[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2218-2219]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO ANDRE AGASSI

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to my friend and 
fellow Nevadan Andre Agassi, who won the Australian Open tennis 
championship over the weekend. Andre is from Las Vegas, where the 
community knows him to be not only an outstanding athlete but also an 
outstanding person who gives generously to many worthwhile causes and 
helps those most in need.
  Blessed with amazing talent, Andre was a natural who began his 
professional career as a very young boy. Although he is still quite 
young by most standards, for a professional athlete, especially a 
world-class tennis player he is considered old. He will turn 33 this 
year and is now one of the true veterans of the men's tennis tour. He 
has demonstrated a tremendous dedication to fitness and training to 
enable

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him to compete--and win--against much younger players.
  Andre demonstrates the same relentless determination to succeed off 
the court, and to help others have an opportunity to achieve. The 
people of Nevada appreciate Andre's commitment to the community and his 
longstanding philanthropic work.
  Andre Agassi is an example of how a celebrity can use his fame, 
fortune, and connections for the public good. He has contributed 
millions of dollars and helped raise millions more for charitable 
organizations. And his involvement in these projects extends beyond 
signing large checks: he gives his time and energy to these programs, 
helps develop a vision and plan for them and knows what's going on with 
them.
  He established the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation to assist 
organizations that support children and that provide assistance to 
victims of domestic violence.
  The foundation provided much of the funding for the Andre Agassi 
College Preparatory Academy. Agassi Prep, as it is called, is a charter 
school serving at risk children. Many of the students live in poverty. 
The vast majority of them are from single parent households. Most of 
the students attending the school are African American.
  Andre's goal is to improve their lives through education and prepare 
them for college.
  I had the opportunity to visit this wonderful school and see the 
students learning in the classroom and then present a performance. I 
was encouraged by their enthusiasm for knowledge and the respect that 
they showed for their teachers and for one another.
  In addition to the charter school, there is the Andre Agassi Boys and 
Girls Club in west Las Vegas, a minority community, providing a safe 
and positive environment for youth. The club functions as a place where 
children can participate in fun, recreational activities and also learn 
about the dangers of becoming involved with gangs or drugs.
  So Andre Agassi is making a difference in the lives of so many 
children and their families in Southern Nevada, some of whom are 
unaware that this weekend Down Under in Australia, thousands of miles 
and many time zones away, Andre won another major tennis championship, 
the eighth Grand Slam title of his career.
  To accomplish this, Andre won seven straight matches over 2 weeks. 
This extends his victory streak to 21 consecutive matches at the 
Australian Open, a tournament he won in 1995, and then again in 2000 
and 2001. Unfortunately, he was not able to defend his championship 
last year because of an injury. But he recovered and worked hard to get 
his form back and once again triumphed.
  Another reason tennis fans are celebrating Andre's latest victory is 
his recent suggestion that if he won this tournament, his wife, Steffi 
Graf, herself a legend in the tennis world and winner of numerous 
championships, would come out of her retirement to team up with him and 
play mixed doubles at the French Open this year.
  He and Steffi are a formidable pair and should create a lot of 
excitement on the clay courts in Paris.
  Several years ago Andre won the men's singles at the French Open and 
became the first tennis male player in more than three decades to win 
all four of the Grand Slam tournaments--Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the 
Australian Open, and the French--during his career. These events are 
played on different surfaces--grass, hardcourt and clay--that emphasize 
different skills and strategies, so it is very difficult and rare for a 
single player to have the versatility needed to excel on all of them.
  Andre has already established himself as one of the all-time greats 
in the history of tennis and provided fans with many memories. He has 
been playing professional tennis now for more than half of his life. 
Even though he is playing some of the best tennis of his life and shows 
no signs of slowing down, we know that sooner or later, I predict 
within the next 10 years, Andre will win his last Grand Slam at age 40.
  He and Steffi are the parents of a young boy, Jaden Gil, and I'm sure 
Andre will want to be actively involved in family life after his 
professional tennis days are over. I am also certain that Andre will 
continue his great work on behalf of children in Las Vegas, and he can 
look forward to watching with pride as the students of Agassi Prep grow 
up, graduate and achieve success.
  I am happy to recognize once again the accomplishments of a great 
Nevadan and great American, Andre Agassi.

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