[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 10132-10133]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      RESOLUTIONS SUBMITTED TODAY

  Mr. SASSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now 
proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate 
resolutions, which were submitted earlier today: S. Res. 516, S. Res. 
517, S. Res. 518, S. Res. 519.
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolutions.


                              S. Res. 516

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, Senator Corker and I have come to the 
floor having submitted a resolution honoring the life and achievements 
of Pat Summitt, the former University of Tennessee basketball coach who 
died this week. She coached for 38 years and became the winningest 
coach--man or woman--in Division I history.
  I had the privilege of going to the White House with Coach Summitt in 
April of 1989. I was president of the University of Tennessee at the 
time, and she had just won the national championship. President Bush, 
The first President Bush, recited the usual statistics about Pat 
Summitt's remarkable coaching career. The President said: ``And in 13 
years she brought Tennessee to the final four 10 times, winning it 
twice.'' This was in 1989, a long time before she retired. ``Later on 
we're going down to that fountain over there that you all can see, to 
see if literally she can walk on water.''
  That was what President Bush said of Pat Summitt.
  So when it came time for Coach Summitt to speak--the winningest 
basketball coach in our country's Division I history--this is what she 
said:

       Mr. President, we're honored and delighted to be here. I am 
     extremely proud of our academic success. We have won two 
     national championships in the last 3 years, but the most 
     important statistic for our team and our program is the 100-
     percent graduation rate, of which we will hold our heads very 
     proudly.

  Pat Summitt did everything by the book, and she made sure her players 
did as well. She had some of the most remarkable athletes in any 
program in the country. One of those is Candace Parker, who is still 
playing in professional women's basketball. If I remember this right, 
there was finally a game when Candace got to play near her hometown in 
a Midwestern city. So the whole town turned out--all of her friends, 
all of her family. Everybody had come to see a young woman who was then 
the most celebrated women's basketball player in the country. But 
Candace Parker had missed a curfew the night before by a few minutes, 
and so Pat Summitt sat her on the bench for the first half while her 
family, her friends, and everybody had come to see her play watched. 
Everyone understood that's how Pat Summitt did things.
  She began her career when she was 22. She was paid $250 a month for 
that. She was a graduate student at the University of Tennessee. For 
many, women's basketball consisted still of three women on one end of 
the court and three on the other. The NCAA didn't even sponsor a 
national championship game at that time. Pat really invented many 
aspects of the women's college game, and what she didn't invent she 
taught to the rest of us.
  It will be hard for people outside Tennessee to appreciate how much 
she became a part of us. She literally taught us the game. She was so 
up-front and personal about it all. She introduced us to her players. 
She told us about their great abilities and successes. She told us 
about their failures and when they weren't living up to their 
potential. She invited us to go into her locker room at halftime and 
listen to her fiery halftime speeches. She made time for every single 
person who touched her. There are countless stories about that. But the 
best wanted to play for Pat Summitt because she was the best.
  Tamika Catchings, still playing and retiring this year--one of the 
great players in women's college basketball--was the women's college 
basketball player of the year. She was in high school when Tennessee 
already had the best team and the best players, but Tamika wanted to go 
to Tennessee to play for Pat Summitt, to play with Chamique Holdsclaw 
because she wanted to be a part of the best team.
  Tennesseans are very, very proud of Pat Summitt. We know that when 
the nation saw her, they might think a little better of us because she 
was one of us. She was a great friend, not just a friend of mine and 
our family, but thousands of Tennesseans.
  Today, we honor her life. We honor that she lived that life by the 
book, that she taught so many young women how to live their lives by 
the book, that she brought out the best in so many of them and inspired 
the rest of us to think a little bigger for ourselves.
  Four years ago at a young age, 60 years of age, suddenly she had 
Alzheimer's disease. She confronted that just as well, and set an 
example for the rest of us.
  So for Pat Summitt, this is a day to honor a woman of style, a woman 
of substance, a farm girl who grew up to be the winningest coach in the 
country and who by her example and by her life brought out the best in 
her players and set an example for the rest of us.
  Tennesseans are very, very proud of Pat Summitt. We know that when 
the Nation saw her, they might think a little better of us because she 
was one of us. She was a great friend--not just a friend of mine and 
our family but of thousands of Tennesseans. We honor her life. We honor 
that she lived her life by the book, that she taught so many young 
women how to live their lives by the book, that she brought out the 
best in so many of them and inspired the rest of us to maybe think a 
little bigger for ourselves as well.
  Four years ago, at a young age--about 60, 59 years of age--suddenly 
she had Alzheimer's disease. She confronted that, as well, and she set 
an example for the rest of us in fighting through that. For Pat 
Summitt, this is a day to honor a woman of style, a woman of substance, 
a farm girl who grew up to be the winningest college coach in the 
country and who, by her example and by her life, brought out the best 
in her players and set an example for the rest of us.
  I have joined Senator Corker in submitting this resolution, which the 
Senate will adopt this evening.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I am so glad to join the senior Senator 
from our State, who set such an example in the Senate in recognizing 
and honoring

[[Page 10133]]

Pat Summitt. Basketball has lost a legend, and Tennessee has lost one 
of its own beloved daughters. There is perhaps no one who left with a 
more indelible mark on his or her profession than Pat. In her 38 years 
as head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers, she 
amassed a historic record of achievement and blazed a trail for women 
across our country.
  A farm girl from Henrietta, TN, Pat attended the University of 
Tennessee at Martin, earning a bachelor's degree and leading the 
women's basketball team to two national championship tournaments. 
Shortly after graduating, she accepted a position at the University of 
Tennessee in Knoxville as head coach of the women's basketball team at 
22 years old. The rest, they say, is history.
  In those early years, Pat washed the jerseys, drove the team van, and 
was paid $250 a month. Thirty-eight years later, she walked off the 
hardwood as the winningest NCAA Division I basketball coach in history, 
with 1,098 victories, 8 national championships, 32 combined 
Southeastern Conference titles, and zero losing seasons. If you asked 
Pat, there was only one number that she would point to: 161--161 Lady 
Vols who had the honor of wearing the orange and white over the span of 
her career. As she once wrote, ``I won 1,098 games, and eight national 
championships, and coached in four different decades. But what I see 
are not the numbers. I see their faces.''
  Her influence on their lives was felt as much off the court as it was 
on it. Every player who completed her eligibility at the University of 
Tennessee under Pat Summitt graduated. That is remarkable--every single 
player in 38 years. Think about that. The impact she had on her players 
at the University of Tennessee, the Knoxville community, and the game 
of basketball will be felt for years to come.
  In closing, as we look back on Pat's life, I will echo the words of 
my friend and former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer, who said: 
``Coach Summitt did not want a pity party. She said, `If you're going 
to have one, I'm not coming.'''
  Today, I join all Tennesseans in celebrating her life--celebrating 
the victories, the titles, the relationships, and celebrating a life 
well-lived and a fight hard fought. I extend my thoughts and prayers to 
her son Tyler, the Lady Vol family, and all those who were touched by 
her truly remarkable life.
  I yield the floor.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I want to add my voice of sadness and 
regret for the loss of Pat Summitt. I extend my deepest sympathy to her 
family, friends, and the entire Lady Vols community. Pat Summitt was a 
trailblazer for all American women. I am honored to be a cosponsor of 
Senators Alexander and Corker's resolution recognizing Coach Summitt's 
incredible and inspirational life.
  America lost a true champion this week. It was not just that Pat 
Summitt was a competitor. It was that she was the competitor. Pat won 
eight NCAA championships, had 18 Final Four appearances, and won 84 
percent of her games--more wins than any other woman or man basketball 
coach in NCAA history.
  Like so many athletes, her love of basketball started when she was a 
young girl. Growing up in Tennessee, she was always playing basketball 
with her three older brothers in their family's barn house. Rather than 
discourage and end their daughter's interest, her parents moved their 
family to a school district that actually had a girl's high school 
basketball team. They showed how important support can be to a young 
girl with a dream.
  Her passion only grew and followed her to college at the University 
of Tennessee at Martin. But she went without an athletic scholarship 
because women weren't offered them yet. Still, education had always 
been important in her family--she had never missed a day of school--and 
Pat graduated in 1974. Degree in hand, she was asked to be the 
assistant coach of Tennessee's women's team at the university's 
flagship campus in Knoxville. Then fate quickly took over, making her 
head coach the same year, at the age of 22.
  Pat never took the easy road--it was never offered. Her starting 
salary as coach was $250, and she also taught classes, recruited 
players, and drove the team van to every away game--all while studying 
for a graduate degree. But to her, it was worth it for the game. It was 
worth it to teach her players and prove to the doubters and naysayers 
just what her Lady Vols could accomplish.
  Pat was tough, there is no doubt about it. Her players recall her 
practices with pride. They also remember the sore muscles and pure 
exhaustion. But Pat knew nothing in life came easy, let alone winning.
  Her determined outlook comes from her father, who used to remind her, 
``It's not done till it's done right.'' Well, Pat certainly did 
something right. In 1976, her Lady Vols made it to the Final Four. At 
the same time, Pat overcame a knee injury to play for the U.S. Women's 
Olympic basketball team and won a silver medal.
  Neither incredible finish satisfied her. She wasn't done yet. Eight 
years later, she coached the U.S. Women's Basketball Team and won the 
gold. Three years after that, she led Tennessee to a national 
championship--the first of the eight she would win.
  But Pat knew success had to come on and off the court. That was why 
she made all her players sit in the first three rows in every class. 
Unexcused absences were not allowed. Again, she got it right, as all of 
her players who finished athletic eligibility also graduated with a 
degree--more than 100 women athletes in total.
  Education was part of basketball, too. To Pat, the game wasn't just a 
game. It was a way to learn life's lessons, to teach young women what 
they can accomplish with hard work, determination, and belief in 
yourself
  While she was often a tough coach, she was always a source of 
encouragement. She once wrote to a player starting her first game, 
``Winning is fun, sure. But winning is not the point. Wanting to win is 
the point. Not giving up is the point. Never letting up is the point . 
. . The secret of the game is in doing your best. To persist and 
endure, `to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.'''
  Pat was a living legend that dedicated herself to the game and to the 
women who played the game. She was a fighter, an Olympian, a Medal of 
Freedom recipient, a mother to her son, Tyler, and an educator and role 
model to generations of young women.
  She faced stereotypes, skepticism, and hurdles. She persisted, she 
overcame, and she inspired others to do the same.
  We will all remember and miss Pat Summitt because she always did her 
best, she won, and she led so many others to victory with her.
  Mr. SASSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and the motions 
to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolutions were agreed to.
  The preambles were agreed to.
  (The resolutions, with their preambles, are printed in today's Record 
under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')

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