[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 23]
[Senate]
[Page 31850]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              SENATE PAGES

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, the other day the distinguished majority 
leader came to the floor to call attention to the special contribution 
made by a number of our pages who volunteered to stay beyond the time 
that was originally scheduled for their experience in the Senate. I 
wanted to join with him in expressing our heartfelt gratitude to each 
of those pages, not only those pages who stayed as volunteers but to 
those pages who have been with us this past session.
  Pages play a very important role in the Senate. They are not only 
spectators to the democratic experiment, but they are real 
participants. Each of them becomes all the more adept at all of their 
responsibilities as the session unfolds and they become students of 
Government in a unique and special way.
  I have always been an admirer of our pages because of the great job 
they do and the little attention they get. I hope they leave with an 
appreciation of Government.
  When we have graduation for our pages, I oftentimes urge them to 
consider this the first installment of their public experience. I urge 
them to consider coming back, not only as members of the staff, but 
hopefully one day as elected Members themselves. I am absolutely 
confident at some point some will.
  I will never forget Senator David Pryor, Mark Pryor's father, telling 
the story that when he was a page he left a penny in the Capitol and 
promised himself he would come back and pick up that penny as an 
elected official. He did. I think it was a testament to the dreams, 
aspirations, and remarkable persistence that oftentimes our pages have.
  As I noted, there are a number of pages who not only served the time 
that was expected of them but stayed on afterward to accommodate the 
elongated Senate schedule. Many others offered to stay, but because 
they had schedules that were in conflict were not able to. There are 
seven pages who stayed on until the last couple of days and in a couple 
of cases all the way up until today. Margaret Leddy, Melissa Meyer, 
Krista Warner, Yael Bortnick, Emily Holmgren, Farrell Oxley, and Sarah 
Smith all went above and beyond the call of duty. They all have served 
the Senate in their capacity as pages superbly. I did not want this day 
or this session to end without publicly acknowledging their remarkable 
contribution, the quality with which they did their work and the 
gratitude we have for the job they did.
  Yesterday was Melissa Meyer's birthday. I wish her a happy birthday 
besides, but to each of our pages--those who may still be here and 
those who have gone, those who served--again let me express on behalf 
of the entire Senate our heartfelt thanks, our best wishes for a happy 
holiday season, and, perhaps most importantly, our sincere wish that 
they come back again in some other capacity, because we need them.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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