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TRIBUTES TO HON. BOB GRAHAM 

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Bob Graham 

U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA 

TRIBUTES 

IN THE CONGRESS OF 

THE UNITED STATES 

UNUM

E PLURIBUS


congress.#15
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Bob Graham 


97209.001
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 2005

S. DOC. 108–25 

Tributes 

Delivered in Congress 

Bob Graham 

United States Senator 

1987–2005 

÷ 

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Compiled under the direction 

of the 

Joint Committee on Printing 

Trent Lott, Chairman 

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CONTENTS 

Page 

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

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

Proceedings in the Senate: 

Tributes by Senators: 

Allen, George, of Virginia .......................................................... 16 

Boxer, Barbara, of California .................................................... 9 

Burns, Conrad R., of Montana .................................................. 5, 22 

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

Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota ................................................. 6 

Daschle, Thomas A., of South Dakota ...................................... 20 

Dayton, Mark, of Minnesota ..................................................... 21 

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

Domenici, Pete V., of New Mexico ............................................ 14 

Feingold, Russell D., of Wisconsin ............................................ 13 

Frist, Bill, of Tennessee ............................................................. 8 

Harkin, Tom, of Iowa ................................................................. 17 

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

Inhofe, James M., of Oklahoma ................................................ 11 

Lautenberg, Frank, of New Jersey ........................................... 10 

Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont ................................................... 19 

McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky ................................................. 21 

Nelson, Bill, of Florida ............................................................... 9 

Reid, Harry, of Nevada .............................................................. 16 

Roberts, Pat, of Kansas ............................................................. 3 

Sarbanes, Paul S., of Maryland ................................................ 22 

Shelby, Richard C., of Alabama ................................................ 6 

Stabenow, Deborah Ann, of Michigan ...................................... 14 

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Biography 

BOB GRAHAM is a former Governor of Florida who represented the State of Florida in Washington, DC, as senior 

Senator. He was born November 9, 1936, in Dade County, 

FL. He married the former Adele Khoury, of Miami Shores, 

in 1959. They have four daughters: Gwen Graham Logan, 

Cissy Graham McCullough, Suzanne Graham Gibson and 

Kendall Graham Elias. The Grahams also have 11 grandchildren. 

GRAHAM is the son of Ernest ‘‘Cap’’ Graham, a Florida 

State senator, mining engineer, and dairy cattleman, and 

Hilda Simmons Graham, a schoolteacher. He is the youngest 

of four children. His siblings are the late Philip Graham; 

William Graham of Miami Lakes, FL; and the late Mary 

Crow. 

BOB GRAHAM began workdays in 1974, teaching a semester 

of civics at Carol City Senior High School in Miami while 

serving in the Florida Senate. He performed 100 workdays 

in 1978 during his first successful campaign for Governor. 

He completed over 400 workdays—more than a year’s worth 

of days spent laboring side by side with the people he represented. His workdays are an extension of his belief in a 

personal style of governing. 

GRAHAM continued doing workdays throughout his tenure 

as Governor and in the U.S. Senate. His jobs have included 

service as a police officer, railroad engineer, construction 

worker, fisherman, garbageman, factory worker, busboy, and 

teacher. By working closely with Floridians, GRAHAM learned 

about the hopes and challenges they face. For him, there was 

no substitute for that kind of on-the-job experience. 

As a legislator, GRAHAM was a pioneer in support of improving public education. He authored and steered to passage a bill requiring testing for competency and progress in 

public schools. GRAHAM also authored much of the State’s environmental law. As chairman of the Senate Health and Rehabilitative Services Committee, he focused on two key 

issues—more adequate services for the elderly and community health services. 

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BOB GRAHAM’s leadership and effectiveness as a lawmaker 

earned him statewide recognition. He was the recipient of 

the St. Petersburg Times Award for Most Valuable Legislator, the Allen Morris Award as Most Valuable Member of 

the Senate, the Florida Association of Community Colleges’

Outstanding Legislator Award, the Tropical Audubon Society’s Conservation Award and many others. 

BOB GRAHAM served as the 38th Governor of Florida. He 

was recognized for providing strong leadership during a time 

of explosive population growth and dramatic challenges, including a truckers’ strike, civil disturbances and immigration 

crises. 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

While serving as Governor, GRAHAM worked to diversify 

Florida’s economy. During his administration, the unemployment rate in Florida remained well below the national average; more than 1 million new jobs were created, many of 

them in high-tech manufacturing. Florida’s business climate 

was ranked No. 1 in the Nation for 3 consecutive years, 1981 

through 1983. 

Expanding trade opportunities for Florida business was an 

important element of GRAHAM’s tenure as Governor. While 

the balance of all U.S. trade ran a deficit, Florida’s exports 

exceeded imports through the majority of GRAHAM’s administration. 

EDUCATION

Recognizing that a vital component of economic strength is 

a quality education system, GRAHAM worked to improve all 

public schools during his 8 years as Florida’s Governor. 

Key indicators of excellence in education rose under 

GRAHAM. Class sizes in public schools decreased, while 

teacher salaries increased. Per pupil spending rose from 21st 

to 13th in the Nation in 4 years. The percentage of community college and university students surpassing required 

standards on basic skills tests climbed from 64 percent to 89 

percent over 3 years during the GRAHAM administration. 

GRAHAM’s efforts in education have been recognized nationally. In 1983, the Chief State School Officers Association 

recognized GRAHAM for making the ‘‘Most Outstanding Contribution to Education’’ in America. 

ENVIRONMENT

As Governor, GRAHAM pioneered several environmental 

programs which have attracted national and international 

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attention, including efforts to save the Everglades, protect 

wetlands and safeguard Florida’s coastline. 

During GRAHAM’s two terms as Governor, Florida brought 

more environmentally endangered lands into public ownership than any other State in the Nation. This included acquisition of sensitive lands surrounding rivers, beaches and barrier islands. 

The Save Our Everglades Program, launched in 1983, was 

designed to restore America’s ‘‘River of Grass’’ and protect 

Florida’s wetlands, endangered species and their habitats. As 

Senator, GRAHAM led the bipartisan coalition that passed the 

Federal Everglades Restoration Plan in 2000. Today, 

GRAHAM is known as the father of the Everglades restoration 

effort. 

HEALTH CARE AND HUMAN SERVICES

During the GRAHAM administration, policies that aimed to 

help both Florida’s aging population and its youngest citizens were implemented. 

By expanding ‘‘Community Care for the Elderly,’’ a service 

program that enables frail or infirm older citizens to remain 

in their homes, GRAHAM helped ensure self-sufficiency and 

independence for older Floridians. This resulted in less than 

2 percent of Florida’s elderly residing in nursing homes, 

versus 5 percent nationally. 

In 8 years GRAHAM was able to expand child care and 

abuse prevention programs, increase prenatal and neonatal 

medical attention, and expand emergency medical facilities 

for infants and mothers. With these programs, both infant 

mortality and neonatal mortality decreased significantly. 

ORGANIZATIONS

While Governor, GRAHAM served as a chairman of the 

Southern Governors Association, the Education Commission 

of the States, the Southern Regional Educational Board, the 

National Advisory Commission on School Finance, the U.S. 

Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Education, and the 

Southern Growth Policies Board. 

In his third U.S. Senate term, BOB GRAHAM emerged as a 

leading voice of moderate Democrats bent on putting results 

ahead of politics. His centrist philosophy and commitment to 

bipartisanship made him a major player in some of the most 

important issues facing Americans today, from reforming 

Medicare to ensuring our continued prosperity. 

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As the founder and past chairman of the Senate New 

Democrats, GRAHAM worked to bring together a coalition 

that shared his views to promote sound fiscal policy while 

emphasizing paying down the debt and social policies that 

strike an equitable balance between the needs of all Americans. These moderates have helped to shape the debate on 

issues ranging from trade to education. 

As chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the 107th Congress, GRAHAM led efforts to improve 

our Nation’s intelligence agencies. Since the horrific events 

of September 11, 2001, he has been a leader in refocusing 

and strengthening the Nation’s counterterrorism efforts. 

He was a primary author of the portions of the USA PATRIOT Act which mandate greater information sharing 

among foreign intelligence and domestic law enforcement 

agencies to help fight a unified war on terrorism. GRAHAM

also was the chief sponsor of a 5-year plan for bolstering our 

intelligence capabilities, contained in the fiscal year 2002 

and 2003 intelligence authorization bills. 

With Florida Congressman Porter Goss, chairman of the 

House Intelligence Committee, GRAHAM co-chaired the historic joint House-Senate review of the events surrounding 

the September 11 attacks. The joint inquiry adopted a final 

report in December 2002 that included 19 recommendations 

aimed at bolstering our Nation’s intelligence capabilities. He 

introduced legislation that would implement the joint committee’s recommendations. 

GRAHAM also led efforts to improve security at our Nation’s 

seaports. In 1997, after a workday at Port Manatee in Florida, the Senator convinced former President Bill Clinton to 

establish a Federal commission to evaluate both the nature 

and extent of crime at our seaports, as well as their overall 

state of security. Recommendations from the Interagency 

Commission on Crime and Security at United States Seaports were the basis for a comprehensive maritime security 

bill that became law in December 2002. 

Even before September 11, GRAHAM was the primary 

mover behind Counterintelligence 21, which President Clinton signed in December 2000 and the Bush administration 

pledged to continue. This initiative is a far-reaching, methodical approach to identifying the most sensitive information in 

our government and then safeguarding that information. 

GRAHAM has long been an advocate of engagement with 

the Americas, particularly Colombia. After several visits to 

the region, GRAHAM introduced and secured passage of biparVerDate jan 13 2004 11:06 Mar 26, 2008 Jkt 097209 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 C:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE05\97209.TXT CRS1 PsN: SKAYNE
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tisan legislation that would greatly expand free-trade benefits to Colombia and other nations in the Andean region. 

GRAHAM believes that expanded trade will create economic 

opportunities in the region beyond the illegal narcotics industry. 

The need for a prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients has long been apparent. Since 1999, GRAHAM led his 

party in fighting for a plan that would provide equitable, 

comprehensive and affordable drug coverage for all Americans over 65. Prescription drug coverage is just one of the 

changes GRAHAM believed was necessary to bring Medicare 

into the 21st century. He advocated legislation that would 

reorient Medicare from a sickness program to a wellness program by offering preventative benefits to head off disease before it becomes life threatening. 

GRAHAM legislation would also ensure that low-income 

legal immigrant children and pregnant women have access 

to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program to 

meet their health care needs. He worked with a bipartisan 

coalition to restore Medicaid and other benefits taken from 

legal immigrants in the 1996 welfare reform law. Similarly, 

he pushed for Congress to live up to promises made in that 

law to maintain funding for social services grants to the 

States. As a strong supporter of welfare reform, he believed 

it was necessary to keep focused on the original intent of 

that landmark legislation—helping adults achieve selfsufficiency. This legislation is particularly important in high 

immigration States like Florida. 

GRAHAM considered Florida’s diversity one of its greatest 

assets and has been a leader in the quest for rational immigration policy. He brought together a broad coalition of business and labor leaders to craft compromise legislation that 

would provide workers for agricultural purposes and offer 

hard-working immigrants an opportunity for permanent 

legal status. 

While taking a lead on the national stage, GRAHAM remained active in and attentive to Florida issues. GRAHAM

strongly opposed drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and 

sponsored legislation that would extend the current moratoria indefinitely and buy back leases in environmentally 

sensitive areas. GRAHAM also spearheaded a campaign to end 

dredging practices that have degraded the Apalachicola 

River. 

GRAHAM’s commitment to higher education motivated him 

to lead an effort in Florida to restore a centralized board to 

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oversee the State university system. In November 2002, Floridians overwhelmingly agreed with him. Nearly 61 percent 

of voters supported an amendment to the constitution to permanently create a Board of Governors to guide the future of 

Florida’s 11 State universities. 

In the 108th Congress, GRAHAM served as a senior member of the powerful Finance Committee, which handles tax, 

trade and health care legislation, and the Committees on Environment and Public Works, and Energy and Natural Resources. He was also the ranking Democrat on the Veterans’

Affairs Committee. 

GRAHAM and his family have been active in Florida’s economic development since 1920. His father founded a dairy at 

Pennsuco in 1932. The family continues to operate dairy, 

beef cattle and pecan farms in Florida and Georgia. 

With his two older brothers, GRAHAM established The 

Graham Companies and commenced the planning and development of New Town, Miami Lakes in 1960. The population 

of Miami Lakes has grown to more than 22,000 with 10,000 

people employed in its industrial and office parks and commercial centers. 

GRAHAM attended Hialeah Elementary and Junior High 

Schools. He began his political career as the student body 

president of Miami Senior High School, graduating in 1955. 

He received a bachelor’s degree in 1959 from the University 

of Florida, where he was Phi Beta Kappa, a member of Florida Blue Key and Chancellor of Honor Court. 

GRAHAM received a bachelor of law degree from Harvard 

Law School in 1962. 

In 2002, a school in Miami Lakes was named the Bob 

Graham Education Center. GRAHAM said it was one of the 

greatest honors of his life. 

GRAHAM was elected to the Florida State House of Representatives in 1966 and reelected in 1968. He was elected 

to the Florida State Senate in 1970 and reelected in 1974. 

In 1978 he was elected Governor of Florida and reelected in 

1982. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 and reelected in 1992 and 1998. 

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A Fond Farewell 

Tuesday, December 7, 2004 

Mr. GRAHAM of Florida. Mr. President, my 18-year tenure in the Senate has capped an extremely satisfying personal experience with great rewards and gratification of public service. These have been some of the most significant influences on my life. The greatest influence, of course, has 

been my family. 

I was born into a family with good values and an admiration for education and an interest in politics. In February 

1936, my mother and father made two significant decisions. 

First, my father, who was a mining engineer by education 

and a dairy farmer by occupation, a man who had become 

extremely distressed at the level of underworld corruption in 

Dade County, FL, decided to run for the Florida State Senate 

to represent that county on a platform of cleaning up underworld corruption. 

The second decision my parents made in February 1936 

was to have a baby. I was the happy result of that second 

decision. My mother says that I came by my political instincts from the womb, that she spent her whole pregnancy 

going to political activities and that I became addicted. 

Throughout my public career, I have had the love and support of my partner of 45 years, Adele. No person in public 

life could have a more loving, a more caring, and a more contributing partner than I. 

At one point, Adele used to be nervous in public settings. 

Today, I wish I had her calm, her persuasiveness, her effectiveness in public settings. Together, we have had the privilege of raising four wonderful daughters, two of whom were 

born after our first election to public office. 

All of those qualities have been enhanced during my Senate years, including the addition of 11 grandchildren. On 

Thanksgiving Day I shared a special tradition with 9 of 

those 11 grandchildren when they joined me here at this 

desk on the Senate floor and observed and critiqued my 

skills—and lack of skills—as I carved my name into the Senate desk. 

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The second greatest influence is my home, the State of 

Florida. I thought I knew a lot about Florida as a native and 

as a two-term Governor, but I have learned so much more 

during the last 18 years. Since 1974, I have been taking different jobs, jobs alongside fellow Floridians, and as of last 

Thursday I have done 406 of these workdays; 214 of them 

have been done since I became a Member of the Senate. 

Even though my day job is 1,000 miles away from where 

many Floridians live, these workdays have been an important part of maintaining a close relationship with my fellow 

Floridians and reminding me what our priorities should be 

on their behalf here in Washington. Workdays and my experiences in Congress have taught me ways in which the Federal Government affects the lives of typical Americans and, 

most acutely, Floridians. 

I come from a State which is marked with dramatic 

growth in a very fragile environment, with a close affiliation 

with the countries to the south of the United States, a State 

in which one out of five of our citizens is over the age of 65, 

and therefore programs such as Medicare and Social Security 

take on a very special significance. How we conduct a lawbased immigration system with humanity intimately affects 

many of our people, as does the obligation to use power responsibly. All of these issues I have learned about at greater 

depth during my service in the Senate. 

What I have also gained in my three terms here is an appreciation of the institution of the Senate and the unique 

role it plays in balancing our government in order to avoid 

excessive power falling into the hands of any one person or 

governmental institution. 

One of our greatest responsibilities as Members of the Senate is to assure an independent judiciary. I am especially 

pleased that I was able to join my Florida colleagues in the 

Senate in establishing and maintaining a bipartisan, meritbased process by which we recommended and confirmed applicants for the Federal judiciary. 

Particularly, I am gratified by the work I did with former 

Senator Connie Mack. As a Democrat and as a Republican, 

we forwarded outstanding judicial candidates to both Democratic and Republican Presidents. Because this process was 

based on judicial merit, Florida nominees have been uniformly and expeditiously accepted for nomination and confirmation. 

I also came to see the Senate as our country’s best graduate school, offering access to private seminars with the best 

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and the brightest, supplemented by outside organizations 

such as the Aspen Institute’s congressional program and the 

InterAmerican Dialog’s Focus on Hemispheric Issues. 

Finally, Mr. President, as with you and your father, I came 

to appreciate the people of the Senate. Simply put, I enjoy 

being around politicians and the people who love politics, including my staff and the family of the Senate, and including 

the journalists who cover our activities. I value my relationship with each of my colleagues, and I wish I had the time 

to tell a story about each of you. 

Mr. President, your father was one of the first people I met 

when I came into the Senate. We had a number of things in 

common in our background and quickly formed a friendship 

which was one of the most significant parts, particularly, of 

my early years in the Senate. My grief at his loss is diluted 

by the knowledge not only that he has been followed by his 

son, but that his son is a person of such exemplary qualities 

as you represent. 

I would also like to single out one of my colleagues, a nonFloridian, as representative of the over 200 people with 

whom I have served during my tenure in the Senate. Senator 

Jay Rockefeller has been very special to me. We served as 

Governors at the same time. Jay, as much as anyone, encouraged me to run for the Senate. 

I especially treasure the relationships I have had with my 

congressional political mentors such as Congressman Danny 

Fascell and Senator, later Congressman, Claude Pepper, and 

my Florida colleagues in this institution: Lawton Chiles, 

Connie Mack, and Bill Nelson. 

Bill Nelson is a man I have known for over 40 years. In 

each stage of his life he has been committed to public service 

and to excellence in the execution of that public service. It 

has been a joy for the last 4 years jointly representing our 

17 million constituents with Bill. I greatly admire his contributions to Florida and to the Nation. I wish to Senator 

Nelson a long tenure in the Senate. Florida and America will 

be better places because of his service. 

I am also hugely grateful to those who have been willing 

to share this journey with me, the tens of thousands of people who have worked with me in my successful statewide 

campaigns, and the over 1,000 people who have joined me in 

public service in appointive or staff positions. I regret that 

I do not have time today to name all of them, but illustrative 

of all of them I will mention a few: Buddy Shorstein, Ken 

Klein, and Buddy Menn, all of whom have served as chiefs 

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of staff in the Senate; Gary Smith, Dick Burroughs, Charles 

Reed, Jay Hakes, and Tom Herndon, who served in a similar 

position when I was Governor of Florida; Mary Chiles, Ellen 

Roth, Lula Rodriguez, Susan McGinn, and Lydia Mount; Al 

Cumming and Bob Filippone; Mark Block, John Provenzano, 

and Paul Anderson—these wonderful people and a thousand 

more who have shared this joyful experience in public service. 

Winston Churchill once declared: 

Now is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. 

My friends, the Senate needs to regain its tradition of controlled partisanship; in other words, placing country before 

party. Another of my Florida political mentors, former Governor and Senator, Spessard Holland, once said that it was 

the jet airplane that caused the greatest change in the culture of the Senate. 

Prior to the jet airplane, Senator Holland and his wife 

would come in the first week of January to Washington, 

would settle in the hotel where they would live while they 

were here, and they would spend the next 6 to 7 months 

doing the business of America. While they were doing that, 

they would spend time with the families of their colleagues. 

They would become more than just occasional colleagues. 

They would become genuine friends. 

It was out of that development of relationships across regions and across parties that the Senate came to earn the 

title of ‘‘the world’s most exclusive club.’’ And it was the club 

where the essential bond was that of common respect. 

The jet airplane began to change that, because instead of 

staying here for a 5-day workweek and then a weekend of 

personal relations with the families of their colleagues, it became possible for each Member of the Senate to leave on Friday to return to their home State for whatever request was 

made of them. The Senator knew that and the requesting organization knew that. So it became a matter of political necessity to respond. 

The effect of that was not only did the work of the Senate 

extend from 6 to 7 months to today’s 7th of December—we 

have been in session now for 11 months and 1 week—it also 

meant that those weekends of personal relationships were 

largely lost. 

My No. 1 suggestion in this post-jet airplane age is that 

we try to get back to the tradition of spending more time together as families, as Americans, rather than as Republicans 

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and Democrats. For instance, rather than holding our traditional partisan retreats in the spring of the year, huddling 

as reds and blues, we should go to a retreat as a whole Senate celebrating the families of this great institution. 

I point to the pending intelligence reform bill, which I hope 

we will pass in the next day, as an example of what can be 

done when we recognize that an issue is so important to our 

Nation that we must work together to understand the problem and then develop solutions which are driven by pragmatism, not ideology. 

I suggest we apply the lessons that are being learned in 

developing and forming and passing intelligence reform to 

some of the challenges that are before us now such as reform 

of Social Security and Medicare, and reform of our energy 

policy that we as a Nation would be well served. 

Franklin Roosevelt declared in 1940: 

I do not believe that the common denominator of our great men in public 

life has not been mere allegiance to one political party, but the disinterested 

devotion with which they have strived to serve the whole country—and the 

relative unimportance that they have ascribed to politics compared with the 

paramount importance of government. 

The Congress should also spend less time looking at the 

rearview mirror for the accidents behind and more time looking out of the front windshield. 

Since I have served there for a decade including 18 months 

as chairman, I would cite the Intelligence Committee as a 

prime example of this institutional failure to focus ahead. 

Prior to September 11, the committee spent an inordinate 

amount of time examining a series of mistakes, of acts of 

treachery and of bureaucratic turf fighting. What we failed 

adequately to do was to look forward to the threats and challenges that our intelligence agencies needed to address before those threats and challenges resolved into a tragedy. We 

desperately need to apply this principle of looking out the 

front windshield to our accumulative deficits, budgetary deficits, trade deficits, transportation and public utilities deficits, 

education deficits among them. These deficits are challenges 

which this generation, unlike our forefathers, is ignoring because they are tough and managing them now has political 

downsides. But it is wrong, it is immoral to let our grandchildren do the heavy lifting because we have refused to do 

so. 

We need to learn again the principle of federalism that our 

forefathers laid out for us. I come out of a Jeffersonian philosophy believing that the best governmental decisions are 

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most likely to be made by those closest to the citizens who 

will be affected by those decisions. I recognize the importance of a national response to truly national issues and to 

the protection of the civil rights of all citizens. But America’s 

great contribution to political thought has been federalism, 

the sharing of responsibility between a central government 

and our 50 individual States. 

I am concerned that this appreciation for federalism has 

too frequently been situational. We at the Federal level, the 

national level, determine what outcome we wish to secure 

and then support either centralization or a distribution of 

power based on what has a better chance of achieving the 

goal we seek. We would be well advised to resist this temptation. 

Daily we are learning from the headlines of Ukraine and 

Iraq and other countries with a diverse population that are 

struggling to secure peace and prosperity. These foreign 

countries remind us of how difficult it is to hold to the model 

of federalism unless we are prepared to treat it with respect 

even when it may result in a different outcome than we 

would personally prefer. 

Finally, we should support the institution of the Senate. 

Its procedures and prerogatives are not arbitrary but reflect 

a responsibility to balance a complex government designed to 

protect the freedoms of the people against the temptation of 

government becoming authoritarian. 

I would like to give special recognition to Senator Robert 

Byrd. Frankly, when I entered this institution, Senator Byrd 

and I had some disagreements over how we thought the National Government should address its priorities. But over the 

years, I have come to gain increasing respect and admiration 

for his defense of the institution of the Senate precisely because it plays such a crucial role in protecting our individual 

freedoms. 

Mine has been a wonderful life, an exciting and unpredictable journey. It is a journey that is not ending but, rather, 

taking a different course. I am planning to travel especially 

in Latin America, to teach, to write at least one more book, 

to continue my years of interest in relations within the Western hemisphere and in modernizing America’s intelligence 

capability, and finally to fulfill our responsibilities to future 

generational leaders through the creation of an institution 

that instills the values of public service of such great Floridians such as LeRoy Collins, Reubin Askew, and our former 

colleague Lawton Chiles. 

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These are things that excite me, that inspire me and to 

which I am convinced I can make a better contribution as a 

private citizen at this, the end of the beginning of my life. 

Four years after he left the Presidency, President Harry 

Truman said: 

I have seen a great many men in public life, and one of their besetting 

sins is to stay in office too long. 

I decided that I would not be guilty of this common failing, 

and that I should make way for younger men. 

I extend my congratulations to the man Floridians have 

chosen as my successor, soon to be Senator Mel Martinez. I 

wish him the very best in his new role. Mel is a friend. He 

is a good man who has served Florida and America in many 

different positions of responsibility. I know the Senate will 

welcome him to his new home in the Senate. 

We Floridians have high expectations for Senator Mel 

Martinez and for those who will be serving in the 109th Congress and beyond. 

Goodbye, Mr. President. 

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TRIBUTES 

TO 

BOB GRAHAM 

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Proceedings in the Senate 

THURSDAY, October 7, 2004 

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I rise to support Senator 

McCain and his amendment to the McConnell-Reid measure 

amending S. Res. 445. 

First, I pay tribute to the former chairman of the Senate 

Intelligence Committee, Mr. GRAHAM. I thank him for his 

service to our country. He is retiring, although that certainly 

does not describe the Senator, but I thank him for his leadership and his suggestions as we go through this very difficult 

task of reforming how we do our oversight responsibilities in 

reference to our intelligence obligations. 

MONDAY, October 11, 2004 

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the Bible tells us that ‘‘unto 

whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.’’

When BOB GRAHAM came to the U.S. Senate, ‘‘much’’ was 

expected from him because much had been given. 

He came to the Senate from a wealthy and successful family. His father, Ernest ‘‘Cap’’ Graham, was a wealthy and 

successful Florida dairyman and politician. His half-brother, 

Phil Graham, was a well-known publisher of a major newspaper here in the Nation’s Capital. 

He came to the Senate with a wealth of experience. After 

graduating from the University of Florida and Harvard Law 

School, he served two terms in the Florida House of Representatives, 1967–1971; two terms in the Florida State Senate, 1971–1979. In 1978, he was elected Governor of Florida, 

where he served two terms, 1978–1986. 

In 1986, having never lost an election, and with a record 

of accomplishments as both legislator and a chief executive, 

he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Therefore, no one could 

have been faulted for expecting much from him, and I am 

pleased and proud to say he has delivered. 

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He was a most effective member on a number of important 

Senate committees, including the Senate Committee on 

Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the Senate Finance 

Committee, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. 

He has also served as chairman of the Senate Intelligence 

Committee. 

In his committee work, and in his daily work on the Senate floor, Senator GRAHAM earned the respect of everyone in 

this Chamber for his honesty, his decency, and his integrity. 

In the rough and tumble world of American politics, Senator 

GRAHAM always remained a gentleman. 

He also earned the respect of his colleagues for his ability 

to reach across the aisle for the greater good of his State and 

our Nation. As a result, Senator GRAHAM established a long 

record of bipartisan accomplishments on issues of national 

security, health care, education, environment, veterans benefits, and intelligence matters. 

The people of Florida have been well served by their Senator. In this Chamber, he has helped protect the workers in 

his State from unfair cheap imports, worked to secure the 

protection of the Everglades, and has fought tenaciously to 

reduce the traffic in illegal drugs in Florida. He was one of 

the principal architects of the 1988 omnibus antidrug bill 

and organized efforts to attack money laundering by drug 

smugglers. 

During his political career, Senator GRAHAM also became 

famous for three things. The first is his wardrobe, that is, 

the ties that he wears. Everyone who knows Senator 

GRAHAM knows that he only wears ties with an outline of 

Florida on them. 

The second is that for almost three decades he has recorded in detail every waking moment of his life. 

The third thing for which Senator GRAHAM is well known 

is his so-called ‘‘workdays.’’ One day each month for the past 

three decades, he has performed a job, usually manual labor, 

in order to stay in touch with and to better understand the 

problems and the needs of the people of his State. 

He has now performed nearly 400 different jobs. He has 

been a flight attendant, a truckdriver, and a chicken plucker. 

He has cleaned up after hurricanes, and he has cleaned up 

after dogs as he once spent a day handling a ‘‘pooper scooper.’’ He once spent a day bagging groceries, and has even 

performed on stage. He has worked with policemen, doctors, 

fishermen, firefighters, and teachers. 

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These ‘‘workdays’’ were not gimmicks or media events. 

They were important means by which he could better serve 

the people of his State. While Governor of Florida, it was 

during his workday as a public schoolteacher that he experienced first-hand the serious overcrowding in his State’s 

school system. As a result, when he got back to Tallahassee, 

he sought more funding for school construction to accommodate the State’s booming student population. 

On his 355th workday he worked in a hospital, trying to 

secure insurance provider authorization for treatment in the 

emergency department. This frustrating experience led him 

to introduce the Emergency Medical Services Act. 

While serving customers in a Florida pharmacy, he heard 

from seniors who could not afford to pay for their prescription drugs. Afterward, he played a lead role in the effort to 

expand Medicare benefits to cover prescription drugs for seniors. 

Despite my admiration for Senator GRAHAM, I must confess that I have had my disagreements with the senior Senator from Florida. More than once, I have heard him issue 

his boast that, ‘‘the future of America is Florida.’’ We all 

know, of course, that the future of America is West Virginia. 

But neither this, nor other disagreements, has deterred or 

subtracted from my respect for him. He has made an enormous contribution to the Senate, where he has effectively 

and successfully served his State and our country. 

Unfortunately, Senator GRAHAM has decided that, after 

three terms in the Senate, it is time to leave us. We will 

miss his wisdom, his decency, and his remarkable dedication 

in service to our Nation. Much was expected of Senator 

GRAHAM, and he, indeed, exceeded all expectations. 

I wish him and his wife, Adele Khoury, the best of health 

and happiness in their retirement. 

THURSDAY, November 18, 2004 

Mr. BURNS. * * * BOB GRAHAM from Florida I learned 

was in the Angus business and he leaves this year. 

John Breaux from Louisiana. I worked with him on the 

Commerce Committee regarding energy issues. His wisdom 

will be missed. 

I am afraid I took much more from these men than I could 

ever return to them. 

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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 BOB GRAHAM is a friend of mine, a 

Democrat, a former Governor of Florida for two terms. He 

came to the Senate in 1986 when I did. We worked together 

on many committees, but we worked closely together on the 

committee you serve on today, Mr. President, and that is the 

Intelligence Committee. 

I was the chairman of the committee and then he became 

the chairman when the Democrats got control of the Senate, 

and I was the vice chairman. I found BOB GRAHAM to be 

working day in and day out, to be a very upfront man, a very 

honorable man, a man of his word. I certainly wish him well 

in whatever he does in the future. 

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, as the 108th Congress draws 

to a close, the Senate will lose one of its most distinguished 

and accomplished Members, Senator BOB GRAHAM. Few Senators have had such an outstanding career in public service. 

BOB GRAHAM served as a Florida State legislator between 

1967 and 1978; as Governor between 1978 and 1982; and as 

U.S. Senator from 1987 to 2004. I am honored that Senator 

GRAHAM and I were in the same class following our elections 

to the Senate in 1986. 

Throughout his years in public service, Senator GRAHAM

has taken a leadership role in protecting our environment, 

advocating on behalf of seniors and children for adequate 

health care, working to make certain that our children 

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achieve their highest potential in schools, and making certain that our country lives up to its obligations to veterans 

and active duty military personnel. 

Early in his career as Governor of Florida, Senator 

GRAHAM launched one of our Nation’s most significant efforts 

to protect the environment through the Save Our Everglades 

Program. In 2000, Senator GRAHAM achieved his goal of restoring the Florida Everglades through an unprecedented 

partnership among Federal, State, and local officials along 

with private industries. This initiative was a significant step 

to ensure protection of a critical wetland environment, the 

Florida water supply and endangered species. Senator 

GRAHAM’s efforts were key to preservation of one of America’s most important and environmentally sensitive natural 

treasures. 

Throughout his career in public service, Senator GRAHAM

has also taken a leadership role on behalf of public education. Long before the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act, Senator GRAHAM worked to improve Florida public 

schools by making certain that children have the highest 

quality public education system. He advocated on behalf of 

rigid student testing for competency in academic courses, 

worked to reduce class size, to improve the learning environment through new school construction and to provide more 

opportunities for higher education assistance for college students. 

Through our years together in the Senate, I was privileged 

to work with Senator GRAHAM closely on health care and Social Security issues. As a colleague for 10 years on the Senate Finance Committee, I noted, with admiration, his concern for the health care needs for the elderly, especially the 

need to strengthen Medicare and provide a prescription drug 

benefit for the elderly. Senator GRAHAM authored Medicare 

reform legislation to provide a prescription drug benefit and 

other preventative health care benefits. His Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 

was co-sponsored by one-third of the Senate. 

When it came to Social Security and Medicare, Senator 

GRAHAM took a long view. He missed no opportunity to urge 

all of us to make a priority of ensuring the long-term solvency of these two crucial programs. His concern was not 

just the current needs of his Florida constituents, but the importance of these programs for the income and health security of generations to come. 

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Last, Senator GRAHAM assumed a leadership role on behalf 

of our Nation’s veterans and active duty military personnel 

in his capacity as ranking member of the Senate Committee 

on Veterans’ Affairs. While he focused considerable attention 

on the needs of our aging veterans population, working tirelessly to increase funding for VA medical care, he has also 

been sensitive to the needs of veterans living in rural America. Senator GRAHAM supported my efforts to improve access 

to VA medical care for rural veterans and to improve the 

quality of care for veterans at the Fargo VA Medical Center 

and through the expansion of outpatient clinics in rural communities. For this understanding and support for rural veterans, North Dakotans will be forever grateful. 

There are many achievements by Senator GRAHAM that I 

could cite throughout his career in public service. The few 

accomplishments that I have noted demonstrate remarkable 

dedication to our country—dedication to improving the lives 

of our children, the elderly and our veterans. Senator 

GRAHAM represents the finest example of a dedicated and 

compassionate public servant. I hope that Senator GRAHAM’s 

career will inspire young Floridians and other young people 

across our Nation to service for our country. I have been 

privileged to serve with Senator GRAHAM and thank him for 

his distinguished service to our country. 

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, during his first campaign for 

the U.S. Senate in 1986, People Magazine compared BOB

GRAHAM’s mind to a Florida thunderstorm; resolute and impossible to deflect. 

But as a Member of this body for 18 years, BOB GRAHAM

has shown that while he may have the energy of a lightning 

storm, his works are guided with far greater purpose and direction. 

In 40 years, BOB has never lost a statewide election. He 

is one of Florida’s most beloved politicians. And that is for 

good reason. 

Always looking for ways to connect with his constituents, 

Senator GRAHAM uses his ‘‘workdays’’ to toil alongside everyday Floridians to understand the problems they face. 

A true American patriot, he has consistently put country 

before party. 

On the Senate Intelligence Committee he has helped us 

tackle the monumental task of overhauling America’s intelligence agencies. We will all miss his knowledge, his expertise, and his ability to clarify difficult issues. 

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BOB and his wife, Adele, have been treasured members of 

the Senate family—as much for who they are as for what 

they have done. For a couple who has accomplished so much 

in their lives together, that’s saying something. 

I want to thank Senator GRAHAM for his valued contributions to our body and to our country. And we wish him and 

Adele the best in all their future endeavors. 

FRIDAY, November 19, 2004 

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

comments about our friends who are departing the Senate. 

* * * Senator GRAHAM is a champion on the environment 

and some other issues, protecting senior citizens and Social 

Security. We will need to hear his voice. * * * 

Thank you very much. 

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. * * * 

I conclude with my comments about my colleague from 

Florida, my mentor, my friend of many years. It is hard to 

believe BOB GRAHAM has been elected to serve almost 40 

years—38 years to be exact. From when he was first elected 

to the State legislature in 1966, he has been in elected office 

ever since—two terms in the State house, two terms in the 

State senate, two terms as the Governor of Florida, where he 

had a magnificent record, where he has put his stamp as one 

of Florida’s great Governors, starting programs to save the 

Florida Everglades, the River of Grass, the Kissimmee River, 

and the Everglades restoration that has now started. It is an 

$8 million project shared half and half between the State 

and the Federal Government. That is a great legacy for BOB. 

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Then, of course, his three terms in the Senate, 10 years of 

which he served on the Senate Intelligence Committee, the 

last 2 of which he served as chairman of that committee. Of 

course, with that great knowledge and expertise, in the 

course of the debates here, BOB has given us great insight 

and wisdom. 

Finally, some of his fellow Senators convinced him that he 

ought to sit down and write a book and that book is entitled 

Intelligence Matters. It is my hope that with other Senators 

on this floor that we are going to be able to help BOB fulfill 

one of his dreams, which is that in an intelligence service 

that has been decimated from time to time as a result of the 

whims of appropriations, that a professional core of career 

intelligence officers can be enhanced by starting an ROTC 

for intelligence officers. 

We are going to try to get the appropriations to start that 

and to do it at one of our Florida universities named for BOB

GRAHAM. Let that little incubator show the way to see 

whether that is a system we can adopt around the country 

to give an ample supply of officers who are ready for service 

in the intelligence service. 

So it is again with a heavy heart that I see my colleague, 

Senator GRAHAM, retire after a distinguished career. He will 

not be retiring as a public servant, because whether it be 

from the position of a university—and it is my understanding he will be going to Harvard for a year at the Kennedy School—or whether it be back in our State affiliated 

with several of our universities in Florida, BOB will be rendering public service to the people of this country for some 

period of time. 

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. 

* * * Another esteemed colleague from the South, Senator 

BOB GRAHAM, the senior Senator from Florida, is clearly one 

of the State’s most popular elected officials. He won two 

terms as State representative, two terms as a State senator, 

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two terms as a Governor, three terms as a U.S. Senator, 

with a 9–9 record. For a short time he put his hat in the ring 

in the recent Presidential race. He had a 9–9 record of elections dating back 38 years. 

Like Senator Breaux, BOB GRAHAM has worked diligently 

to forge bipartisan solutions to the most pressing problems. 

He is a fiscal conservative, dedicated to strengthening and 

improving Social Security and Medicare. BOB GRAHAM is the 

author of a comprehensive, bipartisan plan to restore the Everglades, a plan that created an unprecedented partnership 

among Federal, State, and local governments and private industries to reverse the damage done by fragile ‘‘River of 

Grass’’ decades of dredging, dumping, and destruction. He 

has fought hard to protect Florida’s coastline from oil and 

gas exploration. 

One of the things that made BOB GRAHAM so popular has 

been his determination to spend time working side by side 

with people he represents. Over 30 years he has worked 400 

workdays. On those workdays—and most have seen him in 

costume—he has worked as a police officer, railroad engineer, construction worker, fisherman, garbage man. I don’t 

think I would have taken all the jobs he did, but he did them 

wonderfully and endeared himself to his constituents. He 

was a factory worker, busboy, teacher. If BOB does not want 

to retire, I am sure he will be able to find some kind of work. 

He is experienced in so many fields. * * * 

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. 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 

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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 

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. * * * 

BOB GRAHAM is also leaving the Senate. I would like to 

recognize him and the State of Florida for sharing BOB

GRAHAM with us. He served for 18 years in the Senate. Prior 

to his election to this body, he served as a Governor for 8 

years in Florida, and served previously in both the Florida 

State Senate and the House of Representatives. He is without a doubt one of the most respected and popular public figures who have ever represented the State of Florida. He is 

well known in Florida for working over 400 days alongside 

his constituents, as others mentioned this afternoon, giving 

him a unique perspective on the issues and problems they 

deal with each and every day. 

But not only was he doing it for Floridians, those 400 days 

he spent working along with others became a national symbol of someone who went out of his way to understand and 

learn how other people work and live every single day. 

He has been a tireless advocate for priorities that affect 

Florida’s citizens, including prescription drug coverage for 

seniors, and preservation of the Everglades and the Florida 

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coastline. I have been privileged to work with him on several 

occasions. I particularly appreciate his work for the people of 

Haiti. 

Since the attacks of September 11, Senator GRAHAM has 

shown an unyielding and passionate commitment to making 

our Nation stronger, safer, and far more secure. In particular, he has spoken out forcefully and candidly in favor of 

reforming our intelligence agencies. 

As chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence during the previous Congress, he was the primary author of sections of the USA PATRIOT Act that require greater information sharing among intelligence and law enforcement agencies. He has been outspoken about what our Nation could 

have done before 9/11 to protect itself, and how it is just as 

important that we do everything in our power to make this 

country safer in the 21st century. 

BOB GRAHAM leaves this body as one of its most respected 

Members, and one of the most well-liked public servants in 

his State and in this Chamber. We will miss him in this 

body and I wish BOB and his lovely wife Adele and the rest 

of their family 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. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I want to pay tribute to Senator BOB GRAHAM, a man who has served in the 

U.S. Senate with great distinction for the last 18 years. The 

people of Florida have been fortunate to be represented by 

a man who is as thoughtful, as tough-minded and as independent as BOB GRAHAM. 

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When I first came to the Senate, I was proud to work with 

Senator GRAHAM to bring the deficit under control. Senator 

GRAHAM was a leader for fiscal responsibility in the Senate, 

and he helped to focus our efforts to cut wasteful spending 

and institute budget reforms that brought the deficit under 

control, and ultimately created a budget surplus. His leadership will certainly be missed in this area in the next Congress, as we must come to terms with the largest deficit in 

our Nation’s history. 

Senator GRAHAM was also a voice for fiscal sanity on the 

Finance Committee, a committee that in recent years has too 

often promoted policies that have deepened our fiscal problems. It isn’t easy to go against your colleagues, whether in 

a committee or in a caucus, to stand up for what you believe 

is right. But that’s exactly what BOB GRAHAM has done 

throughout his time in the Senate, and I greatly admire him 

for it. 

His independence has also extended to his work in the 

fight against terrorism, where he has been an unyielding 

voice for a stronger, more focused war on terror, and I thank 

him for his outspoken leadership on this critically important 

issue. 

Here in the Senate, we will miss BOB GRAHAM’s thoughtful 

leadership, his unfailing civility, and his unstinting friendship. I thank him for his service to the State of Florida and 

to this country, and wish him all the best in his retirement. 

Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to 

some of my colleagues who will be leaving the Senate at the 

end of this session. * * * 

We will also miss the leadership and service of Senator 

BOB GRAHAM. 

Senator GRAHAM has dedicated his life to public service, 

serving in the Florida State House and State Senate, and as 

Governor of Florida before his 18 years here in the U.S. Senate. 

Senator GRAHAM and I share a passion for health care. He 

has been a tireless advocate and leader on the need for a 

prescription drug benefit for America’s seniors. 

As founder of the New Senate Democrats, Senator 

GRAHAM has worked to bring together coalitions on issues 

ranging from education to the national debt and fiscal responsibility. 

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ing 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. 

I have a great affection for the departing Senator from 

Florida, BOB GRAHAM. After 18 years of dedicated service to 

his country and to the people of Florida, all of us in this 

Chamber will certainly miss the Senator as he retires from 

elected office. 

I had the pleasure of serving on the Energy and Natural 

Resources Committee with Senator GRAHAM during the past 

9 years. During that time, I had the opportunity to work 

with Senator GRAHAM on a number of important issues. He 

proved to be a sound leader for his party and a Member committed to bipartisan solutions. 

Senator GRAHAM’s brief tenure as Chairman of the Select 

Intelligence Committee came during one of the most trying 

times our Nation has faced, the attack on our country by terrorists on September 11, 2001. Senator GRAHAM worked 

closely with his House counterpart, and current Director of 

Central Intelligence, Porter Goss, to lead a joint SenateHouse inquiry into the attacks on our Nation. 

Although he was first elected to the Senate in 1986, Senator GRAHAM has been serving the people of Florida since 

1966 when he was first elected to that State’s house of representatives. After serving in the House for 4 years and in 

the State senate for 8 years, Senator GRAHAM was elected 

the 38th Governor of the State of Florida. 

Despite these accomplishments, it is fair to say that Senator GRAHAM will perhaps be most memorable for instituting 

the ‘‘workdays’’ he began in 1974 and continued during his 

time in the Senate. Senator GRAHAM began the workdays by 

teaching a semester of civics courses at a Miami area high 

school. 

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I wish Senator GRAHAM, his wife Adele, and his children 

and grandchildren the very best in the coming years. 

SATURDAY, November 20, 2004 

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Madam President, I rise to say goodbye to several dear friends and colleagues with whom I have 

had the pleasure to work in the Senate. * * * 

Senator BOB GRAHAM, a former two-term Governor of the 

Sunshine State, has compiled a record of achievement in the 

Senate which included portions of the PATRIOT Act. When 

it comes to environmental, tax, energy, and education issues, 

he has been a strong voice in Congress. 

One of the greatest legacies of Senator GRAHAM is the 

Florida Everglades. The rich flora and fauna of the Everglades were threatened by development, but then-Governor 

GRAHAM pushed through legislation to protect it. Future generations of Americans who visit the Everglades should remember his contribution to saving this national heritage. 

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 wish all the best to Senator Hollings. We will miss his 

booming voice. We will miss Senator Edwards, Senator 

GRAHAM of Florida, and Senator Daschle. We will also miss 

John Breaux, a man we know will enjoy life with his good 

common sense and sense of humor. He is a good friend. 

Mr. REID. BOB GRAHAM and I came to the Senate together 

in 1986. He first ran for Governor 26 years ago. Since that 

time, and even before, he has spent hundreds of days working with regular Floridians in their jobs. 

The thing we all see in BOB GRAHAM is the little notebooks 

he carries and everything he does he writes down. I am sure 

some day after we are long gone, a historian will review 

those, and BOB GRAHAM will be well known in the history 

books because he wrote the history of everything he has done 

for the last 25 or 30 years. 

He was a great Governor for the Sunshine State. He has 

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mittee. He has certainly been tremendous on that committee. 

He is a detail man. He is a person, for example, who worked 

on the Everglades. He was tireless, persistent, and so smart. 

He has become an expert on foreign affairs and foreign intelligence. He served as chairman of the Intelligence Committee. He has written a book on the subject. His knowledge 

and contributions in that area will be hard to replace. 

I certainly will miss the Senator from Florida. It is just too 

bad he decided not to run for reelection. 

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, with the close of the 108th 

Congress, the Senate will lose to retirement one of our most 

respected and admired Members, Senator BOB GRAHAM of 

Florida. 

I remember how impressed we were in 1987 when BOB

came to the Senate after two terms as an enormously popular Governor of Florida. From the start, he made his mark 

in this body as a serious and diligent legislator—a classic 

workhorse Senator rather than show horse Senator. 

One of his greatest accomplishments was the passage, 4 

years ago, of comprehensive legislation to restore and protect 

the Florida Everglades. This was BOB GRAHAM at his very 

best: forging a bipartisan consensus, and crafting a unique 

partnership among Federal, State and local governments as 

well as private industries and landowners. This will be a living monument to Senator BOB GRAHAM: a restored and revitalized Everglades. 

I first got to know BOB GRAHAM back in 1977, a decade before he came to this body. At the time, he was a State senator down in Florida, planning to run for Governor the following year. He had heard about my workdays, an idea that 

I originated when I was running for Congress in 1974. I had 

spent dozens of workdays—as a cop on the beat, construction 

worker, farmer, nurse’s aide, and many other professions. It 

was a great way to get in touch with ordinary working 

Iowans and their concerns. 

I remember BOB coming by my office over in the Cannon 

House Office Building. He was a very serious man, very analytical and thorough. He asked all the right questions. And 

a couple weeks later, he sent me his plan to conduct 100 

workdays during his campaign for Governor. I told him, as 

tactfully as I could, that was way too many, that he would 

never be able to do it. But BOB went ahead with his plan. 

He did, indeed, conduct 100 workdays. He did, indeed, get 

elected Governor of Florida. And I learned never to underestimate BOB GRAHAM. 

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By the way, BOB’s workdays didn’t stop there. As Governor 

and U.S. Senator, he went on to complete nearly 400 workdays, serving as police officer, teacher, garbage man, busboy, 

hurricane relief worker, you name it. BOB swears by the 

value of these days—as I do. In fact, in 1997, he spent 1 

workday as a U.S. Customs inspector at the port in Tampa. 

This opened his eyes to the extreme vulnerability of our 

ports to crime, drug trafficking, and terrorist strikes. 

And the workdays continue. Last month, Senator GRAHAM

spent a day as a high school civics teacher in Miami. And 

just this past weekend, he spent a day as a bookseller in 

Coral Gables. 

All of which is typical of BOB GRAHAM. He may be retiring 

from the Senate, but he is not a retiring man. He continues 

to be a workhorse and a whirlwind of activity. His new book, 

Intelligence Matters, has stirred up controversy by shining a 

spotlight on the Saudi royal family’s connections to terrorism. 

The fact is BOB is leaving the Senate at the very top of his 

game, especially in the field of intelligence and homeland security. After the September 11 attacks, it was Senator 

GRAHAM who proposed the creation of a joint House-Senate 

inquiry into the intelligence failures leading up to the attacks. Senator GRAHAM ended up serving as co-chair of that 

historic effort, and he did just a brilliant job of keeping the 

inquiry bipartisan, focused on the facts, focused on solutions. 

Meanwhile, events have vindicated Senator GRAHAM’s 

principled stand as one of only 23 Senators to vote in October 2002 against the resolution to authorize the use of force 

against Saddam. At the time, he argued passionately that 

the war on terrorism should be our highest priority. He insisted that al Qaeda was the real threat to America, and 

that an attack on Iraq would be a detour and distraction 

from the war on terrorism. And, as usual, BOB GRAHAM was 

exactly right. The Senate failed to heed his warnings. I failed 

to heed his warnings. And, as a result, Osama bin Laden remains at large, al Qaeda and the Taliban are reconstituting 

themselves, and our Armed Forces are bogged down in a 

quagmire in Iraq. 

So, no question, with BOB GRAHAM’s retirement, the Senate is losing one of its most talented and respected Members. 

Over the years, BOB and Adele have become wonderful 

friends, and those friendships will continue. But I will miss 

the day-to-day association on the floor with BOB. 

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As I said, you have to respect the fact that BOB GRAHAM

is leaving the Senate at the very top of his game. I wish BOB

and Adele all the best. 

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, at the end of this Congress we 

will bid farewell to distinguished Members of this body who 

have served their States and their country with honor. I rise 

today to pay tribute to the senior Senator from Florida, a 

man who has been a leader in the Senate on national intelligence issues, prescription drugs and the environment and 

has been a strong voice in this body on behalf of the interests of his fellow Floridians. 

For more than four decades Senator GRAHAM has been a 

leader in Florida politics, serving his State as a State representative and senator, as Governor and as a U.S. Senator. 

For 18 years Senator GRAHAM has compiled an impressive 

record of leadership while serving as chairman and ranking 

member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, chairman of the 

Intelligence Committee, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and as a senior member of the 

Senate Finance Committee. 

Since 1974, Senator GRAHAM has completed more than 400 

‘‘workdays’’ with Floridians around his State. During these 

workdays the Senator spends working alongside his constituents, the personal interaction helps him understand the challenges that Floridians face. These visits clearly have provided Senator GRAHAM with an opportunity to recognize the 

community values and hard work that are exhibited and 

shared by his constituents. These jobs have gone everywhere 

from garbage loader to short order cook. No Senator has 

done anything similar. 

From his position on the Senate Finance Committee, Senator GRAHAM has picked up the torch for causes supported 

by another respected Floridian, Claude Pepper, the former 

Senator and Congressman. He has supported providing affordable prescription drugs to Americans and has advocated 

for a commonsense approach to Medicare that focuses on 

wellness and preventative health. Senator GRAHAM has increased access to the Children’s Health Insurance Program 

and has pushed Congress to live up to its commitment to 

support social services. 

Both as Governor and Senator, BOB GRAHAM has been 

dedicated to protecting the environment. He has helped direct millions of dollars to protect the Everglades, restore wetlands and promote responsible development. In the Senate, 

BOB GRAHAM has voiced opposition to drilling on the Outer 

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Continental Shelf and for an end to the harmful practice of 

dredging in the Apalachicola River. 

For those of us that have served with Senator GRAHAM in 

the Senate we have admired his hard work and dedication 

to his constituents. We join him now in celebrating his 18 

successful years in this body, a period of time that is one 

part of a career of service to the State of Florida. As Senator 

GRAHAM moves out of the public eye, he leaves behind a legacy of accomplishment that will be forever remembered by 

his fellow Americans and Floridians. He also leaves a reputation of integrity and insight. History will show that this 

country should have listened to his warnings about the failed 

intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq. 

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

about eight 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. 

Six Democratic Senators are leaving at the end of this 

Congress. * * * 

The best way I found to stay in touch with the people who 

elected me was to drive through every county in South Dakota every year and just talk to whomever I ran into about 

whatever was on their mind. BOB GRAHAM found an equally 

effective way of staying in touch with average Floridians. He 

calls them workdays. He would spend a day working in another job. 

This year he worked his 400th workday. He spent that day 

the same way he spent his first workday 30 years ago: as a 

teacher. That is appropriate because, in fact, BOB’s entire career has been a living lesson in public service. 

A while back, I was looking over the list of BOB’s workday 

jobs and I have to tell you, I am amazed! Think about all the 

things he has done: NASA payload specialist, firefighter, 

bagel maker, bulletproof vest maker, pea picker, phosphate 

miner, Air Force Special Operations gunner, circus worker 

elf! 

Clearly, it wasn’t lack of other career options that has kept 

BOB in the Senate for 18 years. What has kept him here is 

simple. It is his love of Florida, and of this country. It is a 

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sense of responsibility that he inherited from his father and 

that has animated his whole life. 

BOB GRAHAM is a Moderate with a capital M. And he is 

one of the nicest people you could ever meet. But when it 

comes to the people of Florida, when it comes to doing right 

by America, strengthening America’s economy, creating good 

jobs, investing in children, and standing up for America’s 

veterans and military families, BOB GRAHAM is a fierce fighter. And when it comes to protecting our Nation from terrorism, he is a heavyweight fighter. America is safer today 

because of his courage and tenacity. 

I suspect the only people who could possibly be sadder 

about BOB’s retirement than the members of our caucus 

are the people who make those Florida ties! We wish BOB

and Adele the very best of luck in all their future endeavors. * * * 

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. 

Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, I would like to first pay tribute to my colleague, the Senator from Florida [Mr. GRAHAM], 

who just spoke. He has been one of my guiding lights in my 

4 years here. He is someone who exemplifies the best qualities of a U.S. Senator. His integrity and wisdom and his 

careful attention to matters large and small have been superb during his 38 years of public service to the State of 

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Florida. It has been just extraordinary. I wish him well and 

I will miss him. I will miss his leadership and his guidance. 

WEDNESDAY, December 8, 2004 

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I appreciate the good works of 

my good friend from Florida. I see both Florida Senators are 

in the Chamber. Of course, Senator GRAHAM is just about to 

close out his career in this Senate, and he will be missed. He 

was one of my neighbors when I first came here some 16 

years ago, when they were living just not too far down the 

street. So I appreciate him and all the talents and the contributions he has made to this body and to the country. 

I hope he is successful in the Black Angus business in 

Florida. He will be going back to his beloved ranch and probably do a little writing, get a little philosophical. I know he 

has done that at times. He can do it in an environment that 

is befitting a retired Senator. We appreciate him. 

We do not say goodbye in our part of the country. We just 

say so long. Our trails will cross one of these days. 

MONDAY, December 20, 2004 

Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, with the adjournment of 

the 108th Congress, BOB GRAHAM completes about 40 uninterrupted years of dedicated service to the people of Florida 

as an elected public official. Floridians first elected him to 

their State house of representatives in 1966, where he served 

two 2-year terms. In 1970 they elected him to the State senate, where he served two 4-year terms. In 1978 Floridians 

across the State chose him for their Governor; no one from 

south Florida had ever before been elected. He served in that 

office with great distinction for two terms, until in 1986 Floridians sent BOB GRAHAM to the first of three terms in the 

U.S. Senate. 

BOB GRAHAM has not only worked for the people of Florida; he has worked with them. While a State senator, he established a workday Program for himself that regularly took 

him out of the halls of government and into literally dozens 

of different jobs. Since coming to the Senate, BOB has made 

time for 214 workdays, which means that roughly once a 

month, for 18 years, he has worked alongside his constituents, all the time learning from them. 

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BOB began his workdays while a State senator, teaching a 

semester of civics at a Miami high school. Over the years, 

though, he has not limited himself to a single form of employment: on the contrary, he has been an agricultural worker, a factory worker, a construction worker; he has worked 

in the public sector as a policeman and as a trash collector. 

Writing in the Washington Post on May 4, 2003, Michael 

Grunwald observed that the regular, wide-ranging workdays 

became ‘‘a remarkable window’’ for BOB GRAHAM’s political 

education. Working as an auto mechanic, BOB GRAHAM

learned first-hand that ‘‘Florida auto inspections were a joke. 

He learned at a nursing home that orderlies earned only $17 

a day. He learned as a parking attendant that tiny curb cuts 

changed the lives of disabled workers.’’ BOB used the workday program to learn directly from his own observation and 

experience, and not simply from the reports of others. 

Florida is an extraordinarily diverse State in its demography, its environment, and its economy. In many ways it 

encapsulates the broad range of challenges that we confront 

not just in our States, but in the Nation at large. Senator 

BOB GRAHAM brought to the great debates in the Congress 

over education, health care, the economy, environmental 

standards, and many other issues, domestic and foreign, his 

substantial experience as a State legislator and Governor. 

The legislation enacted in 2000 to restore the Florida Everglades was built around a program that Governor BOB

GRAHAM had established in 1983. It was not only his State 

that benefited, it was our Nation; for the Everglades are a 

precious national resource. As chairman of the Intelligence 

Committee in the 107th Congress, BOB GRAHAM provided 

vigorous and clearheaded leadership in the aftermath of the 

attacks of September 11. 

Broadly experienced in public governance as BOB is, he 

has had the wisdom to remain a student of government. The 

U.S. Senate is both a place to protect and advance the needs 

and concerns of constituents, and also a place to learn; as he 

put it in his remarks in this Chamber on December 7: ‘‘The 

Senate is our country’s best graduate school.’’ He leaves the 

Senate with an abiding and profound concern for programs 

to keep our country safe, improve our children’s schools, improve our health care, and strengthen employment opportunities, among many others. Above and beyond these programs, however, as he observed on December 7, is the very 

institution of the Senate itself, with a ‘‘unique role’’ to play 

‘‘in balancing our government in order to avoid excessive 

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power falling into the hands of any one person or governmental institution.’’

For over 18 years BOB has worked to ensure that this body 

does indeed honor its unique role among our institutions of 

government. The Senate is stronger for having BOB GRAHAM

as a Member. He will be greatly missed. 

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