[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 23131-23132]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO SENATOR PAUL WELLSTONE

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I was unable to be on the floor the day 
that we paid tribute to our colleague, Senator Paul Wellstone. I would 
like to take just a few moments this evening.
  Like my colleagues, I was deeply saddened over the tragic death in a 
plane crash of our colleague, Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, his 
daughter, several members of his staff, and the plane's pilots. His 
death is a grievous loss to those members of his family who survived, 
to the people of Minnesota, whom he served so faithfully and honorably, 
to his colleagues in the Senate, and to the Nation.
  Paul Wellstone lived the American dream. His parents came to this 
country as immigrants. He excelled in school. He earned both his B.A. 
and his doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 
He went straight from the University of North Carolina to Carleton 
College in Northfield, MN, as a young professor, where he taught for 
more than two decades. Minnesota became home to him and his family.
  In 1990, the people of his State sent him to the Senate; and in 1996, 
they voted to send him back for another term.
  Paul Wellstone was a person of deeply held convictions, a dedicated 
fighter for working families. He fought with passion for his principles 
but was also deeply respectful of those who disagreed with him. He was 
profoundly committed to the democratic political institutions that he 
had studied in his youth, that he taught to so many students over the 
years, and that, by his own direct engagement in our Nation's politics, 
he brought to life.
  We feel a great loss in the death of this courageous fighter for a 
just and decent America, and we will seek to honor his memory by 
carrying forward in the spirit in which he lived and gave his life.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. SARBANES). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The Senator from Rhode Island is recognized.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in morning 
business for up to 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I too rise to pay tribute to Paul Wellstone 
and send condolences and prayers to the Wellstone family, to all of his 
hardworking and dedicated staff, and to the other families involved.
  Paul Wellstone was a passionate, courageous, never wavering fighter 
for his ideals. He fought vigorously for what he believed in. He fought 
vigorously for Minnesotans, Americans, and people around the world. And 
he did so side by side with his wife Sheila, herself and eloquent and 
forceful advocate for domestic abuse victims and so many others.
  He was committed to economic and social justice.
  He was indignant about the lives faced by the poor, the downtrodden, 
the battered, and all the ``little guys.''
  He envisioned a better world for everyone, and strove every day to 
help secure that better world. He was tireless, but never humorless, in 
this struggle.
  He challenged Members of the Senate, the President, and all Americans 
to envision this better world and to join him in the struggle for that 
better world.
  He fought for all of us, but most especially for our children, for 
battered women, for working families, for individuals with 
disabilities, for seniors, for family farmers, for veterans, for Native 
Americans, and for new immigrants.
  He fought to improve education, health care, and the environment. He 
was a leading voice, a champion, a fighter for these and other 
important needs of our Nation.
  As he said:

       If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, 
     at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand 
     for them.

  His view of politics was insightful and straightforward, just like 
the way he lived his life. He said:

       Politics is what we create by what we do, what we hope for, 
     and what we dare to imagine.
  He believed with all of his heart and soul in the American promise of 
equal opportunity, that ``every child in America should have the same 
opportunity to reach his or her full potential regardless of the color 
of skin, gender or the income level of the child's parents.''
  To make that happen, we need to provide every child with the same 
tools for success. I can still hear him say: ``We cannot realize the 
goal of leaving no child behind on a tin cup budget.'' He would make 
this pitch during hearing held by the Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions Committee, on which I was honored to serve with him, on the 
Floor, education funding rallies, and anywhere and everywhere.
  He believed that education funding should come before tax cuts for 
the wealthy. In the education reform law, that he voted against because 
he believed that it didn't provide enough resources and that the tests 
it demanded would be ``educationally deadening,'' he worked to ensure 
the highest quality tests possible and to recruit and retain highly 
qualified teachers, among other important provisions.
  He was also a leader in the fight for full funding of the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act. He also long worked to give welfare 
recipients the chance to get off the rolls and into good paying jobs by 
allowing them access to postsecondary education.
  His legislative efforts to provide mental health parity were born in 
large part out of his brother Stephen's struggle with mental illness 
and his family's struggle with the problems of lack of insurance 
coverage of mental illness treatment.
  In an editorial in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, he said:

       Think of what fairness in treatment for mental illness 
     would mean. Think of the lives saved, the suffering eased. 
     Suicide is linked to untreated mental illness in 90 percent 
     of cases. Americans with mental illness, who are homeless or 
     warehoused in jails, would instead get the humane care they 
     need. Workplace productivity would improve, with less 
     absenteeism and a higher quality of work. Other medical costs 
     would go down. There would be fewer broken families, broken 
     lives and broken dreams.

  Paul Wellstone could not have been more right. We must pass mental

[[Page 23132]]

health parity in his name, and we must pass it as a first order of 
business in the next Congress of the United States.
  He also championed improved health care for children and adolescents, 
particularly substance abuse and mental health treatment and suicide 
prevention, included in the Children's Health Act of 2000. He 
coauthored the law that provides funding for Parkinson's Disease 
research. He also worked for a real Patients' Bill of Rights and a 
prescription drug benefit for our seniors.
  With his wife Sheila, he led the fight to end domestic violence. He 
worked for passage of the Violence Against Women Act in both 1994 and 
2000, a landmark law that provides help, protection, and improved 
services to victims of domestic violence.
  He long worked to address the needs of children who witness domestic 
violence. Children who live in homes where domestic violence occurs are 
at a higher risk of anxiety and depression, and exhibit more 
aggressive, antisocial, inhibited, and fearful behaviors than other 
children. They also are at risk for recreating the abusive 
relationships they have observed, and many, as a consequence, are 
juvenile offenders.
  His legislation on this issue is pending in the Senate version of the 
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act reauthorization bill.
  He fought for passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, and was 
working to expand it.
  He was a leader in the fight to raise the minimum wage and to extend 
unemployment insurance.
  He believed in equal pay, worker protections, and secure pensions.
  He fought to ensure veterans get the benefits and support they 
deserve.
  He worked for cleaner air and water, reduced greenhouse gas 
emissions, and renewable energy. He led the fight to stop the oil 
companies from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
  He once again spoke for people with no voice, by championing 
naturalization for Hmong citizens who aided the U.S. war efforts in 
Vietnam, as well as by joining me as a cosponsor of the Liberian 
Immigration Fairness Act.
  Paul's efforts were not limited to improving the lives of Americans. 
As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he championed human 
rights around the globe. He worked with Senator Brownback to enact 
legislation to address international trafficking in women and children 
for prostitution and forced labor.
  He also coauthored the Torture Victim Protection Act to help 
rehabilitate tortured survivors in the U.S. and abroad.
  And he was a leading advocate and voice for sensible multinational-
international approach to foreign policy.
  Paul Wellstone demanded bold action to right the wrongs of this 
world. He fought for many valiant causes, and in doing so, he improved 
millions of lives. However, his fight is not finished. There is still 
much to be done. It is a fight we all must continue.
  As Paul Wellstone once said, after the 1994 election:

       We don't have time for despair. The fight doesn't change. 
     It just gets harder. But it's the same fight.

  In his spirit and the spirit that is the most noble part of this 
Nation, let us carry on this noble fight.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, what is the business before the Senate?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Reed). There is nothing pending. The 
Senator can ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

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