[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 23524-23531]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              APPRECIATION TO SENATE COLLEAGUES AND STAFF

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, early on Thanksgiving day, Mary Frances 
Darling was born. She is our 10th grandchild and the 6th child of our 
daughter Jill and her husband Bill. As I said on election night this 
year, I am a very lucky man. I am blessed with a wonderful family.
  I am also blessed because for the last 30 years--30 years--the people 
of Ohio have given me the opportunity to represent them, first as 
Greene County prosecuting attorney, then as State senator, then as a 
Congressman for four terms from the seventh congressional district, 
then Lieutenant Governor, and now, for the past 12 years, in this 
wonderful body as a U.S. Senator. For that opportunity, I will be 
eternally grateful.
  When I came to the Senate in 1995, it had been a little over a year 
since our daughter Becky had been killed. I was, quite candidly, still 
numb. We as a family had been through a lot. But I knew that our time 
here on Earth is short, and I wanted as best I could to spend my time 
in the Senate, whatever time I had, working on tangible things, getting 
concrete results that impact the lives of families in Ohio and in our 
Nation. I have tried to do that, but I have not done it alone. Whatever 
I have achieved has been with the help of so many people.
  Over the past 12 years, I have worked with every Member of this 
Senate, and I consider each Member of this Senate a friend. I have had 
the privilege to work with two Republican leaders and one who in 
January will become the Republican leader.
  Trent and Tricia Lott were two of the first people Fran and I met 
when we came to the House in 1983. Tricia is Fran's best friend here in 
Washington, and Trent is my dear friend. I have benefited from his 
counsel, from his advice, and from his help, now for well over 20 
years.
  Bill Frist and I came to the Senate together in 1995. Karyn and Bill 
are very good friends. Bill has been an unbelievably accessible leader. 
We share a passion for fighting the spread of AIDS. Bill's public role 
in that cause is obvious and apparent to everyone. But what is not so 
obvious and what is little known is what Bill Frist has done behind the 
scenes, what his role has been in working with so many people, working 
with the White House and others to get this job done. No one has played 
a bigger role. And when the history is written, Bill Frist's name will 
be there in bold print as someone who has saved so many, many lives.

[[Page 23525]]

  Mitch McConnell. Mitch and Elaine are dear friends. When I faced the 
tough challenge of getting a bill or amendment passed, I went to Mitch. 
I have done it for 12 years. I did it as recently as yesterday. Mitch 
McConnell is tough. He is strong. He is wise. He will be a great 
leader. His advice as to how to thread the legislative needle is 
responsible for so much of what I have passed. He also has a big heart, 
as was demonstrated time and time again when I would go to him. He is 
chairman of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee. After I talked to him, 
he would, at my request, put money into things which saved children's 
lives, child survival or to save little children, little babies in 
Haiti. He did it. He got it done. He made a difference.
  I have been lucky enough to serve on the Judiciary, Appropriations, 
HELP, and Intelligence Committees, and I want to thank the chairmen who 
have led those committees over the past 12 years. I was the first Ohio 
Senator to serve on the Appropriations Committee since 1945. With the 
help of Chairman Stevens, Chairman Cochran, and their staffs, I was 
able to secure well over $1 billion for projects throughout Ohio that 
make a difference.
  I particularly thank Arlen Specter. I thank his clerk and my good 
friend, Bettilou Taylor. They have both been so helpful to me in 
securing millions of dollars for programs through Labor-HHS 
appropriations. These two dedicated public servants helped me provide 
funding for important programs, things such as the Children's Hospital 
Graduate Medical Education Program and projects in Ohio to build 
facilities and provide services for people with disabilities. They also 
helped me fund projects to help meet the health needs of seniors and 
low-income communities throughout the State. Because of them, I have 
been able to secure over $12 million for Ohio's children's hospitals.
  Senator Specter, Bettilou, let me tell you from the bottom of my 
heart and on behalf of Ohio's sick and poor kids and their families, I 
thank you.
  I also sincerely thank Judiciary Committee Chairmen Specter and 
Hatch; HELP Committee Chairmen Enzi, Gregg, and Jeffords; and 
Intelligence Committee Chairmen Roberts and Shelby. I have been 
fortunate to have passed dozens of bills and amendments in my career in 
the Senate, and most of them were provisions that I worked along with 
these chairmen to pass. It would never have happened without them. I 
appreciate their help.
  I appreciate all the help Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley 
has given me--a dear friend--especially when it came to passing my 
bills to improve the foster care and adoption system. I have worked 
with many Members of the Senate on this very important issue, foster 
care and adoption, including Senators Jay Rockefeller, Mary Landrieu, 
Larry Craig, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, John Chafee, Jesse Helms, Bill 
Roth, Jim Jeffords, Dan Coats. They all shared a passion for foster 
care children. They all shared a passion for the adoption issue.
  I also thank my good friend from Pennsylvania, my friend who keeps 
the candy drawer over there, Rick Santorum. Like so many who spoke 
about him yesterday, I applaud Rick for his passion and his absolute 
fearlessness in standing up for what he believes. I recall being on 
this floor many nights late at night during the debate over partial-
birth abortion. Some nights it was just Rick and me, and we closed this 
place. He got it done. I thank him for that.
  I also remember how Senator Santorum stood with Senators Lindsey 
Graham and Sam Brownback to help me pass my unborn victims of violence 
bill and see it signed into law. It took several years to pass this 
legislation, and Congressman Graham had been the sponsor and was the 
sponsor of the bill in the House. I applaud his determination to get 
this done. When it comes to foreign policy issues, I share an interest 
in Western Hemisphere issues with my friends Senator Norm Coleman, the 
chairman, and Mel Martinez. Mel, thank you. Senator Coleman has 
admirably served this body as chairman of the Western Hemisphere 
subcommittee. I sincerely enjoyed travel with him to Haiti.
  I also enjoyed traveling to Africa with the good Senator from 
Tennessee, Lamar Alexander. Lamar has contributed a great deal to this 
body. He will contribute more, especially in the area of education 
policy, where he is clearly the expert.
  Senator Judd Gregg and I also worked on a very important education 
issue. He started it. He worked it. I helped him. We got it done. That 
is the School Choice Program here in Washington, DC. We broke the 
logjam. We got it done. I applaud his commitment to the children of 
this, our Nation's Capital.
  I thank my friends Chuck Hagel and Lindsey Graham for the good 
conversations they have shared with me on foreign policy issues. 
Speaking of that issue, I thank my neighbor on the floor and my 
neighbor to the west in Indiana, Dick Lugar, for being the rock that he 
is on foreign policy and for giving me good counsel and advice.
  I want to thank my dear friend John McCain, with whom I came to the 
House of Representatives in 1983 and who has been my friend since. I 
thank him for his courage. I thank him for his wise counsel on military 
and foreign relations issues.
  I also thank a dear friend of mine who does not now serve in this 
body, former Senator and Secretary of Energy Spence Abraham. He did a 
lot of things. One of the things that took guts and courage is he 
fought with me and others to protect legal immigration while he served 
in the Senate. He took a lot of flack for it.
  I was honored to work with Senator Gordon Smith, Senators Harry Reid, 
Jack Reed, and Chris Dodd, to pass the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act. 
I applaud Senator Smith and his wife Sharon for having the courage to 
take the tragedy of their son Garrett's suicide and do so many 
wonderful things with it. They are wonderful people.
  Last year, I was extremely proud to be one of 14 bipartisan Members 
of this great body who decided to work together to break what had 
become a gridlock in the Senate over judicial nominations. In the grand 
tradition of the Senate, individuals from both political parties came 
together that time to solve a problem which threatened not only the 
judicial nomination process but was threatening to shut the Senate down 
completely. I want to thank my friends with whom I was proud to stand 
in that effort: John McCain, John Warner, Lindsey Graham, Olympia 
Snowe, Susan Collins, Lincoln Chafee, Joe Lieberman, Senator Byrd, Ben 
Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Daniel Inouye, Mark Pryor, and Ken Salazar. They 
got it done.
  I thank my friend, my colleague, my partner, Senator George 
Voinovich. George and I have worked together in the Senate on so many 
things for Ohio, from NASA Glenn to the Great Lakes. We first got 
together in 1989. We joined up as partners in 1989 when I decided to 
leave the U.S. House--it was a tough decision for me--and join him as 
his Lieutenant Governor candidate. I have not regretted it. It was the 
right decision, and we have worked together ever since then. I thank 
him and I thank his wonderful wife Jan for their friendship and love.
  I also want to thank all the members of the Ohio congressional 
delegation with whom I have sincerely enjoyed working over the years. I 
have worked with every one of them. They have all made a difference. 
They are all my friends, Democrats and Republicans. Specifically, I 
extend my appreciation to my Congressman, my dear friend Dave Hobson. 
He is a savvy man. I have gone to him many times for advice, and I have 
gone to him to get things done for Ohio.
  I would be remiss if I didn't thank the wonderful staff people in 
addition to my own staff whom I have had the pleasure to work with in 
the Senate. I thank the outstanding Senate floor staff: Dave Schiappa, 
Laura Dove, and all the other floor staffers who are such wonderful 
professionals and who serve us all so well. Thanks to the staff of the 
Republican leadership: Eric Ueland; Bill Hoagland, whom I talked about 
earlier today and whom I go to for advice a lot; Kyle Simmons, Malloy

[[Page 23526]]

McDaniel, Laura Pemberton, and on and on.
  I also thank all the committee staff with whom I had the pleasure to 
work. They are too plentiful to name, but I cannot leave this body 
without thanking my dear friend Mary Dietrich, clerk of the DC 
Appropriations Committee. I saw Mary on the floor last night. I so 
enjoyed working with her. She is a pro. She is great. I also thank Paul 
Grove, clerk of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, who worked with me 
in helping increase funding for the various humanitarian aid programs. 
I know he got tired of seeing me coming, but he was always gracious and 
got the job done.
  If there is one thing I have learned in the Senate, it is that you 
must work together with members of both parties, Democrats and 
Republicans. I see my friend on the floor, Senator Paul Sarbanes, who 
will be leaving. I have worked with him over the years. I have worked 
with many Democratic Senators over the years. I want to take a few 
minutes to thank them for their willingness to set aside party politics 
to make a difference and to get tangible results.
  First, I thank my very good friend Senator Chris Dodd. Senator Dodd 
and I have worked together on many bills that have become law. We 
worked together--not once, not twice, but three times--to pass three 
bills into law to expand the research and testing of drugs prescribed 
for children. Senator Hillary Clinton also joined us in this effort, 
and I thank both of them for their dedication and dogged determination 
in helping to ensure our children have access to the medicines they 
need.
  Senator Dodd and I also came together to create a national toll-free 
poison control hotline--I will remind my colleagues one more time of 
that number: 1-800-222-1222.
  Senator Dodd and I also share a commitment to providing additional 
resources for our Nation's firefighters and first responders. We know 
that these men and women have the responsibility of looking out for us 
and our families, and we, in turn, have a responsibility to provide 
them with the resources they need to do their jobs. Together, Senator 
Dodd and I passed the Fire Act in 2000, and that law has provided over 
$3.1 billion for grants to fire departments around the Nation for 
needed equipment, training, and communications technology. I am proud 
of the over $100 million in Fire Act grants that my home State of Ohio 
has received.
  Finally, Senator Dodd and I worked together with a wonderful American 
statesman--Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan--to pass the Nazi War Crimes 
Disclosure Act, which has led to the declassification of countless U.S. 
Government files containing information about Nazi war criminals. The 
American people deserve to have access to this information. For all of 
our work together, Senator Dodd, thank you.
  Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Jay Rockefeller for joining me 
in fighting to make our adoption system work better for children around 
the country. My good friend Senator Rockefeller was the lead cosponsor 
of two of my bills that we got signed into law, and I was the lead 
cosponsor of one of his bills that also became law. These laws have 
helped minimize the amount of time children spend in foster care and 
increased the number of adoptions across the country.
  Those laws are making a difference every day. They are changing 
children's lives.
  As members of the Senate Steel Caucus, Senator Rockefeller and I also 
worked successfully together to impose tariffs against foreign 
countries that were dumping steel in the United States. The dumping by 
these countries was hurting our steel industry and, therefore, it was 
hurting families throughout Ohio and West Virginia. Senator Rockefeller 
and I also teamed up to increase automobile and highway safety. He is a 
champion there, too.
  Last year, Senator Rockefeller was the lead co-sponsor of several 
bills with me that will save lives on our roads. Together, we passed 
these bills into law as part of the last Highway bill. We will never 
know the names or faces of the people whose lives will be saved by 
these laws, but it is enough for both of us to know those men, women, 
and children are out there. Senator Rockefeller--it has been a pleasure 
to work with you. Thank you.
  Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Mary Landrieu. Senator 
Landrieu and I share a profound concern for low-income students around 
the country and for the welfare of young people here in the District of 
Columbia. In 2001, we worked together to amend the No Child Left Behind 
Act to make sure that additional funding went toward low-income schools 
and the students who attend those schools. Since passage of our 
amendment, low-income schools in Ohio have received $259 million. I 
applaud Senator Landrieu for her commitment to these children.
  I also want to thank Senator Landrieu for the excellent work we did 
together on the District of Columbia Appropriations Subcommittee. We 
worked together on this subcommittee from 2001 to 2004, and again, our 
focus was on improving the health and well-being of children. We 
improved the city's long-troubled foster care system and helped fund 
various improvements to Children's Hospitals in the District. It was 
truly a pleasure working with the good Senator from Louisiana.
  Mr. President, I have had the great fortune to work closely on the 
Judiciary Committee with my friend Senator Pat Leahy. I am proud of the 
many things that we worked on together. Specifically, we both know that 
our State and local law enforcement officers need to have the best 
technology available to protect our families and loved ones. I thank 
Senator Leahy for working with me in 1998 to pass the Crime 
Identification Technology Act, known as CITA. We worked together to 
develop, pass into law, and provide funding for this critical bill, 
which has included over $500 million to help law enforcement officials 
purchase cutting edge forensic and communication technology and improve 
their crime labs--all in an effort to help local law enforcement fight 
crime and make our communities safer.
  I also appreciated working with Senator Leahy to pass my bill in 2003 
that eliminated the statute of limitations for child abduction and sex 
crimes and required child pornographers to register as sex offenders. 
Finally, Senator Leahy and I worked together, along with Congressman 
Ted Strickland in the House, to pass my Mentally Ill Offenders bill and 
get it signed into law in 2004. This law goes a long way toward 
providing mental health services for criminals desperately in need of 
those services. Thank you, Senator Leahy. And, of course, neither of 
these laws would have happened without the help of Judiciary Chairmen 
Specter and Hatch.
  Mr. President, since 1997, I have been a member of the Judiciary 
Antitrust Subcommittee. During my time in the Senate, sometimes I 
chaired the Committee, and sometimes my friend Senator Herb Kohl 
chaired the committee. But, no matter who had the gavel, we ran it the 
same way--as a bi-partisan committee, which shined a light on 
competition issues and helped consumers and businesses get a fair shake 
in the marketplace. Both of our staffs planned the subcommittee agenda 
together, organized hearings together, and held meetings together. That 
is exactly the way it should be, and I am proud that Senator Kohl and I 
were able to achieve and promote a bipartisan consensus on important 
antitrust issues in many critical parts of our economy.
  Senator Kohl and I also worked together to write and pass into law 
the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act in 2000. We worked on this 
bill after learning that many law enforcement agencies did not have the 
funding to process DNA material from crime scenes and those DNA samples 
ended up just sitting on shelves and not getting analyzed. Our law 
provides funding to process these samples, identify criminals--such as 
rapists--and get them off the streets. It has truly been an honor and a 
privilege to work with Herb Kohl.
  Mr. President, I also have had the distinct pleasure to work together 
with

[[Page 23527]]

Senator Mikulski on the Retirement Security and Aging Subcommittee and 
the Aging Subcommittee. I always knew that my good friend from Maryland 
was a tough negotiator, but over the last Congress, I was reminded of 
just how determined and tough she can be when she knows she's in the 
right. Thank heavens, she and I were on the same side.
  Senator Mikulski and I worked together this year and in 2000 to 
reauthorize the Older Americans Act, and we also joined forces to fight 
against efforts to weaken the pension plans of millions of 
manufacturing retirees and employees. It was during these negotiations 
that I was glad to have a partner as tough as Senator Mikulski, and I 
thank her.
  Since 1999, I have been the co-chairman of the Senate Great Lakes 
Task Force with the senior Senator from Michigan, Carl Levin. Together, 
Senator Levin and I have fought--side-by-side--to pass laws and 
increase funding to help restore and protect the Great Lakes. We passed 
the Great Lakes Legacy Act, which has brought over $60 million to clean 
up contaminated rivers flowing into the lakes, including $25 million to 
clean up the Ashtabula River.
  Senator Levin and I also recently won Senate passage of the Great 
Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act to increase the authorization 
of grants to protect the Great Lakes, and we worked together to prevent 
invasive species from entering the Great Lakes by authorizing and 
funding a barrier in Chicago, where Asian carp might enter the Lakes. I 
thank Senator Levin for his dedication to this unique natural resource.
  I have spent a great deal of my time here in the Senate fighting for 
those who are less fortunate and who cannot fend for themselves--not 
only here in the United States, but also throughout the world. Over the 
years, I have sponsored and passed several provisions that have 
increased funding for humanitarian programs.
  I want to thank my good friend Senator Dick Durbin for working with 
me to increase funding by $100 million for the Global Fund to Fight 
AIDS and to increase funding by over $60 million for the prevention of 
mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. Senator Durbin has also 
worked with me to help provide assistance to the poorest nation in our 
hemisphere--and that is Haiti. Dick, Fran and I traveled together to 
Haiti and I thank him for joining me in efforts to provide a better 
life for the people of Haiti. He is a good and compassionate man, and I 
thank him for his work and for his friendship.
  Once again, these things would not have happened but for Mitch 
McConnell, Pat Leahy, and the people on the subcommittee who provided 
the money.
  While I am talking about Senator Durbin, I also want to thank him for 
joining me in passing legislation that guaranteed that the children of 
service members who die in service to their country don't lose their 
free health care coverage. Before our law, children of service members 
who died serving their country would lose their free health care after 
3 years. But, children whose parents were in the military and did not 
die would receive health care until they turned 21. That just wasn't 
right, and Senator Durbin agreed with me. Together, we changed that 
law. I thank him for working with me on that effort, and I thank 
Chairman Warner for working with us on this bill, it could not have 
happened without him.
  Mr. President, I also had the pleasure of working with Senators 
Durbin, Corzine, Biden, and Brownback, as we have tried help bring a 
stop to the terrible genocide that is occurring in Darfur.
  Together, we have increased funding for humanitarian relief and 
security efforts in this war-torn region, where so many innocent 
victims continue to suffer. I was proud to join my friends in this 
effort, and I know they will continue this fight.
  Mr. President, none of these important increases to these HIV/AIDS 
and humanitarian aid programs could have happened without the help of 
the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Operations 
Appropriations Subcommittee--Senators McConnell and Senator Leahy. To 
both of them and to their able staffs, thank you.
  I want to thank Senator Frank Lautenberg for working with me to set a 
national .08 blood alcohol content standard for alcohol-impaired 
drivers.
  This was a tough fight, and Senator Lautenberg is a good man to have 
with you in such a fight. I am proud to say that in 2000, we 
successfully got our bill passed and signed into law.
  Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Byrd, not only for the 
legislation that we have worked on together, but more importantly for 
the outstanding service he has given this body and this country. 
Senator Byrd and I worked together years ago to pass the Continued 
Dumping Subsidy Offset Act--a law that helped bring hundreds of 
millions of dollars to U.S. manufacturing companies that were the 
victims of illegal dumping by foreign companies. This law brought over 
$315 million to manufacturers in Ohio. Thank you Senator Byrd for the 
work we've done together and for your outstanding service to this 
Senate and to this Nation.
  Mr. President, I want to wish the best to all of my fellow Senators 
who were defeated this fall or who are retiring this year--Senators 
Frist, Santorum, Talent, Burns, Allen, Chafee, Dayton, and Jeffords. 
They are all good people and all good friends. I wish them well.
  Mr. President, I want to take a moment to say that I still miss my 
good friend Senator Paul Wellstone. Senator Wellstone was a determined 
and outstanding public servant. In 1998, Paul and I worked closely 
together to write the law that reformed and improved the effectiveness 
of job training programs. It was always a pleasure to work with Paul 
Wellstone--such a passionate and committed and dedicated public 
servant.
  Mr. President, as my colleagues all know, none of us could get 
anything done here in this body if it were not for the extremely 
dedicated, hard-working people on our staffs. I am grateful for the men 
and women who work for me now and those who have worked for me all 
through my time in the United States Senate. I didn't say thank you 
often enough, but I ant each of you to know how much I sincerely 
appreciate all you have done for me--all you have done to help the 
people of Ohio and the people of this Nation. I say to them: You have 
done such great work. You have helped people. You have improved their 
lives and, in some cases, you have saved lives through your efforts. 
You have made a difference, and you all should be very proud. I know I 
am proud of each and every one of you.
  I have been so fortunate to have had so many qualified, talented 
people working for me over the years. Time will not permit me to name 
each one, but I thank all of them collectively for their efforts.
  Thank you to all the schedulers who through the years got me where I 
needed to go and kept me on track. I would be lost, literally, without 
you.
  Thank you to all my personal assistants and executive assistants. You 
all have taken such good care of me, which, admittedly, has been tough 
to do. I have not made it easy.
  Thank you to my press team--all my past press secretaries and press 
assistants. You have helped spread the word about the good things this 
team has done for the people of Ohio. I thank you for your diligence 
and dedication.
  I thank my legislative staff--all my legislative assistants, 
professional committee staff, legislative aides, legislative 
correspondents, researchers, and writers. You have been the best team 
any Senator could ever ask for. I am proud of you. You have worked so 
hard, so tirelessly, and with such commitment. You got things done. You 
have made a difference.
  Thank you to all my current and past staff assistants, receptionists, 
and interns. You have been on the front lines every single day. You 
have heard a lot. You manned the phones. You greeted all of our 
constituents. You have helped me in countless ways. You have done your 
job so well with great respect, grace, and patience.
  Thank you to our mail team. One thing is certain in this business: 
the

[[Page 23528]]

letters and e-mails never stop coming. That is a good thing. Thank you 
for opening all the correspondence, sorting it, taking care of it, and 
making sure responses got out. I bless you for that.
  Thank you to all my past office managers and system administrators. 
You have kept my office running. Without each of you, we couldn't open 
our doors each business day. You are great.
  Thank you to my entire team in Ohio--to all my current and past 
regional directors, district representatives, staff assistants, and 
caseworkers. You are the best Ohio has to offer. I am proud to have 
worked with each one of you. I couldn't have done my job without you. 
You all know our State so very well. You have been so caring and kind 
to our constituents. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
  While it would be impossible for me to talk about each of my past 
staff members individually, I would like to take a moment to say a few 
things about some of my key advisers over the years. I will dearly miss 
working with each one of you. Bluntly, I don't know how I am going to 
get along.
  Thank you to my past and present finance team. They are the ones who 
got me here: Mary Sabin, Rachel Pearson, Amy Ford Bradley, and last, 
but certainly not least, Brooke Bodney, who has taken me through the 
last few years. You all have amazed me over the years. You have pushed 
me, prodded me, you made me do something I don't like to do: make phone 
calls and ask people for money. Please know how grateful I am to each 
one of you. Your jobs were not easy, and you did a phenomenal job.
  Thank you to my past campaign managers--Curt Steiner in 1992, Laurel 
Pressler Dawson in 1994, Josh Rubin in 2000, and Matt Carle from my 
2006 race. Curt has been my friend for over a quarter of a century. He 
is smart and political savvy. Laurel was a great campaign manager in 
1994. I will have more to say about her in a minute. Josh has been a 
permanent fixture in the DeWine family since the early 1990s. I have 
always appreciated his advice and wise counsel. Matt did a fine job 
this past election cycle. He knows Ohio very well.
  I would also like to mention my friend Chuck Greener who has been a 
friend for over 25 years. I am grateful for his friendship and wise 
counsel. He always takes my calls. He always calls back. He is there 
for me. He is there for Fran.
  Thank you to each of the individuals who have served as staff 
directors of my subcommittees. Louis Dupart served as staff director 
for our Antitrust Subcommittee. Louis always came to me with such great 
legislative ideas. He is the one who came to me with the idea of the 
Nazi war crime legislation. I will forever be grateful for that.
  Pete Levitas also served for several years now as staff director for 
the Antitrust Subcommittee. Pete is a brilliant lawyer. He has been one 
of my most dedicated staff members, and he is one of the funniest 
people I have ever met. He can always make me laugh, and we always need 
people around us, Pete, to make us laugh.
  Dwayne Sattler served as staff director for our Employment and 
Training Subcommittee. He worked tirelessly to help reform this 
country's job training program. A lot of the bill was his work product. 
I thank him for that.
  Last, but certainly not least, Karla Carpenter, who has served as the 
staff director for three of my subcommittees: Aging, Substance Abuse 
and Mental Health Services, and Retirement Security. What in the world 
will I do without her? She has been with me since 1994. She is, as she 
likes to say, ``the smartest person she knows.'' Mr. President, let me 
tell you, she is certainly one of the smartest persons I know. She got 
our Adoption and Safe Families Act signed into law, as well as the 
Older Americans Act and pensions bill. Thank you, Karla.
  I would also like to thank my able Intelligence Committee designee, 
John Pack, and my excellent former designees Jack Livingston and Jim 
Barnett. You have been great advisers.
  I have been most fortunate to have had the chance to work with three 
of the smartest, hardest working legislative directors around. My first 
Senate legislative director and chief counsel was Nick Wise. He was 
also legislative director for me in the House of Representatives. Nick 
always had a unique ability to analyze an issue and drill it down to 
the essence of the matter, and then explain it to me. Unique talent.
  My next legislative director was Robert Hoffman. He came to my office 
from Senator Larry Pressler's office, where he was the Senator's 
legislative director. Robert did a fantastic job for me. He has an 
unstoppable work ethic. He was so dedicated and had such a solid 
understanding of the legislative process. I thank Robert.
  My current legislative director is Paul Palagyi. What will I do 
without Paul, who is my go-to guy on so many things? He has been my LD 
for nearly 6 years and has built an extraordinary legislative team. 
Paul has put up with a lot. He is also an adviser for my two dogs at 
home.
  During my time in the Senate, I have had two speechwriters. My first 
Senate speechwriter was Mike Potemra. I can say with honesty Mike is 
one of the most intelligent people I know. He is just so knowledgeable. 
In his own words, Mike is an ``unusual guy.'' That he is, but he is 
also deeply endearing, and I am fortunate to have had the opportunity 
to work with him. I thank Mike.
  Now, Mr. President, I come to the point in my speech where it is not 
scripted, and that is because it is about Ann O'Donnell. Ann O'Donnell 
has been my speechwriter. Ann O'Donnell has been someone who has made 
an unbelievable difference in my life. She is a tireless worker. She is 
a compassionate person. Fran and I have traveled with Ann to Haiti. I 
have seen her compassion for the children of Haiti. She is someone who 
never stops working.
  During this past week, because I am leaving the Senate, because I 
would not be here in January, I have tried to finish giving tribute 
speeches to all soldiers and troops who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
It was an unbelievable task. Ann put it together. She got it done. We 
did 75 speeches this week. It wouldn't have happened without her. A lot 
of things I have done would not have happened without her. I thank her. 
I thank her for being who she is.
  I have had two communications directors during my time in the Senate. 
First was Charlie Boesel. Everyone loves Charlie. His personality is as 
flamboyant as his taste in colorful clothes. Charlie was a pleasure to 
work with and did a fine job for us. I will tell you, it was great fun 
to have Charlie join us for a few days on the campaign trail. Fran and 
I were so happy to see Charlie back.
  My current communications director is Mike Dawson. I first met Mike 
when I was running for Governor in 1989. Mike, whom I did not know, 
came to me and kept coming to us and said: Hey, I want to work for you, 
I want to help you on your campaign. We finally said yes, and he was on 
the campaign. He worked on my Governor's race and then my Lieutenant 
Governor's race when I joined George in his bid for Governor. Mike 
worked in the Voinovich administration, he worked for Senator 
Voinovich, and he has been my communications director for the last 5 
years. I am grateful for his wise counsel. He is my friend. I will 
always remember what he has done for me.
  I have had one State director while I have been in the Senate. That 
has been Barbara Schenck. Barbara worked with me when I was Lieutenant 
Governor. She is truly one of the finest individuals I have ever known. 
She is smart; she is articulate; she is spirited; yes, she is feisty; 
and she is passionate. She is also extremely compassionate. She has 
been my right hand in Ohio. I talked to her many days six, seven, eight 
times. I can't imagine not working with her in the days ahead, but I 
know she is going to do some amazing things. Barbara, you are the 
greatest. Thank you.
  Finally, my chief of staff, Laurel Pressler Dawson. I truly believe--
I have not checked this--that she has been chief of staff to a Senator 
and a Congressman probably longer than anybody in this body. Laurel has 
been my chief of staff since January 1983 when I entered the U.S. House 
of Representatives. We have seen and been

[[Page 23529]]

through so much together in our personal lives, as well as 
professional. She has been there during the great tragedies in my 
family. She has always been there. When our daughter Becky died, she 
was at the hospital. She was the one who came.
  She was the one person who had the ability to tell me no, and I would 
listen to her. Everybody needs someone who tells them ``no'' and 
listens to them. I have been privileged to have her be my most trusted 
adviser for over two decades. She always just got it done. She managed 
my organization with great skill. I cannot thank her enough for all she 
has done for me and for my family.
  As my colleagues in the Senate are well aware, Fran and I have a big 
family. We are blessed. We are parents of 8 children, now the 
grandparents of 10 grandchildren. I would like to take a couple minutes 
to talk about my family before I end.
  First I thank my oldest child, my son Patrick. I always turned to Pat 
for his thoughts on policy and politics and have so appreciated his 
help in my campaigns and his keen advice and his input. Pat's three 
boys--Michael, Matthew, and Brian--are a delight. They are a delight 
every day. They were a delight to have on the campaign trail. I thank 
each of them for all their hard work and their efforts.
  I thank my daughter Jill, her husband Bill, and their children, 
Albert, Isabelle, David, Caroline, Justin, and newborn Mary Frances. 
Jill and Bill and the kids walked in so many parades this summer and 
fall and throughout the years, as all our kids have. I can't count 
them. They have always been so helpful and supportive. I thank Bill for 
his expertise on issues regarding persons with disabilities. He has 
helped me understand the needs of those with disabilities. He has 
helped me do more to help them.
  Our son John recently completed his Ph.D. in ecology. Fran and I are 
so proud of him. He and his wife Michele and their sweet little 
daughter Josie Jean have recently moved to West Virginia, where John is 
now working on river restoration.
  Our son Brian is engaged to Kalie Spink. They are planning their 
wedding for this coming April. Fran and I are so looking forward to 
that and looking forward to having Kalie join our family. Brian works 
in the best job probably in the family. He works for a minor baseball 
team, the Carolina Mudcats. I envy him every day.
  I thank my daughter Alice for the sacrifices she made this year to 
help with our campaign. She is a law student at Ohio Northern 
University--my alma mater--and took the fall semester off to work on 
the campaign where she was in charge of coalitions. Thank you, Alice. 
You did a great job.
  Our son Mark is a sophomore at the College of Wooster, where he runs 
cross-country and track. Mark is a good person, a person who is very 
compassionate. For his Eagle Scout project, he traveled to Haiti, a 
place my colleagues know is very important to Fran and myself. He 
planted trees there. He worked with Father Tom Hagan and helped with 
the reforestation project.
  Our daughter Anna is a freshman in high school. She is a runner like 
all her brothers and sisters. She is a sweet, quiet, caring young 
woman. She has put up with a lot this past year with her mom and dad 
being gone quite a bit of the time, going back and forth between 
Washington and Ohio. But she has handled it so well. We are very proud 
of her.
  To each of my children and grandchildren, Mr. President, I simply 
want to say thank you and I love you.
  As an only child growing up, I was dating Frances in high school and 
I used to love going over to her house because she had a big family. 
There was always something going on. I want to thank Fran's brothers 
and sisters and their families for all they have done for us over the 
years, their friendship and love and help and support. We are so very 
fortunate to have all of them in our lives. I want to thank Fran's 
parents, especially, Bill and Mary Struewing. You are great. No one 
could have a better mother-in-law and father-in-law. You have put up 
with me since Fran and I started dating in high school, for a long 
time, and for that I am very grateful.
  Of course, I want to thank my parents, Dick and Jean DeWine. I have 
talked about my dad on the Senate floor many times in regard to the K-
Company and what he did during World War II. I could not have asked for 
two more wonderful parents. They always believed in me. They gave me my 
interest in politics. They gave me their values. They gave me their 
work ethic, and I owe them everything, and I love them very much.
  Finally, every day I think of our daughter Becky who died in 1993. 
Becky was a compassionate, honest, caring young woman who would have 
done so much with her life. I think of her every day. The things that 
Fran and I do for children, we do in her memory.
  In conclusion, I love Ohio. I love our country. I see a great future 
for both my State and for America. I am an optimist. My wife Fran says 
that anybody with 8 kids by definition is an optimist, and I am an 
optimist. Throughout my career in the Senate and after I leave, I will 
continue to care about the health and education and welfare of our 
kids. I will continue to care about stopping the spread of AIDS around 
the globe. I will continue to help improve the lives of our world's 
most impoverished men, women, and children. I will continue to care 
about highway safety and the importance of making our cars and roads 
safer. I will continue to care about making our communities safe for 
our families, safe from crime, safe from terrorism.
  As I leave the Senate, however, I leave behind unfinished business, 
as we all do, and I encourage my colleagues to continue the work we 
shared on so many different issues.
  Just this week I introduced the Pediatric Medical Device bill with 
Senator Dodd, a bill that will help ensure that our children have 
access to lifesaving medical devices that are designed specifically for 
small bodies. I hope someone will take up that cause.
  I thank my colleague Ted Kennedy for working with me, and I was 
working with him, on the bill to give the Food and Drug Administration 
the authority to regulate tobacco. It is long past due. It needs to 
happen. It has not passed, but it will. I know it will pass. I know it 
will pass, because it is the right thing to do.
  Two days ago I introduced a bill to make cars and roads safer for our 
families, especially our children. That bill would simply direct the 
National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration to research new ways 
to keep pregnant women and their unborn children safer in our cars. I 
hope someone will take that up as well.
  I will finally conclude my remarks by thanking the most important 
person in my life, my bride of 39 years, Fran. As most people know, I 
would be literally lost without her. She takes care of me. She takes 
care of our family. She is our rock. Fran is my partner in all things. 
She is my best friend. She is the passion of my life. She is my love. 
She is everything to me. We met in the first grade. It took me until 
the seventh grade to talk her into going out on a date with me, and it 
took me 7 more years to convince her to marry me. I am a persistent 
man. We got married between our sophomore and junior years at Miami. We 
tell people it was a productive 4 years at Miami. We ended up with two 
degrees and two children by the time we left. I could not have done any 
of this without her by my side.
  She has been through every one of my campaigns. She has done 
everything. Thirty ice cream socials for 2,500 people who just dropped 
by her house on a Sunday. She has done that for 30 years. She does 
anything and everything. She is smart, she is witty, she is organized, 
and she is very compassionate. She accomplishes more than anyone I 
know, and she never stops working. I love her more than anything else 
in the world. Someone said to me earlier this year that if I lost my 
reelection bid, it wouldn't be so bad, because even if I lost my Senate 
seat, Fran would still be there by my side. They were right. And for 
that, I am very fortunate.

[[Page 23530]]

  Mr. President, my colleagues, my friends, come visit us in Ohio. That 
is where we will be. After this month, we will be in our home in the 
county where we grew up, the county where we were born, the county 
where we live. We will be home in Greene County. Come see us. You are 
always welcome.
  I thank the Chair for his indulgence, and my colleagues.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I know the hour is late and we have other 
speeches to give, but I wanted to comment briefly to my friend from 
Ohio. Senator DeWine and I came to the House of Representatives 
together in 1982. We have careers that are similar. He served as 
Lieutenant Governor for the State of Ohio, I served as Lieutenant 
Governor of the State of Nevada. He served as a Member of the House of 
Representatives. I served as a Member of the House of Representatives. 
He and I served as Senators. Our backgrounds are also the same in that 
we are trial lawyers. I have heard Senator DeWine speak on a number of 
occasions about his days of being a prosecutor.
  I also want the record to reflect that I approach my brief remarks 
here tonight keeping in mind our days as trial lawyers, where you could 
go into a courtroom representing your client, whether it be the State 
or an individual, a corporation or an individual, and you would give 
that client your very best, as would your opponent. But when that trial 
was over, you shook hands and went on about your business.
  I have also had the same experience as Mike DeWine. I have lost a 
statewide election, and I know that is not pleasant. But I want Mike to 
know that I admire and respect the work he has done. His wife has been 
so thoughtful and kind to my wife. We all witnessed these speeches that 
he has given. Many more people have died in Iraq and Afghanistan from 
Ohio than Nevada because it is such a heavily populated State, and 
Mike's tenacity in directing his attention to each of those families is 
something that will always be remembered here in the Senate.
  Mike, I want you to know that I want us to have the same relationship 
as you leave the Senate as if we were trying a case, and one won the 
case and one lost. We would walk out and shake hands. That is how I 
feel about you, someone who has been with me and I with you for 25 
years, as Members of Congress and doing other things; we certainly have 
a relationship. I am happy to call Mike DeWine my friend.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, from time to time over the last 12 
years, new Senators have come up to me as they have come to the body 
and asked the question: How do you do this job? And I usually have 
responded: Well, what do you want to be? Do you want to run for 
President? Do you want to be on the Sunday shows? Do you want to pass 
legislation? A surprising number of them have said they came here to 
pass legislation, important legislation for America that would make a 
difference. To every single one who said that, I said: Watch Mike 
DeWine. Go study Mike DeWine. The most prodigious, the most effective, 
the most extraordinary legislator in my time here in the Senate. Quiet, 
effective, a consensus builder. You see by those who are on the floor 
here tonight that he has friends on both sides of the aisle whom he has 
worked with, cultivated, and built the kind of relationships that make 
a Senator effective.
  So I would say to my good friend, the senior Senator from Ohio, he is 
a Senator's Senator, the perfect Senator, the master of the art of 
making a difference. Farewell.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I join in the chorus of praise and thanks 
to my friend--and I mean that; the word is thrown around here--Mike 
DeWine. We came to this job together. My very first memory of Mike and 
Fran DeWine was when we were both wearing tuxedos and Fran and Loretta 
were in evening gowns, and we were at our first dinner at the White 
House with President Ronald Reagan as Congressmen-elect. The year was 
1982. My wife brought her little handbag, and Fran brought even more to 
that White House dinner, that formal dinner that evening. She brought a 
basket and in that basket was her brandnew baby who came with her to 
the White House dinner. It was the first time I ever met Mike and Fran. 
I still have vivid memories of that moment. I think it was a little 
daughter in the basket, if I am not mistaken, who might be up here. She 
was on her best behavior then, as she is now.
  Another memory I have is when Mike DeWine asked me to join him on a 
trip to Haiti. I saw a side of my colleague from the Senate which many 
of us have not seen. Fran came along on the trip with bags full of 
sporting equipment and toys and clothes and food, everything they could 
jam into this small airplane to bring over to give to some of the 
poorest kids in the world. We went to the Cirque du Soleil, the poorest 
section of Port-au-Prince. If you haven't seen that poverty, you 
haven't seen poverty. It is as bad as it gets. We worked our way back 
to a little cinderblock school, the Becky DeWine School, named after 
Mike and Fran's late daughter. I watched Mike as he walked through that 
school and sat down with these little kids, and each one of them poured 
out to him the love and respect and thanks for all that he had done to 
provide this basic little school for them.
  That wasn't the end of the day, for sure. We were then off to an 
orphanage where we were trying to help a nun, if I am not mistaken, 
with a building full of squalling babies, trying to get a little help 
so she could take care of them. Then he took me on a famous road trip 
where he wanted to show me one of the rural projects. It knocked out 
almost all the fillings in my teeth, it was such a wonderful road, and 
we had one of these glorious CODELs that you read about, bouncing 
around in a vehicle to go out and visit people who are at the lowest 
ranks of poverty in the world, with babies with red hair from their 
anemia and malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies. That is where Mike 
and Fran DeWine spent their time away from the Senate. They left a 
lasting impression and a legacy there. I am happy we are going to try 
to continue that legacy even tonight, I hope, or tomorrow as we bring 
this session to an adjournment.
  Time and again, when I was up trying to find a vote, desperately 
trying to find a vote for global AIDS, for many other causes, I would 
look across the aisle and hope Mike DeWine was sitting right where he 
is sitting now, because I knew if I could get over there, I had a 
chance. Every time I would sit down with him, Mike would say: This is 
going to be tough. He used to always like to say: I am going to have to 
pray on this, which meant it was going to have to be a pretty tough 
political sell for him and for his colleagues. He never let me down. 
More importantly, he never let down some of the poorest people on 
Earth. He came through every single time.
  Mike, you have got the heart of gold that we all dream about. I have 
lost a few elections in my time. It is a sad moment. But as you reflect 
on your public career and how much good you have done for so many 
people, your name and your legacy will live on. I am honored to count 
you as a friend.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, my heart is full as I think of Mike 
DeWine and his service here in the Senate. I didn't know Mike when I 
first came here. I didn't know anything about his visits, I think 13 or 
14, to Haiti, his concern for the poor. He seems to have always been 
motivated by a moral compass which never wavered from those who needed 
him, and who weren't getting help from others. It is ironic in the best 
sense that he and I have cooperated on so many pieces of legislation 
that had to do with children and families and adoption and all kinds of 
things. It is ironic because in a sense he followed the father, Mr. 
President, of our Presiding Officer, in that role. You go to Mike's 
office, Mike would come to this Senator's office, legislation would 
appear, it would pass--and almost invariably get very little attention. 
That was not the purpose or the interest of the Senator from Ohio. He 
wanted to do good.
  I think of his interest in children and I think that is a moral 
compass. If you

[[Page 23531]]

have that in life and you are not going to let go of that in life, then 
that fixes you, as the Senator from Illinois indicated, in the legacy 
of the Senate. I also think that his interest in Haiti says more about 
him than words can possibly measure. What drives a man and his wife to 
go to that country where most of us have never been? Most of us have 
the image of it that the Senator from Illinois described but know not 
of it directly by experience. Vacations, free times, are valuable to 
Senators and their families. Yet the Senator from Ohio took his time 
and went to Haiti, year after year, and fought for their problems and 
said not a word to anybody. I found out about it not from the Senator 
from Ohio but from somebody completely different. I found out more 
about it and then deepened my knowledge and my respect for the Senator 
from Ohio.
  Finally, I want to say I have the privilege of serving with him on 
the Intelligence Committee. The Intelligence Committee is serious 
business. The Senator from Ohio rose to the peaks of discretion, 
determination, simply trying to find the truth. He wasn't out to get 
anybody, to punish anybody, to embarrass anybody. He wanted to get the 
facts and then from that make his decisions through his votes.
  National security on the one hand, children and all of their 
problems--not just education but children with all of the most complex 
problems of what happens when you get to be 18 and you have 3 years to 
get to be 21. The father of the Presiding Officer and I worked on that. 
Virtually every problem that can afflict children, unattended by most 
politicians, was taken to heart by the Senator from Ohio who had the 
advantage of many years of being a prosecutor.
  I look upon the Senator from Ohio as absolutely extraordinary, as the 
majority leader indicated. He is an extraordinary Senator, an 
extraordinarily fine person, a friend in whom I could put complete and 
absolute trust, who only was here to do his work for the people and 
causes he cared about--most of all Ohio but then special groups 
probably unknown except to his conscience.
  I wish you well, sir.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, could I ask what is the parliamentary 
situation?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate is in morning business. The Senator 
from Maryland is recognized.

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