[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11793-11794]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO DOUG AURAND

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want to take a moment to thank a friend 
of mine who is leaving public service soon after more than four decades 
of service in Winnebago County, IL. Doug Aurand won his first political 
race in 1970 when he was elected Winnebago County treasurer. Truth be 
told, he wasn't supposed to win that race. The voters of Winnebago 
County had not elected a Democrat to a countywide position in 138 
years. Apparently, nobody told Doug. He ran as a write-in candidate and 
campaigned in his first election like it was the most important race he 
could possibly run.
  He filled out the campaign schedule every day by knocking on every 
door and talking to every voter he could find. When the votes were 
counted on

[[Page 11794]]

election night, Doug Aurand made history by becoming the first 
Democratic treasurer in Winnebago County, IL. He was reelected seven 
times.
  Doug Aurand was born in Dixon, IL, hometown of Ronald Reagan, and he 
was every bit as proud to be a Democrat as President Reagan was to be a 
Republican. But Doug never allowed his political affiliation to 
influence the way he treated his constituents. When you walked into the 
county treasurer's office in Rockford, you weren't Republican or 
Democrat; you were a taxpayer who deserved straight answers, good 
service, and respect. That is how Doug saw it, and that is why voters 
reelected him to the treasurer's office many times.
  Two stories will tell you what kind of treasurer he was. One of the 
first actions Doug took as county treasurer was to put the local banks 
on notice that they would have to bid for Winnebago County's bank 
business. No more awarding the county's banking business on the basis 
of friendship and political connections. Whichever bank offered the 
highest interest rates would get the job. Competitive investing brought 
tens of millions of dollars and higher interest payments to the county, 
a real savings for taxpayers.
  Doug also whittled down his staff. When he came in there were 30 
people. By the time he left, they were down to 9, and their service 
never suffered.
  Another example of the sort of treasurer Doug was, in the late 1970s 
an elderly man came in the office to pay his tax bill, and he pulled 
out a big bag of coins. He was literally counting his coins to pay his 
tax bill. Doug went up to say hello to him, and he noticed that the 
coins were all silver--mercury dollars and silver dollars--valuable 
collector's items.
  Doug told the man his coins were worth more than face value, and he 
didn't just stop there. He arranged for a professional appraisal of the 
coins. In the end, not only was the elderly man able to pay his tax 
bill, but he also took home a nest egg. That is the kind of 
conscientious public servant Doug Aurand is.
  In 1999 Doug announced he was stepping down after 28\1/2\ years as 
county treasurer. At that time he was in a life-and-death struggle with 
smoking-related cancer and his prognosis was not good. He defied the 
odds, beat cancer, resumed his political career, winning election as 
Harlem Township supervisor and a Winnebago County board member.
  After 10 years, he lost his reelection bid to the county board last 
November, and he will step down from the Harlem Township board next 
month. It will be shortly after his 70th birthday, leaving behind 40 
years and 8 months of public service.
  Doug Aurand grew up on a farm in rural Winnebago County. He was one 
of six kids, including three foster children. His family raised 
miniature horses. Doug's dad also worked in the factory. Doug served in 
the Air Force during the Vietnam war, came home and started working as 
a mail carrier. That is when he got the political bug.
  Federal law prohibits public employees from running for office, so 
Doug gave up the security of the Postal Service job for the insecurity 
of public life.
  He is a passionate supporter of ordinary working people and the 
American labor movement, and he considers himself a fiscal conservative 
when it comes to saving taxpayers money. Ask Doug's friend who his 
political hero is in life, and he will tell you one name: Hubert 
Horatio Humphrey. Doug is a happy warrior. He loves politics, shaking 
hands, talking to voters, and debating the issues.
  The high point of his year was at the Winnebago County Fair where he 
spent hours and hours talking to every one of the visitors at the fair.
  Doug gives back to the community in ways other than politics. Only 2 
percent of the boys who enter the Boy Scouts ever make it to Eagle 
Scout. I was in the other 98 percent, Doug was one of those in the 2 
percent. He was an Eagle Scout leader for more than 30 years. He has 
been a leader and friend to hundreds of Eagle Scouts. Doug and his wife 
Julie have attended scores of graduations and weddings of Doug's former 
Eagle Scouts.
  He also speaks frequently to young people about the health dangers of 
smoking, which he learned through his own life experience. Cancer cost 
Doug Aurand a small part of his tongue. That would have been a loss for 
any of us who fancy ourselves to be public speakers, and for Doug it 
presented some special challenges. But Doug's problem wasn't in his 
expression and diction; it was in his mastery of malapropisms. Everyone 
who knows him has a favorite example of Doug's creative way with words. 
One common ``Dougism: In speaking about events that are over and done 
and can't be changed, he often refers to ``water over the bridge'' or 
``water under the dam.'' Another friend says his favorite is the way 
Doug pronounces the word ``protege.'' He calls it ``proto-joy.''
  Because of Doug's decades of service as a public officeholder, Eagle 
Scout leader and friend to so many, Doug Aurand does indeed have 
``proto-joys'' all across Winnebago County and beyond.
  Doug and his wife Julie are going to retire in Florida, but their 
influence will continue to be felt in Illinois for years to come. 
Julie's famous donkey cookies--and she always had a box waiting for me 
when I got up to Rockford--are certainly going to be missed by this 
Senator.
  In closing, I wish Doug a happy 70th birthday and happy retirement. I 
thank Julie, the Aurand children, David and Christine, and the 
grandchildren, Bill and Tom, for sharing their husband, father, and 
grandfather with the people of Illinois and Winnebago County. Doug 
Aurand's service to America has made a real difference.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.

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