in Africa must be trained as educators of HIV/AIDS 
prevention and care.
  I believe both of these pieces of legislation are a fitting tribute 
to the late Paul Coverdell. It is my hope that these two bills will 
reflect the compassion and commitment that he demonstrated time and 
time again in his service to our Nation and indeed, to the world. 
Senator Paul Coverdell was a champion of liberty and freedom, and with 
his wife, Nancy, he knew instinctively that love and freedom are the 
greatest gifts God has planted in the human heart. His legacy charges 
all of us with the task of doing everything we can to preserve our 
freedoms and to demonstrate in every way the indomitable American 
spirit.
  Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, one year ago today, Senator Lott had the 
sad duty of coming to the floor of the Senate to announce to this body 
that Paul Coverdell, Senator from Georgia, had suddenly and 
unexpectedly died. While his absence was felt immediately and deeply, 
only now with the benefit of time can we develop a full sense of the 
contributions and legacy of this quiet statesman.
  Few Americans these days take to heart so completely the notion of 
public service as Paul Coverdell did. From the Peace Corps to his years 
in the Georgia Legislature to his time in the Senate, he was a model of 
dedication and sincerity, unwilling to substitute style for substance. 
He was a serious student of policy and a consistent advocate of deeds 
over words. Paul was a tireless leader in the effort to reform our 
education system and I am proud to support legislation renaming 
education IRAs as Coverdell education savings accounts. His concern for 
the young people of this country was also demonstrated by his 
commitment to the fight against the trafficking of illegal drugs. But 
perhaps above all, he was a great champion of civility. Each time I 
hear of the need to ``change the tone in Washington,'' I think of Paul 
Coverdell.
  It is fitting that Congress has now sent legislation to the President 
that will rename the Washington headquarters of the Peace Corps for 
Paul Coverdell. I was honored to support that legislation, and I was 
honored to serve alongside Senator Paul Coverdell of Georgia. He is 
still deeply missed.
  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to my dear 
friend and beloved colleague, Senator Paul D. Coverdell, who, as we all 
know, passed away a year ago today.
  Paul was a dear friend, who meant so much to each and every one of us 
here in the Senate. He was our friend, and we loved him very much. Paul 
was a kind man--a gentle man--a sweet man. The Senate is not the same 
without him. It is not the same because we miss his kindness, his 
spirit, and his unbelievable energy--energy that he brought to every 
task he undertook.
  Whatever it was, Paul would do it and do it effectively. He was one 
of the key people running this Senate. Candidly, he was that person not 
because of his leadership position, which was significant, but because 
of the fact that he just got things done. His effectiveness came 
because of his energy, because of his drive, because of his 
determination. It also came because he could get along with people on 
both sides of the aisle. He knew people. He understood them. He liked 
people, and people liked him back. That is what made Paul Coverdell 
effective.
  All of us have different stories and remember different things about 
our friend Paul. I worked with him on Central American issues, 
Caribbean issues, and Latin American issues. He cared passionately 
about the safety, security, and prosperity of our hemisphere. He paid 
particular attention to this hemisphere, because he understood that 
what happens here in America's backyard affects the people of Georgia, 
and it affects the people of this country. He brought this kind of 
thought and passion to all of the issues he tackled.
  On the first anniversary of Paul's death, we honor what he stood for, 
what he believed in, and what he accomplished here in this Senate. As a 
public servant, Paul touched the lives of his family, his friends and 
colleagues in the Senate, his constituents in his home State of 
Georgia, and the lives of millions of people throughout the United 
States and abroad. He is deeply missed and will always--always be 
remembered.

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