[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 24873]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    COMMENDING SENATOR MEL MARTINEZ

  Mr. ENSIGN. Mel Martinez came to the United States from Cuba at the 
age of 15 as part of a humanitarian effort called Operation Peter Pan. 
We are all familiar with the character of Peter Pan he is careless and 
does not want to grow up. He is sometimes selfish and often conceited. 
It is ironic because Mel is the opposite of all of those attributes.
  Mel Martinez arrived on our shores with no family and only the hope 
for a better life. He had to grow up incredibly fast, and he did so 
with great determination. He worked hard to learn English, graduate 
from college and law school, and build a legal career and solid 
reputation.
  And then he decided to selflessly give back to the community and 
country that had given him so much. He rose to the highest levels of 
our government as the 12th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
under President George W. Bush. He served from 2001 to 2003, an 
especially trying time in our Nation's history. But his agency's focus 
on rebuilding Lower Manhattan provided necessary healing for a city and 
its citizens.
  In 2005, Mel was sworn in as the first Cuban American U.S. Senator. 
It was a privilege to serve with him and to join together on many 
legislative efforts. Most significant was our work on expanding freedom 
and democracy for the people of Cuba. Cubans have been stifled for too 
long by a brutal communist dictator. They deserve a voice and an 
opportunity for a better life. Nobody knows that better than Mel 
Martinez, and I look forward to continuing our fight to support pro-
democracy efforts.
  Most recently, I was pleased to work with Mel on legislation to 
promote U.S. tourist destinations abroad. Florida and Nevada miss out 
on vital international tourism dollars because the United States has no 
entity to promote our amazing tourism opportunities to other countries. 
I am confident that the Travel Promotion Act, cosponsored by Senator 
Martinez, will pass the Senate shortly and will represent another 
accomplishment by my former colleague to improve the lives of his 
constituents and fuel success for all Americans.
  I thank Mel Martinez for his decades of public service in Florida and 
here in our Nation's Capital. He proved to us all that the hope for a 
better life combined with determination and the limitless opportunities 
here in America can make any dream come true.

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