[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 24477-24478]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    COMMENDING SENATOR MEL MARTINEZ

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, it is always a bittersweet moment when we 
have to say goodbye to a colleague who is retiring from the Senate. We 
are sorry to see them go, but we are also very appreciative of all they 
have brought to our deliberations during their years of service to the 
people of their home State and the Nation.
  Mel Martinez is such a person--the kind who makes the Senate the 
great deliberative body that it is, for Mel has a great story to tell 
of his life and how he came to the United States to pursue his own 
version of the American dream.
  If you would have told Mel when he was young that he would someday 
serve as an elected official in the U.S. Government, I am not sure he 
would have believed you. He began his life in a small city in Cuba, 
under the repressive regime of Fidel Castro. At the age of 15 he 
escaped and began to pursue his destiny in the United States. At every 
stage of his life he was determined to do everything he could to make a 
difference. Looking back, I think it's clear he has succeeded beyond 
his wildest dreams.
  From the time he first arrived in the United States, Mel was grateful 
for the opportunities that were available to him, and he was determined 
to give something back to show his appreciation for them.
  He began in his own backyard when he served as mayor of Orange 
County. As a former mayor myself, I know how difficult a job that can 
be. For Mel, it was a chance to make the lives of his neighbors and 
fellow citizens better and that became his focus and his top priority.
  He did a good job and quickly earned the respect and support of his 
fellow townspeople. He also caught the attention of then President-
elect George Bush who was looking for someone to serve in his Cabinet 
who had experience dealing with housing issues and the problems that 
were facing our cities and towns. That is something that Mel had been 
dealing with in Florida, so he became the first Cuban American 
appointed to a President's Cabinet when he was named to serve as our 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
  Soon after Mel was sworn in he found himself in the middle of a 
challenge as great as any that had ever been faced by a Cabinet 
Secretary before. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 
September 11, Mel was assigned the responsibility of working on the 
reconstruction of lower Manhattan.
  Then, having served on both the local and national level, Mel then 
decided to take on another challenge--representing the people of 
Florida in the Senate. Mel proved to more than up to the task as he has 
taken on a variety of issues and served on several different 
committees. Through it all, he has worked hard to put his principles 
and values into practice every day and he has a great deal to show for 
his service to the people of Florida in the Senate.
  In the years to come, I will always remember Mel's remarkable life 
story that stems from the years he spent in Cuba living under a 
dictatorship. They were a matter of great interest to me when I was a 
student, but for him, it was his life. While I had only read about and 
watched the drama unfold during my years at George Washington 
University, Mel had lived it. It was a time that helped to shape his 
character and mold his destiny and make him appreciate the great gift 
of citizenship that far too many of us take for granted.
  Mel has also impressed me as a man of great faith who takes his 
relationship with God very seriously. He shared his belief with us at 
one of our Prayer Breakfasts and he impressed us all with his great 
sincerity and his unshakeable belief that God had placed him where He 
needed him and that was why he was in the Senate. He saw it as an 
opportunity to serve God and the people back home in Florida, as well 
as those he left behind in Cuba and many more just like them all over 
the world.
  Too often when we say goodbye to one of our fellow members, we forget 
that there is just as much life outside of the beltway as there is 
inside it. Our focus on Washington and our work in the Senate sometimes 
makes us think that this is the only place where we can pursue our 
dreams and make a difference in the world around us. Mel is proof 
positive that there are many ways that we can make this a better world 
and in the years to come, as this chapter in his life ends and another 
begins, I have no doubt we will see Mel continue his efforts to address 
the problems of this world to ensure that those who have lived for too 
long in fear and oppression in Cuba and all over the world will someday 
claim the rights and freedoms we all cherish as their own.
  Good Luck, Mel. I hope you and Kitty enjoy the years to come. 
Together you have made a great team and we know there is still much 
more to come in this great adventure of your lives. Good luck and God 
bless.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I join my colleagues in appreciation and 
admiration of Senator Mel Martinez.
  Mel lived the first 15 years of his life under communist dictatorship 
in Cuba. That experience gave him a special appreciation for the 
blessings of liberty. As Mel's own career in public service took him 
from Florida to Washington, he never forgot the people living under 
totalitarianism in his homeland. And he never wavered in his conviction 
that the people of Cuba deserved the same rights as the rest of us, 
especially the rights to choose our leaders, worship as we please, and 
live in freedom.
  Mel distinguished himself as a lawyer in central Florida, then won 
elective office as mayor of Orlando, and was appointed by President 
Bush to serve as his first Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 
Secretary Martinez helped the people of lower Manhattan rebuild after 
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and he worked to expand 
opportunities for home owners nationwide. Mel was proud that he was the 
first Cuban-American to ever serve in a President's Cabinet.
  Mel was also the first Cuban-American to serve in the U.S. Senate. In 
this Chamber, he raised his voice to strengthen our national defense, 
especially the Navy's shipbuilding program. He supported the 
development of America's natural resources in an environmentally 
responsible way. He had a heart for victims of Alzheimer's disease and 
their families, and supported greater Federal research funding to help 
find a cure.
  Senator Martinez and I shared a concern about waste, fraud, and abuse 
in Medicare and Medicaid. So earlier this year, he and I introduced 
legislation to do something about it. The Seniors and Taxpayers 
Obligation Protection Act or the STOP Act would give Federal agencies 
greater tools and authority to

[[Page 24478]]

detect waste, fraud, and abuse before they happen. The STOP Act has 
sponsors on both sides of the aisle, and I believe its provisions 
should be a part of our efforts to reform our health care system.
  Mel served less than a full term in the Senate, but he has helped 
shape legislation that will govern our Nation for years to come. He and 
his wife Kitty are now back home in central Florida, and Sandy and I 
wish them both the very best.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise to remember a good friend who is 
leaving the Senate after a career of public service, Senator Mel 
Martinez.
  Mel Martinez came to the Senate in 2005 after serving as Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development under President George W. Bush. Senator 
Martinez was the first Cuban American to serve in the U.S. Senate. Born 
in Cuba, Senator Martinez arrived in the United States at age 15.
  During his tenure as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Mel 
Martinez addressed the National Congress of American Indians, pledging 
to strengthen the government to government relationship with tribes in 
the Federal Indian programs administered by his agency. He was keenly 
interested in ameliorating the third world housing conditions that 
exist in the Native villages of rural Alaska. Alaska's tribe and tribal 
housing authorities benefit greatly from Federal funding available 
under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act 
and other Federal housing programs, which were strengthened under 
Senator Martinez' leadership at HUD.
  Despite the fact that the States we represent are as far away 
geographically as States can be, we have always been good friends.
  I was proud to serve with Senator Martinez on the Energy and Natural 
Resources Committee. Senator Martinez was a close ally on energy 
issues, and he was always a fierce advocate for the interests of his 
Floridian constituents. We shared a common interest in promoting 
Federal energy efficiency standards, responsible nuclear waste storage, 
and we worked together on the 2005 Energy Policy Act. He was a tough 
bargainer on the more recent 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act 
as he aggressively pursued the interests of his constituents with 
respect to Federal Outer Continental Shelf energy development.
  I wish Mel Martinez and his wife Kitty the best of luck in their 
future endeavors.

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