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TRIBUTES TO HON. PETER G. FITZGERALD 

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Peter G. Fitzgerald 

U.S. SENATOR FROM ILLINOIS 

TRIBUTES 

IN THE CONGRESS OF 

THE UNITED STATES 

UNUM

E PLURIBUS


congress.#15
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Peter G. Fitzgerald 


97208.001
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 2005

S. DOC. 108–24 

Tributes 

Delivered in Congress 

Peter G. Fitzgerald 

United States Senator 

1999–2005 

÷ 

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Compiled under the direction 

of the 

Joint Committee on Printing 

Trent Lott, Chairman 

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[ iii ] 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Biography .................................................................................................. v 

Farewell ..................................................................................................... xi 

Proceedings in the Senate: 

Tributes by Senators: 

Allard, Wayne, of Colorado ........................................................ 16 

Allen, George, of Virginia .......................................................... 17 

Boxer, Barbara, of California .................................................... 7 

Burns, Conrad, of Montana ....................................................... 5 

Byrd, Robert C., of West Virginia ............................................. 3 

Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota ................................................. 4 

Daschle, Tom, of South Dakota ................................................. 7, 19 

Dayton, Mark, of Minnesota ..................................................... 7 

Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut ....................................... 11 

Dole, Elizabeth, of North Carolina ........................................... 13 

Domenici, Pete V., of New Mexico ............................................ 15 

Durbin, Richard J., of Illinois ................................................... xvii 

Feingold, Russell D., of Wisconsin ............................................ 15 

Frist, William H., of Tennessee ................................................ 6 

Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah ........................................................... 17 

Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas ............................................... 16 

Inhofe, James M., of Oklahoma ................................................ 9 

Kyl, Jon, of Arizona ................................................................... 6 

Lautenberg, Frank, of New Jersey ........................................... 7, 8 

McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky ................................................. 12, 19 

Nelson, Bill, of Florida ............................................................... 8 

Sessions, Jeff, of Alabama ......................................................... 9 

Shelby, Richard C., of Alabama ................................................ 5 

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Biography 

PETER G. FITZGERALD was elected to the U.S. Senate on 

November 3, 1998, at age 38. He was the first Republican in 

Illinois to win a Senate race in 20 years and was the only 

Republican challenger in the country to defeat an incumbent 

Democratic Senator in the 1998 election cycle. For several 

years he was the youngest Member of the U.S. Senate. 

Senator FITZGERALD served on the Commerce; Governmental Affairs; Agriculture; Small Business; and Aging Committees. He chaired the Governmental Affairs Subcommittee 

on Financial Management, the Budget, and International Security; the Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs 

and Product Safety; and the Agriculture Subcommittee on 

Research, Nutrition, and General Legislation. 

A former commercial banking director and general counsel, 

Senator FITZGERALD chaired or played a leading role in investigations of Enron and corporate accounting fraud, mutual fund industry abuses, chronic underfunding of employee 

pensions, the deteriorating condition of the Pension Benefit 

Guaranty Corporation, conflicts of interest in the insurance 

brokerage industry, high fees in 529 college savings programs, and waste, fraud, and mismanagement in various 

Federal agencies. He enacted several measures to improve 

the financial accountability of government agencies and departments by expanding audit requirements and extending 

the reach of the Chief Financial Officers Act. 

In 2004, Senator FITZGERALD proposed comprehensive, bipartisan mutual fund reform legislation to protect the household, college, and retirement savings of the 91 million Americans who invest in mutual funds. Endorsed by consumer 

groups and termed the ‘‘gold standard’’ of industry reform, 

FITZGERALD’s legislation helped prompt the Securities and 

Exchange Commission to undertake a vigorous review of mutual fund oversight and regulation. By the end of 2004, the 

SEC had promulgated final rules addressing 17 of the provisions laid out in FITZGERALD’s legislation, including provisions on director independence, fund governance, fee and 

compensation disclosure, and a prohibition of directed brokerage. In its December 2004 issue, Money Magazine wrote 

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that ‘‘individual investors [will] lose one of their feistiest defenders next month with the departure of U.S. Senator 

PETER G. FITZGERALD.’’

Senator FITZGERALD built a reputation as an independent 

voice for Illinois. He consistently backed efforts to control 

spending and reduce taxes, but at the same time voted for 

environmental and consumer protections. In early 2003, he 

passed legislation temporarily extending Federal unemployment benefits. 

Continuing work on issues that occupied his attention as 

a State senator in Illinois, FITZGERALD vigorously promoted 

competitive bidding in government contracts and opposed 

taxpayer giveaways to politically connected interests. In 

2000, he sought to impose Federal competitive bidding guidelines on a large government-funded project in his own State. 

For 2 days, in a Senate speech the Champaign News-Gazette 

called ‘‘a wake up call for Illinois taxpayers,’’ FITZGERALD

brought national attention to numerous instances of cronyism and corruption in Illinois State government. 

Senator FITZGERALD steadfastly fought political corruption 

in both political parties. In 2001, with support from President Bush, the Senator succeeded in installing professional 

U.S. attorneys, in each of the three judicial districts in Illinois, who were completely independent of the State’s politics. 

His efforts drew bitter opposition from local Democrats and 

Republicans, but won widespread editorial and public support and were ultimately followed by corruption indictments 

and trials that rocked Illinois politics. The Chicago Tribune 

said: ‘‘[FITZGERALD’s] resolve to attack the influence peddlers, 

the patronage powers, the well-dressed thieves who rip off 

taxpaying commoners, has given Illinois something enduring.’’

Throughout 2003 and 2004, Senator FITZGERALD aided efforts led by Senator John McCain to save taxpayers an estimated $5 to $6 billion by stopping an Air Force plan to lease 

100 tanker jets at inflated prices from the Boeing Company. 

High-ranking Members of Congress, together with Boeing’s 

large network of lobbyists, tried repeatedly to ram the deal 

through, but McCain, with FITZGERALD as virtually his only 

congressional ally, fought back hard and ultimately won 

when it became apparent that the tanker deal was the product of corrupt negotiations between the Air Force and Boeing. 

From his perch on the Commerce Committee, FITZGERALD

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[ vii ] 

tion’s air capacity shortage and promote greater competition 

in the airline industry. FITZGERALD helped lead the effort to 

build a south suburban Chicago airport, as first recommended by the Federal Aviation Administration in 1984. 

He stopped legislation which would have impeded the south 

suburban airport and which would have instead dictated the 

approval of a cost-inefficient plan to tear up and rebuild 

O’Hare. 

In 2001, FITZGERALD co-authored an amendment which 

made it difficult and unattractive for air carriers to seek the 

Federal loan guarantees offered in the airline bailout bill. As 

a result of Fitzgerald’s language, few airlines applied for the 

loan guarantees and taxpayers saved billions of dollars. 

The Senator also focused on consumer safety issues. In 

2000, he led a successful drive to modernize outdated Federal testing and safety standards for child car seats. In 2002, 

he drafted and President Bush signed into law a follow-up 

measure, known as Anton’s Law, to upgrade Federal testing 

and standards for child booster seats and to require automakers to improve car safety features. 

As the first Illinois Senator since 1986 to serve on the Agriculture Committee, FITZGERALD worked closely with the futures industry in Chicago to modernize the commodity trading laws and to allow the sale of futures on individual stocks. 

He also worked with Illinois farm groups to open markets for 

Illinois commodities in the United States and overseas, to 

promote renewable fuels, and to provide tax relief for family 

farmers. He enacted legislation to better enable low-income 

citizens to access their food stamp benefits, as well as legislation to require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make 

its program benefits available over the Internet. The Senator 

also called for reform of the Federal farm payment system to 

ensure Federal aid goes to family farmers who most need assistance, and helped pass legislation to study potential improvements to farm aid programs. 

Senator FITZGERALD garnered numerous awards during his 

Senate tenure. He regularly received top ratings from taxpayer watchdog groups, including the National Tax Limitation Committee, the National Taxpayers Union, and the Concord Coalition. Americans for Tax Reform repeatedly named 

FITZGERALD a ‘‘Hero of the American Taxpayer.’’ Taxpayers 

for Common Sense gave FITZGERALD its ‘‘Mr. Smith Goes to 

Washington’’ award for resisting the influence of special interests and working to reduce wasteful government spending. In honor of his dedication to promoting transparent and 

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accountable government, the Better Government Association 

presented Senator FITZGERALD with its 2003 ‘‘Civic Achievement Award.’’

When FITZGERALD announced on April 15, 2003, that he 

would not seek re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, the 

headline to a Daily Herald column asserted ‘‘Illinois will be 

losing an honest politician in PETER FITZGERALD.’’ The Daily 

Southtown declared, ‘‘FITZGERALD’s choice a loss for Illinois.’’

The publisher of the Champaign News-Gazette opined, ‘‘FITZGERALD’s departure a setback for the concept of clean government.’’ ‘‘Illinois will miss Senator FITZGERALD’s independence,’’ wrote The Southern Illinoisan. Citing his ‘‘savvy and 

independence,’’ the Bloomington Pantagraph said, ‘‘we need 

more Senators of the FITZGERALD mold.’’ A column in the 

Chicago Tribune thanked him for ‘‘elevating courage and 

honesty to new heights’’ and concluded that ‘‘no one person 

has done more for political reform in Illinois than PETER

FITZGERALD.’’

In the final days of FITZGERALD’s career, editorial boards 

and columnists around the State and Nation hailed his service. In an editorial entitled ‘‘Going out a winner,’’ the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that ‘‘[FITZGERALD] represented Illinois with honesty and dedication.’’ The Peoria Journal Star 

editorialized that the ‘‘Senate will miss FITZGERALD’s intellect and willingness to take on complex and often unpopular 

causes.’’ A column in the Pioneer Press said ‘‘[FITZGERALD’s] 

been honest, steadfast, accessible, dedicated and independent,’’ and a piece in the Wall Street Journal’s Opinion 

Journal called the Senator ‘‘The Unsung Maverick.’’

On his last day in office, January 2, 2005, the Chicago 

Tribune editorial page concluded that it was the ‘‘irony of 

PETER FITZGERALD’’ that ‘‘a Senator acclaimed for his integrity, simply walks away.’’

Born on October 20, 1960, PETER FITZGERALD grew up in 

Inverness, IL, a suburb northwest of Chicago, and has lived 

there all his life. He went to St. Theresa’s Elementary School 

in Palatine, IL, and to Portsmouth Abbey, a secondary school 

in Portsmouth, RI. FITZGERALD attended Dartmouth College, 

where he majored in Latin and Greek. He graduated from 

Dartmouth cum laude and with ‘‘highest distinction.’’ In 

1982–1983, FITZGERALD studied at the Aristotelian University in Salonica, Greece, as a Rotary Foundation International Graduate Scholar. He earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan School of Law. FITZGERALD practiced corporate law for 10 years in Chicago, first in private firms and 

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later as general counsel for a publicly traded bank holding 

company. He has served on the boards of directors of four 

banks and one bank holding company. 

From 1993 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 1998, 

FITZGERALD was an Illinois State senator, representing the 

northwest suburbs of Chicago. He chaired the State government operations committee. 

In 1987, PETER married Nina (A.B., Smith College; M.Sc., 

London School of Economics; J.D., Harvard Law School). 

They have one son, Jake, born in May 1992. Senator FITZGERALD especially enjoys playing catch with Jake, an avid 

baseball player. 

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Farewell 

Friday, November 19, 2004 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. President, I rise with some sadness on my last time to speak on the Senate floor. It is a 

very bittersweet occasion for me because I have loved every 

minute of the last 6 years, and I will miss this body greatly. 

I am sure I will think about it every remaining day in my 

life hence forward. The past 6 years have been amongst the 

most thrilling in my life, and it has been a privilege and 

honor to serve here. 

I rise really to thank my colleagues for their kindness to 

me over the years and to thank my staff and my family and 

the entire Senate staff and everyone who is part of this institution for the wonderful 6 years I have had here. 

I was first elected to the Senate from Illinois in 1998. I 

was sworn in in 1999, and almost immediately thereafter, 

the first Presidential impeachment trial in 130 years began. 

For my first 35 days, I think it was, or 38 days, on the Senate floor, I was immersed in the impeachment trial of former 

President Clinton. Thereafter, we had times of war, war in 

Kosovo and Afghanistan and now Iraq. We had the events of 

9/11. I have served in times of war and peace, in times of 

great prosperity, as well as in times of recession. I have seen 

a whole lot. 

What I will remember most probably are the wonderful 

people who are part of the Senate. When I entered the Senate in 1999, I came in as the youngest Member. I was 38 at 

the time. I am older now, obviously, and have probably less 

hair and more gray hair. The oldest Member of the Senate 

at that time was Strom Thurmond. He was 96 years of age. 

I will never forget Strom Thurmond telling me, when he was 

96, about how he used to work out 45 minutes every day, 

and I was thinking about whether I might be as active as 

Strom when I am 96, if I make it that long. Even at that 

age, I remember Strom giving me advice, telling me about 

how I could help the coal industry in southern Illinois. It was 

remarkable to meet someone like that. 

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There are many who have retired. There are others like 

Strom who have passed away. There are some giants who 

are still with us, such as Senator Robert Byrd. One of my 

first memories of meeting Senator Byrd is going in to talk 

to him after I first got elected and asking him to sign for me 

a copy of his book on the history of the Roman Republic. 

Early on in my term in the Senate, I actually read Senator 

Byrd’s whole book on the history of the Roman Republic. I 

have to say it is a marvelous book, and any Member of the 

Senate who has not read that book should please go out and 

get it because it has bountiful lessons for every Member of 

the Senate. It traces the decline and fall of the Roman Republic. It traces the decline of the Republic to the Roman 

Senate giving up more and more of its powers to the executive, finally to the point where the Senate became meaningless and Rome was just governed by Caesars, dictators, and 

kings. It is an outstanding book. 

To meet the man who wrote this book and to realize that 

book was taken from a series of speeches that he delivered 

on the Senate floor, without notes, as to the hundreds of 

thousands of names and dates in that book, is truly astonishing. 

Senator Byrd has written a much larger four-volume history of the Senate, which when I retire from this body I hope 

to have time to tackle. But just to think of someone who 

could be so productive not only in the Senate for so long but 

accomplish so much in other areas writing such scholarly 

books, I will miss people like Senator Byrd and Senator 

Thurmond and all the others, the leaders with whom I have 

had the privilege to serve. 

Senator Trent Lott was the majority leader when I entered. For a period of time, Tom Daschle was the majority 

leader. Now Senator Frist is the majority leader, and soon 

Senator Harry Reid will be the minority leader. Each one of 

those individuals is remarkable, in my judgment. They have 

always been gentlemen of the highest order, and they work 

very hard. They are very good at what they do in representing their perspectives. They are good and honorable 

people whom our country is lucky to have. 

Our whips on the Republican side, Don Nickles and Mitch 

McConnell—Don Nickles has done such a good job for the 

taxpayers of this country. It has been an absolute pleasure 

to watch him fighting excessive spending and confiscatory 

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creases and for tax relief, something that I view as very important. 

I am retiring at the same time as Senator Nickles. I will 

miss him greatly as part of this body, but I hope to see him 

often in life outside of the Senate. 

Other colleagues of mine are so important to me for reasons one might not think of. I did not know what I might 

have in common with Senator Bunning from Kentucky. He 

was elected at the same time I was in 1998. Senator 

Bunning is always so kind in giving me advice, as I advise 

my own son how to practice his pitching for his Little League 

games. 

The other night, I saw Senator Bunning in his car, and I 

said: Jim, having been a Hall of Fame baseball pitcher—

where else can you get that kind of advice for your son’s 

pitching lessons—I am not going to be able to ask you for advice on how to coach my son on pitching. 

He said: You know what. You can still call me afterward. 

I will always be there. 

It is comments like that and the friendships like that, 

where I have spent so much time with the other 99 Members 

of this body, so many late nights and long weekends and 

sometimes retreats together, all of us really have become almost kind of like a family. It is much more like family than 

I think the media in America recognizes because so often the 

differences between the parties or the personalities get emphasized by the media. But I will miss them all. 

John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee on which I have been privileged to serve the last 4 of 

my 6 years, a man I admire greatly. Most Americans know 

about his heroism as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam 

war, where he was in the Hanoi Hilton for 5 years and the 

enemy forces tortured him, crushed his bones and could 

never get him to buckle or back down. Few men have the 

kind of courage that John McCain has. It is not just physical 

courage but the courage he has had to always fight for what 

he believes is right. Sometimes I have not agreed with him, 

but when he believes he is right he is willing to stand up to 

some very powerful forces that often threaten him politically, 

but nothing scares this American hero, John McCain. I am 

so thankful to him for the opportunity he gave me to chair 

the Consumer Affairs Subcommittee on the Senate Commerce Committee where I have been able to work on child 

safety and booster seat safety and automobiles and also to 

play a very critical role in the corporate governance hearings 

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that we had a few years back first with Enron, Adelphia, 

WorldCom and those other corporate scandals. 

We have also worked on aviation and transportation, the 

Internet, telecommunications. There is never a dull moment 

with Senator McCain chairing the committee, and for the 

seven new Senators who are coming in who are thinking of 

what committees they might want to serve on, that is one I 

have always loved. 

Susan Collins, the chairman of the Senate Governmental 

Affairs Committee—what a great American, what a hardworking American. We all saw that recently with her hard 

work on putting together the intelligence bill under very difficult circumstances with a very short time to work. I thank 

her for giving me the opportunity to chair the Financial 

Management, the Budget, and International Security Subcommittee of the Governmental Affairs Committee, together 

with my friend and colleague Danny Akaka, from Hawaii, 

who has been my ranking member on that subcommittee. 

Danny is such a gentleman. I tell you, I am going to miss 

him personally, and I am also going to miss the macadamia 

nuts that he regularly sent over to me. But I may have time 

to visit him on a beach in Hawaii, now that I think about 

it. Maybe that is where I will see him and Senator Inouye 

next. 

But Senator Akaka and I were able to wake up what 

might normally be thought of as a very sleepy subcommittee 

of the Governmental Affairs Committee, where we dealt with 

improving accountability of government financial reporting. 

We increased audit requirements on Federal agencies, we extended the Chief Financial Officers Act to the Homeland Security Department, and we put it in to apply to the new intelligence directorate. But, also, we have worked very hard 

in that subcommittee to spotlight some of the great challenges our country confronts. 

I think in that regard, with the staff on that committee on 

both sides of the aisle being so able, we have been able to 

put together some of the best hearings the Senate has had 

on issues such as our defined benefit pension problem in this 

country. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has a 

massive deficit with no end to increasing deficits on the horizon. 

We have had hearings on the government-sponsored entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Homeowner Bank Boards and other entities that are privately 

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owned but have government charters, and what risk they 

may or may not pose to the system. 

We had a series of hearings on mutual funds and the problem of high fees. Mr. President, I was honored to have your 

co-sponsorship on a landmark bill to reform the mutual fund 

industry. While we were not successful in passing that legislation this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission 

has adopted many of the items in that bill, including requiring independent chairmen of the boards of mutual funds in 

America. 

Just this week we did a hearing on the problems that we 

have seen in the insurance brokerage industry in which we 

heard from experts on all sides and got Washington’s first 

perspective on the indictments that have come out of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office in New York. We had a 

hearing on the issue of the expensing for stock option compensation, which has been so actively debated amongst accountants in our country. 

Finally, the Financial Accounting Standards Board is 

going to require publicly traded corporations to expense stock 

option compensation on their earnings statements. 

On the Agriculture Committee, if I think of the word ‘‘gentleman,’’ I would think of Senator Lugar, who was the chairman of the Agriculture Committee when I first came in, and 

Senator Cochran, from Mississippi, who is the current chairman of the Agriculture Committee. It is regretful I will not 

be here a second term because I now have enough seniority 

on the Agriculture Committee to chair it in the second term, 

believe it or not. 

But Senators Lugar and Cochran have been a pleasure to 

work with. We passed a number of measures to make life 

better for our Nation’s farmers, some very simple but important changes allowing farmers to file all their USDA paperwork on the Internet. 

We improved child nutrition and passed legislation to 

make it easier for people who depend on government assistance for their nutrition and food needs, that those people 

through the Food Stamp Program can now get their benefits 

across State lines—somebody who may live in St. Louis and 

goes back and forth to Illinois, or somebody living in northwest Indiana and goes back and forth to Chicago. 

Also, a very important industry in my State, Mr. President, and in your State as well, is the commodity futures industry. In Chicago, we have the Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. We also have the Chicago Board 

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Options Exchange. I am told, directly and indirectly, in Chicago we employ some 200,000 people in the futures industry. 

The Agriculture Committee has given me the opportunity 

to work on the rewrite of our commodity trading laws. I was 

pleased to be an active participant in the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, where we first allowed the trading 

of futures on individual stocks in this country. That market 

is now developing. I hope to see it come back. 

I want to say some words of thanks to the senior Senator 

from Illinois, Mr. Dick Durbin. He referred to us as the political odd couple—one conservative Republican, one liberal 

Democrat, from the land of Lincoln. 

More often than not, we probably disagreed from a policy 

perspective on some of the key issues confronting our Nation, 

but it never prevented us from working well together. In 

fact, we jointly held 163 breakfasts, constituent breakfasts 

together. Every Thursday morning at 8:30 when the Senate 

was in session, Senator Durbin and I would host a breakfast, 

allow constituents who were visiting Washington from Illinois to ask us any question that was on their mind, whether 

it was political or policy related, and we paid for the breakfast. My understanding is, there are not many other examples of bipartisan breakfasts where you have one Republican 

and one Democrat who have such a weekly gathering for 

their constituents. 

We worked well together on the selection of judges. We almost never had an open vacancy that we couldn’t resolve on 

the district courts in the northern, central, or southern Illinois districts. 

Senator Durbin was terrific in supporting me in my effort 

to clean up corruption in Illinois. One of the most important 

things I did in that regard was to bring in independent U.S. 

attorneys to the State of Illinois who were not beholden to 

the political class in the State. That was something new. 

When I went to appoint U.S. attorneys, I found everybody 

and their brother, particularly all the local politicians on 

both sides of the aisle, trying to influence the selection of my 

U.S. attorney. 

I didn’t want to lay awake at night wondering who was 

trying to influence my U.S. attorney, either to go after someone unjustly or to protect someone wrongly from prosecution. 

I, ultimately, decided for that reason to do a nationwide 

search for our U.S. attorneys, which yielded, I think, 

amongst the best U.S. attorneys anywhere in the country: 

Patrick Fitzgerald in the Northern District of Illinois, Jan 

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[ xvii ] 

Paul Miller in the Central District of Illinois, and Ron 

Tenpas, in the Southern District of Illinois. They are doing 

a tremendous job and no one is asking whether they are influenced politically or what their motivation would be. I 

thank Senator Durbin for supporting that effort to bring 

independent U.S. attorneys to Illinois. 

Senator Durbin is a man whose stamina, hard work, and 

intelligence I greatly admire. He is very devoted and hardworking. He travels back to his hometown of Springfield 

every weekend. That is a harder commute than my commute. I travel back to Palatine, IL, which is only about 12 

miles northwest of O’Hare. So I had a fairly easy commute; 

I just had an hour and a half plane flight and then a short 

drive and I was at my House. But Senator Durbin would go 

back to O’Hare every weekend and then catch another flight 

down to Springfield and he does that every weekend. He is 

constantly back in the State of Illinois. 

I think we worked well on just about everything, except 

aviation. We had a disagreement over O’Hare Airport. I 

think I am right. He thinks he is right. But aside from that 

difference of opinion, it has been a pleasure to work with 

him. 

I am sure Senator Durbin will be an effective spokesman 

for his side of the aisle as the whip for the incoming Democratic caucus in the 109th Congress. I do not necessarily 

wish Senator Durbin success in that role, but I do wish him 

well. 

Barack Obama, my successor, I wish him well. It was a 

privilege to have lunch with him yesterday in the Senate 

dining room. I served with Barack Obama in the State senate for 2 years. He was coming in, in the legislature in 

Springfield, in my last 2 years of service there. He is an uncommonly bright and talented young man. He is 1 year 

younger than I. He was the first African American president 

of the Harvard Law Review. He is almost unequaled in his 

potential and promise. I am confident he will be a credit to 

the State of Illinois. I think he may surprise the political 

pundits by voting, crossing party lines at times that you 

don’t expect him to. It may be a challenge for him with Senator Durbin as his whip. But I see Barack Obama as possibly 

being a fairly moderate voice, more moderate than many 

people suspect. 

To my staff, many of whom are gathered in the Senate 

Chamber, I could not have been blessed with a more wonderful staff to have gotten me through the last 6 years. I first 

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[ xviii ] 

need to start by thanking former Senator Bob Dole and the 

current Senator Elizabeth Dole for recommending to me the 

man who is my chief of staff, Gregory Gross. Greg worked for 

Senator Bob Dole when he was the leader in the Senate and 

during his Presidential campaign in 1996. He worked for 

Mrs. Dole when she was at the American Red Cross. He is 

extremely bright, as Bob Dole told me when I first called for 

a reference on Greg Gross. 

Bob Dole said to me: Greg is what you call a genius. And 

I thought, that is the kind of person I want, a genius on my 

staff. But he is more than just a brilliant and talented and 

knowledgeable chief of staff. 

He is also incredibly devoted and incredibly loyal, and I 

thank him for that. 

For the first 3 years, my chief of staff was Richard 

Hertling. He is now at the Justice Department. Richard did 

an outstanding job in getting us up and running. It is very 

hard when a new Senator is coming in and assembling a new 

staff, as some of the new Senators are finding out. 

I have been blessed to have had an outstanding legislative 

director, Terry Van Doren from Macoupin County, IL, whose 

father owns a cattle operation in Macoupin County. Terry 

started out doing agriculture policy for me. Terry was just 

what the doctor ordered. He had straight A’s from the University of Illinois in agriculture sciences. Then he got a master’s in agriculture policy from Colorado State University. He 

had a 4.0 there. I was called by the dean of the University 

of Illinois Agriculture School. He told me what an outstanding young man Terry is. Terry has been instrumental 

in agricultural policy. He has been my legislative director. 

Before him, Joe Watson was my legislative director, a brilliant young Harvard Law School graduate whom I plucked 

out of the Sutter and Hopkins law firm. He is now at the 

Commerce Department serving under Secretary Evans. 

My office manager, Sherri Hupart, has done such an outstanding job; always pleasant and kind and willing to help, 

and calm under pressure. 

Her predecessor, Tina Tyrer, came to me from Senator 

Fred Thompson’s office. She had some 20 years of experience 

in Washington running Senate offices. 

My Chicago chief of staff, Maggie Hickey, is a one-woman 

army, entirely devoted, very hard-working. I want to thank 

her. 

My staff director for my Financial Management and Budget and International Security Subcommittee, Mike Russell, 

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[ xix ] 

and the team he has put together, which I think enabled us 

to do the best hearings on some of the key issues confronting 

our financial markets in this country, I can’t thank them 

enough. 

I thank my schedulers and executive assistants, Lanae 

Denney, Julie Cate, Julie Grisolano, and Doris Gumino. 

Scheduler has to be the toughest job on Capitol Hill because 

you know how busy Senators’ schedules get and how it is for 

them to hear when a Senator is tired, or frustrated, or 

thinks he is overscheduled. Schedulers hear about it. There 

is no question about that. I thank my schedulers for being 

there, staying here working late into the evening. They have 

to be here even when the rest of the staff has gone home. 

My campaign manager and first communications director, 

Mike Cys, is now in the private sector. He is brilliant and 

energetic and enthusiastic. I thank him for all his support. 

I thank my communications, legislative assistants, legislative correspondents, receptionists, front office and back office, duty entry personnel, the interns, the kids we have had 

serve over the years. 

My staff handled 6,000 to 10,000 letters a week for the 

past 6 years. The first year we came in, we were getting over 

10,000 e-mails a day on the impeachment. My State office 

has handled over 22,000 individual constituent cases. They 

conducted traveling office hours all over the State, 1,574 

traveling office hours in 675 towns. My State staff met individually with 831 mayors and village clerks telling them how 

to apply for Federal grants for sewer and water. 

I thank the staff on the floor of the Senate: Dave Schiappa, 

the floor staff, Myron Fleming, the chief doorkeeper, the 

cloakroom staff, the Parliamentarians, leadership and Sergeant at Arms staff, and the pages who come and go every 

semester. I always look at them. They have to get up at 5 

in the morning to do school work before they can come here. 

But they work so hard. I hope their experience has been as 

wonderful as we want it to be for them. 

And, finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the most 

important people in my life, my family, my mother and father, who always supported me not only through my 12 

years in public service, but through all the years of my life. 

It was always clear they would have been there to lay their 

lives down for their son. 

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield, I 

would like to thank him for his kind words and wish him 

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day morning when we were in session we had free coffee and 

doughnuts, a tradition that was started by Senator Paul 

Simon. I believe we were the only two Senators, being Democrat and Republican Senators, offering this opportunity for 

the visitors who come to Washington to ask a few questions 

and take a few photographs. But it worked very well. It became a very interesting experience for Illinoisans and others 

coming to Washington. We did it many times. It reached the 

point where I would give his answers to the questions and 

he would give my answers to the questions. We distinguished ourselves as being the only two Senators offering 

free coffee and doughnuts, which may account for the crowds 

that showed. But we did that for 6 years. We have worked 

closely together and effectively and successfully together on 

the appointment of judges, U.S. attorneys, and many projects 

that were local to Illinois. We disagreed on some issues but 

managed to maintain our friendship and warm relationship 

throughout. 

Senator FITZGERALD announced his retirement for the 

right reasons. He said he wanted to spend more time with 

his family. That is something which we all admire very 

much. 

I have enjoyed serving with Senator FITZGERALD, and I 

wish him the very best, whatever the next venture might be, 

and I hope we will continue to work together. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. President, I thank Senator Durbin 

for the kind words. I hope to come back to his breakfasts and 

get some of those free doughnuts myself. I won’t have to pay 

for them anymore. But I will miss it. 

I thank Senator Durbin. 

Finally, I thank my brothers and sisters—Gerry, my older 

brother, Jim, Tom, my sister Julie. A lot of people in public 

office worry that their siblings might embarrass them. I have 

never had to worry because they are wonderful, upstanding 

people, all of whom I think are probably worried about what 

I might do that they might worry about. They are wonderful 

people. 

I thank my wife Nina. We met together in DC, when we 

were interns back when we were 19 years old, and after college and law school we got married. I moved her, plucked 

her from her home State of Colorado. She came to Illinois. 

I want to thank her for her steadfast support through all my 

years in public office. 

Finally, last but not least, I thank my 12-year-old son 

Jake. Jake missed his father at baseball and basketball 

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games. I have been in public office for his entire 12 years. 

I am going to make it up to Jake now. I am pleased that he 

is doing so well as a baseball pitcher. I thank Jim Bunning 

and others for their advice. 

And finally, the people of Illinois from one end of the State 

to the other, from Cairo in the south to Rockford in the 

north, thank you for your kindness to me. I have loved every 

minute of it. You gave me your trust, and I worked hard 

every day to keep it safe. 

Thank you all. God bless. I will miss you all. 

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TRIBUTES 

TO 

PETER G. FITZGERALD 

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Proceedings in the Senate 

MONDAY, October 11, 2004 

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, at the close of the 108th Congress, we say farewell to Senator PETER G. FITZGERALD who 

is leaving us after one term. 

The former congressional intern, commercial banking attorney, and Illinois State Senator was elected to the U.S. 

Senate in 1998. In fact, he was the first Republican in Illinois to win a Senate seat in 20 years. 

It has been a busy 6 years for Senator FITZGERALD. During 

his brief tenure in this Chamber he served on the Senate Agriculture, Commerce, Government Affairs, Small Business, 

and Aging Committees. He was active in a number of legislative areas, including mutual fund reform, consumer safety 

protection, aviation, environmental, and agricultural issues. 

And he actively pursued the expansion of overseas markets. 

During his 6 years in this Chamber, Senator FITZGERALD

threw himself into some of the most challenging and complex 

issues considered by the Senate. In 2000, he attacked waste 

in government contracting and crafted legislation to improve 

the process by which contractors are awarded taxpayer moneys. He later worked with me to address the Pentagon’s ‘‘revolving door’’—an egregious practice utilized by government 

contractors in exerting influence over the contracting process. In 2002, the former commercial banking attorney lashed 

out at Enron executives who robbed thousands of workers of 

millions of dollars of their life savings, and he later crafted 

legislation to reform the mutual fund industry. 

Time and again he showed himself to be a Senator who is 

not intimidated by complexity. He did not simply talk about 

the issues of the day, he took time to study them, and understand them, and then try to do something about them. Time 

and again he demonstrated that he was a workhorse, not a 

show horse. The Senate needs more Members like him, Senators to whom we can look when confronting difficult and 

complex issues. 

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And the Senate needs more Senators like Senator FITZGERALD who, on a number of high-profile issues, including 

gun control, health care, patients’ bill of rights, the environment, and ANWR drilling, put the good of the people of his 

State, in particular, and the American people, in general, 

above partisan party interests and ideology. 

In attacking political corruption and cronyism, he was bipartisan, not simply in rhetoric, which is easy, but rather in 

action, which is a good deal more difficult. 

I wish Senator FITZGERALD and his wife Nina the best as 

they begin a new phase of their lives. 

TUESDAY, November 16, 2004 

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, today I want to pay tribute 

to Senator PETER FITZGERALD as he prepares to leave the 

U.S. Senate. 

For the past 6 years, Senator FITZGERALD has done important work as a member of the Agriculture Committee, on 

which we had the pleasure of serving together. Senator FITZGERALD supported the creation of a commission to investigate changes to the Federal farm payment system. We 

share the belief that small, family-owned farms should receive adequate assistance from the Federal Government, and 

the creation of this commission has helped to ensure this 

goal. 

I am also grateful for the support that Senator FITZGERALD

has shown for legislation I have introduced related to the tax 

treatment of leasehold improvements. He and I understand 

the need to modernize business infrastructure by shortening 

the cost recovery period for changes that commercial landlords make in space rented to tenants. By reducing the cost 

recovery period, the expense of making these improvements 

would fall more into line with the economics of commercial 

lease transactions, and more building owners would be able 

to adapt their buildings to fit the needs of today’s business 

tenants. I thank Senator FITZGERALD for his strong support 

of this important initiative. 

Senator FITZGERALD also recognizes the importance of improving the overall health of Americans, and has shown this 

through the introduction of his Healthy Lifestyles Act. Encouraging physical activity is an essential component in the 

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tive health care. I commend Senator FITZGERALD for his 

work in this area. 

More generally, Senator FITZGERALD has proven himself to 

be a dedicated public servant who has served the State of Illinois and the country with honor. Today, I join my colleagues in paying tribute to Senator FITZGERALD and wish 

him well in all of his future endeavors. 

THURSDAY, November 18, 2004 

Mr. BURNS. * * * I served only one term with John Edwards and PETER FITZGERALD. They, too, will be missed in 

the Senate. Their contribution was huge. * * * 

PETER FITZGERALD comes from Illinois. As to all of these 

men, I want to say you do form relationships here, and there 

is a certain bond that attracts us all, as we learn that even 

though you may be on the same side of the aisle or the opposite side of the aisle, one could always agree or disagree 

without being disagreeable. That is what makes the Senate 

a special place. 

We will miss all of these men, but I am looking forward 

to those who take their place as, there again, new relationships will be developed, a new bond dealing with the old 

challenges of a free society, with those who love the Constitution and love this country who were prepared to die for 

it and would if asked to do so today. No one doubts the depth 

of their patriotism nor their service to their country. We welcome them as we say goodbye to old friends, old relationships that will never be forgotten. 

Mr. SHELBY. Senator PETER FITZGERALD from Illinois is 

a very young man, one of the youngest men to come to the 

Senate. He chose to serve only one term. I think he has been 

involved in some of the big issues of the day. He is a man 

of integrity. He is a man who wants to do the right thing. 

He is always going to be involved in the issues of the day, 

as he has been. 

PETER, we wish you and your family the best as you go 

back into the private sector where you have excelled and 

done things so well and for so long. * * * 

We are going to miss all these Senators, on both sides of 

the aisle, because collectively they bring a lot of experience 

and a lot of wisdom to the Senate. They have served, as I 

said, with distinction and honor here. 

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Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, PETER FITZGERALD has devoted 

his life to public service. 

He first ran for office before the ink on his law degree had 

dried. And, in the last 6 years, we have come to know PETER

as a man of integrity, as a man of honor, and as a friend. 

In the Illinois Senate, he was a staunch opponent of corruption. He often had to go it alone. But he still got results. 

He continued his mission in the U.S. Senate—where he arrived in 1998 as our youngest Member. 

In only 6 years, he has made his mark. He helped uncover 

the devastating corporate fraud and accounting scandals. 

And he helped us pass tough new regulations to prevent 

them from reoccurring. 

He has been an ardent advocate for Illinois farmers and 

businesses, always working to make sure that markets are 

open and barriers are low. 

Whether working to appoint honest Federal prosecutors or 

taking a hard look at major federally supported projects, he 

has always stood for doing the right thing. 

PETER has made sure that we have tax relief that helps 

families and creates new jobs. And he has helped protect our 

children with tough new child safety seat laws. 

Our Senate family will miss PETER, Nina, and Jake. They 

have each enriched our lives, their State, this Senate, and 

our country. And we wish them all the best in the future. 

FRIDAY, November 19, 2004 

Mr. KYL. Mr. President, obviously, in the brief time here 

I am not going to be able to say everything that comes to 

mind about the Senators who are retiring but to summarize 

a little bit of the information for the benefit of those who 

might be watching. 

When you have long, distinguished careers of Senators and 

they decide not to run for reelection but leave the body, there 

is a lot that comes to mind about their service. I think it is 

good to remind ourselves of just a few of these things because of the service they have provided, both to the people 

of their own States and to the United States. * * * 

Mr. President, my colleague PETER FITZGERALD from Illinois is an extraordinarily smart and focused individual who 

came to the Senate to represent his State of Illinois and did 

so with great passion, enthusiasm, and courage, in some 

cases, when he had to stand against a lot of other Members 

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who were attempting to act in ways he felt were inimical to 

the interests of his State. 

PETER FITZGERALD, though here only one term, I think will 

be remembered as a great Senator from the State of Illinois 

and certainly a colleague I will miss personally. 

These are only four of the colleagues who are going to be 

leaving us at the end of this session. These are Senators 

whom I became particularly close to. I wanted to say a word 

about each one of them, to wish them all the very best, bid 

them farewell, also to know they have too many friends 

around here to ignore. And we are going to be staying in 

touch with every one of them. 

We thank them for their service to the people of their 

States, to the Senate, and to the people of the United States 

of America. 

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, like the distinguished Senator from Illinois, I take a couple of minutes this afternoon 

to come to the floor to express in the most heartfelt way, as 

he just has, my profound thanks for the opportunity I have 

had to serve in the Senate. 

I congratulate him on his successful career and wish him 

well in all of his endeavors. 

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I would like to make some 

comments about our friends who are departing the Senate. * * * 

I have to say a word about Senator FITZGERALD because of 

some tough environmental votes. There he was standing 

with me. I remember one time he said, I have to stand with 

you because my son will never talk to me again. It was good 

to work with him as well. * * * 

Thank you very much. 

Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, I want to close by associating myself with the remarks of the Senator from California 

and her regards and respect to the other retiring Members. 

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I want to talk about our colleagues 

who are retiring in a few minutes. There are a lot of good 

people here on both sides of the aisle. 

We are going to miss all of our friends over here, but I am 

going to miss Don Nickles. I have had a lot of fights with 

him, but I know he always knew where he wanted to go. I 

respected that. 

PETER FITZGERALD, newer among us, but a gentleman to 

be noted, and Ben Nighthorse Campbell comes from a State 

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[ 8 ] 

I love. I have two grandchildren there. He is a decent fellow. 

We are going to miss all of them. I will talk about them 

later. 

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, while the Senate 

is holding in abeyance for the final omnibus appropriations 

bill that the House is getting ready to file sometime tonight, 

I want to take the opportunity to pay tribute to our retiring 

Senators: Tom Daschle, Fritz Hollings, Don Nickles, John 

Breaux, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, John Edwards, PETER

FITZGERALD, Zell Miller, and Bob Graham. 

I wish to make a speech about each one of these Senators 

who has become a dear friend, in some cases, over the years, 

such as Fritz and Peatsy Hollings, who took special interest 

in me as I came to the Senate and made sure I got on his 

Commerce Committee, which has been just an extraordinary 

experience with him as chairman, as well as with the 

present chairman, John McCain. * * * 

PETER FITZGERALD is a very active member of our Commerce Committee, who, in the comments by his colleague 

from Illinois, Senator Durbin, today said it very well, could 

work so well with Members of both sides. * * * 

So for all of these names I have mentioned, in the great 

poem ‘‘Ulysses,’’ he says, ‘‘I am a part of all that I have met,’’

and I am a part of all these great Senators. I am much richer for it and for having been their friend. 

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I talked before about Tom Daschle. I 

also will discuss the rest of our colleagues who are leaving 

the Senate. 

When the 109th Congress convenes in January, nine of our 

current colleagues will not be here. I take a few moments to 

pay tribute to them. Collectively, our colleagues have served 

in the Senate for 144 years. We will miss them. * * * 

Mr. President, I will talk about a couple of my friends on 

the Republican side. * * * 

PETER FITZGERALD, the junior Senator from Illinois, like 

me, came to the Senate after a good business career. He has 

been here only for one term but in those 6 years he established a solid reputation as an independent Member, committed to doing what he thinks is right, even if it puts him 

at odds with other members of his party. 

He and I serve on the Governmental Affairs Committee, 

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ground, he understands the importance of effective oversight 

by the Federal Government. 

I regret he is leaving. He has been a gentleman, and it is 

too bad that we do not have more like PETER FITZGERALD. 

He is a wonderful person to work with. He has got a ready 

smile, and he is a gentleman at all times. 

I close my remarks by noting that these men have made 

remarkable contributions to our society, and all Americans 

should be grateful. I would tell those who are retiring, I retired 4 years ago, and I did not like it. So here I am. Perhaps 

there is hope for any of them who want to rejoin. If you want 

to come back, I am here to tell you it can be done. Just make 

sure that you get to keep your seniority. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor and thank my colleagues 

for their indulgence while I made my remarks. 

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, let me say—this is probably 

the first and only time I have ever said this—I have been listening carefully to my friend from New Jersey, and I agree 

with everything he said. 

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I want to share a few remarks about our friend and colleague PETER FITZGERALD. It 

has been a real honor for me to serve with him. We have had 

quite different backgrounds. 

PETER grew up in suburban Chicago and attended very 

fine parochial schools. He attended Dartmouth College where 

he graduated cum laude with highest distinction majoring in 

Latin and Greek. He got his law degree from the University 

of Michigan and came from a very prominent family there. 

He is a wonderful person, a person I got to know, although 

our backgrounds are different, I having grown up in south 

Alabama, the son of a country store owner, going barefoot 

and swimming in the creeks. We enjoyed talking with one 

another. He liked Bear Bryant, and we talked about a number of things. 

One thing he shared with me on a number of occasions is 

his belief that there should be in government, in the business of the United States and the State governments, integrity. He talked with me about his recommendation to President Bush about a U.S. attorney appointment in Chicago. He 

wrestled with it and talked with me over a period of weeks 

about the fact he believed that even if he chose any of the 

very fine candidates who had been discussed in Chicago, he 

would be choosing somebody from that area that people 

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would think was not the best, was not independent, that 

they might be influenced by someone. 

He had a growing feeling that he should choose someone 

from outside the area. It is an usual thing to do, but that is 

what he did. He searched the country over and chose U.S. 

Attorney Fitzgerald, a nonrelative, I believe, who tried some 

of the biggest terrorist cases in New York. That is who he 

recommended and that is who he put there. Why? Because 

he wanted the best prosecutor with the best background, 

with the most integrity, and total independence to do the 

right thing there. That indicated to me just how serious he 

was about this issue. 

When he ran for the Senate, he was in the banking business, an attorney in the banking business. He promised he 

would not involve himself and would recuse himself from decisions dealing with banking. People said that was not necessary. Others did not do that. He said he thought it was the 

appropriate thing to do, and he adhered to that the entire 

time he was here, recusing himself on a number of such 

issues. 

He chose the higher standard, the road less traveled. He 

did not like fraud, corruption, and abuse. As a member of the 

Consumer Affairs Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee, he took a key role in the investigation of Enron and 

the abuses that occurred there. 

He was a constant and strong opponent of no-bid contracts. 

He saw a lot of those in Illinois. He did not like it, and he 

spoke out against it in a very strong way. Particularly, there 

was a matter involving Springfield and a major construction 

contract. He feared the good old boys, those with influence 

and inside word, would be the beneficiaries of those contracts 

rather than the taxpayers. He thought it should be bid on a 

professional basis, and he battled very hard for that. He did 

not like and does not like cronyism, and he spoke out against 

it. 

His commercial banking experience led him to study the 

behavior of the stock markets and brokerage firms in the 

Federal thrift plan, which he admired greatly, saying it was 

the most efficient and best plan for investors that he was 

aware of because the fees and costs were so low. 

He, therefore, was a champion of integrity and full disclosure of fees in the brokerage business and spoke out aggressively in favor of that. Why did he say that? Because he 

thought insiders were taking too big a piece of the pie and 

if that money, instead of being paid out in fees, sometimes 

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never seen by the investors, had been reinvested in the 

stocks or mutual funds, that the investor would have ended 

up with a lot more money over a lifetime, and he had charts 

to show it. 

He spoke out against that special interest group because 

he believed it was the right thing to do. He believed in representing the consumers, and those are the people who make 

America go. 

He has a wonderful wife Nina who attended Smith College, the London School of Economics, and Harvard Law 

School. They have one son, Jake. He has chosen to spend 

more time with them. We can certainly understand his decision to do that. 

I also thank him for his service to the people of the United 

States. He did so in this single term with integrity, courage, 

decency, and a great spirit of cooperativeness. I have enjoyed 

serving with him, as did all of us in this body, and I wish 

him Godspeed. 

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I know the hour is getting late 

and others want to be heard, but I briefly want to express 

some thoughts about our colleagues who are leaving this 

wonderful body. Today we have heard some very compelling 

speeches, particularly the one given by my good friend, Tom 

Daschle of South Dakota, our Democratic leader. 

I was pleased to see so many of our colleagues remain on 

the floor to listen to the departing Democratic leader. The 

words he expressed about his State, his staff, his colleagues, 

his feelings about the country, and the future, are instructive. I know it can sound repetitive when people hear us talk 

about our colleagues this way, but I think it is important for 

the public to note that while they might hear only about the 

bickering, the part that you do not often see is the deep respect, affection, and caring that goes on among the Members 

of this body. This affection comes despite the differences that 

exist in red States and blue States, or being strongly conservative or strongly liberal. 

There is this weaving of a common denominator through 

each and every one of us, particularly after years of common 

service in this remarkable institution we call the Senate. 

There is a deep and abiding respect for those who have come 

here, those who have served here, those who have tried to 

make a difference for our country. 

It may seem like it is inside discussion, but I hope the 

public understands how deeply felt these comments are 

about colleagues who will no longer have the pleasure of 

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spending each and every day in this Chamber, but whose 

friendship and collegiality will continue in the years ahead 

as we encounter each other in different walks of life. * * * 

Mr. President, PETER FITZGERALD is also a good friend. He 

has represented his State of Illinois and is leaving after only 

one term. 

Again, as Senators from the opposite sides of the aisle, 

Senator FITZGERALD and I often disagreed. We found some 

common ground on some issues, including the Patients’ Bill 

of Rights, the gun show loophole, and campaign finance reform. I wish him good luck when he returns to the private 

sector where he has been an extremely successful attorney in 

the banking industry. I caution him not to do too well. I am 

on the Senate committee responsible for overseeing that 

carefully. I say that, of course, with tongue in cheek. 

I certainly wish he, Nina, and Jake all the best in the 

years to come. * * * 

I apologize for taking this extra time. It is important that 

the public hear Members talk about each other, even those 

who disagreed on matters, that they understand why this institution works more than 230 years after the Founders created it. 

I, as a Senator from Connecticut, take unique pride in the 

Senate because it was Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, 

both of Connecticut, who offered at the Constitutional Convention the idea of the Senate representing small and large 

States. Arguing over a unicameral system, Sherman and 

Ellsworth said, how about having a second body with equal 

representation, regardless of the size or the population of the 

State. As a result, this institution was created. It has been 

a great place that has served our Nation for so long and I 

am confident it will in the future. 

We have been blessed by the participation of those who are 

leaving. All of us wish each and every one of them the very 

best in the years to come. 

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell to the Senator from Illinois. 

PETER FITZGERALD came to the Senate 6 years ago already 

a champion. He was the first Republican to win a Senate 

seat in Illinois in 20 years. He was the only Republican challenger to defeat an incumbent nationwide that year. And 

upon his arrival 6 years ago, he was the youngest Member 

of the U.S. Senate. So expectations for this new Senator were 

high. 

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Senator FITZGERALD exceeded those expectations. From the 

beginning, he fought to cut wasteful government spending, 

fraud at the public till, and mismanagement of the people’s 

money. He led the fight against the recent corporate scandals that damaged our economy. 

Senator FITZGERALD has been a leader in bringing government into cyberspace by sponsoring successful bills to allow 

farmers to work with the Agriculture Department online. He 

has also been a champion for improving child nutrition, by 

making it possible for consumers to use food stamps to make 

purchases online. He has focused on consumer safety by requiring stricter standards for child car seats and car safety 

features. 

Illinois, where Senator FITZGERALD was born and raised, is 

the State that sent Abraham Lincoln to the White House. 

Abraham Lincoln was one of America’s greatest Presidents, 

and the first President of the Republican Party. The great 

State of Illinois is known as ‘‘The Land of Lincoln.’’

But I am a little jealous of the claim Illinois has on this 

great American. Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in 

Hodgenville, KY, my home State, and we Kentuckians like 

to think of him as one of our own. 

I have welcomed Senator FITZGERALD to my home State 

before, and he is welcome again in the Bluegrass State anytime, especially Hodgenville. 

Senator FITZGERALD had a long career of public service 

even before joining this body, and I have no doubt he will 

continue to serve the people of Illinois when he returns to 

the Prairie State. Most of all, he will enjoy the company of 

his wife, Nina, and their young son, Jake. 

Because Senator FITZGERALD is a passionate Chicago Cubs 

fan, I suspect Jake will be going to a lot more games. The 

Senate’s loss is Jake’s gain, and a gain for the Fitzgerald 

family and the people of Illinois. I thank the Senator from 

Illinois for his service to his State, the Land of Lincoln, and 

to the Nation. 

Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, It truly has been a privilege to 

serve in the Senate with my good friend PETER FITZGERALD. 

As many Illinois newspapers wrote when PETER announced 

he would not seek reelection, his decision to retire from the 

U.S. Senate is a true loss for the people of Illinois. I could 

not agree more. 

In the 1998 race for his Senate seat, PETER proved himself 

to be an exceptional campaigner, defeating a well-known incumbent in a State that had not elected a Republican in 20 

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years. And in that year, he was the only Republican challenger in the country to defeat an incumbent Democratic 

Senator. But PETER’s vision, message and leadership resonated with Illinoisans, and they elected him by a 6-point 

margin. 

Arriving in Washington as the youngest Member of the 

Senate, PETER hit the ground running as a strong voice for 

Illinois. He has been a steadfast advocate for taxpayers, consistently backing efforts to cut wasteful spending and reduce 

taxes. And he has been a proponent for consumer safety 

issues, focusing on areas such as improving car safety and 

child booster seats. 

I have the utmost respect for PETER. His courage and determination, even when faced with a daunting challenge, are 

remarkable. He has gone up against unscrupulous corporations and political corruption. He has had significant roles in 

investigating corporate accounting fraud, and PETER also has 

fought political corruption across party lines, leading the 

Chicago Tribune to conclude that ‘‘no one person has done 

more for political reform in Illinois than PETER FITZGERALD.’’

I have been privileged to serve alongside PETER on the 

Senate Agriculture Committee, working together on issues 

important to our strong agriculture States. As an advocate 

for increasing hunger awareness myself, I admire his work 

to make food stamp benefits for low-income families more 

easily accessible, including making program benefits available over the Internet. 

PETER and I share many similar views, but what is not 

widely known is that we look for the same qualities in our 

extraordinary staff members. In fact, managing the FITZGERALD office is chief of staff Greg Gross. Greg is a very talented member of his team, and I can attest to this because 

Greg also did such good work with me at the American Red 

Cross. I thank Greg for all his counsel during my first 2 

years in the Senate. 

It is widely known that PETER FITZGERALD is a principled 

and independent leader. He has time after time proven that 

he will go against the flow, go against what is popular, because he is loyal to his own ideals and doing what he believes is right for the people and families he represents. 

PETER is a refreshing elected official; a devoted family man 

to his wife Nina and son Jake; and a diligent public servant. 

It goes without saying, people in Washington and people in 

Illinois will sorely miss Senator PETER FITZGERALD. 

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Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I take a moment to 

recognize the contributions that Senator PETER FITZGERALD

has made to this Senate, to the State of Illinois, and to the 

Nation. 

As a fellow Midwesterner, I have always appreciated Senator FITZGERALD’s honest and fair-minded approach to the 

issues. From the moment he arrived here in the Senate, it 

was clear that he would keep his own counsel, doing what 

he thought was best for the people of Illinois without regard 

to powerful interests on either side of the aisle. 

Above all else, I appreciate Senator FITZGERALD’s unfailing 

commitment to reforming our campaign finance system. He 

was among that steadfast group of Republican Senators who 

stood firm in their support of the McCain-Feingold bill, despite enormous pressure to do otherwise. His support of our 

bill took a great deal of personal and political courage, and 

it is something that I truly admire, and for which I will always been grateful. 

As he moves on from the Senate, Senator FITZGERALD can 

be assured that his friends and colleagues here will long remember the contributions he made, and the dignity with 

which he served. I wish him all the best as he moves on to 

a new phase of his career. 

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise today to take this 

opportunity to honor our departing colleagues who are leaving the Senate. In almost each new Congress a different 

group of 100 men and women comes together from different 

backgrounds and political philosophies, representing different interests and constituencies, but through all our differences, we develop respect and admiration for each other. 

Many times we step across the aisle and work together on 

legislation and oftentimes genuine friendships are created. 

As I pay tribute to these departing Senators, whether they 

have been here one term or seven, they are a remarkable 

group and we thank them for their honorable service. 

Senator PETER FITZGERALD is retiring from the Senate 

after 6 years of service to his home State of Illinois. 

Prior to joining the Senate, Senator FITZGERALD was a 

commercial banking attorney and in this position played a 

significant role in investigations of corporate accounting 

fraud, mutual fund industry abuses, chronic underfunding of 

employee pensions, and waste, fraud and mismanagement in 

various Federal agencies. In 1993, he embarked upon his 

public service work when he began serving as an Illinois 

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State Senator until his election to the U.S. Senate in 1998 

at the young age of 38. 

PETER was the first Republican in Illinois to win a Senate 

race in 20 years. Even though his time here was brief, he 

has been able to establish himself as a fiscally responsible 

Senator. He has consistently backed efforts to control spending and reduce taxes. Through these actions, Senator FITZGERALD has received many awards from taxpayer watchdog 

groups such as the Americans for Tax Reform, who has repeatedly named him a ‘‘Hero of the American Taxpayer.’’

While serving as chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee 

on Consumer Affairs and Product Safety, PETER has also led 

a successful fight to improve outdated consumer safety regulations. These regulations brought about higher testing and 

safety standards for child car seats and improved car safety 

features that benefit all Americans. 

Senator FITZGERALD will be missed, though I’m sure he is 

now looking forward to spending more time with his wife 

Nina and their son Jake. I wish him the best of luck in his 

future endeavors. 

SATURDAY, November 20, 2004 

Mr. ALLARD. Madam President, I take a moment to talk 

about four colleagues whom I have had an opportunity to 

serve with in the Senate. * * * 

Madam President, I want to express my appreciation for 

the hard work of PETER FITZGERALD. I am disappointed he 

is only serving one term in the Senate. It is a voluntary decision that he made to step down after one term. 

His family has business interests in Colorado. I have enjoyed working with him, particularly when we served on the 

Agriculture Committee, and I began to respect his values as 

well as his work ethic. 

These four individuals have distinguished themselves in 

my mind. I have appreciated having the opportunity to serve 

with them in the Senate, and I hold them in great esteem. 

I wish them the very best as they pursue life’s journey, having served in a distinguished way in the Senate. I wish them 

the very best and Godspeed. 

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Madam President, I rise to say goodbye to several of my colleagues, dear friends and colleagues 

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with whom I have had the pleasure to work in the Senate. * * * 

It is often an uphill battle for a freshman Senator to make 

an impact, but Senator PETER FITZGERALD, a former commercial banking attorney, has chaired or led investigations 

of corporate accounting fraud, mutual fund industry abuses, 

chronic underfunding of employee pensions and waste, fraud 

and mismanagement in Federal agencies. 

In 2004, he proposed comprehensive, bipartisan mutual 

fund reform legislation to protect the household, college, and 

retirement savings of 95 million Americans. This bill, endorsed by consumer groups and reform-minded industry 

leaders, points the way for future legislation on this subject. 

The Senator also focused on consumer safety issues. In 

2000 he led a successful drive to modernize outdated Federal 

testing and safety standards for child car seats. In 2002, he 

drafted and President Bush signed into law a followup measure known as Anton’s Law, to upgrade Federal testing and 

standards for child booster seats and to require automakers 

to improve car safety features. 

I wish him well in his future endeavors. 

Madam President, I will miss all of my colleagues. As we 

take the opportunity to go forward in a new Congress, we 

will make new friends, but we will never forget the old ones. 

Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, I want to share my views, as 

did Senator Hutchison and others, about our colleagues who 

are leaving for new adventures in life. * * * 

I want to speak about four others, though, including PETER

FITZGERALD, whom I will miss. He will always be known for 

two ideas and principles of life—honesty and integrity. He 

has certainly fought hard for what he believed was right, 

and you can always trust his word. * * * 

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment 

of the Senate’s time, as we near completion of our duties for 

the 108th Congress, to honor the work and contribution to 

the Republican Party, the Senate, and the Nation of my 

friend, the Senator from Illinois, Senator PETER FITZGERALD. 

Senator FITZGERALD has chosen to take his youth and talents and serve in other areas outside of the Senate. Our loss 

will be, no doubt, the gain of others. 

Senator FITZGERALD provided a good, youthful, and modern face to the Republican Party. Our party will only stay 

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tives, and I am grateful for the contribution of Senator FITZGERALD. 

Elected to the Senate in 1998 at the very young age of 38, 

the Senator immediately added his vigor, intelligence, and 

experience in financial markets to address many of the complicated issues faced by our government and society as the 

Nation turned into the 21st century. 

When corporate scandals erupted early in this century, 

threatening to undermine confidence in markets, the Senate 

was, indeed, fortunate to be able to turn to Senator FITZGERALD for his thoughtful and informed guidance. As a 

former commercial banking attorney, he used his expertise 

in his positions on the Commerce and Governmental Affairs 

Committees, particularly his chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Financial Management, the Budget and International Security, to chair or support numerous hearings to 

illuminate the problems and necessary legislation we needed 

to return probity to financial dealings and confidence in our 

markets. The modern capitalist system is what provides 

growth and wealth to all the societies of the world, and the 

American markets are the most dynamic in the world. They 

are also the most diversified, and the vast majority of our 

citizens depend on them for employment, security and retirement. We owe a great deal of appreciation to Senator FITZGERALD for his work on corporate fraud issues, and I would 

like to thank him, once again. 

Senator FITZGERALD is a reformer, through and through. It 

is his dedication to our system of government and economy 

that drove him to find ways to improve it. He applied his 

drive to reform to consumer issues, government affairs, financial management, and the complicated mesh of revenue 

collection that is the current tax system of this country. And 

he quite deservedly received numerous acclamations from 

groups advocating for consumer and tax reform. 

Through this all, he never lost his focus on his home State. 

He didn’t work for Illinois to get reelected, he worked for Illinois because of his dedication to his State and his high 

standards of public service. A column in the Chicago Tribune, a good paper not known for being ragingly Republican, 

commended him for ‘‘elevating courage and honesty to new 

heights.’’ That sounds right to me. 

I will miss the presence of Senator FITZGERALD, his 

thoughtful floor statements before this body, and the impeccable manners of a gentleman that are so naturally his. His 

State can be proud of the Republican they sent to serve too 

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briefly in this body. We will miss his intelligence and dedication, and I will miss a good Senator and friend. I expect that, 

with his relative youth, we will hear much more of PETER G. 

FITZGERALD. 

Mr. DASCHLE. Today, I would like to say a few words 

about eight additional Senators with whom I have served 

these last historic 6 years, all of whom will be leaving when 

this Congress ends. 

Senator Nickles, Senator Campbell, Senator FITZGERALD, 

and Senator Miller, it has been a privilege to work with each 

of you. You have each sacrificed much to serve our Nation 

and I am sure you will continue to serve America well in the 

years to come. * * * 

I have to be honest, Mr. President, it was not my wish to 

depart with these fine Senators. But it has been my honor 

and a joy to serve with them, and one that I will remember 

all the days of my life. 

Mr. McCONNELL. We cannot conclude the 108th Congress without a sense of sadness. There are many—in fact 

there are too many—great Senators who are leaving this institution. I have already had an opportunity to express my 

goodbyes to Senator Nickles, Senator Campbell, and Senator 

FITZGERALD. 

I also wish a happy and healthy future to our colleagues 

across the aisle, Senator Daschle, Senator Breaux, Senator 

Hollings, Senator Bob Graham, Senator John Edwards, and 

Senator Zell Miller. Each of these men has made a lasting 

contribution to this marvelous institution. 

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