[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16367-16372]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                SENATOR GAYLORD NELSON MEMORIAL SERVICE

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
transcript from Senator Gaylord Nelson's memorial service in Madison, 
WI, be printed in the Record.

[[Page 16368]]

  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

   Gaylord Nelson's Memorial Service, July 13, 2005, Wisconsin State 
                                Capitol

       Performance of ``Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken''--
     Clear Lake High School Brass Quintet
       William H. Meadows: That hymn, by Haydn, was performed by 
     the brass quintet from Clear Lake High School, directed by 
     Mike Larson. Their participation is quite appropriate, since 
     Gaylord Nelson, whom we honor today, played trumpet in the 
     Clear Lake High School band. To hear him tell it, he did not 
     play it very well. (Laughter.) Later in life, Gaylord learned 
     that he was on the enemies list of the Nixon White House, but 
     was puzzled about what he could have done to become a Nixon 
     enemy. ``Maybe he heard me play the trumpet in the Clear Lake 
     band,'' Gaylord said. (Laughter).
       Good afternoon, I'm Bill Meadows, I'm president of The 
     Wilderness Society and today I have the honor to pay tribute 
     to my friend and colleague, Gaylord Nelson, and introduce 
     others who knew and loved him well. We are here to testify to 
     the incredible mark he left on all of our worlds. Joining us 
     today in celebrating Gaylord's life, of course, are Carrie 
     Lee Nelson and the Nelson family; Governor and Mrs. Doyle; 
     Senator Kohl; Senator Feingold; Senator Bayh; Senator 
     Bingaman; Senator Biden; Senator Abourezk; Representative 
     Obey; Representative Petri; Representative Baldwin; 
     Representative Kind; Representative Moore; Representative 
     Kastenmeier; Representative Baldus; Vice President Mondale; 
     former Governors Lucey, Schreiber, Earl, McCallum, and Mrs. 
     Reynolds; Lieutenant Governor Lawton; Attorney General 
     Lautenschlager; Treasurer Voight; Superintendent Burmaster; 
     members of the Wisconsin Legislature; members of the 
     Wisconsin Supreme Court; and citizens of Clear Lake, 
     Wisconsin.
       The story about the Clear Lake band is typical Gaylord. 
     Gaylord--the Governor, the United States Senator, the founder 
     of Earth day--was an irrepressible raconteur. But of the many 
     accolades he received in his lifetime, I think this man, the 
     father of the modern environmental movement, would want to be 
     remembered first for being a good husband and father to the 
     family he cherished. I'd like to take a moment to recognize 
     Carrie Lee, Gaylord's beloved wife of 57 years, whose 
     unwavering support meant so much to him, not the least of 
     which was that he always had a good audience. And his three 
     children, Tia, Happy, Jeff, and their spouses, and his 
     grandchildren. (Applause.)
       Gaylord joined The Wilderness Society family 25 years ago, 
     serving as our counselor and special convener of after-hours, 
     post-board meeting poker games.
       For the last nine years, I have had the pleasure of working 
     a few doors down from his office. However, my relationship 
     with Gaylord began in 1970, when Earth Day motivated me to 
     get involved in environmental issues. One thing led to 
     another and the rest, as they say, is history. I now have the 
     privilege of working every day to protect America's 
     extraordinary wilderness, using the Wilderness Act of 1964, 
     just one of the many remarkable laws Gaylord Nelson co-
     sponsored during his tenure in the Senate.
       Recently, Congress saw fit to pay respect to Gaylord with a 
     wilderness area named in his honor, a place that he always 
     felt was part of his very blood and bones. This beautiful 
     State of Wisconsin, the Gaylord A. Nelson Apostle Islands 
     Lakeshore Wilderness, will forever protect the wild lands and 
     wild creatures that inhabit more than 33,000 acres on Lake 
     Superior. There may not have been any greater tribute we, or 
     anyone, can pay to this man than preserving a piece of the 
     planet he loved so dearly.
       I would like to close by reading some of Gaylord's own 
     words, which eloquently express who he was. His message on 
     Earth Day 2000 encapsulated his views as a new century began: 
     ``The wealth of our Nation is in its air, water, soil, 
     forest, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, 
     wildlife habitat, and biodiversity. Take this resource base 
     away and all that's left is a wasteland. The economy is a 
     wholly owned subsidiary of the environment. That's where all 
     the economic activity and all the jobs come from. We are 
     pursuing a self-destructive course of fueling our economies 
     by drawing down our natural capitol, by degrading and 
     depleting our resource base and counting it on the income 
     side of the ledger. This obviously is not a sustainable 
     situation for the long term. Forging and maintaining a 
     sustainable society is a challenge for this and all 
     generations to come.''
       ``We need a generation imbued--(applause)--we need a 
     generation imbued with an environmental ethic,'' Nelson said 
     repeatedly over the years, ``an environmental ethic which 
     causes society to always ask the question: `If we intrude on 
     this work of nature, what will the consequences be?' Such an 
     ethic would recognize the bonds that unite the species man 
     with the natural systems of the planet and would affirm 
     human's stewardship role on the planet.''
       This message and goal has not changed in a half century 
     since Aldo Leopold wrote, in A Sand County Almanac, of the 
     need for what he called a land ethic. Leopold wrote: ``A land 
     ethic, then, reflects the existence of an ecological 
     conscience and this in turn reflects a conviction of 
     individual responsibility for the health of the land. The 
     land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of 
     the land community to a plain member and citizen of it.'' 
     That, in a few sentences, was what the environmental movement 
     was all about. Nelson's environ-
     mentalism was a direct descendant of Leopold's conservation.
       Gaylord Nelson's friendship transcends political parties. 
     One of the remarkable things about Gaylord was his ability to 
     disagree with people on issues without being disagreeable. 
     One of the best examples is his friendship with Melvin Laird. 
     They met as state senators in 1948. Laird was the Republican 
     floor leader and Nelson, the Democratic leader. They would 
     fiercely debate the issues all day long on the floor of the 
     Senate, but once the Senate would adjourn, they too would 
     adjourn for drinks and socializing at the Park Hotel. As 
     often as not, Laird would end up later at the Nelsons' home 
     for dinner and spend the evening with Gaylord and Carrie Lee. 
     That friendship survived some trying times, as Melvin Laird 
     went on to the House of Representatives; Gaylord, to the 
     governorship and then to the U.S. Senate. It survived Laird's 
     days as Nixon's Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War, 
     when Nelson was one of the outspoken opponents of the war.
       Secretary Laird is unable to be here to participate today 
     because of health problems, so representing him is 
     Congressman Thomas Petri, a Republican who began his career 
     in the Wisconsin State Senate and who was elected to the 
     House of Representatives in a special election in 1979. While 
     a State Senator, Tom Petri ran against Gaylord Nelson as the 
     Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in 1974. Gaylord had 
     praise for his opponent, calling Tom Petri an able, honest, 
     talented, fair-minded, perceptive man of commitment and 
     dedication. He added with a laugh, ``How often do you find 
     two people like that in the same election?'' (Laughter, 
     applause). Congressman Petri. (Applause.)
       U.S. Representative Thomas Petri: Because his doctor 
     advised him not to travel, Mel Laird asked me to pass on a 
     few words about his great and good friend, former Wisconsin 
     State Senate colleague and colleague in Washington and in 
     Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson. They served together in the 
     Republican State Senate where Laird was the Republican 
     leader. Of course he was Congressman and also served as our 
     Nation's Secretary of Defense. I am quite honored to say a 
     few words for Mr. Laird, but actually when I was first asked 
     to speak here it occurred to me that perhaps I was invited 
     because I played a vital role in Senator Nelson's last 
     successful political campaign. (Laughter.) I was the one who 
     lost. (Laughter.)
       Well, be that as it may, Gaylord was a Democrat and Mel 
     Laird, a Republican. But as has been pointed out, that 
     difference did not prevent them from becoming great and good 
     friends. From the late 1940s, in Wisconsin, where they were 
     both members of the Piscatorial and Inside Straight Society, 
     a bipartisan group that fished together, tell stories to each 
     other, lie about each other, and play gin rummy. And Nelson's 
     wife, Carrie Lee, understood both Gaylord and Mel and put up 
     with their many discussions far into the night in both 
     Madison and out in Washington. Carrie Lee once told Mel that 
     she had to throw Mel out of the Nelson apartment more often 
     than any other person. (Laughter.)
       When Mel was the majority leader in the State Senate in 
     1948, Gaylord led the tiny Democratic delegation that at that 
     time had just five members, of the 33. That was less than the 
     one-third Gaylord needed to force a record vote on 
     legislation. Mel says that he always made sure that enough 
     Republicans would vote ``Aye'' in order to let Gaylord force 
     a roll call vote. He said that Gaylord was always very 
     grateful, choosing to ignore the fact that Mel allowed the 
     votes in order to show that Gaylord could only muster five 
     measly votes for his legislation. (Laughter.)
       Years later, when Mel was Secretary of Defense and Gaylord 
     was a U.S. Senator, Mel took his pals to the Army Navy Club 
     for a few adult beverages. Soon enough, they were arguing 
     about the emergency hotline between Washington and Moscow. 
     Secretary of Defense Laird said that it was located at the 
     Pentagon and Senator Nelson said that our end of the hotline 
     was at the White House. The two made a bet on it and the 
     Senator said to the Defense Secretary, ``Well, let's go down 
     to the Pentagon and you can show it to me if it's really 
     there.'' The two arrived at the Pentagon's command center, 
     where Mel introduced Gaylord to the officer on duty, who was 
     shocked to see the Defense Secretary and a U.S. Senator waltz 
     in during the wee hours of the morning. Mel had the officer 
     run a communications test to demonstrate that the line with 
     Moscow was functioning and Mel won the bet. Now that little 
     anecdote has already made it into the papers, but Mel wanted 
     me to pass on one additional detail. The two buddies had been 
     enjoying them so much that when they were dropped back off at 
     the Army Navy Club, Gaylord couldn't remember where his car 
     was and in fact didn't find it for three days. (Laughter.)

[[Page 16369]]

       Now here's a story that was passed on to me by, I think, 
     the late Jimmy Wimmer, who worked for Nelson when he was 
     Governor. We all know about Gaylord's concerns about the 
     environment and his early warnings about our involvement in 
     Vietnam. But also Gaylord was, like Jimmy, a great 
     anglophile. On one occasion, Gaylord was sitting next to a 
     member of the House of Lords at dinner and the British 
     gentleman kept referring to Gaylord as Senator Nelson. 
     Finally, Senator Nelson leaned over and said, ``Oh no, please 
     call me Gaylord.'' Then the fellow said, ``Very well, 
     Gaylord.'' And after a pause, Nelson said, ``And what may I 
     call you?'' Well, the British man looked at him and said, 
     ``Well, Gaylord, you may call me `my lord.''' (Laughter).
       Well, different people have different styles but I 
     particularly like Gaylord's style. He was, perhaps, the most 
     liked person in the U.S. Senate while he was there and the 
     most liked on both sides of the political aisle. Senator 
     Eagleton says that Senator Nelson never said anything bad 
     about anybody. He was never down in the dumps, he was never a 
     naysayer, he was never cross.
       Now Mel Laird asked me to emphasize this: in the political 
     arena, Mel and Gaylord would fight hammer and tongs. But at 
     the end of the day, they could share a beverage and carry on 
     a spirited, friendly conversation. Gaylord helped promote 
     civility between Democrats and Republicans. The parties could 
     have great disagreements, but he helped to maintain 
     friendship and ultimately common purpose, which potentially 
     included everybody. Over the years that I've been in 
     Washington, the Congress has grown increasingly polarized 
     with each party seeking any advantage. Gaylord Nelson would 
     have had none of that. He called on us all to be better than 
     that, to treat everyone with friendship and with respect. As 
     Mel Laird says, and I concur, we could all use a lot more of 
     Gaylord's civility in politics these days. (Applause.)
       William H. Meadows: When I looked around early I did not 
     see former Governor Thompson and I want recognize him now and 
     thank him for being with us this afternoon. Congressman David 
     Obey has been a Nelson family friend for more than 40 years. 
     He began his political career in the State Assembly, winning 
     a seat in 1962--the same year that Gaylord was elected to the 
     U.S. Senate. It was David Obey who was with Gaylord in Wausau 
     in the summer of 1964, when Gaylord first spoke out about the 
     Vietnam War and warned that escalating a ground war there 
     would be a tragic mistake. David Obey was elected to the 
     House of Representatives in 1969 in a special election to 
     replace Mel Laird when Laird became Secretary of Defense. As 
     we environmentalists like to say, everything is connected. He 
     has been chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and 
     is currently the ranking Democratic member of that committee. 
     Congressman Obey. (Applause.)
       U.S. Rep. David Obey: Thank you, thank you, thank you. 
     There's an old maxim about political funerals and memorial 
     services. The biggest one I ever saw was for Phil Burton, a 
     controversial congressman from California. Had a huge crowd. 
     And when it was over, Phil's brother John observed to the 
     press that the reason the crowd was so large was because half 
     of the crowd came to bid Phil goodbye and the other half came 
     to make sure that he was leaving. (Laughter.) This day is 
     very different. What a great life we are celebrating here 
     today. When Gaylord left the Senate, Carrie Lee said the 
     State of Wisconsin got 30 good years out of Gaylord. Well, 
     all of us got 89 good years out of Gaylord and Gaylord got 89 
     good years out of life.
       There is (applause), there is no doubt that Gaylord will be 
     remembered through the years for his leadership on the 
     environment. If he had never served a day in the United 
     States Senate, he would still have been remembered as one of 
     Wisconsin's great leaders because of the pioneering Outdoor 
     Recreation Act that he passed as Governor. And what he 
     accomplished in that field in the Senate is truly remarkable. 
     I will not repeat it to you, you know the litany, you know 
     what the accomplishments are.
       What is also amazing about Gaylord is that he led in so 
     many other areas: auto and tire safety, drug safety and 
     pricing, manpower training, the Older Americans Act, legal 
     services for the poor. People will not remember this--Howard 
     Temin would, if he were still at the University of 
     Wisconsin--but on cancer research, Gaylord stood as one man 
     against the entire United States Senate to prevent the cancer 
     institute from being politicized and being directly linked to 
     the White House. He lost the initial vote, he was the only 
     vote in the Senate cast against that legislation. But by the 
     time it was over, he had turned the entire U.S. Senate around 
     and he saved the organizational integrity of the National 
     Institutes of Health.
       On civil rights (applause), on civil rights, in 1963 after 
     the bombing of the 16th Street Church in Birmingham, my 
     friend Joe Wilson and Ed Harris wrote an article for The 
     Progressive magazine entitled ``Hucksters of Hate'' about the 
     role of J.B. Stoner and the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux 
     Klan. Joe said afterwards that for months he carried a .38 
     Smith & Wesson on his hip, fearing that the Klan would come 
     after him. He said he felt a little less lonely, a little 
     less frightened after Gaylord put the story in the 
     Congressional Record to show that someone was watching.
       And he stood, as has been mentioned, as one of three 
     against the first increased appropriations for Vietnam. I do 
     remember in 1965 going to Channel 7 in Wausau.
       Gaylord gave an interview on Vietnam and halfway through 
     the interviewer stopped the camera and he said, ``Senator, 
     I'm sorry, you just misspoke. You said that we have 500,000 
     troops in Vietnam.'' Gaylord said, ``That's right, we will.'' 
     And the announcer said, ``Well, okay, it's your funeral,'' 
     and he resumed the interview. And when we walked out of that 
     station, Gaylord turned to me and he said, ``You know, I may 
     have beaten myself tonight.'' But he said, ``that's what I 
     really believe will happen.'' If the country and if LBJ had 
     listened to Gaylord, there would be one less war memorial to 
     visit on the Mall in Washington, D.C. And 50,000 (applause) 
     Americans, and 50,000 Americans would not have died.
       There were two things about Gaylord that were especially 
     special. First, in almost everything he did, the causes he 
     fought for were fundamental, he did not trivialize his life, 
     and he changed the way people thought. In short, he was 
     precisely the kind of person that politics is all too short 
     of these days. On his signature issue, the environment 
     (applause) on his signature issue, the environment, Gaylord 
     took Aldo Leopold's conservation ethic and made people 
     understand that it was not just about birds, and fish, and 
     wildlife, and natural beauty. He drove home the point that 
     the most fundamental bond between us as biological creatures 
     on this planet is through the common air that we breath, the 
     water we drink, the land we walk, and that the most basic 
     test of our respect for one another, for those who have gone 
     before, and for those who will come after, is the way we meet 
     our stewardship responsibilities to the ecosystem that 
     sustains us all.
       The second thing about Gaylord, that was so special, is the 
     way he played the game. Someone said last week that Gaylord 
     had no enemies. That is not true. He had one. His name was 
     Richard Nixon. And during Watergate, as has been referred to 
     already, we learned that Nixon had made a list of enemies he 
     wanted to do in. And that Gaylord was on the list along with 
     Bill Proxmire and Bob Kastenmeier. What we loved about 
     Gaylord is that we could never have imagined Gaylord 
     compiling an enemies list of his own.
       Gaylord was my dear friend, my mentor, and my political 
     hero.
       Wisconsin has experienced two progressive revolutions in 
     the twentieth century. The first was led by Bob La Follette 
     at the turn of the last century and the second after the 
     collapse of the progressive party in 1946, was led by a host 
     of young reformers who remain the Democratic Party. People 
     like Elliot Walstead, Jim Doyle, Tom Fairchild, Frank 
     Nikolay, Horace Wilkie, Carl Thompson, John Reynolds, Henry 
     Royce, Bob Kastenmeier, Pat Lucey, Bill Proxmire, and Gaylord 
     Nelson, and so many others. And Gaylord's election as 
     Governor in 1958 was the culmination of that second 
     progressive revival. And the La Follette tradition ran 
     straight through him to the next generation of people who saw 
     Gaylord as an example. People like me, Tom Loftus, Tony Earl, 
     Tammy Baldwin, Russ Feingold, Herb Kohl, and so many others.
       I would never have been elected to Congress without his 
     help. He sent Louie Hanson into my district, took one look at 
     amateur city, and decided Louie had better stay for a while. 
     (Laughter, applause.) We know how Gaylord loved to campaign. 
     He came into my district seven weekends in a row; I would not 
     have won without it. The causes he fought for and the way he 
     fought for them made me and all of us gathered here today 
     proud to be in his country or in his company.
       Now we all have our favorite stories about Gaylord. Mine 
     are those that he told about Clear Lake and Polk County, 
     trying to loosen up his audiences. Harvey Dueholm, was a 
     State Representative. He grew up with Gaylord. He had great 
     courage and earthy wit. He had a face like a basset hound on 
     a bad day. (Laughter.) Harvey told the stories about the 
     mischief that Gaylord got into as a child. And he told a 
     congressional committee once, ``We all knew Gaylord would 
     grow up to be in an institution, we just didn't know it'd be 
     the United States Senate.'' (Laughter.)
       My favorite story is one that occurred in this building. 
     Gaylord was governor, the Republicans controlled the 
     legislature. They wanted to solve the deficit by raising the 
     sales tax, Democrats wanted the income tax to be increased. 
     So Gaylord compromised and had a little bit of both, went 
     into the Democratic caucus to explain and when he was done, 
     Bill Lorge, from St. Croix County, Dueholm's roommate, stood 
     up and said, ``Gaylord, I love you like a brother. But when I 
     go over to the Belmont Hotel tonight, and I take my clothes 
     off, and I put my pajamas on, and I climb into my bed, and 
     put my head on that pillow, and I put my false teeth in that 
     glass of salt water, my conscience won't let me vote for a 
     sales tax. Well, Harvey Dueholm stood up and said, ``Mr. 
     Chairman, I have a suggestion for the gentleman.

[[Page 16370]]

     The next time they go over to the Belmont Hotel, you take 
     your clothes off, you put your pajamas on, you climb into 
     bed, you put the head on that pillow, leave your false teeth 
     in your head, put that conscience in that glass of salt 
     water. Everybody'd be better off. (Laughter, applause.)
       Gaylord was the funniest stump speaker I ever heard, but 
     one night I saw him bested. Adlai Stevenson came to Madison 
     to speak to the Civil War Roundtable and he was about an hour 
     late afterwards, coming over to the old Park Hotel to talk to 
     the party faithful. Finally Gaylord dragged Governor 
     Stevenson and he went up to the mike, he said, ``I'm sorry 
     we're so late, so I'll give one of my typically short 
     speeches.'' Stevenson interrupted and said, ``I'll give one 
     of my typically long ones.'' (Laughter.) Gaylord said, ``You 
     do and I'll leave without you.'' Stevenson said, ``Go ahead, 
     see who the crowd follows.'' It's the only time I saw Gaylord 
     one-upped, except by Carrie Lee. (Laughter.)
       Gaylord was incredibly fortunate in his choice of a life's 
     mate. She was strong, and dedicated, and devoted to him, and 
     gave him strength. And the care that she gave him in the last 
     months of his life was truly wonderful. Gaylord was fiercely 
     proud of her. He said she could smell a phony, even from 
     upwind, faster than anybody he ever knew. (Laughter.) 
     Gaylord's friend, Scotty Reston, from the New York Times, 
     said once, or he wrote once, ``if not deflated once a week by 
     a loving wife, members of Congress come to believe that they 
     are what they merely represent.'' Gaylord never had to worry 
     about getting a big head as long as Carrie Lee was around. 
     When she was asked by the press what was the secret of her 
     long marriage, she said, ``It's very simple, we were both in 
     love with the same man. (Laughter, applause.)
       But Gaylord's favorite story about Carrie Lee occurred when 
     Gaylord worked in this building in the State Senate. He was 
     leaving one night and as he was walking out of the Capitol he 
     ran into Governor Rennebohm, who was a fairly starchy fellow. 
     And the Governor said, ``Gaylord, would you mind coming over 
     with me to the Madison Club? There are a few things I'd like 
     to talk to you about.'' And Gaylord said, ``Oh Governor, I'd 
     love to but I haven't been home a single night this week. My 
     wife will kill me if I don't get home.'' And he said, ``let 
     me take''--the Governor said, ``let me take care of that. You 
     just dial home.'' So Gaylord dialed home, gave the receiver 
     to the Governor. When Carrie Lee picked up the phone, 
     Rennebohm said, ``Mrs. Nelson, this is Governor Rennebohm. I 
     wonder if you'd mind if Gaylord stayed downtown for an hour 
     or so to talk over some business with me.'' Carrie Lee 
     responded, ``Governor Rennebohm, my . . . (laughter) 
     patootie.'' (Laughter.) Only she didn't say ``patootie.'' 
     (Laughter.) Then, she says, ``Whoever this is, you tell that 
     hot shot to get his tail home now.'' (Laughter, applause.) 
     The Governor handed the phone to Gaylord and said, ``My, you 
     have an interesting wife.'' (Laughter.) He did, he did, and 
     he had an interesting life.
       So Carrie Lee, Happy, Jeff, and Tia, we all thank you for 
     giving up so much so that you could share him with us. Your 
     sacrifice helped make Gaylord the greatest postwar leader in 
     Wisconsin history and next to Bob La Follette himself, the 
     greatest political leader Wisconsin has ever produced. 
     Gaylord Nelson was the best and the sweetest man in politics 
     that I've ever known. God knows I loved him, we all did. 
     That's why we're here, that's why we will miss him so much. 
     If he could say one thing to all of us today, I think it 
     would simply be: carry on, don't ever give up the fight. 
     (Applause.)
       William H. Meadows: Walter F. Mondale's friendship with 
     Gaylord Nelson dates to the early 1960s when Mr. Mondale was 
     Minnesota's Attorney General and Gaylord Nelson was governor 
     and a candidate for the Senate. In 1964, he joined Gaylord in 
     the Senate and they served together until 1976 when he was 
     elected Vice President of the United States on the ticket 
     with President Carter. In 1984, Walter Mondale was the 
     Democratic candidate for president and from 1993-1997, served 
     under President Clinton as U.S. Ambassador to Japan. He has 
     promised at least one Norwegian joke today. (Laughter.) Vice 
     President Mondale. (Applause.)
       Vice President Walter Mondale: Thank you, Carrie Lee, Tia, 
     Happy, Jeff, and all of the Nelsons. In all of my life, I 
     never had a better friend than Gaylord Nelson. But that's the 
     way he was. He made friends everywhere. He was the best-liked 
     member of the U.S. Senate, on both sides of the aisle. The 
     other day, Tommy Hinme wrote, he said, ``I have thought and 
     thought. No single person has brought greater joy to my life 
     than Gaylord.'' He had the best staff on the Hill, everybody 
     wanted to work for him. And over his career, Gaylord inspired 
     generations of public and environmental leaders, like Dave 
     Obey, many of whom make up this wonderful crowd here this 
     afternoon. I knew Gaylord well, he had guts, he was real, he 
     was what you saw.
       In the Senate, Gaylord and I often talked as the Vietnam 
     War was gathering. He opposed it from the start and he did so 
     long before it was politically safe to do so. He famously 
     voted against the war with only two other colleagues in the 
     Senate, saying that he needed his conscience more than Lyndon 
     needed his vote. Despite heavy pressure and bad polls, I 
     never saw him flinch once. He put his career on the line.
       When you've been in public life as long as some of us, you 
     begin to judge public leaders more skeptically. You've seen 
     the posers, the pious, the trimmers, the vain, but at the 
     same time you can begin to recognize the few who run their 
     course with such courage and honesty and decency that you are 
     doubly inspired by their example of what is possible. And 
     that was Gaylord Nelson. He had the vision. He believed in 
     education, he had been given his chance, now others should 
     have theirs. He believed in justice and civil rights and 
     fought for all the civil rights acts. He believed in 
     opportunity and chaired the committee that originated Head 
     Start, Legal Services, and the Child and Family Services Act.
       And of course we can't talk about Gaylord without Carrie 
     Lee. They pulled it off together. In a marriage even 
     celebrated in Brokaw's book The Greatest Generation, Carrie 
     Lee was a great hostess, she was a great cook, she was a 
     friend to everybody, and for as long as I can remember they 
     would gather their friends together to have a good time and 
     strengthen the bonds between us. Joan and I attended several 
     of those events, including the famous 50th wedding 
     anniversary where Carrie Lee pointed out that they loved the 
     same man. It was that same night, and here's the Norwegian 
     joke, (laughter), that Gaylord stood up and told the freshest 
     of Norwegian jokes and that is that he loved Carrie Lee for 
     so long that he had almost told her. (Laughter, applause.) Of 
     course, the rest is history.
       Gaylord did more to protect America's natural beauty and 
     wildlife, to halt the corruption of our air and our water and 
     the earth than any one single person in American history. 
     Beginning in Wisconsin, in the Congress, and later in The 
     Wilderness Society until his last breath. So his most 
     priceless legacy is to be found in the protected national 
     beauty saved for future Americans.
       When Carrie Lee called Joan and me, telling us that Gaylord 
     was gone, we were at our place out near Scandia, overlooking 
     the St. Croix River just south of Osceola. And as we heard 
     this message about our dearest friend, we were looking at 
     this wonderful river and this wonderful valley that is 
     protected forever because of him. All over the country, that 
     is true of Gaylord, of his vision, and what he left for all 
     of us. So Gaylord's place in our hearts and our nation's 
     history is now assured, you can feel it here today.
       But what he found so disturbing and what he talked so much 
     about in later years, is that so much of what he accomplished 
     is now under scandalous attack today. So if he were here 
     today, I think he would want us to honor him most by renewing 
     his great fight to preserve our nation's majesty and beauty. 
     (Applause.)
       Shakespeare once wrote that a good heart is the sun and the 
     moon, or rather the sun, and not the moon, for it shines 
     bright, never changes, but keeps it course truly. That's 
     Gaylord. Over his long and wonderful life, he did shine 
     bright and he surely kept his course truly. Gaylord, we will 
     always remember you and we love you. (Applause.)
       William H. Meadows: Governor Jim Doyle is someone who has 
     known Gaylord Nelson his entire life. His parents, James and 
     Ruth Doyle were contemporaries of Gaylord and were among 
     those who worked with him to organize the modern Democratic 
     Party of Wisconsin. Jim Doyle is a former Dane County 
     District Attorney who was elected Attorney General in 1990 
     and served three terms. He was elected governor of Wisconsin 
     in 2002. Governor Doyle. (Applause.)
       Gov. Jim Doyle: Well to Carrie Lee, Happy, Tia, Jeff, to 
     all of the members of the Nelson family, to the governors of 
     the State of Wisconsin who have assembled here, to our 
     current United States Senators, many from other states who 
     have traveled to Wisconsin for this occasion, certainly 
     Senators Kohl and Feingold, of course to Vice President 
     Mondale--I remember the great rally we had a few years ago 
     just outside the Capitol here with the Vice President--to all 
     the members of Congress, and to all the citizens of 
     Wisconsin.
       We are here to celebrate the life of Wisconsin's favorite 
     son. And at the same time, like many of you, not only is this 
     a great public person but we are also here to acknowledge, to 
     my family, the loss of a dear and treasured friend. There was 
     never a time in my life that I didn't know Gaylord Nelson. I 
     grew up in a home in which he and Carrie Lee and the whole 
     other rest of the gang were often present with their 
     highballs, as they called them in those days. But I also grew 
     up in a home in which Gaylord and Carrie Lee were deeply 
     revered. He is one of my parents' closest friends. Gaylord 
     Nelson was elected to the Wisconsin Legislature in 1948, the 
     same time my mother was elected to the Legislature and in 
     that same year, a young representative from Prairie du Chien, 
     Pat Lucey, was elected to the Wisconsin Legislature. Gaylord 
     and Carrie Lee are the greatest of the greatest generation. 
     They fought to preserve the world's freedom in World War II 
     and then, together with a group of committed people, they 
     returned to Wisconsin, intent on making this state, this 
     nation, and this world a better place. They organized and 
     built the Democratic party.

[[Page 16371]]

       And with Gaylord and Carrie Lee's wisdom, energy, humor at 
     the center, these people were not only close political 
     allies, they were the closest of friends, almost family. And 
     to my great benefit, Gaylord and Carrie Lee reached out to 
     bring the next generation into that circle of warmth and 
     friendship. Gaylord Nelson was sworn in as governor of the 
     State of Wisconsin in this very spot 46 years ago. His public 
     career as a legislator, governor, and United States senator 
     has been an inspiration to so many who've come after.
       Gaylord Nelson didn't enter politics for notoriety, he 
     entered politics to make a difference. Early in his career, 
     he was concerned that Bob La Follette would have solved all 
     of the problems of the state and the country by the time he 
     came along. But he found, when elected governor, that there 
     were still a few more problems to work on. He was a tough, 
     effective, and practical politician. He knew when to 
     compromise and he knew when to stand on principle. He fought 
     over some issues that, with the passage of years, when you 
     look back, may seem somewhat small and trivial. But truly, as 
     Dave Obey noted, Gaylord's genius was that he was able to 
     identify the enduring values and to focus on the issues that 
     were most fundamental to this state, nation, and world. He 
     brought basic Clear Lake, Wisconsin values to the positions 
     he held. In World War II, he was one of four white officers 
     in charge of an all black company. He was outraged that these 
     men were risking their lives for a country in which they 
     couldn't share a meal with him in public. So when he became 
     state senator, one of the first pieces of legislation he 
     introduced was to integrate the Wisconsin National Guard. 
     (Applause.) And later, when President Kennedy sent Congress 
     the most comprehensive, far-reaching civil rights bill ever 
     proposed, Gaylord Nelson was first to sign on as a co-
     sponsor. (Applause.)
       He made deep friendships across political aisles. I was so 
     deeply honored when I was sworn in as governor at this place 
     that Gaylord Nelson and Melvin Laird came together to my 
     inauguration. And Melvin Laird, whose great words we heard 
     recently--just a few moments ago--who happens to be the uncle 
     of the First Lady of Wisconsin, to show you that all things 
     do come around in a full circle, (laughter), called us 
     immediately upon hearing of Gaylord's passing to express his, 
     great sorrow and his great desire to be here today.
       Gaylord Nelson understood that principle was more important 
     than partisanship and he always put the public good ahead of 
     personal political gain. Perhaps that's why he was one of 
     just three senators, as we've heard, to vote against the 
     Vietnam War. He came under enormous pressure to vote yes for 
     the sake of solidarity with his president and his party, but 
     in the end Gaylord Nelson wouldn't budge. He said that the 
     Senate needed his vote far less than he needed his own 
     conscience. I remember deeply the advice he gave me when I 
     became governor. He said--and this is a difficult thing to 
     do, and I think the other governors here will acknowledge--he 
     said, ``Don't dwell on the day-to-day fights in the Capitol; 
     focus on what will really matter to people years and years 
     down the road.''
       He ultimately once said that the ultimate test of man's 
     conscience is his willingness to sacrifice something today 
     for generations tomorrow, whose words of thanks will not be 
     heard. Of course it was this ethic that led him to become the 
     father of the modern environmental movement, to Earth Day, to 
     landmark legislation like the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, 
     and to The Wilderness Society. In this building today, we are 
     fighting to preserve the Stewardship Fund, the result of his 
     vision 40 years ago. And every time we pour a glass of water, 
     breathe the air in our cities, swim in our lakes, enjoy the 
     beauty of Wisconsin's natural heritage, we ought to pause and 
     say thank you to Gaylord Nelson for all that he has given 
     each of us. (Applause.)
       Perhaps the greatest measure of a person is not how he or 
     she handles success, but disappointment. In 1980, when he 
     lost his United States Senate seat, our family, like I 
     suspect most everyone else here who was around in those days, 
     was crushed. But Gaylord didn't seek anyone's sympathy and 
     believe me, if he had tried to, Carrie Lee wouldn't let it 
     happen. Instead he consoled those around him. He worried 
     about his staff finding jobs, he wanted to keep contributing, 
     and when he became chairman of The Wilderness Society, he 
     said that, if he had known that job was available, he just 
     might not have run for reelection in the first place. 
     (Laughter.)
       And perhaps the most telling thing is this: Gaylord Nelson 
     lived nearly three-quarters of his life in the public eye in 
     a time of ever-increasing media skepticism, in a time of 
     distrust of government. Yet of all the Gaylord stories that 
     have been told and written, none of them, none of them are 
     negative. Of all the Gaylord Nelson stories, not one has ever 
     questioned his actions, his motivation, or his integrity. And 
     now Gaylord Nelson returns home to Clear Lake, Wisconsin for 
     the very last time. And a great American story will have come 
     full circle. The fourth child, born to Anton and Mary Nelson 
     rose to political stardom, called some of the most powerful 
     political leaders in Washington his friends, and launched a 
     lasting environmental movement. But, as some have said, 
     through it all he was just a boy from Clear Lake out on a 
     great adventure.
       We loved Gaylord Nelson as a leader, a statesman, and a 
     friend. We loved him as a brother, a father, and a son. Love 
     is not an easy thing to put into words, neither is vision, 
     intelligence, courage, honesty, humor, and compassion. But he 
     was all of these. He was the most plainly decent man anyone 
     could ever hope to meet. And we are not so much proud that he 
     was one of us, but we are proud that we were one of his.
       Robert Frost reminded us that in nature, nothing gold can 
     stay. Nevertheless, I know I speak for many of you when I 
     say: I wish I could see my friend just one more time.
       And yet, in the vast acres of land now protected throughout 
     our state, Gaylord Nelson lives on. In the yearly 
     celebrations of Earth Day, joined by millions around the 
     world, Gaylord Nelson lives on. And in the breathtaking 
     beauty of the Apostle Islands, a symphony of nature, Gaylord 
     Nelson lives on. So today, let us pledge to ourselves, and to 
     each other, to keep his spirit alive not only in our hearts 
     but in our deeds. And so, as one of Governor Nelson's 
     successors as governor of this great state and on behalf of a 
     grateful state, we wish Governor, Senator Gaylord Nelson 
     farewell. (Applause.)
       Thank you. Gaylord Nelson lives on in many other ways, but 
     certainly in his children: Happy, Tia, Jeff, and his 
     grandchildren. And with Tia, there has been a proud successor 
     to the Nelson environmental legacy. In her work at Nature 
     Conservancy, and now here in the State of Wisconsin with the 
     Board of Public Lands, Tia Nelson has been truly her father's 
     daughter. We are so pleased to welcome here today Tia Nelson. 
     (Applause.)
       Tia Nelson: Good afternoon everyone, thank you so much. On 
     behalf of our entire family, my mother, my brothers Jeff and 
     Happy, our thanks to Governor Doyle and his staff for all 
     their kindness and compassion and hard work. They've done 
     such a beautiful job in bringing this together, we are so 
     very grateful. Thanks to Dave Obey, Fritz Mondale, and Bill 
     Meadows, all dear, dear friends of long standing. While we 
     regret that Mel Laird couldn't be here in person, we are 
     grateful that Tom Petri was willing to take time away from 
     his business in Washington to read Mel's remarks for him. 
     Tom, you're a class act, too.
       Anyone who knows my father also knows that if he were here 
     now, you would be laughing within a few minutes. He was such 
     a raconteur. Now if Bill Meadows and I had exchanged notes 
     before this, I would have told him that he couldn't use that 
     word, but Papa liked it, as he loved the language. He was an 
     extraordinary speaker and he often was speaking off the cuff, 
     off the envelope sometimes, off a napkin he would scribble 
     notes on, and he always left you laughing. He once said a 
     good speech was one that includes an interesting subject, is 
     not too long, and has a good laugh two or three times. Well, 
     if that's the standard, Papa far surpassed it. He didn't 
     always even need an interesting subject, but he always gave 
     you a few good laughs.
       When I visited him in March, he had begun to decline 
     quickly and he had, at 88 years of age, finally stopped going 
     to work at The Wilderness Society. If you knew him, you knew 
     that was a bad sign. I left D.C. that day without knowing 
     whether I would see him again. I wrote in my journal that 
     evening, flying home to Madison, I knew only the first words, 
     the same first words my brothers were thinking: I am the 
     luckiest child in the world. From my mother and my father, we 
     have received so many gifts: humor; kindness; the beauty of 
     their enduring, unconditional love; a commitment to making a 
     difference, however big or small; and so much more. While 
     Papa was so many people's hero, he was also a superhuman 
     figure to some and he was my brothers' and my hero too. And 
     for this we count our blessings. It's an unearned gift, you 
     know, kind of like winning the lottery with a multi-year 
     payout: you did nothing to deserve it and it pays you all 
     your life. In my case I didn't even have to buy the ticket. 
     (Laughter.)
       I remember struggling in school, then I'm diagnosed with 
     dyslexia. Papa managed to coax me, bribe me really, to learn 
     to love the language the way he did, a nickel for every word 
     my brothers and I could learn and use in a sentence. 
     ``Proclivity,'' ``propensity,'' ``penchant'' were my 
     favorite--what fun we had coaxing the subtle differences from 
     each. My father said to me over and over again, ``Never be 
     afraid to say, `I don't know.''' Once, while in college, he 
     sent me a clipping, a series of photos of Albert Einstein. 
     There was a caption under each photo. One said, ``Einstein 
     never hesitated to say `I don't know.''' Papa circled those 
     words and he drew an arrow off into the corner: ``See, even 
     Albert Einstein and Gaylord Nelson say it.'' (Laughter.) Not 
     knowing the answer was okay to him, but not asking the 
     question was unacceptable. His lessons were so very many and 
     so very rich and it didn't seem that he was really working at 
     it all that hard. Those lessons came naturally, almost by 
     osmosis.
       The demands of public life meant he wasn't around much to 
     help my mother but I didn't really notice that until later in 
     life. I just

[[Page 16372]]

     reveled in their love and their humor and their intelligent 
     debate. When I last visited, he asked me about my work, my 
     new job at the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. I told 
     him about our plans to consolidate our land holdings and 
     improve our management efficiency and so on. He asked me if I 
     had any Republican support. I told him I did. Which was true 
     at the time. (Laughter, applause.) You know, he'd never miss 
     an occasion to give you a message, never. To honor him, I 
     must do the same. Certainly, neither he nor his successor as 
     governor, Republican Warren Knowles, ever thought the 
     stewardship of Wisconsin's extraordinary resources was a 
     partisan issue and has a long history of not being one. I 
     hope we get back to that soon. (Applause.)
       I won't stop missing the days in which we would talk after 
     work and discuss whatever it was I was working on that day. I 
     was so grateful to receive his wise counsel, for the way he'd 
     poke holes in weak arguments, suggest strategies, always 
     encourage me to do more, to do better, to get the job done. 
     This is how he lived his life. When people asked why he kept 
     going to work at The Wilderness Society at age 88, he said, 
     ``There's more to do, the job's not done.''
       He worked hard but he played hard too. As a student, he was 
     adequate. (Laughter.) He could have done better academically, 
     or so we suppose, but he had a wide range of other interests. 
     He was able to calculate just how much effort he needed to 
     expend to get passing grades. At UW Law School he had it down 
     to a very precise science. If it took a 76 to pass, he would 
     study enough to get a 77, leaving time for other pursuits. 
     One fall, he and two classmates who became his two best and 
     longest friends, Miles McMillan and John Lawton, two brave, 
     distinguished Wisconsinites, both of whom are now gone too--
     they'd spent way too much time away from class that semester 
     because they volunteered to campaign for young Bob La 
     Follette's reelection to the Senate. As a result, Papa didn't 
     take some of his exams that semester. He ended up short a few 
     credits and to make up for it he signed up for a extra heavy 
     load the second semester. He soon learned he needed the 
     Dean's approval to do that. The Dean said to him, ``You're 
     barely passing your courses now. How do you think you can 
     possibly take more credits and pass them?'' And Papa said, 
     ``I can just as successfully not study 20 credits as I can 
     not study 15.'' (Laughter, applause.) The Dean agreed to let 
     him try and he passed them all, barely, as usual. Later in 
     life, Dean Lloyd Garrison told Papa, ``That was the best 
     legal argument you made.'' (Laughter) Professor Paige, from 
     the U.W. Law School, certainly would have agreed. He once 
     said to Papa after a less than impressive answer to one of 
     the professor's questions, ``Mr. Nelson, pick up your books, 
     go out that door, and down Bascom Hill, go to the music 
     school. You might make a piccolo player but you'll never make 
     a lawyer.'' (Laughter.) Lucky for us, Papa did not follow 
     Professor Paige's advice.
       And on that note, I would like to end with a smile and a 
     chuckle, just the way Papa would have wanted it and invite 
     all of you to come down to Monona Terrace for a coffee and a 
     cookie with my family. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

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