[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 385-386]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING PRESIDENT GERALD RUDOLPH FORD

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the hour 
of 12 noon having arrived, the Senate will now proceed to the 
consideration of S. Res. 19, honoring President Gerald Rudolph Ford, 
which the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 19) honoring President Gerald Rudolph 
     Ford.

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the 
resolution.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. The following Senators were necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. 
Brownback), the Senator from North Carolina (Mrs. Dole), the Senator 
from New Hampshire (Mr. Gregg), the Senator from Texas (Mrs. 
Hutchison), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain) and the Senator from 
Ohio (Mr. Voinovich).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from North Carolina (Mrs. 
Dole) and the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander) would have voted 
``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Biden), 
the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye), the Senator from South Dakota 
(Mr. Johnson), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), and the 
Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Menendez). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 88, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 1 Leg.]

                                YEAS--88

     Akaka
     Allard
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown
     Bunning
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Tester
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--12

     Alexander
     Biden
     Brownback
     Dole
     Gregg
     Hutchison
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Lautenberg
     McCain
     Sanders
     Voinovich
  The resolution (S. Res. 19) was agreed to.
  The preamble, as modified, was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, as modified, reads as follows:

                               S. Res. 19

       Whereas Gerald Rudolph Ford, the 38th President of the 
     United States, was born on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska;
       Whereas Gerald Ford was raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 
     where he was active in the Boy Scouts, achieving the Eagle 
     Scout rank, and where he excelled as both a student and an 
     athlete during high school;
       Whereas after graduating from high school, Gerald Ford 
     attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he 
     played on the university's national championship football 
     teams in 1932 and 1933, and was honored as the team's most 
     valuable player in 1934, before graduating with a B.A. degree 
     in 1935;
       Whereas Gerald Ford later attended Yale Law School and 
     earned an LL.B. degree in 1941, after which he began to 
     practice law in Grand Rapids;
       Whereas Gerald Ford joined the United States Naval Reserve 
     in 1942 and served his country honorably during World War II;
       Whereas upon returning from his service in the military, 
     Gerald Ford ran for the United States House of 
     Representatives and was elected to Congress;
       Whereas Gerald Ford served in the House of Representatives 
     from January 1949 to December 1973, winning reelection 12 
     times, each time with more than 60 percent of the vote;
       Whereas Gerald Ford served with great distinction in 
     Congress, in particular through his service on the Defense 
     Appropriations Subcommittee, of which he rose to become 
     ranking member in 1961;

[[Page 386]]

       Whereas in addition to his work in the House of 
     Representatives, Gerald Ford served as a member of the Warren 
     Commission, which investigated the assassination of President 
     John F. Kennedy;
       Whereas, in 1965, Gerald Ford was selected as minority 
     leader of the House of Representatives, a position he held 
     for 8 years;
       Whereas after the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew 
     in 1973, Gerald Ford was chosen by President Richard Nixon to 
     serve as Vice President of the United States;
       Whereas following the resignation of President Nixon, 
     Gerald Ford took the oath of office as President of the 
     United States on August 9, 1974;
       Whereas upon assuming the presidency, Gerald Ford helped 
     the nation heal from one of the most difficult and 
     contentious periods in United States history, and restored 
     public confidence in the country's leaders;
       Whereas Gerald Ford's basic human decency, his integrity, 
     and his ability to work cooperatively with leaders of all 
     political parties and ideologies, earned him the respect and 
     admiration of Americans throughout the country;
       Whereas the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act 
     for Fiscal Year 2007 recommended that America's next nuclear-
     powered aircraft carrier, designated as CVN-78, be named as 
     the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, in honor of our 38th President; 
     and
       Whereas Gerald Ford was able to serve his country with such 
     great distinction in large part because of the continuing 
     support of his widely admired wife, Elizabeth (Betty), who 
     also has contributed much to the nation in many ways, and of 
     their 4 children, Michael, John, Steven, and Susan: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate notes with deep sorrow and solemn 
     mourning the death of President Gerald Rudolph Ford.
       Resolved, That the Senate extends its heartfelt sympathy to 
     Mrs. Ford and the family of President Ford.
       Resolved, That the Senate honors and, on behalf of the 
     nation, expresses deep appreciation for President Ford's 
     outstanding and important service to his country.
       Resolved, That the Senate directs the Secretary of the 
     Senate to communicate these resolutions to the House of 
     Representatives and transmit a copy thereof to the family of 
     the former President.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.

                          ____________________