[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 22663-22670]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING SENATORIAL SERVICE


                             James Jeffords

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, most of us remember the tectonic shift 
that occurred in the Senate in 2001, in the month of May, when our 
colleague, Jim Jeffords, changed parties. He moved from being a 
Republican to becoming an Independent Senator and lined up with the 
Democratic Caucus. Never before had control of the Senate changed on 
the decision of one Senator.
  It wasn't the first time Jim Jeffords had followed his conscience and 
made history. I can recall his alliance with my predecessor, Senator 
Paul Simon. At a time many years ago, in 1994, when Rwanda was facing a 
genocide, Paul Simon and Jim Jeffords were the two voices in the United 
States who stood up and called for the Clinton administration to do 
something to stop this genocide. Unfortunately, it did not occur and 
hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives. But that call to 
action by Jim Jeffords was just one of the achievements of his public 
career he can point to with pride.
  During that genocide, he was the ranking Republican of the Senate 
Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa. The chairman of that 
committee, Paul Simon, joined with him in that effort. Five weeks after 
the slaughter in Rwanda began, Senators Simon and Jeffords phoned GEN 
Romeo Dallaire, head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Kigali, and 
asked what he needed. The desperate general said he needed 5,000 
American troops to stop the killing. Those two Senators, Jeffords and 
Simon, got on the phone, begging the White House to send the troops. 
They wrote in their common message:

       Obviously, there are risks involved, but we cannot sit by 
     idly while this tragedy continues to unfold.

  Senators Jeffords and Simon received no reply, and the killings 
continued. Hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children 
were killed or maimed.
  Later, Paul Simon would say:

       If every Member of the House and Senate had received 100 
     letters from people back home saying that we have to do 
     something about Rwanda, when the crisis was first developing, 
     then I think the response would have been different.

  So many times I have stood on the floor of the Senate pleading for 
our Nation to intervene to stop the genocide in Darfur. Each time, I 
have thought about Paul Simon and Jim Jeffords. Had the President 
listened to them, hundreds of thousands of people in Rwanda could have 
survived that genocide. It doesn't take a great deal of moral courage 
to follow your conscience when the world is on your side, but it is 
when you stand alone, knowing you may lose, and you follow your 
conscience anyway, that you demonstrate real moral courage.
  Time and again in his public career, Jim Jeffords, the retiring 
Senator from Vermont, has shown that courage. He has been an unwavering 
champion of children and families with special needs, the environment, 
affordable health care for all Americans, and budget policies that are 
both compassionate and responsible. He believes in moderation, 
tolerance, and that the Federal Government be committed to protecting 
basic individual freedoms.
  Three years ago this week, Paul Simon died unexpectedly following 
heart surgery. At the end of this week, Jim Jeffords will be casting 
his last vote in the Senate. We wish him well in the next chapter of 
his life. Those of us who have had the privilege of working with Jim 
Jeffords, the new Senators who will join us soon, and those who will 
follow in years to come would do well to remember the moral courage of 
Senator James Jeffords of Vermont.


                             Paul Sarbanes

  Another retiring colleague is one of my favorites. I have been asked 
time and again: Who are your favorite Senators on the Democratic side? 
And I usually came up with two I always look to for wisdom and 
guidance: Paul Sarbanes and Carl Levin. I am glad that Carl Levin will 
continue his Senate career and has announced that he will run for 
reelection. But Paul Sarbanes is leaving the Senate after many years of 
fine service.
  Paul Sarbanes is the quintessential American success story. His 
parents were immigrants from the same little town in Greece. They met 
in America, and what else would Greek immigrants do? They opened a 
restaurant--in Salisbury, MD. They picked a classic American name for 
their restaurant. They called it The Mayflower, and Paul Sarbanes 
started as a young boy working in his family's restaurant and living 
``above the store,'' as they used to say.
  He graduated from public high school, but a pretty good student and 
not a bad basketball player, he won a scholarship to Princeton 
University, studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and earned a law 
degree from Harvard in 1960. He was set to make a fortune as an 
attorney in private practice but, instead, he listened to President 
Kennedy's call to public service and took a job as assistant to Walter 
Heller, who was President Kennedy's Chairman of the Council of Economic 
Advisers.
  Paul Sarbanes won his first election 40 years ago to the Maryland 
House of Delegates and was elected to the United States Senate 30 years 
ago. He is the longest serving U.S. Senator in the history of the State 
of Maryland. It is said that the Senate is the most exclusive club in 
the world. Paul Sarbanes is a member of one of the most exclusive clubs 
within it. Of the 1,885 Americans who have had the rare privilege and 
honor to serve in the Senate, Paul Sarbanes is one of only 27 who have 
been here long enough to cast 10,000 votes in the Senate.
  He is a modest, soft-spoken, hard-working man and one of the 
brightest people I have ever served with in the House or the Senate.
  A Congressional Quarterly profile says of Paul Sarbanes:

       He possesses the intellectual skills to leave his opponents 
     sputtering.

  He was a voice of reason in the House Judiciary Committee during the 
Watergate hearings of 1974 and later in the Senate's Iran-Contra and 
Whitewater investigations.
  It was Senator Sarbanes's leadership in the wake of the scandals at 
Enron and WorldCom that led to the reforms in Sarbanes-Oxley, the most 
far-reaching reform of accountability standards since the Great 
Depression.
  An interesting thing happened a week ago. On November 30, a group 
with an impressive and quasi-official-sounding name, the Committee on 
Capital Market Regulation, released a report arguing that excessive and 
overzealous regulation was hobbling U.S. capital markets. The report 
included 32 recommendations, among them to redesign the SEC, the 
Securities and Exchange Commission, to make it friendlier to business 
and increase protections against private lawsuits against businesses--
in other words, pull some of the teeth out of the Sarbanes-Oxley 
reforms.
  The very next day we learned that the report had been financed by a 
foundation with ties to what the Washington Post described as ``a pair 
of well-heeled business donors and an executive battling civil 
charges'' in a lawsuit filed in New York by the attorney general.
  Some pension watchdogs and consumer advocates they turned out to be.

[[Page 22664]]

They were sounding an alarm bell with a real personal interest in mind. 
So we should take care; before we make any wholesale change in the 
Sarbanes-Oxley rules, we need to understand that we need to protect the 
integrity and security of America's financial markets. Paul Sarbanes 
had the courage to lead that battle. Change can take place, but let's 
make sure it is reasonable; study the issue and ask the hard questions.
  For over 30 years Paul Sarbanes has served Maryland and the Nation. 
He has earned a reputation for excellence and integrity, winning the 
Paul Douglas Award for ethics just 2 years ago. He has given America 
some of the most important legislation, but he has spoken out 
consistently on the floor of the Senate so many times with the kind of 
leadership which we ask for in the Senate. I will be sorry to see him 
retire.
  But the Sarbanes name lives on in Congress. On November 7 his son 
John Peter Styros Sarbanes was elected to represent Maryland's Third 
Congressional District, replacing Senator-elect Ben Cardin. In typical 
Sarbanes fashion, his son won with 65 percent of the vote and will 
continue the Sarbanes family tradition of serving Maryland and America.


                              Mark Dayton

  Mr. President, Mark Dayton served representing the State of 
Minnesota. Business was his background, not politics. But Senator 
Dayton developed a passion for politics at an early age. While his 
parents supported Richard Nixon in 1960 and 1968, Senator Dayton found 
another hero in Bobby Kennedy. As a college student at Yale, he 
protested the Vietnam war. He began using a share of his family's 
fortune to support progressives.
  In return, he made it on an enemies list. He was investigated by the 
FBI, targeted by the IRS, and had that dubious distinction of being on 
Richard Nixon's enemies list, a distinction that he now wears as a 
badge of honor.
  He has devoted his entire adult life to public service, broadly 
defined. Born into privilege, he fought for those less fortunate from 
the start, especially for poor children. After college he taught 
science in New York City and counseled runaway children in Boston. 
Returning to his Minnesota roots, he served as an aide to Walter 
Mondale, then as Minnesota's State economic development commissioner, 
and later State auditor. Mark Dayton was elected to the Senate 6 years 
ago on his second try. His first 2 years in the Senate he had that 
great colleague, Paul Wellstone. For the last 4 years, Mark Dayton, 
like many of us, has tried to carry Paul Wellstone's standard, to fight 
for the people that Paul Wellstone used to call ``the little fellers,'' 
who don't have expensive lobbyists to watch out for them in the Senate.
  Mark Dayton has been a consistent voice for fairness. He has used his 
own Senate salary to pay for seniors to travel to Canada to purchase 
less expensive prescription drugs. He has been a strong advocate for 
ethanol, renewable energy, strengthening America's energy security, 
reducing global warming, and boosting the income of family farmers.
  Senator Dayton was one of only 23 Senators who voted against the 
Iraqi war resolution in 2002. He has used his seat on the Senate Armed 
Services Committee to ask hard questions of those who planned and are 
overseeing the war. He has demanded accountability from them while he 
has continued to show consistent support for the men and women in 
uniform.
  I look forward to seeing how Senator Mark Dayton will serve America 
next, and I wish him the very best.


                              Mike DeWine

  I also express my best wishes to my colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle leaving the Senate at the end of this session. I already made 
mention of Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio. So many times over the 10 years 
that I served in the Senate I walked across the aisle searching for an 
ally and found Mike DeWine. Whether it was a fight to put more efforts 
into the global AIDS effort to reduce the deaths around the world or an 
effort to reach out and provide assistance to Haiti, a country which my 
friend Mike DeWine has adopted, time and time again he rose to that 
challenge. Debt reduction in Africa--so many other issues. His speech 
today on the floor was just another indication of the kind of 
compassion that he brought to service in the Senate.
  Elections come and go but the record that has been written by my 
friend Senator Mike DeWine will endure.


                             Rick Santorum

  Senator Rick Santorum and I spent most of our time on the floor of 
the Senate in hot debate, disagreeing on almost everything. But we 
found some areas of agreement, and one of them was the global AIDS 
effort. I am glad that he joined as my partner in that effort. The 
money that we secured that will be spent around the world will save 
lives and provide hope.


                             Lincoln Chafee

  Senator Lincoln Chafee, a quiet voice of moderation from the State of 
Rhode Island, followed in the footsteps of his great father, John 
Chafee, with whom I was honored to serve. Senator Lincoln Chafee time 
and again would stand independently and express his views and his 
conscience. He was the only Republican of the 23 Senators who voted 
against the Iraqi war resolution.


                              George Allen

  Senator George Allen of Virginia and I have worked on a few measures 
together, including some help for veterans who returned from the war in 
Iraq with traumatic brain injury.


                              Conrad Burns

  Senator Conrad Burns and I have served on the Appropriations 
Committee and are friends from the Senate gym where we get together 
every morning and find a few things to laugh about.


                             William Frist

  Senator Bill Frist is our leader in the U.S. Senate. We have had some 
battles, of course, as you would. But we have also shown respect to one 
another, and I respect the job that he has done and wish him the very 
best. I might say of Senator Bill Frist that his commitment to public 
service doesn't end with the Senate. He has taken his amazing skills as 
a heart surgeon to some of the poorest places on Earth, spending spare 
time which he could have had with his family or relaxing somewhere, 
instead in some of the most outlying sections of the world helping the 
less fortunate. That speaks volumes about the heart of Bill Frist.
  I wish all of my colleagues who are retiring well as they begin the 
next chapters of their careers.
  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell to several 
of my friends here in Washington. Too often we get caught up here in 
the back-and-forth of politics and lose sight of the contributions of 
those with whom we work every day. It is only at moments such as, at 
the end of a cycle, that we have a moment to reflect on the 
contributions of our colleagues. And while we may not always see eye-
to-eye, this Senate is losing several admirable contributors who have 
made many sacrifices to serve our democracy.
  Mr. President, we are losing one of the great deans of the Senate in 
my friend Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland. As many have already 
noted, Senator Sarbanes helped bring the greatest disinfectant--
sunshine--into the corporate boardrooms of America after the fall of 
Enron, to help investors cull out the few bad apples from the American 
economy. In his three decades in the Senate, Senator Sarbanes has 
worked with five Presidents, seen the end of the Cold War, the boom of 
the information age, and even a balanced budget a few years back. Any 
regular C-SPAN viewer would agree that he is one of the most incisive 
and skilled questioners in the Senate, and his work has elicited 
important testimony, bringing valuable information to the public 
sphere, strengthening our democracy. Through it all, his focus has 
always been the people of Maryland, and his wisdom and experience will 
be missed.
  I also want to say farewell to my friend from Vermont, Senator Jim 
Jeffords--a true Yankee independent and a real treasure. When I joined 
the Veterans' Affairs Committee with Senator Jeffords, I learned early 
on that he

[[Page 22665]]

was an ally in standing up for America's veterans. I was always 
impressed with his willingness to listen to all sides of an issue, and 
when he spoke, I was always listening. I have admired his stewardship 
of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and I know that the 
Senate, the people of Vermont, and people across our country will miss 
his leadership and his experience--more than three decades of service.
  Then there is my colleague on the Agriculture Committee, Senator Mark 
Dayton of Minnesota. For much of his life, Senator Dayton has dedicated 
himself to public service, both in Minnesota and in Washington--as a 
leader on economic development for his home State and later as State 
auditor before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. The Twin 
Cities may be cold this time of year, but we all know that Minnesota 
DFLers will welcome him home warmly after his service in the Senate.
  A number of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will be 
departing in January, as well. There is our colleague from Virginia, 
Senator Allen, who wears, in my opinion, the second best pair of boots 
in the Senate. There is Senator Santorum of Pennsylvania, whose passion 
is admirable and whose energy is always enviable. Also leaving us is my 
colleague in the centrist Gang of 14 that helped bring this Senate back 
from the abyss; Senator DeWine of Ohio, who will head back to the 
Buckeye State with my respect and admiration; and my friend Senator 
Talent from Missouri, with whom I spent many hours in the Agriculture 
Committee working to level the playing field for America's farmers and 
ranchers. We will miss Senator Chafee of Rhode Island's independence 
and his clear voice for fiscal discipline in Washington. And we will 
miss Senator Burns of Montana, who shares my passion for rural America 
and who is headed home to Big Sky Country, back to the Rockies that I 
know we both miss so much.
  Finally, I wish to thank the majority leader, Senator Frist, for his 
service to this body and this Nation. He is a man of remarkable skill 
and dedication, and he will now return to serving his constituents in 
the way he knew first--as a healer. I am sure each of his future 
patients is already grateful for his skill and wisdom returning to 
touch their lives directly.
  America, when held to its finest ideals, is more than a place on the 
globe or a work in progress. It is the inspiration to those around the 
world and here at home to seek out excellence within themselves and 
their beliefs. It has been a pleasure to work alongside each of these 
gentlemen, who have helped me as I have found my way, sometimes 
literally, through the halls of the Senate, in the pursuit of these 
greater ideals that we all share: security, prosperity and an America 
that we leave better than when we arrived. These ideals will resonate 
here long after we all are gone and another generation stands in our 
place making the decisions of its day.


                              Mark Dayton

  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell to a decent 
and principled member of this body, Mark Dayton. Over the past 6 years, 
Senator Dayton has proven his dedication to the highest ideals of this 
body through his devotion to economic justice, education, and health 
care concerns.
  In October 2002, Mark Dayton voted against the Iraq war resolution, 
despite the fact that President Bush was presenting fairly convincing 
evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and most 
of the Nation was supportive of the decision to go to war. Mark Dayton 
held to his convictions, and history will judge him favorably because 
of it.
  As a Senator, Mark has donated his entire Senate salary to help his 
constituents pay for prescription drugs. His salary goes to the 
Minnesota Senior Federation for ``Rx Express'' bus trips to help senior 
citizens buy cheaper prescription drugs in Canada. In the Senate, he 
has fought to make such trips less necessary by proposing the Meeting 
Our Responsibility to Medicare Beneficiaries Act to permit the 
Government to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical 
companies. He has also introduced the Taste of Our Own Medicine Act to 
require Members of Congress to share the same prescription drug 
benefits as Medicare recipients.
  Mark Dayton's 6 years in the Senate are a continuation of his 
lifelong commitment to public service. He previously worked as a 
teacher on the Lower East Side of New York, as a counselor for 
runaways, and as the chief financial officer for a social service 
agency in Boston. He worked for Senator Walter Mondale and campaigned 
with him during his Vice Presidential bid with President Jimmy Carter. 
Mark also served twice as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of 
Energy and Economic Development.
  Mark Dayton has used the economic experience he gained as 
commissioner, and as Minnesota State auditor to help American workers 
during his time in the Senate. He has supported extended unemployment 
assistance and an increase in the minimum wage while opposing 
outsourcing of American jobs.
  Senator Dayton has been a strong supporter of increased funding for 
education. He introduced the Nontraditional Student Success Act and the 
Restore the Dream Act to help students pay for higher education. He has 
repeatedly insisted that Congress live up to its promise to America's 
public schools and children by offering amendments to fully fund the 
federal government's commitment to special education. Mark has also 
fought for additional career and technical training.
  During his time in this body, Mark Dayton has nobly stood up for the 
American people. In a speech on the Senate floor, he noted: ``A 
government of the people, by the people, and for the people is a 
government that tells the truth to its citizens. If it doesn't, it is 
not a government of them, not by them, and certainly not for them. It 
is imperative.''
  Although Mark Dayton's voice will no longer be heard on the Senate 
floor, I know that he will continue to do great work for Minnesotans 
and for all Americans. I am proud to have served with him and wish him 
all the best.


                             Lincoln Chafee

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, 
``Profiles in Courage,'' Senator John F. Kennedy extolled the virtues 
of political courage. ``Surely, in the United States of America, where 
brother once fought brother,'' Senator Kennedy wrote, ``we do not judge 
a man's bravery under fire by examining the banner under which he 
fought.''
  For 7 years I have watched and admired the courage of Senator Lincoln 
Chafee, who sits on the other side of the aisle, and who will be 
leaving us at the end of the 109th Congress.
  I have watched and admired his firm stands against his own political 
party, the Senate leadership, and the Presidential administration as he 
followed the dictates of his conscience. ``A man does what he must,'' 
wrote Senator Kennedy, ``in spite of personal consequences, in spite of 
obstacles and dangers and pressures--and that is the basis of all human 
morality.'' This was the basis of Senator Chafee's tenure in the 
Senate.
  Senator Chafee was appointed to the Senate in 1999 upon the death of 
his father, the beloved and respected Senator John Chafee. He 
immediately proved himself to be, to use an old cliche, a ``chip off 
the old block.'' Senator Lincoln Chafee proved himself to be a Senator 
of immense integrity, great dignity, and high principle. And, like his 
father, he proved himself a Senator of incredible courage.
  He was the first Senate Republican to oppose the Bush tax cuts in 
2001.
  He was a Senator who helped preserve the Senate as the institution 
that was planned and handed down to us by the Framers of our 
Constitution, and all the great lawmakers who served in this Chamber 
before us. Senator Chafee was one of the seven Republicans who composed 
the so-called gang of 14 that was ready to block the majority leader's 
use of the ``nuclear option'' that would have destroyed the U.S. Senate 
as a unique and sacred institution by curtailing the ability of the 
minority to filibuster.

[[Page 22666]]

  I, of course, will always remember, admire, and appreciate Senator 
Chafee as the only Senate Republican to vote against the Iraqi war 
resolution. He was one of the immortal 23 Members of this Chamber who 
stood against popular opinion, stood up to the President of the United 
States, and threw himself against the forces of war in voting against 
the resolution to launch an unprecedented military assault on Iraq. If 
only there had been more Senators like him, we would not find ourselves 
in a bloody quagmire in Iraq.
  In voting against the war resolution, Senator Chafee was determined 
not to hand over to President Bush, or any President, the power to 
declare war. That power, according to our Constitution, belongs to the 
Congress. With his firm belief in our constitutional doctrines of the 
separation of powers and checks and balances, Senator Chafee opposed 
many of the worst provisions of President Bush's efforts to create an 
all powerful Department of Homeland Security. He opposed, for example, 
the administration's plan to reduce the civil service protections and 
dissolve the collective bargaining rights of federal employees in the 
newly created agency.
  Although he will soon be leaving Congress, there is a bright side. 
Senator Chafee will now have more time to spend with his wife Stephanie 
and their three children and to ride his horse Trapper. I wish all of 
them happiness and success in their future endeavors, and many happy 
hours in the saddle.


                              Mike DeWine

  Mr. President, with the conclusion of the 109th Congress, Senator 
DeWine will be leaving us.
  I do not want to say farewell to him, but to thank him for being a 
congenial colleague and an outstanding Senator, a Senator who truly 
appreciated this chamber, its traditions, and the way it is supposed to 
work.
  For 12 years, he was an effective Senator, a Senator who built a 
long, impressive list of legislative accomplishments on a wide range of 
issues, largely, I believe, because of his willingness to reach out, 
and to work with Members on this side of the aisle. In a true 
bipartisan spirit, he worked with my dear friend, Senator Kennedy, to 
increase Federal regulation of tobacco.
  He worked with Senator Dodd for a bill to provide health screening 
for newborns.
  He worked with Senator Paul Wellstone on legislation that revamped 
job training programs, and with Senator Lautenberg on bills to crack 
down on drunk drivers.
  With Senator Clinton, he promoted legislation to ensure that drug 
companies do a better job in studying the effects of their products on 
children.
  For nearly a decade, whether in the majority or the minority, Senator 
DeWine cooperated with Senator Kohl in running the Antitrust 
Subcommittee on a bipartisan basis, and in the process, helped provide 
Americans with cheaper phone service, more choices on television, and 
direct flights home for the holidays.
  He teamed up with my colleague from West Virginia, Senator 
Rockefeller, in promoting legislation that changed the government's 
emphasis in child custody cases from preserving family strucure to 
protecting the best interests of the child.
  Indeed, caring for and protecting America's children was a major 
focus of his tenure in the Senate, and I applaud him for it. His 
concern for children, among other concerns, led him to successfully 
push for legislation to improve school bus safety and tougher child 
pornography laws.
  I, of course, know Senator DeWine best from his service on the Senate 
Appropriations Committee. He chaired the District of Columbia 
Appropriations Subcommittee, which I know from personal experience, is 
no easy chore. It is one of the most difficult and thankless tasks in 
the Senate, and he did it very effectively. One of his objectives in 
this position was to reform the District's child welfare system--and, 
again, I know from personal experience, just how difficult and 
thankless reforming the District's welfare system can be. Senator 
DeWine worked at it, and had some outstanding successes.
  Senator DeWine and I worked together to enact and defend the 
Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, a trade law that returns to 
injured companies and workers the duties that are collected by Customs 
on unfairly traded imports. He also supported the enactment of the 
Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Program--a program that has kept 
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel in business and over 3,000 people employed 
for decades. It is well recognized that, if the program had not 
provided Wheeling-Pitt with its loan guarantee, the company would no 
longer exist.
  I will always remember Senator DeWine as a Senator who took the risk 
to help preserve the Senate as it was handed down to us by the Framers 
of our Constitution, and all the great lawmakers who served in this 
Chamber before us. Senator DeWine was of the seven Republicans who 
helped form the so-called gang of 14 to help block the majority 
leader's determination to use the ``nuclear option'' that would have 
destroyed the U.S. Senate as a unique institution.
  I know this effort cost him support from Members of his own party, 
and from folks back home. It reminds me of the words of Senator John F. 
Kennedy, who wrote:

       If the American people comprehended the terrible pressures 
     which discourage acts of political courage, which drive a 
     Senator to abandon or subdue his conscience, then they might 
     be less critical of those who take the easier road--and more 
     appreciative of those still able to follow the path of 
     courage.

  For 12 years Senator DeWine took the path of political courage.
  Mr. President, shortly after coming to this Chamber, Senator DeWine 
remarked, ``when you go to the Senate, you don't know how long you'll 
be there. So you want to use your time wisely.'' In his two terms in 
the Senate, Senator DeWine used his time wisely and effectively. As he 
leaves the Senate, he should take pride in the knowledge that his 
presence here may well have saved this sacred institution, and from the 
bottom of my heart, I thank him for it.
  I wish him and his wife Fran health, happiness and never-ending 
success as they begin the next phase of their lives and careers.


                              conrad burns

  Mr. President, the great State of Montana is Big Sky Country. It is 
the land of open space, grizzly bears, gray wolves, and ponderosa 
pines. It is a land of vast grasslands and the magnificent Glacier and 
Yellowstone National Parks. It is the land of Senator Conrad Burns who 
will be leaving us at the end of this session of Congress.
  His service in this Chamber was the capstone of a fascinating, 
multifaceted career. A Marine veteran, Senator Burns had worked for two 
different major airlines, and had worked as a firefighter, a livestock 
fieldman, commissioner of Yellowstone County, and an auctioneer.
  He had also served as a radio announcer, a farm broadcaster on the 
Northern Agricultural Farm Network. A member of my staff grew up in 
Great Falls, MT. She remembers, as a child, waking up very early on 
cold, Montana mornings, going out to feed the horses, and coming in to 
hear Senator Burns giving his ``ag'' report on television, telling the 
people of Montana the price of pork bellies, hard red winter wheat, and 
other commodities.
  With his boots, wide belt buckles, and folksy mannerisms, few people 
would have expected that this Montana cowboy would become one of the 
Senate's leading experts in high-tech telecommunications.
  During his service on the Committee on Commerce, Science, Senator 
Burns embraced and fostered new communications technologies. He chaired 
the first interactive hearing on Capitol Hill and cofounded the 
Congressional Internet Caucus. As chairman of the Communications 
Subcommittee, he helped bring the Nation's communications laws into the 
digital age as he helped broaden the use of the Internet. Indeed, he 
has been praised as ``one of the fathers of the modern Internet.''
  To the relief of, perhaps, millions of American Internet users, 
Senator Burns tangled with mass marketers to help secure enactment of 
antispam legislation.

[[Page 22667]]

  With his interests in telecommunications, he enhanced 9-1-1 services 
throughout the country, and worked with Senator Clinton in sponsoring 
legislation to upgrade technology on cell phones.
  On the Senate Appropriations Committee, he chaired the Interior 
Subcommittee, and this is where I came to know and appreciate him. As a 
Westerner, Senator Burns brought an important perspective, as well as a 
wealth of experience and knowledge to the diverse and difficult issues 
that came up in the Interior Appropriations bill that were important to 
his state, and to his region of the country.
  In 2001 and 2002, when I chaired the committee, it was a pleasure to 
have Senator Burns serving as ranking member of the Interior 
Subcommittee and to work with him and his able staff. His dedication to 
duty, his willingness to work in bipartisan fashion, and his always 
gracious manner made my work infinitely easier. It was simply a 
pleasure to work with and to serve with Senator Burns on this 
subcommittee.
  I must now say good-bye to my good friend and colleague. I wish 
Senator Burns and his dear wife Phyllis happiness and success as they 
now prepare for the next phase of their lives.
  In honor of and appreciation for the Senate's Montana cowboy, who was 
at one time in his career an auctioneer, I offer the following verse:


                     the touch of the master's hand

     'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
     Thought it was scarcely worth his while
     To waste much time on the old violin,
     But held it up with a smile.
     ``What am I bidden, good folks,'' he cried,
     ``Who will start bidding for me?
     A dollar, a dollar''--then, ``Two!'' ``Only two?
     Two dollars, and who'll make it three?
     Three dollars once; three dollars, twice;
     Going for three--'' But no,
     From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
     Came forward and picked up the bow;
     Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
     And tightening the loose strings,
     He played a melody pure and sweet
     As a caroling angel sings.

     The music ceased, and the auctioneer
     With a voice that was quiet and low,
     Said, ``What am I bidden for the old violin?''
     And he held it up with the bow.
     ``A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?
     Two thousand! And who'll make it three?

     Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice;
     And going, and gone!'' said he.
     The people cheered, but some of them cried
     ``We do not quite understand
     What changed its worth?'' Swift came the reply:
     ``The touch of the master's hand.''

     And many a man with life out of tune,
     And battered and scarred with sin,
     Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
     Much like the old violin.
     A ``mess of pottage,'' a glass of wine;
     A game--and he travels on.
     He's ``going'' once, and ``going'' twice,
     He's ``going'' and almost ``gone.''
     But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
     Never can quite understand
     The worth of a soul, and the change that's wrought
     By the touch of the Master's hand.
       --Myra Brooks Welch


                               Bill Frist

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I want to pay tribute to Senator 
Bill Frist, who has served Tennessee in the U.S. Senate for the last 12 
years, the last few in the esteemed and challenging position of Senate 
majority leader.
  Senator Frist was my partner on the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee's Subcommittee on African Affairs for several years in which 
we both served as chairman or ranking member. I have appreciated his 
knowledge and passion for issues affecting Africa and the deep 
commitment he brings to the global fight against HIV/AIDS. I also have 
great respect for his commitment to bringing his medical expertise to 
remote areas in Africa. There is no doubt that he has personally made a 
significant contribution to helping improve the lives of people around 
the world living with HIV/AIDS.
  I have also had the honor of sharing with Senator Frist the important 
work of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, CSIS, Task 
Force on HIV/AIDS. Together, with many distinguished experts, we have 
been able to contribute to the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We 
set course on a bold agenda to help nearly 40 million people living 
with HIV/AIDS in the world today. Senator Frist understands the impact 
of this disease that continues to ravage individuals, families, 
communities, and entire economies. While we have much work left ahead, 
Senator Frist has been pivotal in the efforts we have made thus far in 
the fight against this devastating disease.
  Here in the Senate, we will miss Senator Frist's dedication to Africa 
and his hard work to find a cure for HIV/AIDS. I thank him for his 
service and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.


                              Jim Jeffords

  Mr. President, today I want to pay tribute to Senator Jim Jeffords, a 
man who has honorably served Vermont and this country in the U.S. 
Senate since 1989. The people of Vermont have been fortunate to be 
represented by a man who is as principled and dedicated to serving our 
Nation's best interests as Jim Jeffords.
  Senator Jeffords will long be remembered for his courage and 
conviction and for his bold decision to leave the Republican Party and 
become an Independent. Never straying from his principles and his 
commitment to representing the interests of his constituents, Senator 
Jeffords made this decision despite the consequences for him 
personally. He knew his decision would enable him to better serve the 
people of Vermont and this Nation. His conviction was also clear when 
he voted against authorizing the President to use force in Iraq. He has 
also been an unyielding voice for upholding civil liberties and seeking 
to eliminate discrimination in the workplace, and I greatly respect him 
for his outspoken leadership on these critically important issues.
  I am proud to have worked with him on other widely ranging issues 
over the years. I want to particularly thank him for helping to pass 
the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act and eliminate soft money. Senator 
Jeffords also played a crucial role in the effort to pass much-needed 
Army Corps of Engineers reforms. Debate over these reforms was 
contentious at times, and his work behind the scenes and on the floor 
was needed to win support for changing the way the Corps does business. 
In the next Congress we will work to build on Senator Jeffords' hard 
work and commitment to these important issues.
  As chairman and ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public 
Works Committee, he has been committed to reforming our Nation's energy 
and environmental policies. He is a champion for our environment, and 
his leadership and expertise will be greatly missed. It is the 
responsibility of the next Congress to honor Senator Jeffords' legacy 
in this area by redoubling our efforts to protect the environment.
  I was proud to work with Senator Jeffords on other critical issues as 
well. As a knowledgeable leader on education issues, having served as 
chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, he 
pushed for reforms to the No Child Left Behind law. I was proud to work 
with him on efforts to support our military families and to cast votes 
alongside him to force Congress to be more fiscally responsible.
  Here in the Senate, we will miss Jim Jeffords' thoughtful leadership, 
his independence, and his friendship. He was a valued ally on so many 
issues, and I wish him all the best in his retirement.


                             Lincoln Chafee

  Mr. President, today I wish to thank Lincoln Chafee for his 7 years 
of service in the Senate and to recognize the many contributions he has 
made during his time in this body. Senator Chafee is a soft-spoken man, 
but he has not been afraid to take courageous stands, even when that 
meant standing alone in his own party. From the moment he arrived in 
the Senate, it was clear that Senator Chafee would not only honor his 
father's outstanding legacy but that he would become a respected leader 
in his own right.
  Working with him on so many issues over the last several years, I 
have come to know Senator Chafee well and to

[[Page 22668]]

appreciate just how dedicated he is to serving the people of Rhode 
Island and the people of this great Nation.
  I don't know anyone in this body more committed to fiscal 
responsibility than Lincoln Chafee. He is absolutely as tough as they 
come on that issue, and he was tireless about holding Congress's feet 
to the fire. On pay-as-you-go legislation, on the congressional pay 
raise, and on so many issues, Senator Chafee demanded that Congress 
take fiscal responsibility seriously when it counted and not simply pay 
lip service to the issue when it is convenient. It has been a pleasure 
to work with him on this issue, and I am grateful for his efforts.
  Senator Chafee has been a strong supporter of campaign finance reform 
and of environmental protection and conservation, and I appreciate his 
work on those critical issues. Before I close, I also want to recognize 
Senator Chafee's vote against the war in Iraq, which is one of the most 
courageous votes I have seen cast during my time here in the Senate. 
That was a hard vote for many Members of this body, but to be the only 
Member of his party to oppose the war must have been especially 
difficult. But, as always, Senator Chafee did what he thought was 
right, and we have seen just how right he was to vote against this war, 
which has been so harmful to our national security.
  With every vote he has cast and every position he has taken, Senator 
Chafee has conducted himself with the utmost integrity and earned his 
colleagues' utmost respect. While he and I certainly haven't agreed on 
every issue, I always appreciate his thoughtful approach to our work 
here and his strong commitment to the highest ideals in public service. 
I know that the work he has done here has made a lasting mark on our 
Nation for many years to come. I will miss serving with him in the 
Senate, and I wish him all the best.


                              Mike DeWine

  Mr. President, I am pleased to pay tribute to Senator Mike DeWine, 
who has served Ohio, and the Senate, with honor and integrity during 
his 12-year tenure in this body.
  I am pleased to have worked with him on a wide range of issues over 
the years, including reforming children's health care and Medicaid. We 
also worked together quite frequently on other issues of importance to 
this Nation, and he has been a valuable colleague on both the Senate 
Judiciary Committee and the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. 
Although we did not see eye-to-eye on every issue, we found common 
ground on several initiatives including passing stricter antitrust 
legislation.
  Together with Senator Dick Durbin, we introduced the Clean Diamonds 
Act, a bill to ensure that the United States is not participating in 
the conflict diamond trade. This bill would prohibit the importation of 
diamonds from countries that fail to implement a clearly articulated 
system of controls on rough diamonds. Senator DeWine believed in the 
international community's responsibility to stop the trade in conflict 
diamonds, and I have been proud to work with him in that effort.
  I also want to take a moment to recognize Senator DeWine's dedication 
to honoring fallen service members from Ohio. By coming to the floor to 
pay tribute to those who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, he 
has reminded all of us of the tremendous debt we owe these brave men 
and women in uniform.
  I thank him for his leadership and his service to Ohio and our 
country, and I wish him all the best as he moves on to begin a new 
chapter in his distinguished career.


                             PAUL SARBANES

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, for many of us on this side of the aisle, 
there is a feeling of excitement and possibility for the next Congress. 
But sadly, that Congress will no longer have the wise counsel, 
extraordinary talent, and perceptive insights of our friend and 
colleague of many years, the outstanding senior Senator from Maryland, 
Paul Sarbanes.
  Over the course of his 30 years in the Senate, Paul has been a 
consistently eloquent voice of reason, compassion, and great 
intellectual depth. He has brought nothing but dignity to this historic 
Chamber, and he eminently deserves his place of honor as the longest-
serving Senator in the history of the State of Maryland.
  As a member of the Banking Committee, he has been a respected leader 
in expanding and enhancing the economic vitality of America, especially 
urban America, through his strong support for housing, transportation, 
and financial policies that make sense for the Nation and its people. 
In recent years, he guided into law one of the most significant reforms 
of corporate governance in more than half a century.
  As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has been a highly 
respected voice on many of the most serious challenges we face on 
foreign policy. He was an opponent of the war in Iraq from the 
beginning, and he was a leader in the Iran-contra investigation in the 
1980s.
  He believes deeply in the importance of public service. Drawing on 
his wide learning, he often speaks about the great importance that the 
ancient Greeks placed on public service. I understand he tells young 
students that in ancient Athens, people who involved themselves only in 
private life were called ``idiotes,'' which is the original source of 
the word ``idiot'' in English.
  Paul has always been a strong defender of the highest ideals of the 
United States at home and for a peaceful world that respects human 
rights.
  Because of his leadership and the policies he has long championed, 
America's cities are reclaiming their historical role as the heart of 
American commerce and culture, and today's shareholders have new 
confidence in the integrity of the stocks and bonds they invest in and 
depend so heavily on.
  It is a record of accomplishment that has improved the lives of 
millions of our people and has helped to restore faith in American 
business, at a time when public confidence in corporate America was 
badly shaken and storm clouds were gathering over the American economy.
  It is also the record of a patient, deliberative, and active Senate 
workhorse, who has dedicated his career to the mastery of complicated, 
nuanced, and often seemingly insoluble problems at home and in the 
wider world. It's the record as well of a public servant who responded 
to the Nation's call to deal with some of the most difficult challenges 
of corruption and incompetence in our lifetime.
  From the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon, to the 
Iran-contra investigation and the Whitewater hearings, to the way he 
shone a bright light on the outrageous and predatory lending practices 
that exploit lower-income Americans and keep so many hard-working 
citizens mired in poverty, Paul Sarbanes was a Senator who could always 
be relied on to take the assignment seriously, prepare brilliantly, and 
make decisions on the facts, on the rule of law, and his firm belief in 
the need for justice and fairness in public life.
  Needless to say, he was a match for even the best of witnesses. I 
doubt that any other Senator could go head-to-head with a witness in a 
hearing as skillfully as Paul Sarbanes could do with Alan Greenspan.
  Paul has also been a profile in courage. He voted for what he thought 
was right, without regard to the political consequences. And as his 
long and strong support by the people of Maryland made clear, they 
respected him all the more because of it.
  Few Senators we have been blessed to serve with can match Paul 
Sarbanes when it comes to decency, intelligence, or mastery of policy. 
It is a privilege to listen to him and learn from him in Senate debate. 
He can champion a proposal he favors with great skill and eloquence, 
and he can also utterly dissect a flawed proposal point by point. It 
can be a very distressing experience to oppose him on an issue and have 
him do the same thing to your side of the argument.
  I am fortunate to have supported Paul many more times than I opposed 
him. But regardless of which side you were on, his motivation in debate 
was always clear--to achieve the best outcome for the public good, and 
to do so

[[Page 22669]]

by opening his opponents' eyes and minds, not by harshly attacking 
their positions.
  Author Elizabeth Drew well captured this quality of Paul in her 
assessment of life in Washington during Watergate. She wrote of the 
young Baltimore Congressman who, with just 3 years in Congress, found 
himself in the thick of the House impeachment proceedings against 
President Nixon. He won the attention and respect of the Nation when 
his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee chose him to be the 
manager of the first article of impeachment, for obstruction of 
justice. As Liz Drew wrote:

       History and process lift people, and they have lifted this 
     group--and given the public a chance to see it. Paul Sarbanes 
     would not have looked at all bad at the Constitutional 
     Convention; he might have been one of the great ones.

  I certainly agree. As we say farewell to this outstanding Senator of 
our time, we will forever be grateful to this Greek immigrant son of 
Maryland for all he has done to make our country and our world a better 
place, and for consistently elevating the quality of life in the Senate 
we all love so deeply.
  Fifty years ago, Paul was a young student at Oxford University in 
England on a Rhodes Scholarship, founded over a century ago by the 
wealthy British statesman whose goal was to encourage students in the 
English-speaking world and other countries to be involved in public 
service and ``join the world's fight.''
  Paul Sarbanes has helped to lead that fight for half a century, and I 
am sure that Cecil Rhodes would be very proud of him.
  We will miss you, Paul. We wish you and Christine great happiness in 
the years to come. You are irreplaceable, but we take some comfort in 
the knowledge that a new young Sarbanes, blessed with the same 
intellect and commitment to public service, will be joining us in 
January as a Member of the House of Representatives.


                             Paul Sarbanes

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I want to express my appreciation for all 
of the public service efforts of the senior Senator from Maryland, Paul 
Sarbanes. My friend has served in the Senate since 1977, which makes 
him the longest serving United States Senator from Maryland.
  It has been a pleasure working with Senator Sarbanes over the years 
on a number of issues. In 2001, I was fortunate to be added to the 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. At that time, the 
Senator from Maryland was serving as the chairman of the committee and 
it was a memorable session to be a part of the committee. In the wake 
of the accounting failures of Enron and other public companies, 
Chairman Sarbanes conducted a very thorough series of hearings which 
led to the legislation which is now known as Sarbanes-Oxley. This is 
landmark legislation that has increased corporate responsibility and 
resulted in more effective oversight of public companies. Without the 
vision, courage, and ability of my friend from Maryland, that 
legislation would not have been possible. Despite numerous obstacles, 
he brought about comprehensive accounting reform.
  In addition, I have enjoyed working closely with the Senator from 
Maryland in trying to improve the financial literacy of our country. 
Rising health care costs and insurance premiums and the lack of 
affordable housing have contributed to making the lives of working 
families more difficult as they strain to meet their day-to-day needs. 
The ability of families to meet their increasing financial obligations 
is hampered by their significant debt burdens, particularly credit card 
debt, and by predatory lending practices such as refund anticipation 
loans. A lack of financial literacy makes it harder for families to 
deal with the difficult decisions they are confronted with daily. 
Senator Sarbanes organized the first set of hearings on the issue of 
financial literacy and led the creation of the Financial Literacy and 
Education Commission, the purpose of which is to promote financial 
literacy and education among all American consumers.
  Senator Sarbanes has been a champion for Federal employees. 
Throughout his Senate career, he has fought to ensure that Federal 
employees and members of the military receive equal pay increases. He 
understands that the Federal civilian workforce plays a significant 
role in the support of our Armed Services, and I am honored to join him 
annually in offering a resolution calling for pay parity between the 
military and Federal workers.
  He has been a leading advocate for consumer protection, increasing 
access to affordable housing, and improving public transportation in 
our country. I will miss having my good friend from Maryland in the 
Senate. He has served Maryland and the country very well. Millie and I 
wish him and his family the very best.


                             Paul Sarbanes

  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I rise today to bid a fond farewell to my 
dear colleague and role model, Senator Paul Sarbanes, Maryland's 
longest serving Senator.
  Senator Sarbanes represents the greatest traditions of this body and 
of our country. He is the type of Senator we all imagined in high 
school civics class--intelligent, diligent, effective, and thoroughly 
decent. During the course of 30 years in the U.S. Senate and another 10 
years in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Maryland House of 
Delegates, Senator Sarbanes defined what it means to be a trusted 
public servant in America.
  Paul Sarbanes grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the son of 
Greek immigrants who instilled the values of opportunity and fairness 
in their child. Motivated and hard working, Paul attended Princeton 
University, studied in Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and earned a law 
degree from Harvard.
  Paul first came to the Nation's attention during the Watergate 
hearings, where as a freshman member of the House Judiciary Committee 
he introduced the first article of impeachment, which related to 
obstruction of justice by President Nixon. Paul's own ethics and 
integrity are beyond reproach, and he has brought dignity and 
credibility to every task.
  In the Senate, Paul's legacy reflects his ideals of opportunity and 
fairness. He has continually fought for legislation to aid veterans, 
seniors, workers, and indeed, all Americans. He is a tireless champion 
for his constituents, his country, and the highest ethical standards. 
As a Princeton alumnus, he has lived Woodrow Wilson's ideal of 
``Princeton in the Nation's Service.'' Each and every day, Paul 
demonstrates that politics can be an honorable profession. It should be 
an honorable profession, and I can think of no better model for that 
ideal than Paul Sarbanes.
  In Senator Sarbanes' tenure as both chairman and ranking member of 
the Committee on Banking, he led the fight on behalf of working-class 
Americans to ensure affordable housing. He was instrumental in 
developing and enacting the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990, 
legislation that helps States, local governments, and nonprofit 
organizations work together to build, buy, and rehabilitate housing 
that hard-working people can afford. Paul has also worked to protect 
Americans from unscrupulous lending practices and discrimination. His 
hearings and legislation on predatory lending brought this problem to 
the attention of the Nation, and his work to reduce the cost of private 
mortgage insurance helped make home ownership a reality for millions of 
Americans.
  After Enron collapsed under the weight of widespread abuse and 
accounting fraud, thousands of workers woke up to see their jobs and 
life savings gone, investors lost billions, and the public cried out 
against corporate malfeasance. The credibility of American business and 
our financial system was on the line. It was Senator Sarbanes who 
brought his intelligence and concern to bear to restore investor 
confidence and implement safeguards against Wall Street abuses. He held 
comprehensive hearings, nurtured a bipartisan coalition, crafted 
thoughtful legislation and shepherded it through Congress with 
Representative Mike Oxley in the House.

[[Page 22670]]

  The Sarbanes-Oxley law was the most comprehensive overhaul of 
corporate oversight laws since the Great Depression. It created a 
standard of transparency and accountability to assure investors and 
protect workers. It is a towering achievement that will strengthen the 
American economy for many years to come.
  It has been an honor and a privilege to serve with Senator Sarbanes 
on the Foreign Relations Committee. I have marveled at his keen 
intellect and commitment to his responsibilities. During committee 
hearings and committee markups, Senator Sarbanes is always well-
prepared, asks direct, insightful, and important questions, and makes 
sure that no stone goes unturned.
  He has played a key role in virtually all of the significant foreign 
policy debates that have occurred during his 30 years of service on the 
committee. As a freshman, he was involved in the successful 
ratification of the Panama Canal Treaties. He worked to enact tough 
antiapartheid laws in the 1980s. And he has developed a long and 
impressive record on international economics, foreign assistance, and 
human rights issues.
  The American people have been well served by Paul's leadership, and 
this institution would be well served if each of us was a little more 
like him. On behalf of all of us, and for my constituents, I want to 
thank him for his service and his example.
  Let's wish Senator Sarbanes and his wife Christine well in this next 
phase of their lives. But let's also hope that we will continue to hear 
Paul's voice on important policy issues. He may be retiring from this 
body, but I suspect his commitment to strengthening this country and 
improving the lives of all Americans will continue. For that, as much 
as for all that Paul has accomplished through his distinguished career 
in the Senate, we should be grateful. I know that I am.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Graham). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________