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TRIBUTES TO HON. MARK DAYTON 

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Mark Dayton 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA 

TRIBUTES 

IN THE CONGRESS OF 

THE UNITED STATES 

UNUM

E PLURIBUS


congress.#15
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Mark Dayton 


33204.001
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 2007

S. DOC. 109–29 

Tributes 

Delivered in Congress 

Mark Dayton 

United States Senator 

2001–2007 

÷ 

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Compiled under the direction 

of the 

Joint Committee on Printing 

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CONTENTS 

Page 

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

Farewell to the Senate ............................................................................. ix 

Proceedings in the Senate: 

Tributes by Senators: 

Alexander, Lamar, of Tennessee ............................................... 9 

Allen, George, of Virginia .......................................................... 10 

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

Clinton, Hillary Rodham, of New York .................................... 17 

Coleman, Norm, of Minnesota .................................................. 6 

Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota ................................................. 16 

Dayton, Mark, of Minnesota ..................................................... 5, 7 

DeWine, Mike, of Ohio ............................................................... 20 

Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut ....................................... 20 

Durbin, Richard, of Illinois ........................................................ 11 

Frist, William H., of Tennessee ................................................ 24 

Hagel, Chuck, of Nebraska ........................................................ 7 

Harkin, Tom, of Iowa ................................................................. 18 

Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas ............................................... 23 

Kennedy, Edward M., of Massachusetts .................................. 15 

Kyl, Jon, of Arizona ................................................................... 20 

Landrieu, Mary L., of Louisiana ............................................... 18 

Levin, Carl, of Michigan ............................................................ 22 

Nelson, Bill, of Florida ............................................................... 10 

Obama, Barack, of Illinois ......................................................... 13 

Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island ...................................................... 9 

Reid, Harry, of Nevada .............................................................. 21 

Salazar, Ken, of Colorado .......................................................... 12 

Stevens, Ted, of Alaska ............................................................. 24 

Warner, John, of Virginia .......................................................... 14 

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Biography 

Born January 26, 1947, MARK DAYTON is the eldest of four 

children born to former Dayton Hudson Corp. chairman 

Bruce Dayton and the late Gwendolen Brandt Dayton. He is 

the great-grandson of George Dayton, a one-time banker who 

opened a dry goods store in 1902 that became a national retailing powerhouse. 

MARK attended Long Lake Elementary School in Hennepin 

County and then Blake School in Minneapolis, where he 

graduated, cum laude, in 1965. Like many Minnesota kids, 

MARK was a hockey fanatic. He spent his free time on the 

ice practicing to be a star goalie. His hard work earned him 

a place on Blake’s ‘‘All State’’ first team in his senior year. 

Following high school, MARK attended Yale University 

where he majored in psychology, played varsity hockey, and 

graduated, cum laude, in 1969. While at college, he joined 

Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, whose then-president was 

now-President George W. Bush. 

After working as a hospital orderly for three summers during high school he thought he wanted to become a doctor so 

he completed pre-med course requirements while at Yale. 

However, MARK decided medicine was not the right fit for 

him so after graduation he took a job teaching at P.S. 65, a 

tough school on New York’s Lower East Side, and lived part 

of the time with a family on welfare. With 3 years of teaching under his belt followed by experience as a counselor for 

runaways, then as chief financial officer of a Boston social 

service agency, MARK felt a call to public service. 

MARK’s interest in public service led him to join the Washington staff of then-Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale in 

1975. He focused on education, children and youth, and 

small business. MARK never dreamed that a quarter-century 

later, he would inhabit his own office in the same building 

as Senator Mondale once did. 

When Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter selected Senator Mondale as his running mate the following year, MARK

joined the campaign. At the campaign headquarters in Atlanta, he worked as a driver, midnight-to-dawn telecopy operator, and all-around go-fer. Immediately following Carter’s 

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election victory, MARK returned to Minnesota to work for incoming Governor Rudy Perpich and was asked to head the 

Minnesota Department of Economic Development. He served 

in that position for nearly 2 years. 

In 1978, MARK married Alida Rockefeller, whose brother, 

Senator Jay Rockefeller, is currently one of MARK’s Senate 

colleagues. They have two sons: Eric, age 23, and Andrew, 

age 20. Alida and MARK were divorced 8 years later; however, they remain dedicated parents and close friends. 

Spurred by a growing recession and national energy crisis 

that hit rural Minnesota particularly hard, MARK founded 

and led the Minnesota Project in 1979. This economic development and public policy organization continues to support 

the social, environmental and economic health of Greater 

Minnesota communities. 

Soon after Ronald Reagan was elected President, MARK

began his own campaign for the U.S. Senate. He defeated 

former Senator Eugene McCarthy in the DFL primary; but 

in the 1982 general election, lost to incumbent Senator 

David Durenberger. 

The following year, reelected Governor Rudy Perpich appointed MARK the commissioner of an expanded Minnesota 

Department of Energy and Economic Development. During 

his tenure, he set up the newly created Minnesota Economic 

Development Authority, which offered tax and other financial incentives to businesses willing to locate or expand and 

create jobs in Minnesota. He developed the Minnesota Star 

City Program, an initiative begun by his predecessor, which 

trained local officials, business owners, and other community 

leaders throughout the State to retain existing businesses 

and recruit new businesses into their cities. He also organized another new program established by the legislature, 

under which he named the first enterprise zones in Minnesota. 

MARK left State government 4 years later and founded the 

Vermilion Investment Company. During this time, he also 

went through a 28-day alcohol treatment program. For the 

next few years, he devoted himself to his recovery, business, 

and family. 

In 1990, MARK ran for State auditor and won. He served 

one 4-year term in a position he describes as ‘‘the taxpayers’

watchdog.’’ During this time, he formed a special investigations unit to uncover misuse and theft of public funds in cities, counties, townships, and school districts throughout Minnesota. He also served on the boards of the State Executive 

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Council, the State Board of Investment, the State Land Exchange Board, the Public Employees Retirement Association, 

and the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. MARK also successfully led the opposition to corporate attempts to use public pension funds to prop up their financially ailing operations. 

Following his time as State auditor, MARK co-chaired the 

reelection committee of his long-time friend, Senator Paul 

Wellstone, and served as its finance chairman. In 1997, 

MARK launched his own campaign for Governor of Minnesota; however, he lost in the DFL primary to then-Attorney General Skip Humphrey. 

In early 2000, MARK was eager to once again have a role 

in statewide politics. Early in the year, he announced his 

candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat then held by Senator Rod 

Grams. After hearing from hundreds of Minnesotans during 

his gubernatorial campaign, MARK launched a series of bus 

trips to Canada, funded by donated Senate salary, called the 

‘‘Rx Express.’’ These trips continue today to provide seniors 

with a way to buy much-needed prescription medicines at 

substantially lower prices. He also created the ‘‘Healthcare 

Help Line,’’ which is in its 4th year of assisting Minnesotans 

with problems they have with their insurers. 

In September, MARK won the DFL primary and 8 weeks 

later was elected to the U.S. Senate. On January 3, 2001, he 

was sworn in as the 33d Senator from Minnesota and as the 

1,846th Senator in the Nation’s history. 

MARK served on four Senate Committees: Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Armed Services; Governmental Affairs; 

and Rules. He was also a member of the House-Senate Joint 

Committee on Printing, which he chaired in 2003. 

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Farewell to the Senate 

Thursday, December 7, 2006 

Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, it has been almost 6 years 

since I was sworn in as Minnesota’s 33d U.S. Senator with 

my friend and colleague Paul Wellstone at my side. I began 

my term hopeful and optimistic. The Senate was evenly divided, with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, and President-elect George W. Bush was promising to change the tone 

in Washington with a new era of bipartisan cooperation. 

Our country enjoyed peace and relative prosperity. Outgoing President Bill Clinton, a Republican-controlled Congress, and over 6 years of economic expansion had combined 

to create the first annual surpluses in the Federal Government’s on-budget account in 39 years, and they were projected by OMB to continue for at least the next decade. 

The Social Security trust fund’s annual surpluses were 

going to be saved in a lockbox for the upcoming retirements 

of a large baby boom generation. There was even discussion 

of paying down the national debt to further strengthen our 

financial position. Yet we still would be able to increase 

funding for such essential needs as public education, affordable health care, seniors’ drug coverage, and infrastructure 

improvements. 

Just 6 years later, our country’s condition has changed 

drastically, and mostly for the worse. We are mired in a disastrous war in Iraq despite the heroic efforts and sacrifices 

by our Armed Forces. The fiscal integrity of the Federal 

budget has been destroyed, with record-high annual deficits 

continuing, despite budget gimmickry and a modest economic 

recovery. The Federal tax base has been decimated by huge 

tax giveaways to the rich and superrich that will burden our 

children and grandchildren. The Social Security trust fund’s 

surpluses have been spent every year on what the nonpartisan Concord Coalition has called ‘‘the most reckless fiscal policy’’ in our Nation’s history. 

The Bible says if the leaders don’t lead, the people perish. 

Unfortunately, the Bush administration and the Republican 

majority in Congress have not led this country well, and our 

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people are suffering the consequences: lost jobs, businesses, 

and farms; lost incomes, standards of living, and security; 

and lost loved ones killed or maimed in Iraq. 

We have lost the national unity which followed the terrible 

atrocities of September 11, 2001, and the Bush administration has lost the world’s support which they had after that 

awful attack. The President’s decision to invade Iraq unilaterally, the absence of weapons of mass destruction that had 

been the initial justification for that invasion, and his administration’s disastrous mismanagement of Iraq following the 

overthrow of Saddam Hussein has squandered most of our 

national unity and international goodwill. 

The Congressional Record will show that I opposed those 

failed policies and supported other and better alternatives. I 

was 1 of 23 Senators to vote against the Iraq war resolution. 

I opposed the large tax giveaways to the rich and superrich. 

In fact, during my 6 years in the Senate, I voted 29 times 

to raise my own taxes. Why? Because our country needs 

those tax revenues, and I can darn well afford to pay my fair 

share of them, as can all other Americans with my good fortune. 

I tried seven times unsuccessfully to get the Senate to 

honor its 30-year promise to school districts and schoolchildren and fully fund special education. The Senate did 

pass my ‘‘Taste of Our Own Medicine’’ amendment limiting 

Members of Congress’s prescription drug coverage to what 

they provided to senior citizens through Medicare. However, 

my amendment was discarded by the House-Senate conference committee. 

It has pained me deeply to see the Senate’s majority lead 

our country into what I consider the wrong direction. Our 

Nation’s founding principle was ‘‘we the people,’’ and it remains so today. If we are not always united by the common 

cause, we are bound together by a shared destiny. If the laws 

this Senate passes are successful, ‘‘we the people’’ benefit together. If those laws fail, we suffer together. Some Americans will suffer more than others as unfair victims of social 

and economic injustices, but ultimately all Americans cannot 

escape our common national fate. United we stand and succeed; divided we fall and fail. I regretfully believe that during my Senate term this administration and its congressional followers have caused too many divisions, declines, 

and failures. 

Thus, I leave the Senate with strong feelings of frustration 

and disappointment. I have been unable to pass most of 

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what I believe was most important to Minnesota, to our 

country, and to the world. I remain convinced that those 

policies would improve the lives of most Americans far better 

than what the majority here enacted. 

A cornerstone of democracy, which I honor, is that the majority prevails. Winning, however, does not make them right 

and, unfortunately, it does not make them wise. In those decisions with which I have disagreed, time will tell us and the 

American people who was right and who was wise. 

I do want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle 

for the privilege to serve these last 6 years with them. I am 

grateful for the friendships I have made, which I hope will 

continue after my departure. 

I thank my excellent staff, those here in Washington and 

those in Minnesota, for their tremendous dedication and 

many hours of hard work. Most of the successes I have enjoyed here have been the result of their dedication and their 

abilities, and I thank them again for their support. 

I especially want to thank the people of Minnesota who 

gave me this extraordinary opportunity to serve them in the 

Senate. Our democracy is, through all of human history, 

throughout the entire world, the most advanced and successful form of self-governance that human beings have ever devised. It is far from perfect, but it is far better than anything 

else. We who are elected as its leaders and its stewards have 

sacred duties to uphold its principles, to elevate its policies, 

and to improve its practices before we bequeath them to our 

successors. I have done my very best to fulfill those duties 

before I pass them on to my outstanding successor, Senatorelect Amy Klobuchar. We in the Senate and in the House of 

Representatives also have the duty to serve the best interests of all Americans. To be successful and sustainable, our 

Government must improve the lives of all of our citizens. 

Unfortunately, here in Washington, the people who already have the most keep getting more than anyone else. 

The excessive influences of their money and political power 

on the Federal Government are serious threats to our democracy. They skew decisions and laws in favor of the rich and 

powerful, often at the expense of other Americans: the hardworking people who pay their taxes and hope their elected 

representatives will look out for them in Washington. It isn’t 

too much for them to expect. However, it is too often more 

than they are getting. 

They are told repeatedly that new laws and policies will 

improve their lives. Yet their real lives become worse, not 

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better. They experience a deep disconnect between what they 

are told will happen and what is actually happening to them. 

In attempts to hide those disparities, the words used in 

Washington are often carefully selected by very clever people 

in order to disguise reality rather than to describe it. For example, legislation that stripped many Americans of their 

bankruptcy protections for major medical expenses was 

named the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. Another bill that would have increased industrial pollution was entitled the Clear Skies Act. No Child 

Left Behind has knowingly underfunded Head Start, title I, 

and special education, which has left millions of schoolchildren behind. 

These discrepancies and the disparities they create will be 

even more destructive to the American people’s trust in their 

Government in the years ahead. That is because the choices 

facing Congress will become even more difficult as the needs 

of an aging population grow but revenues do not. In about 

a decade, the Social Security trust fund’s large annual surpluses will be replaced by deficits, and its IOUs from the 

general fund will add to that fund’s own chronic deficits. If 

combined with today’s enormous and unsustainable balance 

of trade deficits and a continuing erosion of our manufacturing job base, the consequences could be catastrophic. 

That somber forecast has replaced my hope and optimism 

of 6 years ago to my deep regret. Following the wisdom of 

‘‘speak truth to power,’’ I present my truth to the world’s 

most powerful legislative body, the U.S. Senate, and one of 

the two institutions that must act to keep our Nation strong. 

I hope that you will. I will pray for your wisdom to discern 

what is right, for your courage to act accordingly, and for 

your success on behalf of our great Nation and the world. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence 

of a quorum. 

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TRIBUTES 

TO 

MARK DAYTON 

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Proceedings in the Senate 

FRIDAY, September 29, 2006 

Mr. BYRD. . . . Mr. President, I say farewell to Senator 

DAYTON. Seldom has a freshman Senator made more of an 

impression on me than has Senator MARK DAYTON of Minnesota who has announced that he will be leaving us at the 

end of this session of the Congress. 

From the start of his service in this Chamber, I have been 

struck by Senator DAYTON’s determination to learn the rules, 

to learn the traditions, to learn the customs of the Senate. 

When Senator DAYTON presided over the Senate, which is 

one of the responsibilities of freshman Senators, he always 

did so with attention and dignity. His demeanor was inspiring. It reassured my belief in the future of this great institution. 

When I meet with new Senators, as I often do, about the 

duties of the Presiding Officer, I urge them to use that gavel 

on that desk vigorously to bring the U.S. Senate to order. 

I recall one instance when Senator DAYTON banged the 

gavel so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair. That is the 

way it should be. I thought to myself: Bang that gavel, bring 

the Senate to order so that the Senate can conduct the Nation’s business. 

I am also impressed about the reverence that Senator DAYTON shows for our Nation’s most basic, most important document, the Constitution of the United States. 

Many people who have served in this Chamber will have 

to answer to history for the way they have ignored and trampled upon our Constitution. As President Lincoln once reminded the Members of Congress: ‘‘We cannot escape history.’’

I am confident that history will hold Senator DAYTON in 

high regard. 

Time after time, this freshman Senator has stood with me 

and the Constitution of the United States on the important 

issues before us. Senator DAYTON was one of the lonely 23 

Senators who voted not to go to war with Iraq. I have been, 

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as I say, 48 years in this body, and it is the greatest vote 

I ever cast, the vote of which I am most proud of all the 

17,000 and more votes that I have cast. 

Senator DAYTON was willing to defy public opinion and the 

forces of war because he, Senator DAYTON, was determined 

not to hand over to President Bush, or any President, Democrat or Republican, any President, the power to declare war. 

No. Why? Because the Constitution says Congress shall have 

the power to declare war. 

With firm belief in our constitutional doctrines of the separation of powers and checks and balances, Senator DAYTON

was the only person on the Senate Governmental Affairs 

Committee who voted against the flawed Department of 

Homeland Security bill that this White House pushed. 

How I have admired the courage and the fortitude of this 

man, Senator DAYTON, this Senator and his firm belief in our 

constitutional system. 

How I have wished that he would change his mind. I have 

spoken to him numerous times about that. I wish we had 

more like him, more who would say: Come one, come all, this 

rock shall fly from its firm base as I. 

I thank Senator DAYTON for standing shoulder to shoulder 

and toe to toe with me on so many constitutional issues, and 

I thank him for the reverence he has shown this institution, 

the U.S. Senate. 

Senator DAYTON is a descendant—get this—Senator DAYTON is a descendant of Jonathan DAYTON, who was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 from the State 

of New Jersey. I know that Jonathan DAYTON is up there 

somewhere today looking down and smiling upon his kinsman who has worked so hard to preserve and to protect the 

Constitution, the sacred document that he, Jonathan DAYTON, helped to create along with George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison. 

Senator DAYTON has brought to the Senate a vigor and a 

vision of public policies that is both refreshing and needed; 

yes, needed. 

MARK DAYTON has devoted his life to public service. And 

why he ever decided to leave the Senate is beyond me. I have 

done the best I could talking with him time and time again, 

but he remains firm. 

His public service included teaching school in the lower 

east side of New York City, also known as the Bowery, and 

serving as a social worker in Boston, the great city of Boston. 

Senator DAYTON’s social and political activism landed him on 

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President Richard Nixon’s infamous ‘‘enemies list’’—which 

he, Senator MARK DAYTON, probably considered a badge of 

honor—and on the staff of Senator Walter Mondale, one of 

our fine Vice Presidents. 

Senator DAYTON brought his concerns for the less fortunate and the powerless with him to the Senate. As a freshman Senator, he proposed a new farm bill to help struggling 

family farms. He proposed a prescription tax credit plan to 

help Medicare beneficiaries offset the costs of their medications. He established a health care help line to assist working families in his State in getting health coverage from 

their insurance companies that they had paid for. He proposed a global trade agreement to limit the President’s ability to negotiate trade deals by giving the Congress the power 

to reject parts of negotiated trade deals if they violated existing laws. 

I expected great things from this Senator. He had been 

serving in this Chamber for only 2 years, when on March 13, 

2003, I predicted that Senator DAYTON would have a ‘‘long 

career, if he wishes to make it a long one.’’

I was surprised, I was disappointed, I was saddened to 

learn that he has chosen instead to make a short career in 

the Senate. I hope he does not retire from public life because 

our country—especially our less fortunate—will always need 

public servants like MARK DAYTON. 

But whatever he chooses to do, I wish him happiness and 

success. And I will always be grateful for my friendship with 

MARK DAYTON and the work—yes, the work—that we have 

done together. 

Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, will the Senator yield briefly? 

Mr. BYRD. I do yield. 

Mr. President, how much time do I have remaining? 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 81⁄2 minutes 

remaining. 

Mr. BYRD. I yield to the Senator 2 minutes. Is that sufficient? 

Mr. DAYTON. I will be very brief. 

I thank the Senator from West Virginia for those gracious 

words. I am deeply honored because they come from the 

mouth of one of the greatest Senators in the history of this 

country. And whatever I have learned to apply with my understanding of the traditions of the Senate, the integrity of 

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the Senate, the dignity of the Senate, I heard first and foremost from the great Senator from West Virginia, who has 

been a mentor, a guide, a leader, for whom I have the utmost 

respect. And when I did preside and listen to the Senator 

speak about such subjects as the U.S. Constitution, I learned 

more from his wisdom than I have learned in the previous 

55 years of my life. 

I was honored to stand with him, really behind him, when 

he led the public outcry against the war resolution. And I 

was honored to be 1 of those 23 Senators, and history has 

proven us also correct. For his incredible service to his State 

for which he was cited as the Greatest West Virginian of the 

last century, and I expect will be cited as the Greatest West 

Virginian of this century as well, and for that same quality 

of devotion to our country and incredible leadership to our 

entire Nation, we are all—all of the country men and 

women—in great debt to him. I am, again, deeply honored by 

his words. 

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished 

Senator, and I will always cherish, as long as I live, his 

words. . . . 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota. 

Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I see my colleague from 

Minnesota, Senator DAYTON. He will not be here in January, 

and I come to the Senate to associate myself with the praise 

of my distinguished colleague from West Virginia [Mr. Byrd] 

for Senator DAYTON. 

We live in very partisan times. We live in times where 

there is great cynicism about politics. We come from opposite 

sides of the political aisle, and there are moments we are 

butting heads on issues and press releases, but I have to say 

my colleague’s heart is pure. On issue after issue, when 

MARK DAYTON, the Senator from Minnesota, says something, 

he says it because he believes it and he is passionate about 

it. 

We worked together to try to make sure our troops, when 

they were on leave from Iraq, came home at no cost. We 

came together. 

Earlier today, we were in the Senate talking about agricultural disaster assistance for Minnesota farmers. The public 

does not see all the times we work together. They do not look 

into a man’s heart. I have been here 4 years, and what I call 

the pureness of the heart, the commitment to public service, 

a lifelong commitment to public service, again and again at 

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level after level on the State and now in the U.S. Congress 

is something to be celebrated. 

I express to my colleague and my friend—and we use that 

word rather loosely on occasion here, but he is my colleague 

and my friend—thanks for your service. Thank you for giving 

me the opportunity to work with you on behalf of the people 

of Minnesota and the people of this country. 

Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent I 

might have 1 minute to respond. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, I thank my friend, and I 

mean that sincerely, and my very distinguished colleague 

from Minnesota for those very kind words. 

The Senator said we don’t agree on everything, but we are 

not meant to agree on everything. That is part of the wisdom 

of the process here. 

I have endless respect for the Senator from Minnesota. He 

was elected to the Senate by the people of our State under 

very difficult circumstances in the immediate aftermath of 

the tragic death of his predecessor. He handled that situation with great dignity and class, and he has continued to do 

so. 

He represents our State with effectiveness, success beyond 

his young years. That is demonstrated by the high regard he 

is held in by most of the citizens in our State. 

I thank him for his friendship. I thank him for the opportunity to work with him. I wish him continued success after 

I leave the Senate. 

I yield the floor. 

TUESDAY, December 5, 2006 

Mr. HAGEL. Mr. President . . . As we recognize, it is a distinct privilege and high honor to serve our country in any capacity, and certainly none higher than in uniform. But it is 

especially important that we recognize those who have given 

years of their lives, sacrificing their families, their own time, 

to help make a better world for all of us. I know of no capacity in which we serve our country that has given those who 

have had this rare opportunity to serve in the Senate anyVerDate jan 13 2004 14:11 Aug 29, 2007 Jkt 033204 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 C:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE06\33204.TXT CRS1 PsN: SKAYNE
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thing more noble than trying to shape a better world from 

this Senate. 

These individuals who will leave the Senate, some on their 

own terms, some on the terms of the election, but, nonetheless, in their own specific way have contributed a great deal 

to this country. 

I take a few minutes to recognize each. . . . 

Senator MARK DAYTON from Minnesota, a neighbor. I 

served on two committees with Senator DAYTON, the Rules 

Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee. He is a 

unique individual who served in many ways, beginning with 

his service to Senator and then Vice President Walter Mondale. Senator DAYTON has a rich history and understanding 

of this institution and his State. We will miss Senator DAYTON’s character, his ability to also cross party aisles and help 

resolve the issues of our day. . . . 

Mr. President, in conclusion, it is not easy to put one’s self 

on the firing line and offer one’s self as a candidate for any 

office. It takes a certain amount of courage and, I suspect, 

a little dose of insanity. But nonetheless individuals who believe deeply enough to commit themselves to a cause greater 

than their own self-interests need to be recognized. Having 

nothing to do with me or you or any one individual, but it 

is the essence of our country, it is the very fabric of our democracy that makes it all work and probably gives rise to, 

more than any one reason, why we have been such a successful nation for over 200 years—because people from all walks 

of life, in every community, in every State, offer themselves 

for office. Whether it is a mayor, a Governor, city councilman, county official, a sheriff, these individuals deserve recognition. 

We all make mistakes. That is who we are. But in the end, 

it is not unlike what Teddy Roosevelt once referred to in his 

magnificent quote about the man in the arena. And it is the 

man and the woman in the arena who change our lives. It 

makes a better world that shapes history, that defines our 

destiny. And for these individuals who will no longer have 

that opportunity to serve our country in the Senate, we wish 

them well, we thank them, and we tell them we are proud 

of them and their families and wish them Godspeed. 

Mr. President, I thank you for the time and yield the floor. 

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WEDNESDAY, December 6, 2006 

Mr. REED. Mr. President, this is an opportunity to recognize the service of several of our colleagues who are departing from the Senate. To Senator Jeffords, Senator Frist, Senator DeWine, Senator Talent, Senator Santorum, Senator 

Burns, and Senator Allen, let me express my appreciation for 

their service to their States and their service to the Nation 

and wish them well. I particularly want to comment, though, 

on three colleagues with whom I have had the privilege of 

working very closely. . . . 

Finally, let me say a word about my colleague and friend, 

Senator MARK DAYTON. He is retiring after 6 years in the 

Senate. He began his public life much earlier, in 1990, as a 

public school teacher in New York City, and throughout his 

work he has dedicated himself to help the people of Minnesota and the people of this great Nation. He has placed 

himself on the front lines to provide better health care for 

seniors in Minnesota. He has worked closely on the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP. He has a 

good head and a great heart and he served with distinction. 

I wish him well as he leaves the Senate. 

To all my colleagues who served and conclude their service, let me once again express deep appreciation for their 

friendship and for their service to the Nation. 

I yield the floor. 

Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, we are coming to the 

end of the session and 10 of our colleagues are retiring. I 

want to say a word about them . . . 

MARK DAYTON’s interest in the environment in Minnesota 

has been so exceptional. . . . 

When the most recent class of Senators was sworn into office nearly 2 years ago, in the gallery were three women. 

One was the grandmother of Barack Obama. She was from 

Kenya. One was the mother of Senator Salazar, a 10th generation American. One was the mother of Mel Martinez, the 

new Republican National Committee chairman, who, with 

her husband, put her son on an airplane when he was 14 

years old and sent him from Cuba to the United States, not 

knowing if she would ever see him again. 

In a way, each one of us who is here is an accident. None 

of us knew we would be here. Each of us is privileged to 

serve, and one of the greatest privileges is to serve with our 

colleagues. We will miss them and we are grateful for their 

service. 

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I yield the floor. 

Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, as the time for my departure 

from the Senate draws near, on behalf of the greatest blessing in my life, my wife Susan, and on behalf of myself, I 

thank all of my colleagues for their many courtesies and 

friendships that have been forged during the past 6 years. I 

offer a few concluding reflections about our time here together, as well as about the future of our Republic. . . . 

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I see others who 

wish to speak, and I will make a couple of brief comments. 

In the comments of the Senator from Virginia [Mr. Allen], 

his final couple of comments recalled for me a statement 

made in the closing of the Constitutional Convention in 

Philadelphia, when on the back of the chair of the presiding 

officer was a sunburst. Someone opined in that Constitutional Convention: Dr. Franklin, is that a rising sun or is it 

a setting sun? And Franklin ventured to say that with the 

birth of the new Nation, with the creation of the new Constitution, that he thought it was a rising sun. 

Indeed, it is that hope of which the Senator from Virginia 

has just spoken that motivates this Senator from Florida to 

get up and go to work every day, and to look at this Nation’s 

challenges, not as a Democratic problem or a Republican 

problem, but as an American problem, that needs to be 

solved in an American way instead of a partisan way. 

We have had far too much partisanship over the last several years across this land, and, indeed, in this Chamber 

itself. And of the Senators who are leaving this Chamber, I 

think they represent the very best of America, and on occasion have risen in a bipartisan way. It has been this Senator’s great privilege to work with these Senators: Allen of 

Virginia, Burns of Montana, Chafee of Rhode Island, DAYTON

of Minnesota, DeWine of Ohio, Frist of Tennessee, Jeffords 

of Vermont, Santorum of Pennsylvania, Sarbanes of Maryland, Talent of Missouri. 

As the Good Book in Ecclesiastes says: There is a time to 

be born and a time to die. There is a time to get up, and a 

time to go to bed. There is a time for a beginning, and there 

is a time of ending. 

For these Senators who are leaving, it is clearly not an 

ending. It is an ending of this chapter in their lives, but this 

Senator from Florida wanted to come and express his appreciation for their public service, to admonish those where admonishment is needed when this Chamber, indeed, this GovVerDate jan 13 2004 14:11 Aug 29, 2007 Jkt 033204 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 C:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE06\33204.TXT CRS1 PsN: SKAYNE
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ernment, has gotten too partisan, but to express this Senator’s appreciation for the quiet moments of friendship and 

reflection and respect in working together, which is the glue 

that makes this Government run. 

Whether you call it bipartisanship, whether you call it 

friendship, whether you call it mutual respect, whatever you 

call it, the way you govern a nation as large and as complicated and as diverse as our Nation is—as the Good Book 

says: Come, let us reason together—that is what this Senator tries to be about. And that is what this Senator will try 

to continue to do in the new dawn of a new Congress. So I 

wanted to come and express my appreciation for those Senators who will not be here, for the great public service they 

have rendered. 

Mr. President, I am truly grateful for their personal 

friendship and for their public service. 

I yield the floor. 

Mr. DURBIN. . . . Mr. President, MARK DAYTON served representing the State of Minnesota. Business was his background, not politics. But Senator DAYTON developed a passion for politics at an early age. While his parents supported 

Richard Nixon in 1960 and 1968, Senator DAYTON found another hero in Bobby Kennedy. As a college student at Yale, 

he protested the Vietnam war. He began using a share of his 

family’s fortune to support progressives. 

In return, he made it on an enemies list. He was investigated by the FBI, targeted by the IRS, and had that dubious distinction of being on Richard Nixon’s enemies list, a 

distinction that he now wears as a badge of honor. 

He has devoted his entire adult life to public service, 

broadly defined. Born into privilege, he fought for those less 

fortunate from the start, especially for poor children. After 

college he taught science in New York City and counseled 

runaway children in Boston. Returning to his Minnesota 

roots, he served as an aide to Walter Mondale, then as Minnesota’s State economic development commissioner, and later 

State auditor. MARK DAYTON was elected to the Senate 6 

years ago on his second try. His first 2 years in the Senate 

he had that great colleague, Paul Wellstone. For the last 4 

years, MARK DAYTON, like many of us, has tried to carry 

Paul Wellstone’s standard, to fight for the people that Paul 

Wellstone used to call ‘‘the little fellers,’’ who don’t have expensive lobbyists to watch out for them in the Senate. 

MARK DAYTON has been a consistent voice for fairness. He 

has used his own Senate salary to pay for seniors to travel 

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to Canada to purchase less expensive prescription drugs. He 

has been a strong advocate for ethanol, renewable energy, 

strengthening America’s energy security, reducing global 

warming, and boosting the income of family farmers. 

Senator DAYTON was 1 of only 23 Senators who voted 

against the Iraqi war resolution in 2002. He has used his 

seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee to ask hard 

questions of those who planned and are overseeing the war. 

He has demanded accountability from them while he has 

continued to show consistent support for the men and women 

in uniform. 

I look forward to seeing how Senator MARK DAYTON will 

serve America next, and I wish him the very best. . . . 

I wish all of my colleagues who are retiring well as they 

begin the next chapters of their careers. 

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell 

to several of my friends here in Washington. Too often we 

get caught up here in the back-and-forth of politics and lose 

sight of the contributions of those with whom we work every 

day. It is only at moments such as these, at the end of a 

cycle, that we have a moment to reflect on the contributions 

of our colleagues. And while we may not always see eye to 

eye, this Senate is losing several admirable contributors who 

have made many sacrifices to serve our democracy. . . . 

Then there is my colleague on the Agriculture Committee, 

Senator MARK DAYTON of Minnesota. For much of his life, 

Senator DAYTON has dedicated himself to public service, both 

in Minnesota and in Washington—as a leader on economic 

development for his home State and later as State auditor 

before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. The Twin 

Cities may be cold this time of year, but we all know that 

Minnesota DFLers will welcome him home warmly after his 

service in the Senate. . . . 

America, when held to its finest ideals, is more than a 

place on the globe or a work in progress. It is the inspiration 

to those around the world and here at home to seek out excellence within themselves and their beliefs. It has been a 

pleasure to work alongside each of these gentlemen, who 

have helped me as I have found my way, sometimes literally, 

through the halls of the Senate, in the pursuit of these greater ideals that we all share: security, prosperity, and an 

America that we leave better than when we arrived. These 

ideals will resonate here long after we all are gone and another generation stands in our place making the decisions of 

its day. 

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Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell to 

a decent and principled Member of this body, MARK DAYTON. 

Over the past 6 years, Senator DAYTON has proven his dedication to the highest ideals of this body through his devotion 

to economic justice, education, and health care concerns. 

In October 2002, MARK DAYTON voted against the Iraq war 

resolution, despite the fact that President Bush was presenting fairly convincing evidence that Saddam Hussein had 

weapons of mass destruction and most of the Nation was 

supportive of the decision to go to war. MARK DAYTON held 

to his convictions, and history will judge him favorably because of it. 

As a Senator, MARK has donated his entire Senate salary 

to help his constituents pay for prescription drugs. His salary goes to the Minnesota Senior Federation for ‘‘Rx Express’’ bus trips to help senior citizens buy cheaper prescription drugs in Canada. In the Senate, he has fought to make 

such trips less necessary by proposing the Meeting Our Responsibility to Medicare Beneficiaries Act to permit the Government to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. He has also introduced the Taste of Our 

Own Medicine Act to require Members of Congress to share 

the same prescription drug benefits as Medicare recipients. 

MARK DAYTON’s 6 years in the Senate are a continuation 

of his lifelong commitment to public service. He previously 

worked as a teacher on the Lower East Side of New York, 

as a counselor for runaways, and as the chief financial officer 

for a social service agency in Boston. He worked for Senator 

Walter Mondale and campaigned with him during his Vice 

Presidential bid with President Jimmy Carter. MARK also 

served twice as commissioner of the Minnesota Department 

of Energy and Economic Development. 

MARK DAYTON has used the economic experience he gained 

as commissioner, and as Minnesota State auditor to help 

American workers during his time in the Senate. He has 

supported extended unemployment assistance and an increase in the minimum wage while opposing outsourcing of 

American jobs. 

Senator DAYTON has been a strong supporter of increased 

funding for education. He introduced the Nontraditional Student Success Act and the Restore the Dream Act to help students pay for higher education. He has repeatedly insisted 

that Congress live up to its promise to America’s public 

schools and children by offering amendments to fully fund 

the Federal Government’s commitment to special education. 

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MARK has also fought for additional career and technical 

training. 

During his time in this body, MARK DAYTON has nobly 

stood up for the American people. In a speech on the Senate 

floor, he noted: 

A government of the people, by the people, and for the people is a government that tells the truth to its citizens. If it doesn’t, it is not a government 

of them, not by them, and certainly not for them. It is imperative. 

Although MARK DAYTON’s voice will no longer be heard on 

the Senate floor, I know that he will continue to do great 

work for Minnesotans and for all Americans. I am proud to 

have served with him and wish him all the best. 

THURSDAY, December 7, 2006 

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I have had the privilege of 

being here for the 28th year beginning shortly. I calculated 

not long ago that I have served with 261 individuals. I am 

not about to try and review all of the many magnificent 

friendships I am privileged to have through these years. Indeed, if one looks at the rewards, of which there are many 

serving in this historic institution, the Senate, it is the personal bonds, the friendships that we so firmly cement and 

that will last a lifetime as a consequence of our duties of 

serving the United States of America and in our respective 

States. 

We are called ‘‘United States’’ Senators. I often believe it 

is the first obligation, our Nation, the Republic for which it 

stands. . . . 

I would also like to pay tribute to nine other U.S. Senators 

who will retire from the Senate in the coming days. . . . 

Now, I would like to take a few moments to salute our majority leader, Senator Frist, as well as Senators Chafee, 

Burns, Santorum, DeWine, Jeffords, Talent, and DAYTON. 

Each and every one of these U.S. Senators has served his 

State and his country with great distinction. 

Without a doubt, I could speak at-length in honor of each 

of these outstanding individuals. In light of time constraints, 

however, and the fact that so many of my colleagues wish to 

similarly pay tribute, I shall endeavor to keep my remarks 

brief. . . . 

Senator DAYTON was elected to the Senate in 2000, and 

throughout his years in the Senate I have had the privilege 

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mittee. As a hardworking member of that committee, MARK

was a strong advocate for our Armed Forces. Notably, he was 

a strong supporter of increasing the death benefit gratuity 

for survivors of deceased members of the Armed Forces from 

a little more than $12,000 to $100,000. Thanks in part to his 

efforts, this increased death benefit gratuity is now law. 

Senator DAYTON also reached across the aisle and worked 

closely with me in support of efforts to provide Medicare 

beneficiaries with a prescription drug benefit. Together, we 

introduced legislation to provide America’s seniors with a refundable tax credit to help offset the costs of prescription 

drugs. 

In conclusion, over the years I have served with each of 

these 10 Senators, each has not only been a trusted colleague, each has also been my friend. I will miss serving 

with each of them in the Senate but know that each will continue in public service in some capacity. I wish each and 

every one of them well in the years ahead. 

Mr. President, I see a number of colleagues here anxious 

to speak, and I have taken generously of the time the Presiding Officer has allowed me to speak. 

I yield the floor. 

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I welcome this opportunity 

to commend our colleague MARK DAYTON, the Senator from 

Minnesota, for his distinguished service in the Senate and 

for his commitment to helping our country live up to its 

highest ideals at home and abroad. 

MARK’s life has been about service to others. Whether as 

a teacher in the bowery of New York, a counselor to troubled 

teens in Boston, an aide to our beloved Fritz Mondale, a 

State economic development leader working to bring quality 

jobs to his constituents, or a Senator, MARK DAYTON has consistently answered the call of public service throughout his 

long and outstanding career. 

He has been a champion of the right to quality and affordable health care for all Americans, and I know how frustrated he has often been by our inability to make greater 

progress on this critical domestic issue. Sadly, it will be 

harder to get there without him, but I am optimistic that we 

will still be able to accomplish it, and I have no doubt that 

MARK will continue with his commitment and compassion to 

help lead the charge from outside the Senate. 

As a Senator, he had an indispensable role in our effort to 

expand the availability of prescription drugs. His heart went 

out to the senior citizens in Minnesota whose only hope to 

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afford the drugs they desperately needed was to cross the 

border into Canada. Fortunately, in its effort to build a legal 

fence to keep them out, the drug industry more than met its 

match in Senator MARK DAYTON. Even my constituents in 

Massachusetts loved MARK, as they boarded buses from Boston to Minnesota to catch the lifesaving bus to Canada to get 

their medicine. 

MARK also has had the courage to stand against the administration when it launched the tragic and misguided war 

in Iraq. 

He never wavered in the Senate from what he believed 

was right, and we will all miss the skill and eloquence, the 

decency, honor, and generosity he brought to our Senate debates. 

We regret very much that he won’t be here with us in the 

debates ahead, and we wish him well. Perhaps he will be 

able to make that Arctic trek to the North Pole that he had 

to put on hold when he came to the Senate 6 years ago. But 

I know that whatever new course he chooses, he will continue to be a strong and vital voice in improving the lives of 

others. 

As Robert Kennedy said: 

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and 

crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, 

those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. 

Throughout his brilliant career, MARK DAYTON has sent 

forth many ripples of hope, and I’m certain he’ll send forth 

many more in the years ahead. We’ll miss you, MARK. 

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

to a retiring colleague, Senator DAYTON of Minnesota. 

MARK DAYTON has made a career of public service, in the 

very best sense of the term. After graduating from college, 

he taught public school in New York City and served as a 

counselor to teenage runaways before returning to Minnesota. For 20 years, he served in a variety of positions in 

State government in Minnesota, from commissioner of economic development to State auditor. 

In the Senate, MARK DAYTON has been an independent 

voice in the tradition of our former colleague, Paul 

Wellstone. He eschewed political expediency and instead relied on his conscience in making important decisions. For example, he agonized over his vote on the Iraq war, before ultiVerDate jan 13 2004 14:11 Aug 29, 2007 Jkt 033204 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 C:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE06\33204.TXT CRS1 PsN: SKAYNE
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mately deciding to join the small minority of Senators who 

voted against it. 

I have worked most closely with MARK on agriculture and 

other issues affecting rural Americans. Throughout his Senate service, he has been a strong and consistent voice on behalf of family farmers. He has helped lead the fight for much 

needed disaster relief. He has opposed misguided cuts to 

commodity and conservation programs. And he has been a 

leader in calling for a significant expansion of ethanol and 

other renewable fuels that can benefit our rural economies 

and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. 

Senator DAYTON has also been a strong voice on behalf of 

our troops and their families at home. He has called for better armor and equipment. He has insisted on better care for 

veterans. And he spearheaded efforts to ensure that soldiers 

on leave could get all the way home to visit their loved ones 

rather than simply being dropped off at remote cities and 

asked to pay last-minute airfares to get home. 

MARK DAYTON has insisted on integrity and honesty in 

every aspect of his public life. He has been a true champion 

for Minnesota. Lucy and I wish him well as he goes on to 

other ventures. . . . 

Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the 

great service of retiring Senators Paul Sarbanes, MARK DAYTON, and James Jeffords. . . . 

I will also express a fond farewell to Senator DAYTON. 

It has been an honor to serve on the Armed Services Committee with Senator DAYTON. 

He has done a wonderful job for the people of Minnesota. 

In his time in the Senate Senator DAYTON worked hard to 

live up to the legend of Senator Wellstone, to honor the values that Senator Wellstone championed in this body. 

One example: I was grateful to Senator DAYTON for his 

support of the Nontraditional Student Success Act, a piece of 

legislation to help more people attend college while working 

and raising families—to open the doors of opportunity wider 

for more and more Americans. 

I am grateful to MARK DAYTON for his work to honor his 

values, and I know he leaves this body having made the people of Minnesota proud. . . . 

Finally, I also wish the very best to my Republican colleagues who will leave the Senate at the conclusion of this 

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tion to shared values. It has been a privilege to work with 

my departing colleagues on the other side of the aisle. 

FRIDAY, December 8, 2006 

Ms. LANDRIEU. . . . To all of our retiring Members, I say 

thank you. Thank you for your efforts on behalf of my State 

when you were needed and thank you for your service to 

America. 

Mr. HARKIN. . . . Mr. President, I would like to follow that 

up by expressing my respect and admiration for a longtime 

friend of mine, my neighbor to the north, so to speak, who 

is also retiring this year; that is, our Senator from Minnesota, MARK DAYTON. 

Senator DAYTON is a public servant in the purest sense of 

that term. He did not come to the Senate 6 years ago in 

search of status or celebrity or power for power’s sake. He 

has never sought the spotlight. He came here for one reason: 

to serve the people of Minnesota and of the United States. 

He has done so in a diligent, consistent, and selfless manner. 

I especially appreciate the way Senator DAYTON has followed in the progressive tradition of Minnesota’s great Senators, Hubert Humphrey, Gene McCarthy, Fritz Mondale, 

and Paul Wellstone. On issue after issue, he has fought for 

working people and their families, for seniors, and for the 

least fortunate among us. To take just one case in point, no 

Senator has been more persistent and eloquent in fighting to 

allow seniors to purchase prescription drugs in Canada 

where pharmaceuticals are oftentimes less expensive. He has 

donated his entire Senate salary to the Minnesota Senior 

Federation to help finance trips on the ‘‘Prescription Express’’ to purchase cheaper drugs in Canada, and he has 

gone to bat for seniors when they were harassed by border 

agents upon their return. 

To his everlasting credit, Senator DAYTON voted against a 

resolution effectively authorizing the war in Iraq. He spoke 

out passionately against the dangers of launching that war. 

He has used his seat on the Armed Services Committee to 

take the administration to task for its multiple mistakes and 

failures in conducting that war. There has been a singular 

absence of effective oversight of this war on the part of this 

Congress, but as an individual Senator, MARK DAYTON has 

done his best to fill that vacuum. On the Armed Services 

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Committee he has been courageous and outspoken, and we 

will remember him for that. 

Throughout his adult life, MARK DAYTON has been devoted 

to serving others and looking out for those in the shadows 

of life. After graduating from Yale, he could have gone on in 

the family retail business. He could have coasted on his family’s wealth, but he chose a very different course. He chose 

to work as a teacher for 3 years in a pretty tough public 

school on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Later he went to 

work as a counselor for runaway young people, as chief financial officer of a social service agency in Boston, and then 

as a staffer to Senator Walter Mondale. After returning 

home to Minnesota, he also served as the commissioner of 

the Minnesota Department of Energy and Economic Development. He was elected State auditor in 1990. 

I think the first time I met MARK DAYTON, I was a Congressman in Iowa and he was running for the Senate in Minnesota, and that was 1982. I went up to campaign for him. 

I had been involved in agriculture and agricultural endeavors, and so I went up to meet with them and met this young 

guy running for the Senate. He was unsuccessful that year—

I hope not due to the fact that I went to campaign for him. 

He was unsuccessful that year, but he never gave up. He 

never gave up trying to find new avenues to serving the people of Minnesota. 

As I said, that culminated in him serving as the commissioner of the Department of Energy and Economic Development for a number of years under Governor Perpich and 

then being elected in his own right as the State auditor in 

1990. Under his leadership as State auditor of Minnesota, he 

did a lot to make sure that State government was running 

efficiently and effectively and transparently and making sure 

the auditor’s office kept a check on all the different agencies 

in Minnesota to make sure they were expending the taxpayers’ dollars wisely and legally and transparently. 

So I was delighted when, even though in 1982 he didn’t 

make it to the Senate, he then made it in the year 2000. In 

the last 6 years, again, as I said, MARK DAYTON has devoted 

himself selflessly to helping people less fortunate in our society. His common theme has been amplified powerfully: his 

passion for public service and his commitment to looking out 

for others. So I have no doubt that MARK will pursue other 

avenues of public service in the years ahead. 

I will miss his friendship here on the Senate floor, but our 

friendship will continue. I know that in whatever capacity he 

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[ 20 ] 

can find, he will do what he can to make Minnesota and our 

country a better, fairer, and more just place for all its citizens. I certainly wish my good friend MARK DAYTON the best 

in the years ahead. 

Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I also will say a word about 

a couple of my colleagues who are leaving, and I will be 

brief. . . . 

I know we all move on at some time and that none of us 

is irreplaceable. But by the same token, these colleagues of 

ours who will be leaving will be missed and they will be remembered for their great service to the Senate, to their 

States, and to the United States of America. 

I yield the floor. 

Mr. DEWINE. . . . Mr. President, I want to wish the best 

to all of my fellow Senators who were defeated this fall or 

who are retiring this year—Senators Frist, Santorum, Talent, Burns, Allen, Chafee, DAYTON, and Jeffords. They are 

all good people and all good friends. I wish them well. . . . 

Mr. DODD. . . . Mr. President, today I pay tribute to my 

departing colleagues who have, for a time, lent their talents, 

their convictions, and their hard work to this distinguished 

body. I may have had my disagreements with them, but the 

end of a term is a time for seeing colleagues not simply as 

politicians, but as partners who have ‘‘toiled, and wrought, 

and thought with me.’’ Each, in his own way, was distinctive; 

and each, in his own way, will be sorely missed. . . . 

I would also like to recognize Senator MARK DAYTON of 

Minnesota. Senator DAYTON’s talents have long been apparent, whether graduating cum laude from Yale University, 

starting in goal for the college hockey team, or spending time 

as a teacher on the Lower East Side of New York City. Senator DAYTON has long been involved in public service and 

Minnesota politics, serving on Walter Mondale’s Senate staff 

in the 1970s and working in the 1980s and 1990s for economic development in his home State. Senator DAYTON was 

elected State auditor in 1990, serving a 4-year term fighting 

the misuse and theft of public funds. In 2000, he once again 

entered State politics, defeating an incumbent to win a term 

in the Senate. 

MARK DAYTON took many principled stands during his 

time in the Senate, from his opposition to the Iraq War resolution to his work to fully fund special education. Senator 

DAYTON was also known for his engagement with the needs 

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nesota National Guard program to provide soldiers with 

postcombat counseling and support, worked to hire 148 additional patrol agents to secure the United States-Canada border, and even donated his Senate salary to pay for bus trips 

to Canada so seniors could buy cheaper prescription drugs. 

Senator DAYTON chose to retire after serving out his term, 

but he declared that ‘‘everything I’ve worked for, and everything I believe in, depends upon this Senate seat remaining 

in the Democratic caucus in 2007.’’ Senator DAYTON’s wish 

came true when Amy Klobuchar won an election to fill his 

seat; and I trust she will continue in MARK DAYTON’s tradition of capable and hard-working representation for the people of Minnesota. Senator DAYTON is returning to private life 

in his home State, and I wish him all the best. . . . 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the great Senator Daniel Webster once remarked that the Senate is a place ‘‘of equals of 

men of individual honor . . . and personal character.’’

He was right, and we can see what he was talking about 

in the fine men the Senate is losing to retirement at the end 

of this Congress: Senator Frist, Senator Sarbanes, Senator 

Jeffords, and Senator DAYTON. 

On previous occasions, I have talked about how much I appreciated serving with Senators Frist and Jeffords. Today, I 

would like to say a few more words about Senators Sarbanes 

and DAYTON. . . . 

Mr. President, MARK DAYTON has served in the Senate 

just one-fifth of the time Paul Sarbanes served here. But he, 

too, has made his mark. He’s been a fine public servant, and 

an even better friend. 

Of course, Senator DAYTON’s service has always been closely intertwined with that of our dear departed colleague Paul 

Wellstone. Paul was a legend in our country, but MARK has 

kept his legacy alive these last 4 years by fighting for the 

working people of Minnesota. 

MARK was born in Minnesota in 1947. He graduated from 

Yale University in 1969, where he majored in psychology and 

played varsity hockey. MARK had many options coming out 

of college, but he chose to become a teacher at a public school 

on New York City’s lower east side. 

It was an unselfish choice, and it would not be the last 

time MARK chose a path in life that put the public’s interest 

ahead of his own self-interest. 

In 1957, after his years of teaching, MARK came to Washington, where he worked on the staff of then-Senator Walter 

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Mondale. When Mondale was selected the running mate of 

Jimmy Carter in 1976, MARK was there to serve. 

In 1990—following jobs in the Minnesota State government and the private sector—MARK ran for Minnesota State 

auditor and won. In 2000, he came to the Senate, where he 

has served ever since. 

MARK is known here as a strong advocate for the people 

of Minnesota. He has used his Senate salary to send busloads of seniors to Canada for prescription drugs. He has 

used his power in the Senate to help low-income constituents 

get the oil they need to heat their homes. And he has created 

a ‘‘healthcare help line,’’ which is available to Minnesotans 

who have problems with their health insurers. 

Mr. President, MARK DAYTON, like Paul Sarbanes, like Jim 

Jeffords, like Bill Frist, will be missed. 

The Senate—and our country—are better off because of 

their service. 

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, as Senator MARK DAYTON prepares to leave this body, I would like to share with my colleagues a few thoughts about his service. In September, I 

had the pleasure of speaking on Senator DAYTON’s behalf at 

a dinner paying tribute to the retiring Senators, and I ask 

that my remarks from that event be printed in the Record. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be 

printed in the Record. 

On the night six years ago when Minnesota voters chose him as their 

33rd Senator, MARK DAYTON told the cheering crowd: ‘‘No matter what your 

political party or personal philosophy, no matter who you voted for today or 

even whether you voted at all, I’ll work for you. When, next January, I become Senator DAYTON, please—call me MARK. Because I’m your public servant. I’ll work for you.’’

For the past six years, MARK has kept that pledge, because those words 

were not the rhetoric of a campaign; they were a reflection of MARK’s deeply-held beliefs. MARK DAYTON treats everyone—from the wealthiest to the 

least fortunate—with the same sense of fairness and compassion, and he 

carries himself with a humility to which we can all aspire. MARK’s lack of 

guile has characterized his service here, where political calculating is an accepted reality. 

When MARK came to the Senate, he brought with him a broad range of 

experience. In the private sector he had worked as a public school teacher 

in a challenging New York City school; as a counselor to runaway youth; 

as a chief financial officer for a non-profit group; and as head of an investment group. In public life, he had served as a Senate aide to Walter Mondale; as head of Minnesota’s Department of Energy and Economic Development; and as State Auditor, among many other capacities. 

That path of service to Minnesota led to his own election to the Senate. 

MARK and I serve together on both the Senate Armed Services Committee 

and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. As the ranking memVerDate jan 13 2004 14:11 Aug 29, 2007 Jkt 033204 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 C:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE06\33204.TXT CRS1 PsN: SKAYNE
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ber on both committees, I have witnessed in MARK a Senator who is passionately dedicated to public service. MARK reads the long reports, he attends the dry meetings, he masters the difficult material, and he asks the 

tough questions with a disarming directness and quizzical curiosity. 

On the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, MARK has been a 

strong voice in our hearings examining abusive tax shelters and offshore tax 

havens. MARK has been a leader on prescription drug issues, and he even 

donates his Senate salary to help seniors buy prescription drugs they could 

not otherwise afford. And MARK has been a great battler on issues common 

to our two States, including fighting on behalf of our steel and mining industries and to strengthen our Northern Border. 

As part of our work on the Armed Services Committee, MARK traveled 

with Chairman Warner and me and six other Senators to Iraq, where we 

saw firsthand MARK’s deep dedication to the men and women of our Armed 

Forces. After allegations surfaced that our troops in Iraq had been given 

contaminated water by a contractor, it was MARK’s insistence that led to an 

ongoing investigation into the contractor’s actions. And MARK has been a 

true champion for our National Guard and Reserve forces, working forcefully to ease their difficult transition back to civilian life when their tours 

of duty finally end. 

As MARK writes the next chapter in his own life, he can return home to 

the people of his beloved Minnesota knowing that he has served them honorably and well. Some of them will probably insist on calling him ‘‘Senator.’’

But, for most, this idealist with a good heart never stopped simply being 

‘‘MARK.’’

We shall miss MARK DAYTON and wish him well as he 

leaves us. . . . 

Mrs. HUTCHISON. . . . Mr. President, I wish Senator DAYTON well as he departs from the Senate. 

During his 6 years serving the citizens of Minnesota as 

their Senator, I got to know Senator DAYTON by working together with him on the Committee on Rules and Administration. I have seen firsthand Senator DAYTON’s tireless efforts 

to protect the interests of his State. 

During his political career, Senator DAYTON has held many 

leadership roles for Minnesota, including commissioner of 

the Minnesota Department of Energy and Economic Development, State auditor, and, most recently, U.S. Senator. 

As the eldest of four children, he grew up knowing what 

it meant to set a good example. I have no doubt that Senator 

DAYTON will continue to serve as a shining example for his 

two sons. 

I know that Senator DAYTON’s love for public service—and 

for Minnesota—will remain strong in the future, and I wish 

him well. . . . 

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UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT—TRIBUTES TO RETIRING 

SENATORS 

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the tributes to 

retiring Senators be printed as a Senate document and that 

Senators be permitted to submit tributes until December 27, 

2006. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

WEDNESDAY, December 27, 2006 

Mr. STEVENS. . . . Mr. President, Senator MARK DAYTON’s 

path to the Senate was marked by years spent in service to 

others. As a teacher, a counselor to troubled children, and 

then as an administrator of a Boston social service agency, 

MARK has long fought for those less fortunate—and his service in the Senate reflects this commitment. 

It was my pleasure to travel to China with him this past 

August for meetings with the U.S.-China Interparliamentary 

Group. He was a fine addition to our bipartisan delegation. 

During those meetings he brought a unique insight and perspective to many issues. 

I commend Senator MARK DAYTON on his public service to 

the people of Minnesota. Catherine and I wish him the best 

in the years ahead. 

Æ