[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 22657-22659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     REFLECTIONS ON SENATE SERVICE

  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, as the time for my departure from the 
Senate draws near, on behalf of the greatest blessings in my life, my 
wife Susan, and my children, Tyler, Forrest, and Brooke, I wish to 
thank my colleagues for their many courtesies and friendships forged 
during these past 6 years, and offer a few concluding reflections on 
our time here together, and the future of our Republic.
  Our foremost senior statesman in Virginia, one who served with 
particular distinction in this body--Harry Byrd Jr.--has observed that, 
with the exception of the Presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin 
Roosevelt, no time in our Nation's history has been witness to more 
problems and challenges of great magnitude than these past 6 years.
  When I arrived here in January 2001, America was at peace--or so we 
thought. And then on the bright, blue sky morning of September 11, the 
skies suddenly darkened with clouds of smoke from the Pentagon, and the 
horrific collapse of the World Trade Center Towers. And our world 
changed forever.
  When I arrived in this body, accompanying a change of Presidential 
administrations, our challenges were mostly economic--or so we thought. 
Our prosperity was already slipping, but most forecasts were for a mild 
downturn in the economy. That changed on September 11 as well.
  A cascade of other great challenges soon followed in rapid 
succession--issues foreign and domestic, challenges locally and 
nationally, threats manmade and disasters decreed by nature.
  Through all of these unprecedented storms, it was our responsibility 
to make careful, prayerful decisions for the safety, security and 
prosperity of the people of our country.
  I am particularly grateful to the people of the Commonwealth of 
Virginia for the opportunity to serve here--to give voice to their 
values and to fight for their future in this, the world's most 
distinguished body.
  We all understand and respect the will of the people--the owners of 
the government--in our representative democracy that brings us here and 
that may, at some point, take us away.
  Sometimes winds, political and otherwise, can blow the leaves off 
branches and break branches off trees. But a deep-rooted tree will 
stand and grow again in the next season.
  And, if Providence accords it the right climate and nourishment, that 
tree will bear fruit for generations to come, and give life to other 
trees.
  I have been honored, first as Governor and now as Senator, to be a 
part of important initiatives that have borne fruit for the people of 
Virginia and America.
  As Governor, we worked across party lines to accomplish the honest 
change that Virginians had desired and deserved. We abolished the 
deceitful, lenient parole laws, brought truth to sentencing, brought 
violent criminals to justice, and reformed our juvenile justice laws.
  Today, the crime rate is down, and thousands of good people are not 
victims of crime, have not lost loved ones, have not had their lives 
shattered, because we stood strong for truth and justice, and our 
reforms bore fruit.
  We also brought high academic standards, accountability and new 
resources to Virginia's education system. We stopped skyrocketing 
college tuition rates.
  Our education reform initiatives quickly became models for other 
States, and even for this body in enacting education reform legislation 
for the nation.
  These reforms, too, are bearing fruit today. Virginia students are 
learning more and performing markedly better on both state and national 
tests. Our schools are no longer engaging in social promotion.
  And with investments in higher education from the coalfields with 
Appalachian School of Law and School of Pharmacy, to the Institute in 
Danville, to southwest Virginia and Roanoke HEC's, to the Engineering 
School of VCU, to new leading-edge research at Virginia Tech, George 
Mason, Hampton and other universities we are equipping young men and 
women to succeed in the ever-more-competitive global marketplace.
  And we replaced dependency with dignity by reforming Virginia's 
welfare laws. Now, 11 years later, our welfare rolls are still less 
than half of what they were when I became Governor. Not only has that 
saved the taxpayers of Virginia hundreds of millions of dollars--the 
far more important impact is seen in the eyes of children who watch 
with admiration and respect as their parents go off to productive, 
rewarding jobs rather than sit at home, collecting a check.
  Nothing was more rewarding for me as Governor than to help ignite 
Virginia's economic renaissance. We sent a message to the world that 
Virginia

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was ``open for business''--we lowered taxes, reduced regulations, 
implemented prompt permitting, and recruited high-technology companies 
like IBM and Toshiba, Micron and Infineon--now Qimonda--Oracle's east 
coast campus, and secured billions of dollars in investment in 
semiconductor fabrication plants for world-class companies.
  Before we recruited those companies 10 years ago, there were no 
computer memory chips manufactured in Virginia. Today, computer memory 
chips have replaced cigarettes as Virginia's No. 1 manufactured export. 
We're not just the ``Old Dominion'' anymore; now we're the ``Silicon 
Dominion!''
  When I came to the Senate, my goal was to use this perspective and 
experience to continue and build on this work. I wanted to bring to our 
national policies the same emphasis on education and innovation--the 
same emphasis on economic opportunity--the same emphasis on protecting 
the safety and security of law-abiding people--the same time-tested 
values--that had guided my governorship.
  I have been able to do that, and I am grateful to many of you for 
working in partnership with me on so many issues that are vitally 
important for the lives and safety and prosperity of our citizens.
  Our time together has been full of challenge. But despite the broken 
branches and shattered limbs and lives of 9/11, America has stood 
strong like a live oak. We have relied on our roots as a freedom-loving 
nation. Out of these stormy times has grown a new national sense of 
urgency, resolve and mission. And this new spirit is bearing fruit 
today, and will for many years to come.
  Yes, the people of America have grown impatient with the pace of this 
progress. It is not easy during prolonged periods of national trial to 
sustain an attitude of optimism and a sense of purpose. Our foes know 
this about democracies, and they seek to exploit it. But they will not 
succeed.
  We Americans, of so many faiths and so many backgrounds, share this 
spirit above all else: We believe in the positive impact that each of 
us can achieve during our time here on Earth. But our opponents have no 
such belief. They fear human freedom, and glorify the extinguishing of 
human life more than the fruitful living of it. They will not succeed 
in this great struggle because they are only destroyers, and the world 
belongs to those who create.
  The God who gave us life, and who presides over the affairs of all 
nature and all nations, endowed mankind with a powerful spirit of 
creation, regeneration, and renewal.
  The attackers of 9/11 thought they would kill our spirit, but they 
only rekindled it. And, despite one of the most unsettled and 
challenging times in our Nation's history, look at what we have to show 
for it.
  Our economy is displaying unprecedented strength. Unemployment is the 
lowest it has been in decades. Home values are significantly higher 
than just a few years ago, and the stock market is at a record high 
level. The tax burden on our people is at a 20-year low, while Federal 
tax revenues are at all-time highs, and inflation is under control.
  There has not been a single terrorist attack on American soil since 
9/11, and numerous major plots have been foiled. The al-Qaida 
leadership has been decimated, and instead of meeting the enemy here at 
home, we have taken the fight to them in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and 
Iraq and in locales that will never be known. Even with the world at 
war against a lethal enemy of radical terrorist organizations, 
Americans are safer today than on 9/11.
  We must respectfully work with other countries in intercepting 
finances, creatively collaborating in counterterrorism efforts to 
thwart and defeat terrorist activity throughout the world.
  This war on terror has many fronts. And all of us are deeply 
concerned about the lack of progress of the war on the Iraqi front. 
Although our principles and strategic goals have not changed, mistakes 
have been made and progress has been too slow. We cannot continue to do 
the same things and expect different results; we must adapt our 
operations and change our tactics to meet the evolving terrorist 
threat. And the Iraqi people and their leaders must take control of 
their destiny.
  Let us never forget, however, that our American troops are liberators 
who have freed a people from a brutal dictator and regime. In so doing, 
they and their families have made great sacrifices not only for the 
freedom of Iraqis, but for the security of Americans. They more than 
anyone understand the consequences of failure in Iraq are far too high. 
Leaving Iraq as a safe haven for terrorists to launch new attacks will 
put America in mortal danger. Our troops should come home as soon as 
possible, but they should come home in victory--not defeat.
  This global war on terror is still a work in progress, and much of 
the work is difficult. But I will leave here in coming days with 
satisfaction that so many of the crucial steps we took to meet the 
challenges of the post-9/11 world have worked, and worked well.
  The Patriot Act and other new and technologically sophisticated 
counter-terrorism measures designed to protect our homeland are 
working, and working well.
  Our courageous men and women in uniform, an All-Volunteer military 
that is the most powerful fighting force in the history of the world, 
is hard at work for us, and working well.
  We have also worked well on the domestic front. And I take great 
personal satisfaction from progress achieved on some major initiatives 
designed to make this a land of opportunity for all--measures that will 
help secure a future of expanding opportunity for our children by 
making America the world capital of innovation.
  One area of focus for me has been preserving the Internet as a tax-
free individualized opportunity zone. The Internet is the greatest 
invention since the Gutenberg Press for the dissemination of 
information and ideas, and one of America's greatest innovations for 
economic growth and jobs.
  So far the Federal Government has taken the right approach when it 
comes to the Internet--by basically leaving it alone.
  The American private sector is the best steward of the Internet. We 
just need to leave it alone and let it prosper as an engine for 
economic progress--and with your help, that is what we have done. But 
the need for action will return next year, and I hope you will extend 
internet tax freedom so that avaricious State and local tax commissars 
are blocked from imposing an average 18 percent tax on monthly Internet 
access bills.
  We also made major progress in a realm few Americans understand, but 
one that will transform their lives--nanotechnology. Teaming up with my 
hard-working friend across the aisle, Senator Wyden, we sponsored and 
you approved legislation launching the National Nanotechnology 
Initiative. This is the single largest federally funded, multiagency 
scientific research initiative since the space program in the 1960s, 
and the revolutionary technology it yields may well rival the space 
program in its impact on our society and economy.
  You have heard me say many times on this floor that they key to 
innovation is education, and that we need to educate more scientists 
and engineers because they are the ones who will design and develop the 
ground-breaking and life-changing inventions, innovations, and 
intellectual property of the future.
  But today America is not tapping its full potential in math, science, 
research and innovation. Only 15 percent of those graduating from our 
engineering schools today are women; only about 6 percent are African-
Americans, and about 6 percent are Latinos. That is simply not enough, 
especially when we are competing with countries that have literally six 
or seven times our population.
  That is why I have worked with senators in both parties, Senators 
Alexander, Ensign, Bingaman, and others, as well as the independent-
minded Senator Lieberman--for the National Innovation and PACE Acts, 
which will invest in wide-ranging scientific education and research, 
induce capable

[[Page 22659]]

students with scholarships, provide incentives for teachers and 
researchers, and take other steps to keep America on the leading edge 
of science and technology.
  That is why I have been the lead Republican cosponsor of the 
Partnership Access to Laboratory Science Act with Senator Menendez, 
which will provide science education and laboratory grants for students 
in rural and low-income schools.
  And that is why I have led the charge for legislation to help remedy 
the opportunity divide at America's minority-serving institutions--the 
HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, and tribal colleges. I am 
grateful for the Senate's support for this initiative and hope it will 
very soon become a reality.
  All these initiatives I respectfully urge you all to pass and stay 
with them until they become law. For my part, I will continue to 
advocate for these incentives and this major national commitment to 
make sure that the U.S. is indeed the world capital of innovation.
  Investing in education and innovation is vital for our global 
competitiveness, and so is achieving energy independence. In fact, not 
only is energy independence an economic necessity; it's also a national 
security imperative. Our dependence on Middle Eastern oil limits our 
foreign policy options for addressing terrorism, tyranny and related 
geopolitical issues.
  We have made some important strides in accelerating the exploration 
and development of American energy supplies, including American oil, 
natural gas, clean coal and nuclear power. And we have made notable 
progress in hastening the research, development and deployment of 
economically viable alternative and renewable sources of energy. But 
here we must all agree that there is far more to be done.
  The bottom line is we need more energy explored, produced, and grown 
in America, so that hundreds of billions of energy dollars stay in 
America and are reinvested in America's economy for American jobs, 
American competitiveness, and American national security, instead of 
having to worry about the whims of some dictator in the Middle East, or 
some other hostile part of the world.
  There are so many ways that what we have done here during the last 
six years has made a positive impact on the opportunities facing 
citizens all across our country.
  In Virginia, whether it is the major port expansion at Craney Island, 
or funding for the Advanced and Applied Polymer Processing Institute in 
Danville, or the effort to assure that new development opportunities at 
Fort Belvoir are matched by adequate transportation facilities whether 
it is educational research funding, or new resources for roads and mass 
transit, or grants to make our communities safer, or in hundreds of 
other ways we have been able to have a major, positive impact on 
people's lives all across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
  We have also broken down barriers to opportunity. My very first 
speech on the Senate floor was on behalf of Roger Gregory's appointment 
as a federal judge on the esteemed Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that 
sits in Richmond.
  Judge Gregory had been nominated at the end of President Clinton's 
term, but he did not get a vote, and to become a judge he had to be re-
nominated by President Bush. So my first speech was to call on my 
Senate colleagues to rise above partisanship, rise above process, judge 
Roger Gregory as a person, and give him the fairness of a vote.
  You did so, and as a result, Judge Gregory is serving with 
distinction on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the first African 
American to serve on that esteemed appellate court.
  For the good of our country, the Judiciary, and this Senate, I urge 
you--regardless of the party in power here and at the other end of 
Pennsylvania Avenue--to end the obstructionist practices that deny 
judicial nominees, or other nominees, the fairness of an up or down 
vote, and that deny the American people the accountability that the 
advice-and-consent process should afford.
  Miguel Estrada was a victim of this unfair obstructionism, although a 
majority of Senators supported his confirmation. Let John Bolton be the 
last victim of these unfair, obstructionist practices.
  Our Constitution provides a better way; let's follow it.
  Finally, during these times of war, we are all keenly aware of the 
sacrifice made by the men and women serving in our Armed Forces and 
their families. Virginia is home to more people serving in uniform than 
all but a handful of states, and so when a loved one is lost, we feel 
the pain very directly, very personally. A grateful nation must support 
the families of those who have fallen in defense of our liberty. That 
is why I introduced a bill in the first hours of the first days of this 
109th Session to increase the military death benefit from the paltry 
amount of $12,420 to $100,000. I thank you for passing it, and I thank 
the President for signing it.
  At each step of the way, on this measure and so many others, I have 
never worked alone. Always at my side, as a partner--but even more as a 
gracious mentor, wise counsel, constant encourager, occasional 
correcter, and unwavering friend--has been our state's senior Senator, 
John Warner.
  He has been the epitome of the Virginia gentleman, the model of an 
honest, hard-working Senator, and most of all, a true and loyal friend. 
I will leave here enriched immeasurably by this latest and best chapter 
in our partnership of several decades.
  My friends and colleagues, as I prepare to take my leave, I am 
humbled and so grateful for the tremendous honor and privilege that has 
been accorded to me by the people of Virginia. I am also full of 
gratitude for the opportunity to serve with you and for the many 
courtesies you have extended to Susan and me along the way.
  I leave with many new and enduring friendships, with some valuable 
lessons learned, with unrestrained optimism about the potential of 
America, about our nation's future, and with pride in our 
accomplishments together.
  My friends, don't let these challenging times along our national 
journey divert your focus from what truly matters.
  The tree of American liberty is as strong as ever. Our roots run deep 
to a wellspring of values as old as our Republic, indeed much older 
still.
  Four hundred years after our Nation's beginning at Jamestown, we are 
still in the springtime of our life as a nation. Still planting seeds 
and bearing fruit. Still growing and creating. Still inspiring and 
innovating. Still providing light and hope for people around the world 
seeking to escape the chains of tyranny, and embrace the blessings of 
liberty.
  Indeed, the sun is still rising on a bright American morning!
  And if we will keep the faith, no matter the challenges or choices, 
generations to come will remember and think well of us, for this: We 
never gave up. We never backed down, and, we always stood strong for 
freedom.

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