[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5507-5508]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING BOB BENNETT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, last Wednesday, the Senate lost one of its 
Members, our friend and colleague Bob Bennett. He passed away at his 
home in Arlington, VA.
  There is a whole lot I can say about Bob Bennett. He was my friend. 
Landra and I were close to him and his lovely wife Joyce. As Senator 
McConnell said, he was a three-term Senator. He was a scholar, author, 
and celebrated businessman. He took over this company, Franklin Quest--
those little books that were so popular a number of years ago. It had 
four employees. Within 7 years, that company had 1,000 employees, and 
its income was $100 million a year. Some of you will remember the 
little Franklin day planner we all had because of Senator Bennett.
  When I think of Senator Bennett, courage comes to mind. He was one of 
the most courageous Senators with whom I served. He was a conservative 
Republican from a conservative State, Utah. A majority of the time he 
voted that way.
  But Bob also firmly believed neither political party nor their 
differing ideologies had a monopoly on good governance, and he spoke 
about this openly. This is what he said during his farewell speech on 
the Senate floor:

       The Democrats are the party of government. Going back to 
     their roots with Franklin Roosevelt, they come to the 
     conclusion that if there is a problem, government should 
     solve that problem. The Republicans are the party of free 
     markets, and they come to the conclusion that if there is a 
     problem, it should be left to the markets to solve it. And 
     they are both right. That is the thing I have come to 
     understand here. There are some problems where government is 
     the solution--but not always. There are some problems where 
     free markets do provide the solution--but not always.

  Bob Bennett practiced what he preached. In the fall of 2008, the 
global markets were in a free fall. The American economy was reeling. 
Something needed to be done.
  President George W. Bush turned to Congress for help. Where else 
could he turn? We, the Congress, passed the Troubled Asset Relief 
Program, or TARP, which prevented the collapse of our Nation's largest 
financial institutions. Despite the pressure from his own party, 
Senator Bennett voted for TARP. He voted to save our country and our 
economy. It was perhaps the most courageous vote ever cast in the 
Senate.
  It didn't sit well with the tea party, which was very strong in Utah. 
They used the State's Republican primary to remove Senator Bennett from 
office. It

[[Page 5508]]

is a very unusual procedure there. If it had been any other State in 
the Union, Bob Bennett would still be in the Senate.
  But in spite of all of that, Bob was blessed with an unshakeable 
moral compass. He knew what he did was right, and he had no regrets. 
Time and a resurgent American economy had vindicated Senator Bennett's 
vote on TARP and other things.
  I count myself very fortunate to have served with this good man. I 
will forever be grateful for him--this honorable, decent person who was 
my friend.
  Today my thoughts are with his family, his wife Joyce, who is an 
accomplished flutist. She is a professional flute player.
  On codels I took with Senator Bennett--I remember one where we left 
here and went to Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador--over the great lands that 
we passed and over the waters that we passed, often she would come and 
entertain us with her flute. She is a marvelous woman. I want her to 
know that Senator Bennett will be missed by the Senate, the people of 
Utah, our country, and me.

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