[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 23449]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO PAUL WEYRICH

 Mr. DeMINT. Mr. President, I would like to take a few minutes 
to honor Paul Weyrich, a dear friend, and a man who has spent the past 
44 years fighting to protect the freedom and liberty enjoyed by 
Americans today. Throughout his adult life, Paul Weyrich has actively 
advocated for conservative policies based on our founding principles. 
From his days as a young college Republican and foot soldier in Barry 
Goldwater's 1964 Presidential campaign to his tireless efforts on and 
around Capitol Hill, Paul has been an instrumental force in the 
conservative movement of both yesterday and today. With courage and 
conviction, he has declared the importance of family values, religious 
freedom and limited government.
  History will judge us not on our titles but on the lasting ideas we 
advance and institutions we create. I have the honor of chairing the 
Senate Steering Committee, which owes its creation in 1974 to an idea 
born in the mind of an enterprising staffer named Paul Weyrich. After 
helping to found the Senate Steering Committee, Paul went on to found 
the Heritage Foundation with Edwin J. Feulner in 1973. Paul also 
founded the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Committee for 
the Survival of a Free Congress, CSFC, which later became the Free 
Congress Foundation. Paul now serves as chairman and CEO of the Free 
Congress Foundation. And Paul's leadership, uniting religious 
conservatives of all faiths, has made the social conservative movement 
one of the most effective movements in modern history.
  Finally, I would also have to add that not only has Paul dedicated 
his life to serving the conservative movement, his wonderful family, 
and his Nation, but he has also dedicated his life to serving God as a 
leader in his church.
  Senators and conservative leaders will come and go. Most of us will 
be barely remembered. But years from now when a new crop of 
conservatives is charged with advancing our cause, the sword they will 
wield will be the institutions left to them by previous generations. 
Many of them, from the numerous coalitions to the Steering Committee to 
the mighty Free Congress Foundation and the Heritage Foundation, owe 
their creation to Paul Weyrich.
  I want to personally express my gratitude to Paul for his friendship 
and for all that he has done to move the conservative cause forward. 
Paul's hard work and dedication have inspired me and countless others 
in the fight to protect liberty and to secure America's future.

                          ____________________