[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 23999]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTES TO RETIRING SENATORS


                              Don Nickles

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise tonight to make a quick comment 
about a dear friend. The greatest thing about serving in the House of 
Representatives and the Senate is meeting the colleagues we have the 
opportunity to serve with on both sides of the aisle. As a Member of 
the House of Representatives, I had the opportunity to get to know a 
number of the Members of the Senate, one of whom is retiring at the end 
of this session.
  Don Nickles was elected to the Senate when he was too young to serve 
in the Senate. He actually had a few months after his election before 
he was old enough, but he was old enough before he was sworn in. That 
was back in 1980. He has now served with great distinction in this body 
for 24 years. He leaves with a record that not many Senators are able 
to claim after serving in this Senate for whatever period of time they 
may be here.
  Don Nickles has been a leader in the Republican Party, but most 
significantly he has been a leader in the Senate. He is a man who has 
provided strong leadership on any number of issues, whether they are 
fiscal issues as chairman of the Budget Committee and a longtime member 
of the Budget Committee, which is where I first got to know him in our 
conferences between the House and the Senate, or whether it is on 
energy or social issues, Don Nickles possesses all the assets that 
America holds dear.
  He is a strong family man. He is a hard-working individual. He is a 
man of faith. He is a man who when he looks you in the eye and tells 
you something, you can go to the bank with it.
  I am going to miss Don Nickles. I will miss his quick wit. I am going 
to miss his being able to stand up in the Senate and quickly take on 
anybody on either side of the aisle with respect to whatever the issue 
may be or whatever the rule may be that applies to the issue that comes 
up.
  I marveled at his ability to, off the top of his head, take on folks 
on the other side of the aisle relative to a particular issue and to 
point out issue by issue and point by point what must be done. That is 
a unique capability and something that must be studied and learned.
  My predecessor, one of the folks who held my seat many years before I 
got here, was the master of that. That is Richard Russell. Don Nickles 
knows the rules just as well as Richard Russell did.
  I will miss Don in a number of respects off of this Senate floor. He 
is a close personal friend. He and his wife Linda are dear friends of 
Julianne and me. I will have to find somebody else to get money off of 
on the golf course because I have known Don so long now that I have 
come to spend the money before I play golf.
  He is a terrific guy both in the Senate as well as outside the 
Senate. He is a man of great integrity. He is the kind of Senator who 
every citizen of Oklahoma should and has been proud of for his 24 years 
of service to the Senate.
  I went back to his hometown a couple of months ago, his hometown of 
Ponca City, OK, a very small town in America. Don was a football hero. 
As in my home State of Georgia and my hometown, football is huge in 
Ponca City. They still remember Don as a high school fullback and 
linebacker.
  His old coach was there that night to talk about Don and some of the 
things he did during his high school career. It is those foundations 
that people all across America build upon to come to the Senate.
  The things that were said about Don back then could still be said 
about him today; that is, what a dedicated person he was, what a hard-
working person he was, and what a student of the game he was, just like 
he has been a student of the Senate.
  No one there was surprised at what a great job Don had done as a 
Member of the Senate and what a success he was, what a success he will 
be once he leaves. Don had the right kind of foundation and the right 
kind of instincts and the right kind of family stability, support, and 
love to make sure he did the right kind of job in the Senate, and he 
will continue to be successful when he leaves here.
  To Don and to Linda, we say thanks for the service to our country. My 
children and my grandchildren are going to benefit from the service of 
the Senate of Don Nickles. That is something for which I will forever 
be grateful.
  Just as importantly, I have been a better Senator than I would have 
been otherwise because of Don Nickles. In future years, because of what 
I have learned from Don Nickles, I will be a much better Senator.
  Don, we appreciate your service to our country. Thank you. God bless 
you and Linda.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. 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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