[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 24178-24180]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTES TO RETIRING SENATORS


                              Tom Daschle

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, what we just heard on the floor of the 
Senate captures the essence of this remarkable, remarkable body, the 
leadership, which dictates the character, which dictates the fabric of 
the body that all of us have the real privilege of participating in.
  I know several Members want to speak, so I will be very brief. I take 
a moment to pay tribute to a truly exceptional leader with whom I have 
had the honor to serve alongside, and whom I have had the opportunity 
to serve with over the last year. We first began working together 2 
years ago, when I suddenly became majority leader of the Senate. 
Oftentimes, we have been on the opposite side of issues. But I want to 
say how much I deeply respect his abilities and his judgment as a 
Senator, as Democratic leader, and as a person.
  This environment is fiercely competitive, and as leaders, both he and 
I are thrust into that competitive environment. Yet Senator Daschle has 
always, always, without exception, handled each and every situation in 
that competition with class and with honesty, with integrity, with 
forthrightness, and with true grace.
  Clearly, I have had the opportunity to learn from him much more than 
I could have ever possibly given him in any way. I was the beneficiary 
of that each and every day. From that very first day that I became 
majority leader, he has treated me in that position with respect and 
with that very same grace. For that, I will forever be grateful.
  I wanted to pay tribute to Senator Daschle and close with one 
reference. The great Daniel Webster once remarked that the Senate is a 
community of equals, of men of individual honor and personal character. 
Indeed, Senator Tom Daschle is no exception. He is the epitome of that 
and a great credit to this venerable institution. On behalf of all of 
our colleagues, I wish all the best for Tom and Linda and their entire 
family in the years ahead.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip is recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, all of us in the Senate have just had 
an opportunity to hear an extraordinary speech by the outgoing 
Democratic leader. We are indeed in a very tough and competitive 
business. On the other hand, when we enter this Chamber, we take on 
public responsibility and have the obligation to deal with each other 
in a civil and forthright manner. I think Senator Daschle has always 
met that standard. We all admire his work here. He is one of the 
longest serving leaders in the history of the Senate. We wish him well 
in the coming years. He can look back on his extraordinary career here 
with great pride.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, you can learn a lot about a person by the 
way he handles winning, and you can learn even more about someone by 
the way he handles and accepts defeat. Tom Daschle does not know that I 
know this, but I saw an e-mail he sent recently to someone on his 
staff.
  Tom Daschle was concerned about a man with whom he talked one day 
late in the campaign when he was calling undecided voters in his home 
State of South Dakota. The man was not rich or powerful. He was just an 
average South Dakota citizen.
  This man used to work for the Government. He received many awards at 
his work. This is what Tom Daschle wrote in that e-mail:

       One day, the man started to suffer extreme stress and even 
     depression. The psychiatrist told him he had to retire from 
     his work . . . under a medical discharge. Afterwards, (the 
     government) denied him a medical retirement. They said it can 
     only be for physical reasons.
       He was denied medical access and retirement pay. He has 
     since also had a heart attack. He asked me for help in 
     getting a medical retirement. I told him we would be happy to 
     try and would follow up.

  Tom Daschle in his e-mail went on to say:

       Could you have someone contact him and look into this? It 
     just doesn't seem right.

  The date on that e-mail was November 8, 6 days after the election, 6 
days after what had to be one of the most heartbreaking losses in his 
life.
  The reason Tom Daschle got into politics in the first place, the 
reason he ran for leadership positions in the Senate, and the reason he 
worked his heart out for this job was never to get rich or to get 
attention. He tried to bring power to help the powerless, the average 
person, the people to whom life had given some unfair breaks.
  Even now, until the minute he has to relinquish his power, Tom 
Daschle is using his power to help people who still look to him as 
their last best hope.
  Golda Meir once famously told a political rival:

       Don't be humble. You're not that great.

  But Tom Daschle is great enough and good enough to be truly humble. 
He will never talk about all the people he helped, all the people to 
whom he has given hope, but I can tell you there are people all across 
South Dakota and all across America whose lives are better because Tom 
Daschle was in the Senate.
  ``It just doesn't seem right''--that is what Tom Daschle wrote in 
that e-mail, and it just doesn't seem right that we are going to have a 
Senate without Tom Daschle to keep fighting for what is all good and 
decent about America.
  My consolation is that I know Tom and Linda and their family will 
find another noble way to continue serving this Nation, defending the 
values we cherish and making life better for people who need a 
champion.
  Someone noted that this is a cruel business, and it is. There are 
three ways to leave the Senate. Two of them are not very good. In this 
situation, we have seen a man who has given 26 years of his personal 
life to South Dakota and to the Nation, and he made a decision a year 
ago to retire. In the past

[[Page 24179]]

year, I am sure there would have been a succession of tributes, 
dinners, schools, and highways and bridges being named after him and 
maybe statues and plaques commissioned. But instead, he stood for 
election. He had the courage to stand again. Although he did not 
succeed, I hope the people of South Dakota realize that he was a man 
who loved them throughout his political life and those of us who were 
honored to call him a friend and a colleague love him and will miss 
him.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, when the 109th Congress convenes this 
coming January, the Senate will be a poorer place for not having Tom 
Daschle among its Members.
  By nature, Tom Daschle is a South Dakotan to the core, born and 
raised and regularly returning to his hometown of Aberdeen, with a 
population today of not quite 25,000. He was the eldest of four 
children in a family who knew the meaning of hard work and family. He 
went to college, the first in his family to do so, at South Dakota 
State University, some 150 miles from his home. When his colleagues 
elected him Democratic leader, Tom Daschle asked an old friend back in 
South Dakota, as he told us on the floor only a few moments ago, for 
advice, and was promptly told: Never forget where you came from.
  That was something Tom Daschle knew without being told. If he had set 
out to forget where he came from, he could not have done it. The 
unscheduled driving tour that he made every year around South Dakota 
was a kind of pilgrimage. It did not create his close ties to South 
Dakota and its people; rather, it reflected them. As an editorial 
published on November 6 in Tom's hometown newspaper, the Aberdeen 
American news, noted, ``Personal stories abound of how Daschle and his 
staff have been able to get things done for the average South 
Dakotan.''
  The editorial concluded with a tribute worth quoting:

       On behalf of all the thousands of people you have helped, 
     we would like to offer you our deep gratitude and respect. 
     With quiet dignity, you fought for the State that raised you 
     and which still so obviously holds a special place in your 
     heart. Thanks, Tom, and good luck.

  If by nature Tom is a South Dakotan, by choice he is a public 
servant. After receiving his college degree in 1969, he served 3 years 
in the Air Force Strategic Air Command, one of the relatively small 
number of Members now serving in the Congress who served in the 
military in that period. And he has remained a forceful advocate for 
veterans throughout all his years in public office.
  He entered the House of Representatives after a vote so close that it 
took a recount almost a full year, and Tom became known as 
``landslide'' Daschle.
  Following his service in the House in 1986, he was elected to the 
Senate. In his 18 years in this body, Tom's agenda for action on behalf 
of the people of South Dakota has focused on health care, education, 
the outdoors, security and safety, economic opportunity, and rural 
life. Any State would be doubly fortunate to have an agenda and an 
advocate as dedicated and skillful as Tom Daschle.
  By temperament, Tom Daschle is a Democrat in the fundamental meaning 
of that word--respectful of others, a scrupulous listener, seeking 
consensus in the middle ground on complex and controversial issues.
  Time magazine has accurately described his instinct for courtesy, 
reputation for humility, a willingness to compromise, and a sense of 
Midwestern civility.
  Tom Daschle's steadiness and reasonableness made him especially well-
suited to assume the responsibilities of majority leader in that 
painful period when the country was dealt successive hammerblows by a 
recession, the crisis in the capital markets, and, above all, the 
tragic attacks of 9/11 and their aftermath.
  While others shouted at fever pitch, Tom Daschle never raised his 
voice because it is not in his temperament to do so. His calm manner 
was profoundly reassuring to worried Americans, as was the strength of 
his resolve.
  In the end, it is Tom Daschle's own words that tell us all we need to 
know about him.
  They explain why he is so respected around his State and here in the 
Senate. His November 3 statement to the people of South Dakota who 
support and love him speaks again and again of gratitude--gratitude for 
the opportunity to serve, gratitude to his family, gratitude to his 
devoted staff, gratitude to the State that is his extended family. It 
speaks of belief-in our people, in the future, in what can be 
accomplished by people working together. It speaks of work--of work yet 
to be done. And it speaks of hope.
  On November 3, Tom compared the sunset over the mall with the sunrise 
over Mount Rushmore and concluded, ``Having seen sunsets and sunrises, 
I like sunrises better.''
  There is no question of Tom's public service having ended; the only 
question is the direction it will now take. Tom Daschle has honored 
Teddy Roosevelt's dictum that ``Far and away the best prize that life 
offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.''
  It has been my privilege to work with so dedicated and honorable a 
public servant, a dear friend. I like to think that our work together 
on behalf of the people of this great country will continue as we move 
on into the future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I wish to join my colleagues in 
complimenting Senator Daschle for his years of service. I did not 
really know Tom Daschle when he served in the House. I have had the 
pleasure of serving with him for the last 18 years in the Senate. Many 
of those we were both in leadership, and I will just say our 
relationship has always been very good.
  Having the pleasure of working with Tom Daschle and Harry Reid, both 
for whom I have great respect, many times we were political 
adversaries, but we were always friends. We never had a heated 
exchange, maybe elevated on occasion, but we always were friends and we 
could always shake hands at the time we might have somewhat of a heated 
discussion. We would always remain friends, and he continues to be my 
friend to this day.
  I compliment him for his many years of public service to his State of 
South Dakota, for his service in the House of Representatives, his 
service to the Senate, and his service as the Democrat leader. He is a 
very competent individual, speaker, and representative of his 
viewpoint, and he happens to be my friend. I wish Tom Daschle and his 
wife Linda all the best for the future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am going to be very brief. For many 
of us who knew Tom Daschle and know Tom Daschle, we never thought this 
day would come. We never thought Tom would really be defeated in an 
election. I thought a lot about that. Why? I mean, this man is such a 
good man. He is such a good friend. He is a good leader. I do not know 
anyone who cares more about their State and who has worked harder.
  He talked about the State's energy sufficiency, and it was Tom 
Daschle's sheer will of support to develop an ethanol industry for the 
State. I know because I tangled with him year after year because from a 
California perspective this was not such a good idea; from a South 
Dakota perspective, it was. For Tom, his State always came first.
  I thought he was unbeatable. He is for the little people. I remember 
being in the State. I remember hearing him talk about the Pine Ridge 
Indian Reservation and the state of the people in Pine Ridge and how 
deeply he felt. When he feels very deeply, his voice gets that quaver 
and it drops low.
  This is a very hard day for many of us. As I went down the aisle to 
embrace Tom, two people said this really is a tough business. And, in 
fact, it is a tough business.
  I also want to say that Tom Daschle was a great leader for our 
caucus. Many of us on many days watched him

[[Page 24180]]

convince, cajole, push, and bring us together when we had to be 
together. We watched him on the Senate floor in the middle of the 
night, early in the morning, late in the day, always gracious, always 
patient, always articulate. We never had to worry about Tom Daschle's 
integrity or his credibility.
  I still wonder, how could he be beat? This is such a good man, such a 
good leader, such a good State representative. For me and my husband he 
was a personal friend. When Dick was in Washington, early in the 
morning he would run with Tom and they would talk about all kinds of 
things. The run was always a good one and my husband would come home 
and always say what a great guy Tom Daschle is.
  I think for all of us we wish him all the best. For me, I do not 
believe this man has reached his potential yet. I think he still has 
enormous gifts to give to this Nation, to his State, and I believe he 
will, perhaps in a different way. Perhaps we will see him come back in 
a different form. For Tom Daschle, these 10 years were very special 
years and for us we were so privileged because we had an opportunity to 
be led by a good man, by a great friend, and by a great leader.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. President, I first join the voices of my friends and 
my colleagues in talking about our dear and great friend, Tom Daschle, 
with whom I had the privilege to serve for the last 6 years, and to be 
led by for the last 6 years. I have never known a better human being or 
a better public servant than Tom Daschle. He is a good, honest, decent, 
and honorable man. The Senate will miss him. The country has benefited 
from his long and extraordinary service to this country.

                          ____________________