[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 16459-16460]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING PAUL WELLSTONE

  Mr. FRANKEN. Mr. President, I rise today to remember and celebrate 
the life of my friend, Senator Paul Wellstone.
  Paul led a lot of fights in the Senate on behalf of working families 
and those without a voice. He didn't back down even when a fight seemed 
unwinnable. He told voters exactly what he believed even when it wasn't 
popular. It was by taking such positions that Minnesotans, whether they 
agreed with him or not, always knew where he stood.
  In the final days of the 2002 campaign, he told Minnesotans:

       I don't represent the big oil companies, I don't represent 
     the big pharmaceutical companies . . . they already have 
     great representation in Washington. It's the rest of the 
     people that need it. I represent the people of Minnesota.

  But Paul also knew full well that standing up to powerful interests 
could have steep political costs. His career in the Senate was 
bookended by votes on going to war in Iraq. Both of his votes were 
unpopular, but Paul stood on principle, not on politics. His maiden 
speech, the first speech he gave as a Senator, was in opposition to the 
first Gulf war, and one of the last Senate votes he cast was against 
the second war in Iraq.
  He was facing a tough reelection challenge at the time of his vote, 
and he knew it might cost him his seat, and he told friends so. But to 
have voted otherwise, he said, would have violated the principles that 
guided his career. So he voted his conscience and put political 
considerations aside, just as he did throughout his time in public 
office.
  Then, just 11 days before election day, his plane went down, taking 
not only Paul and Sheila, his wife, but their daughter Marcia, campaign 
staffers Tom Lapic, Mary McEvoy, and Will McLaughlin, as well as pilots 
Richard Conry and Michael Guess.
  Since coming to the Senate, I have learned how well regarded Paul was 
around the Capitol, not only by Senators from both sides of the aisle 
but also by Capitol police officers, whom he knew by name, and the 
elevator operators, for whom he always made time.
  Paul's legislative work continues to make a profound difference in 
the lives of millions of Americans. Among his accomplishments are his 
pioneering efforts, along with Republican Senator Pete Domenici of New 
Mexico, on mental health parity, which ensures that copays and 
deductibles for addiction and mental health services are on par with 
payments for other medical services. The law was jointly named for Paul 
and Senator Domenici, and it passed in late 2008, 6 years after Paul's 
death.
  After I was seated in 2009, one of the first things I did was to work 
with Paul's son David on getting the final rules written to implement 
Wellstone-Domenici. That work inspired me to later push for investments 
in school mental health services, to help students and their families 
who need those services.
  Paul also led the David-and-Goliath effort to stop bankruptcy 
legislation that favored big banks and credit card companies over 
working families. Despite going up against a wide range of special 
interests with huge lobbying power and lots of money, he successfully 
held off passage of the bill during his lifetime.
  He also took on special interests when he stood against oil drilling 
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He believed, like I do, that 
the long-term consequences of endangering the home of indigenous people 
and a pristine habitat for wildlife far outweighed ``a short-term 
speculative supply of oil that will not . . . help consumers.'' Because 
of Paul and others in the Senate, the Wildlife Refuge, at least for 
now, remains pristine.
  Paul also had an amazing and special relationship with Sheila, who 
became an important partner in his Senate work. She became a leading 
advocate for survivors of domestic violence, spending years raising 
awareness about the issue and the need to address its causes. Former 
Senator and Vice President Joe Biden said Sheila deserves as much 
credit as any lawmaker for passage of the landmark Violence Against 
Women Act. Since the law's enactment, incidents of domestic violence 
have been reduced significantly. It was a landmark achievement.
  My constituents remember Paul fondly. They leave notes and mementos 
for him at the quiet memorial site honoring him just off of Highway 53, 
near Eveleth, MN. They leave them for his wife Sheila, too, and for the 
others who died with them exactly 15 years ago tomorrow, when their 
plane tragically crashed just miles from the Eveleth-Virginia Municipal 
Airport.
  I have been to the memorial site, and I have seen how deeply and 
personally Paul touched people in Minnesota and across the country. He 
inspired them not only as a U.S. Senator for 12 years but also as a 
Carleton College professor who encouraged a generation of students to 
take action in their communities. He did so as a fiery organizer who 
stood up for Minnesota farmers and for working families and insisted on 
giving them a voice and a seat at the table. He never lost the 
tenacious spirit that led him to be a collegiate wrestling champion--he 
is in the college wrestling hall of fame--and he brought that same 
approach to standing up for Minnesotans. He stood strong against 
injustice, even when it twice meant being arrested. It wasn't because 
he wanted to break the law, but because he thought it was necessary to 
bring about change for the better.
  He also had a special way of connecting with people. Former Senator

[[Page 16460]]

Tom Harkin said at a memorial service for Paul that he ``made a miner 
up in the Iron Range know he was as important . . . as the president of 
the United States.'' That is how Paul voted in the Senate, too, putting 
ordinary Minnesotans ahead of politics, money, and influence.
  The last time I saw Paul was at a 2002 campaign event in St. Paul, 
just weeks before he died. He was locked in a bitter struggle for 
reelection. Despite being in a grueling fight for his political life, 
the first thing he said to me was, ``How's your mom?'' That was Paul.
  I had just come from my mom's nursing home in Minneapolis, where she 
had a picture of Paul on her wall that said: ``Phoebe, keep fighting.'' 
She wasn't doing very well. I told Paul that she had dementia--some 
sporadic dementia--and that day I couldn't have a conversation with 
her. He put his hand on my shoulder and said: ``Touch means so much. 
Touch means so much.''
  The next day, I went to the nursing home, and I took my mom out into 
the garden, in a wheelchair. She was having a bad day again, but I put 
my arm around her as we sat. It was a beautiful day. I don't know if it 
meant anything to her, but it sure meant everything to me.
  Paul's life and his work meant a lot to me too. His examples as a 
tireless, passionate champion for working families, for veterans, for 
farmers, and for those who simply needed a voice have inspired my own 
time in the Senate. I keep Paul's picture and his Senate name plate in 
my office behind me as a reminder at my desk every day. Every day I 
serve, I think back to Paul's words. This is what Paul said:

       Politics is not about power. Politics is not about money. 
     Politics is not about winning for the sake of winning. 
     Politics is about the improvement of people's lives.

  While Paul isn't here with us today, his legacy lives on in so many 
ways. It lives on in the generations of students and activists he 
trained and inspired in Minnesota. It lives on in the policies he 
fought for here in the Senate, for access to mental health care, for a 
clean environment, and for making sure that working families get a fair 
shot. It lives on in the countless lives that he touched, like mine and 
my mom's.
  Paul made us all better, and I hope his legacy will continue to 
inspire us well into the future.

                          ____________________