[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16664-16665]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING THE DEATH OF JOHN GLENN, FORMER SENATOR FOR THE STATE OF 
OHIO AND THE FIRST INDIVIDUAL FROM THE UNITED STATES TO ORBIT THE EARTH

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 640, submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 640) recognizing the death of John 
     Glenn, former Senator for the State of Ohio and the first 
     individual from the United States to orbit the Earth.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 640) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in today's Record 
under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I appreciate the fact that the Senate has 
just adopted a resolution honoring John Glenn. In fact, if you look at 
this resolution, at the end of it, it indicates that the adjournment 
today will be an adjournment in further respect to the memory of the 
late John Glenn. I appreciate the fact that the Senate has done that as 
well.
  I spoke on the floor yesterday regarding my friend John Glenn, and my 
colleague Sherrod Brown and I have introduced this resolution. Senator 
Brown also spoke with regard to John Glenn's incredible life history. 
This is a true icon whom we have lost, sadly, this week at the age of 
95.
  He was a true hero in so many respects. Long before he was an 
astronaut, he was a hero as a marine aviator. He actually flew 59 
combat missions in World War II. He also flew combat missions in the 
Korean war and was highly decorated. After that, he was a test pilot. 
In fact, he broke the transcontinental speed record as a test pilot 
before becoming an astronaut.
  As an astronaut, we all know the story of Friendship 7, a capsule 
about the size of two or three of these desks. You can see it at the 
Air and Space Museum. He somehow was able to get inside of this capsule 
and orbit the Earth at a time when the United States was in a space 
race with the Soviet Union, and his splashing down in the Atlantic 
Ocean off the coast of the Caribbean was considered to be a major 
change in terms of the U.S. positioning on space and our ability to 
show that yes, U.S. technology and innovation could work.
  He then came to the U.S. Congress to speak to a joint session of 
Congress. Imagine that. At age 40, you have an astronaut speaking to a 
joint session--something normally reserved for heads of state.
  He then was successful in business and decided that he actually would 
want to try his hand in politics. After his military service, he 
decided to try public service and of course became a Senator from the 
State of Ohio. I had the honor, and I am humbled, to be in the seat he 
once held.
  A couple of weeks ago, I called Senator Glenn to ask him to walk down 
this aisle with me on January 3 of next year in just a few weeks while 
I was being sworn in for the second time in his seat. I will say he was 
not just reelected, he was reelected with resounding numbers. At the 
end of the day, he ended up being the longest serving U.S. Senator ever 
in the history of our State.
  After this amazing career in the military, as an astronaut, and then 
serving in the Senate, he ended up being the longest representative 
ever from the Buckeye State. What an amazing guy.

[[Page 16665]]

  After he left, he went to the Ohio State University and asked if they 
would like to start a leadership institute to encourage public service 
called the Glenn Institute, and it later became the Glenn School. I 
actually taught there. Before running for the U.S. Senate, I taught 
four courses there; I co-taught with a wonderful professor there at the 
Glenn School. I also joined the board of advisors at John Glenn's 
request, and I am still on that board. In fact, we had a meeting in 
October, only about 6 weeks ago, where John Glenn presided. He chaired 
the meeting, as he always does. He was in good humor. He was energetic. 
He was energized about a new project--a leadership institute for young 
legislators to help encourage even more people to not just get into 
public service but to gain the skills to be better public servants. 
That is what really excited him.
  I had the privilege of getting to know him through the work we did 
also in the U.S. Senate and in the House of Representatives. I was in 
the House, he was in the Senate. One of the passions he had was to 
ensure that we had good government in this country, and that included 
not having the Federal Government send unfunded mandates down to the 
State and local governments. So I was the House author on the 
Republican side, he was the Senate author on the Democratic side, and 
that legislation was passed to curb unfunded mandates and went to the 
desk of President Clinton for signature. I got to be in the Rose Garden 
with Senator Glenn for that signing ceremony. What an honor to be with 
him. He was a guy who was willing to take on tasks like that, even 
when, perhaps, it wasn't as popular in his party as it was in ours.
  So I stand here today as someone who has benefited from the model of 
service that he has shown our country. I will say, too, that my wife 
Jane and I benefited from the model Annie Glenn and John Glenn have 
shown. I believe they were married for 76 years, and they knew each 
other when they were children. Never was Annie Glenn far from his 
side--an incredible woman in her own right, a brave and courageous 
woman who overcame some obstacles in her life that became very public. 
Her stuttering, and her ability to get over that disability, gave hope 
to so many people. Young people particularly all over the country 
continue to look to Annie Glenn as a great hero. But Annie Glen was not 
just at his side; they were partners in everything, and she was the 
indispensable partner.
  Our condolences today from the entire U.S. Senate to Annie Glenn, to 
the Glenn family, whom he loved so dearly, and to our State of Ohio, 
which has lost a true icon, a true American hero.
  Tom Wolfe wrote a book called ``The Right Stuff.'' John Glenn was one 
of those Friendship astronauts who were part of the right stuff. Today, 
as we adjourn, we pay tribute to John Glenn, who had the right stuff 
and who showed us how someone, as a public servant, can make a 
difference and encourage others to do the same.

                          ____________________