[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 13884-13885]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE LATE SENATOR PAUL DOUGLAS COVERDELL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACK KINGSTON

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2010

  Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of the 
Late Senator from Georgia, Paul D. Coverdell, who died 10 years ago 
last Sunday.
  I considered Paul a dear friend and continue to hold his wife Nancy, 
who is a constituent of mine, in high regard.
  One thing about Paul is that one may have agreed or disagreed with 
him but one always respected his energy level, his knowledge of the 
issue, and the way he was so focused on attacking problems.
  I first learned about Paul Coverdell in 1974 when my mother sent me a 
clipping from the Atlanta Journal & Constitution titled ``The Gospel 
According to Paul.'' In it, I read of a young guy running an 
unconventional campaign for the State Senate in Atlanta. Rather than 
just working the good old boys barbecue circuit and going to the back-
room power brokers, Paul went directly to the voters. He stood on the 
side of the road waving signs and knocking on doors. He went directly 
to the unnamed and untitled citizens to say, ``I am Paul Coverdell. I 
would like to be Georgia's next senator. Here is where I stand. Do you 
have any questions?''
  Over the next several decades, Paul's hard work brought him through 
the ranks. He eventually became one of the most well-connected and 
influential members of the United States Senate but he never forgot the 
common man for whom he came to Washington to fight.
  Throughout his career, Paul's energy left all who met him in awe.
  When Paul was first elected to the Georgia State Senate, he was one 
of just three Republicans in the body. When I joined the General 
Assembly just over a decade later, there were only nine. Paul quickly 
rose through the ranks and became the Senate Republican Leader. Despite 
the numerical odds against him, Paul refused to be shut out of the 
arena of ideas.
  At that time, Governor Joe Frank Harris introduced a number of bills 
dealing with DUI laws. The conventional wisdom was that each time you 
increased the penalty, the number of offenders would go down but Paul 
bucked the conventional wisdom.
  Knowing that a lot of the offenders were addicted to alcohol, Paul 
introduced and got passed legislation that created a component of 
mandatory assessment to see if they were addicted. If so, Paul's bill 
provided a requirement that they seek treatment.
  As the eleventh Director of the Peace Corps, Paul promoted farming in 
Third World countries, economic growth and development, and medical 
help. Indeed, he saw the formula for world prosperity meant world peace 
and it was great and important for the United States of America to be 
leading the way. As Director, Paul sent the first Peace Corps 
volunteers to Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
  Paul went into the most difficult and remote places and countries and 
said, ``How can we help with health care? Are there better farming 
techniques out there? Is there a way to get cleaner water? What can we 
do for the children?''
  Paul also knew the value of bringing the world to America. That's why 
he created the ``World Wise Schools'' program which connected 
classrooms in the United States with Peace Corps volunteers around the 
world. During his tenure as Director, 5,000 classrooms nationwide 
benefitted from the program.
  I remember hosting a coffee in my living room for Paul during his 
campaign for United States Senate. In the middle of a detailed 
discussion, my daughter Ann who was four years old at the time came 
running into the living room and crashed through the circle of adults 
listening to a very dignified U.S. senatorial candidate. She had been 
playing out in the backyard with all the other children, and she said, 
``Mom and Dad, I feel of the slide, and I hurt my heinie and all the 
other kids are laughing at me.''
  The room full of grown-ups fell silent; and all eyes went to the 
little girl who was at the foot of this soon-to-be U.S. Senator, a very 
dignified and somewhat sophisticated man and a tad old-fashioned in his 
mannerisms, and he looked down at her and smiled. It said it all. 
Everything was fine, and the little girl got herself back together and 
ran back out to the yard with the rest of the kids.
  Madam Speaker, that was the grace and charm of Paul Coverdell. Here 
is a man with a world view but who could look at a 4-year-old girl and 
say, ``everything is okay.'' That is what made Paul Coverdell special. 
It was the ``Coverdell Dignity'' and Paul carried that dignity and that 
gentlemanly manner with him everywhere he went.
  As a United States Senator, Paul fought tirelessly for Georgia's 
veterans and for our military bases especially Fort Stewart in my 
district. He was also an amazing advocate for agriculture--the backbone 
of Georgia's economy. In my South Georgia district, many farmers 
referred to him lovingly as ``Senator Cloverdale.''
  Madam Speaker, Paul Coverdell had the uncanny ability to not just 
have an opinion on every issue but to have a thought, an idea and a 
consequential action. He was a man of action.
  I learned a lot from Senator Paul Coverdell. One thing I learned, 
although he was one of the fiercest Republicans I've ever known, Paul 
showed everyone by instruction to never put politics over policy.
  I remember being a young member of the General Assembly when then-
State Senator Julian Bond stepped down to run for the congressional 
seat now held by the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Lewis. Paul Coverdell 
was one of the men in the Georgia Senate who stood up and gave a great 
farewell speech for Mr. Bond.
  I remember watching that and saying, ``here is a liberal Democrat and 
the conservative Republican leader of the State. What is he doing?'' I 
knew there was a lesson to be had. Bipartisanship and civility is 
important and you should never let politics rule over policy.
  A week before he died, Paul called me at home on a Sunday. We had an 
issue in my district with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, 
and we kind of got off path. He said, ``Jack, I think we are a little 
out of synch here. I just want to make sure that you and I are okay on 
this.''
  That was typical Coverdell. I think so many of us, including me, 
would have said, ``Alright, you are way off base. I am right and you 
are wrong.'' Not Paul, he made it so that it was just so easy to get 
along.
  In closing, I want to say one last thing about Nancy Coverdell--the 
love of Paul's life. Paul spoke to me about Nancy often. He bragged on 
how much better she was than him with real estate. It is a rare man who 
really privately, one-on-one, takes the time to brag

[[Page 13885]]

about his wife to another man. It is a sign of a great marriage, a 
great husband and true love. I have the honor of representing Nancy in 
Congress and I truly appreciate her sharing Paul's life with me, the 
State of Georgia and our great Nation.
  Paul Coverdell was a good Republican, a great strategist, a great 
ideas man. He had a world view, unmatched civility and integrity and 
was a great organizer. He was energetic, a great communicator and a 
loyalist. In short, Paul Coverdell was a statesman and someone whose 
example I try to follow to this day.

                          ____________________