[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8643-8644]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING FRANK R. LAUTENBERG

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, we all lost a dear friend when Frank 
Lautenberg passed away a little over a week ago. He was a friend, he 
was a colleague, he was a mentor. In the last Congress I had the 
opportunity to sit next to him on the floor of the Senate. Our desks 
were back there in the last row. I had a chance to sit next to him. I 
tell you--you have heard this many times--but when we had those vote-
aramas Frank kept me very much engaged. His sense of humor, his ability 
to use contemporary activities with a sense of humor kept us all going. 
We are certainly going to miss that humor.
  I also sat next to him on the Environment and Public Works Committee. 
He was a fierce defender of public health and the environment. I am 
going to certainly miss his advocacy. He was there to protect clean 
air. He chaired that subcommittee and took on every special interest in 
order to protect our children and to protect our communities.
  He was a fierce defender of the environment, recognizing we all have 
a responsibility to pass on the environment in a better condition to 
future generations.
  His story is a story about the success of America. Here we have a 
child of an immigrant family that came to this country and started anew 
with virtually no resources. It is very appropriate that I am talking 
about Frank Lautenberg on a day in which the immigration reform bill is 
on the floor of the Senate.
  I know if Frank were here, he would be talking about his own family 
and his own experiences and why the passage of this immigration bill is 
so important for America's future. Yes, we are going to do the right 
thing for the values of America, but we are also going to help 
America's economic future and our security in the future. He grew up in 
a family of poverty. His father died when he was very young. He had no 
choice after high school but to enter the military. But he wanted to 
enter the military because he wanted to serve his country. So he went 
and served our country in World War II. As we know, he was the last 
surviving Member of the Senate who served in World War II. He did an 
incredible service to our country under extremely difficult 
circumstances. He came back to the United States and this country 
offered him the GI bill opportunity for education. But for that GI bill 
Frank Lautenberg never would have had those educational opportunities. 
He took advantage of it and went to business school. He used that to 
develop a business that was innovative and creative. There was a need 
out there to deal with personnel costs by businesses. Frank Lautenberg 
developed, with his partners, a way in which that service could be 
provided in the most cost-effective way.
  What did that do? That made this country more efficient, more 
effective. What that did was create a lot of jobs for this country. It 
also made Frank Lautenberg a fairly wealthy person. That is the 
American way: innovation to grow our economy, to create jobs, and to 
benefit by your own innovation. Frank Lautenberg took advantage of that 
and succeeded in a great way.
  But he was not satisfied with that. He wanted to give back to his 
community. So he served his community. He

[[Page 8644]]

served his community in many ways. There is a whole host of community 
organizations to which he provided leadership, his own personal time, 
in order to help people. He did that. Jewish Federation--he became a 
national leader there to help communities all over the world. Frank 
Lautenberg did that as a private citizen because he thought it was the 
right thing to do.
  But then he decided he wanted to serve his community in a different 
way, so he ran for the Senate, got elected to the Senate, served two 
different terms in the Senate. He is the only Senator who was both the 
junior and senior Senator twice from the same State. But he never 
forgot his roots. He never forgot where he came from. He has a long 
list of accomplishments, from helping refugees come here to America, to 
helping keep the air we breathe on airlines safe for our children. The 
list is voluminous. We have already talked about it. He will be missed 
by all.
  Our thoughts and prayers are with Bonnie, who we all know so well, 
and his entire family. To the people of New Jersey and the people of 
this Nation, Frank Lautenberg was an extraordinary person who made a 
lasting mark. He will be missed by all. We all know we are better 
because of having served with him.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________