[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5502-5503]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO SENATOR HOWELL HEFLIN

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is my understanding that the 
distinguished Republican leader is going to make a statement regarding 
the Pope. I think that is timely. I will do so at a later time today.
  I wanted to pay tribute to Howell Heflin. He was a wonderful man who 
served in the Senate for 18 years. He actually revolutionized the court 
system in Alabama. The first amendment they ever had to their 
Constitution was a result of his reorganization of the court when he 
was chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
  Howell Heflin holds the record here, serving as a member of the 
Ethics Committee for 13 years. He did that with dignity during some of 
the most difficult times we have seen in the Senate with some of the 
problems Senators had.
  I had the good fortune of traveling to Alabama yesterday to be with 
his widow Mike at that funeral in the rural community of Tuscumbia, AL. 
That is where he had his home and law practice and where he died. He 
had very little suffering. He was 83 years old. He got sick one 
afternoon and died within an hour or two after that.
  The Senate will always be a better place as a result of Senator 
Heflin having been a Member. Death comes at inopportune times. I want 
his widow to know that even though there were only a few Senators 
there, including Senator Bingaman, and Senator Shelby, who had another 
funeral he had to go to, Senator Sessions was there, it came at such an 
inopportune time. It was the end of the recess period. People didn't 
know about it, and it was hard for people to be there, but it doesn't 
take away from the dignity of that proceeding. It was a wonderful 
funeral. I received a number of phone calls yesterday and today of 
people wanting to be there. For example, the wind was so heavy 
yesterday that they had to change the place of takeoff from Andrews to 
Dulles. As a result of that, Senator Biden, driving down from

[[Page 5503]]

Delaware, could not make it. He had to drive 35, 40 miles.
  Again, we send our condolences to Tom, his son, and Mike, his widow. 
As a Senate family, we felt so good about Senator Heflin in life and in 
death.


                    Address of President Yushchenko

  I also say this to the majority leader.
  I had the good fortune during this break to lead a bipartisan CODEL. 
We had the opportunity to sit down and talk to President Yushchenko. 
Here is a man they tried to kill. We think we know who tried to 
assassinate him. Here is a man whose face is a little disfigured, but 
his spirit is not. He has the ability, I believe, to bring about a 
change in that country that will be for generations to come. It is a 
burgeoning democracy. Things are on the move, and he has a dynamic 
personality. I am glad he is going to be able to address a joint 
session of Congress because he is what our country is all about. So I 
commend and applaud the Speaker for arranging for this man, a good man, 
to speak before a joint session of Congress. It will make us all better 
for having the ability and the opportunity to listen to him.
  I apologize to the leader for taking more time than usual, but I will 
return at a later time and make some remarks about the Pope, who passed 
away.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.

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