[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 17280-17281]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                IN REMEMBRANCE OF SENATOR STROM THURMOND

  Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, I rise to speak on the passing of a dear 
friend and a leader in this Chamber, Strom Thurmond.
  Strom retired this year at the age of 100--after more than a half 
century of serving the people of South Carolina and our Nation as U.S. 
Senator, as Governor of South Carolina, and as a State legislator. 
Remarkably, his career in the Senate spanned the administrations of 10 
presidents--from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush.
  His passing certainly will be felt by so many Members of this Chamber 
who had grown accustomed to the courtly gentleman from South Carolina. 
But his life leaves a lesson for us all--in compassion, civility, 
dedication, hard work, and respect.
  Before he was elected to the Senate in 1954 as the only write-in 
candidate in history to win a seat in Congress, Strom Thurmond was 
elected county school superintendent, State senator, and circuit judge 
until he resigned to enlist in the Army in World War II. He landed in 
Normandy as part of the 82d Airborne Division assault on D-day, and the 
story goes, flew into France in a glider, crash-landed in an apple 
orchard. He went on to help liberate Paris, and he received a Purple 
Heart, five battle stars, and numerous other awards for his World War 
II service.
  My husband, Bob, and I were honored to have known Strom Thurmond for 
so many years and to count him among our friends. He and Bob shared a 
great deal of common history dating from their World War II days, and 
his Southern gallantry always had a way of making this North Carolinian 
feel right at home.
  I first worked with Strom Thurmond when I served as Deputy Special 
Assistant to the President at the White House. Even then, he was an 
impressive Senator. President Reagan praised his ``expert handling,'' 
as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of nominees to the U.S. 
Supreme Court. In fact, it was Strom Thurmond's skill as chairman that 
helped to shepherd through the nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor as the 
Nation's first female on the United States Supreme Court.
  I always admired Strom Thurmond for his constant dedication to the 
people of South Carolina and the industries of that State. Bob Dole has 
joked that ``Someone once asked if Strom had been around since the Ten 
Commandments.'' Bob said that couldn't have been true--if Strom 
Thurmond had been around, the 11th Commandment would have been ``Thou 
shall support the textile industry.'' That industry still needs a lot 
of help. In fact, when President Reagan called Strom to wish him a 
Happy 79th birthday back in 1981, Strom Thurmond, with his constant 
attention to South Carolina interests, used the opportunity to talk to

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the President about the textile industry.
  Indeed, South Carolina is full of stories of how the senior senator 
from South Carolina managed to cut through red tape to make sure that 
his residents got the things they needed. And whenever South 
Carolinians called--or anyone else for that matter--Strom Thurmond 
could always be counted on to show up: at a Fourth of July parade, a 
county festival, or a State fair, armed with his trademark Strom 
Thurmond key chains.
  And North Carolinians developed a fondness for Strom Thurmond. He 
often flew into Charlotte before driving to his Edgefield, SC home. And 
he became so familiar in the airport that many of the workers there 
knew him--and he knew them, often stopping to share a kind word or a 
funny story.
  And I was so honored that just before he went home for good, he came 
in his wheelchair, with Nancy's help, to visit me in my basement office 
and welcome me to the Senate.
  Bob and I sent our heartfelt condolences to Strom's family: our dear 
friend Nancy and the children, and daughter, Julie, who worked with me 
at the Red Cross. He was a loving husband, proud father, and a new 
grandfather. And, of course, he loved the people of South Carolina--for 
whom he worked tirelessly throughout his career in public service, and 
to whom he chose to return when his work was done in the Senate.
  Today, as I remember him, his life, and his legacy, I think of the 
Bible in the 25th Chapter of Matthew, when the Lord said, ``Well done, 
thou good and faithful servant. . . . Enter thou into the joy of the 
Lord.''
  May God bless him and his family.

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