Jim Webb 

U.S. SENATOR FROM VIRGINIA 

TRIBUTES 

IN THE CONGRESS OF 

THE UNITED STATES 

UNUM

E PLURIBUS


congress.#15
Jim Webb 

Courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office 


81113.eps
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 2014

S. DOC. 113–15 

Tributes 

Delivered in Congress 

Jim Webb 

United States Senator 

2007–2013 

÷ 

Compiled under the direction 

of the 

Joint Committee on Printing 

[ iii ] 

CONTENTS 

Page 

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

Farewell Address ...................................................................................... vii 

Proceedings in the Senate: 

Tributes by Senators: 

Bingaman, Jeff, of New Mexico ................................................ 3 

Cardin, Benjamin L., of Maryland ............................................ 16 

Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota ................................................. 8 

Coons, Christopher A., of Delaware ......................................... 13 

Durbin, Richard J., of Illinois ................................................... 7 

Harkin, Tom, of Iowa ................................................................. 10 

Klobuchar, Amy, of Minnesota .................................................. 18 

Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont ................................................... 16 

Levin, Carl, of Michigan ............................................................ 11, 14 

Mikulski, Barbara A., of Maryland .......................................... 7 

Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island ...................................................... 11 

Reid, Harry, of Nevada ............................................................ 3, 6, 19 

[ v ] 

BIOGRAPHY 

JIM WEBB was born in St. Joseph, MO, on February 9, 

1946, a descendent of Scots-Irish settlers who came to America in the 18th century and became pioneers in the mountains of southwest Virginia. He graduated from high school 

in Bellevue, NE, and attended the University of Southern 

California from 1963 to 1964. He graduated from the U.S. 

Naval Academy in 1968, receiving the Superintendent’s commendation for outstanding leadership contributions while a 

midshipman, and subsequently chose a commission in the 

Marine Corps in 1968. 

First in his class of 243 at the Marine Corps Officers’ Basic 

School in Quantico, VA, he served in the Fifth Marine Regiment in Vietnam, where as a rifle platoon and company commander in the infamous An Hoa Basin west of Danang he 

was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two 

Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts. He later served 

as a platoon commander and as an instructor in tactics and 

weapons at Marine Corps Officer Candidates School, then as 

a member of the Secretary of the Navy’s immediate staff, before leaving the Marine Corps in 1972. 

As a combat Marine in Vietnam, an attorney, a senior Defense Department official, an Emmy-award winning journalist, a filmmaker, and the author of nine books, JIM WEBB

maintained a lifelong commitment to protect America’s national security interests, promote economic fairness and social justice here at home, and increase the accountability of 

government. He was elected to the Senate in 2006 representing Virginia and served one term. He was not a candidate for election to the Senate in 2012. 

He received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law 

School in 1975. He served in the Congress as counsel to the 

House Committee on Veterans Affairs from 1977 to 1981. In 

1982 he led the fight for including an African American soldier in the memorial statue that now stands at the Vietnam 

Veterans Memorial on the National Mall, and he wrote the 

inscription at the base of the flagpole. In 1987 he became the 

first Naval Academy graduate in history to serve in the military and then become Secretary of the Navy. 

[ vi ] 

Arriving in the Senate with experience in military and veterans affairs, he introduced a comprehensive GI bill for those 

who served in the U.S. military since 9/11. He created the 

Wartime Contracting Commission with responsibility for 

bringing accountability for fraud, waste, and abuse brought 

about by often unsupervised contract processes in Iraq and 

Afghanistan. 

His commitment to reforming the criminal justice system 

led him to design and chair a series of committee hearings 

and conferences to examine the issue of mass incarceration 

and policies toward drugs, and in so doing became one of the 

strongest voices in Congress for a top-to-bottom restructuring of the criminal justice system. 

He remained an active voice on military, economic, and 

foreign affairs through his membership on the Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Joint Economic, and Veterans Affairs 

Committees. With experience overseas, particularly in Asia, 

he served as chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asian 

and Pacific Affairs on the Foreign Relations Committee. He 

also served as the chairman of the Personnel Subcommittee 

of the Armed Services Committee. 

Senator WEBB speaks Vietnamese and has done extensive 

pro bono work with the Vietnamese community dating from 

the late 1970s. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife 

Hong Le Webb. He is the father of five children and a stepdaughter. 

[ vii ] 

Farewell to the Senate 

Thursday, December 6, 2012 

Mr. WEBB. Mr. President, as our office is winding down 

from my Senate term beginning this week, the field offices 

in Virginia ceased their functioning, and it is going to be my 

pleasure later on today to host a lunch for all my staff and 

to thank them for the work they have done. I just want to 

take this opportunity to talk about why I have said so many 

times since I came to the Senate that my greatest legacy will 

be the work of our staff. 

When I first came to the Senate, people were asking: Will 

you be remembered for the GI bill if you get it done—which 

we did—or maybe some great transportation project or something of that sort? I said, ‘‘No, the most important thing a 

leader can do is to bring good people around him or her and 

to work them to the full extent of their capacity and then to 

provide them the opportunity to grow professionally in the 

spirit in which we have worked together.’’ 

It is not going to surprise the Presiding Officer or anyone 

else when I say the greatest learning experience for me in 

that regard was when I served as a rifle platoon and company commander in the U.S. Marine Corps. When we were 

in training to go to Vietnam, we got a lecture from a battlehardened lieutenant colonel who fought as an enlisted marine in World War II, rifle platoon commander in Korea, and 

then as a battalion commander in Vietnam. 

One of the things he said to us was, ‘‘You may carry a 

sidearm, you may carry a 45 pistol, you may carry an M–16 

rifle, but a marine officer is only successful if he fights with 

his marines.’’ It is the same concept here. A person is no better as a leader than the people he or she leads. We worked 

hard on our staff for 6 years to find the most talented people 

in America, to work them to their full capacity, to instill in 

them my personal views of the principles of leadership and 

the philosophy of governance which are at the core of what 

I wanted to bring to the Senate, and I believe we did that. 

We started with Paul Reagan and Kathy Wilmoth. Paul 

Reagan, my chief of staff, is a veteran with 25 years of 

[ viii ] 

Democratic politics and governance inside Virginia. He 

worked for Congressman Rick Boucher. He worked for Jim 

Moran as his chief of staff. He worked for two other Members of Congress, and he had been the communications director with Mark Warner when he was Governor. We were 

what some people would call the political odd couple early 

on. Paul was a master of every detail inside Virginia politics. 

My experience for many years had been on the national level 

of policy. We worked very hard to screen every single applicant to make sure these were people who met the standards 

we were trying to put into place. 

Kathy Wilmoth, in my view, is something of a legend here. 

She became our office director. She knows every Capitol Hill 

policeman. She probably knows every person sitting here 

working on the Senate floor. She is an absolute gold star administrator. Before she came to work for us, she worked for 

Senators John and Lincoln Chafee. When I was a 25-year-old 

marine, I worked on Senator John Chafee’s staff when he 

was Secretary of the Navy. I know I am biased, but I would 

challenge anyone to rebut that we have had the best-run 

staff on Capitol Hill. 

We set up a communications shop. We had Jessica Smith 

and Kimberly Hunter, two very talented and invaluable communicators, who understood the job was not simply to respond to media requests but to proactively explain what we 

were doing, what our purposes were, what our goals were, 

and that the philosophical approach we were taking happened to be to local and national media rather than simply 

entertaining interview requests and those sorts of things. 

On the State level, we were able to have Conaway Haskins 

and Louise Ware. They set up the State administrative 

structure. We were constantly able to listen and respond to 

the needs and opinions of people throughout this extraordinarily complex demographic jurisdiction that is the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Sometimes we forget about what happens on these phones 

in our offices when we are off in our meetings. The people 

who have run our phones and have done our casework at 

times have astounded me. We go back to the votes on health 

care reform. We know all the debates that were going on 

here. We took a count in our office, and we received—just in 

our office—226,000 pieces of advice just on health care reform; in fact, a total of 300,000 pieces of communication on 

that debate of which approximately 50.1 percent of the people who called in to us may have been happy with the evenVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:04 Apr 24, 2014 Jkt 081113 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE12\81113.TXT KAYNE
[ ix ] 

tual vote that I took. I could walk out of the office when that 

was going on and I could see the young people on those 

phones and see how battered they often were, from the advice which, quite frankly, wasn’t always pleasantly given. 

With respect to casework, I had the great pleasure and 

unique experience when I was 25 years old, on the Secretary 

of the Navy’s staff, of how to do casework. It opened my eyes 

to how many people there are in this country who simply 

don’t know how to open the door to get their needs solved by 

the government that has set its requirements on them. I did 

this for John Chafee when he was Secretary of the Navy, 

and I did it for John Warner when he was Secretary of the 

Navy. I strongly emphasized to the people who handled our 

casework what an important job it was they were doing. 

In the time we have been in the Senate, our staff has resolved more than 40,000 personal cases. More than 40,000 

people who had not known, in many cases, even how to approach their government have received personal assistance 

that has helped them solve other problems in their lives. In 

fact, Andrea Trotter, JoAnn Pulliam, Debra Lawson, Gwen 

Sigda, and Debby Burroughs are on our staff, and each one 

of them resolved more than 3,000 cases during the time I 

have been in the Senate. 

On legislative and political issues I would say that before 

I came to the Senate, I made promises on the campaign trail 

and we kept those promises. The greatest achievements, in 

my view, during this term were made right out of our office, 

not because we were responding to the suggestions of some 

committee work or from the executive branch saying they 

wanted something, but because we continually made suggestions to those committees and to the executive branch about 

what we thought needed to be done. 

My first day in office I introduced a new GI bill. I had 

talked about it for years. The logic was very simple. These 

people who had been serving since 9/11 deserved the same 

chance at a first class future as those who had served during 

World War II. Within 16 months, with the strong support, by 

the way, of Leader Reid, we were able to pass this legislation, the most important piece of veterans legislation since 

World War II. 

Most of that effort, again, came directly out of our office 

from the work of people on our personal staff, led by Mike 

Sozan, who at that time was our legislative director and has 

since moved on to be the chief of staff for Senator Mark 

Udall. 

[ x ] 

We said during my campaign and after I got here that the 

United States desperately needs to reform its criminal justice system. We have 5 percent of the world’s population and 

25 percent of the world’s prison population. If we ask the average American, two-thirds of them will tell us they feel less 

safe in their own community than they did a year ago. It is 

not a political issue. To me, it has always been a personal 

issue, a leadership issue. I was warned when I first started 

raising this issue in Virginia 7 years ago that this could actually kill my political campaign. It didn’t. People responded. 

Since I was not on the Judiciary Committee, we worked on 

this legislation to create a national commission to examine 

all the aspects of the criminal justice system, and we did it 

right out of our office, with Doug Ierley being the point person for the entire country to get this debate going in a way 

that it hadn’t been debated before. We met in our own office 

with more than 100 different organizations in our conference 

room. We had a bill a little more than a year ago that 

reached the floor of this Senate. 

I would ask the Presiding Officer or any of my other colleagues when is the last time they have seen a criminal justice bill endorsed by—I have two pages of organizational endorsements—the National Sheriffs’ Association, the Marijuana Project, the Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the ACLU, and the 

Sentencing Project. We got a buy-in from across the philosophical spectrum for a mere $14 million commission where 

we could receive the advice from the experts in this country 

on an issue that we have not received their advice on since 

the 1960s. 

One of the great disappointments of my time here has 

been the fact that this simple, sensible piece of legislation 

was filibustered. We got 57 votes on it. For some reason, the 

people on the other side of the aisle decided this shouldn’t 

happen. We did get four votes from the other side of the 

aisle. Even the National Review, which is one of the most 

conservative magazines in the country, said filibustering this 

piece of legislation was ‘‘insane.’’ 

I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record at 

this time the endorsers of that legislation for the historical 

record. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be 

printed in the Record, as follows: 

[ xi ] 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE BILL ENDORSEMENTS

Innocence Project; National Sheriffs’ Association; NAACP; ACLU; Fraternal Order of Police; American Bar Association; International Association 

of Chiefs of Police; Sentencing Project; Families Against Mandatory Minimums; National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators; American 

Probation and Parole Association; National Association of Evangelicals; 

American Society of Victimology; Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance; International Community Corrections Association; International Organization for Victim Assistance; Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD); 

National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards; National Center for Victims of Crime; National Children’s Alliance. 

National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center; National Organization for Victim Assistance; The Rene ́e Olubunmi Rondeau Peace Foundation; Legal Action Center; Correctional Education Association; Middle Atlantic States Correctional Association; Mennonite Central Committee; Safer 

Foundation; Just Detention International; Justice Policy Institute; Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; Union for Reform Judaism; Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights; Church of Scientology; United Methodist Church, 

General Board of Church and Society; American Humanist Association; National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd; Healing Communities Prison Ministry and Prisoner Reentry Project; Marijuana Policy 

Project; Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE). 

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws; Corporation for 

Supportive Housing; National Employment Law Project; United Church of 

Christ/Justice and Witness Ministries; National African American Drug Policy Coalition, Inc.; American Probation and Parole Association; Women of 

Reform Judaism; Students for Sensible Drug Policy; The Fortune Society; 

Black Law Enforcement in America; Therapeutic Communities of America; 

National Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; The Leadership Conference on Civil 

and Human Rights; National Association of Social Workers; NETWORK— 

A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Community Action Partnership; 

Safe Streets Arts Foundation; November Coalition; TASH—Equity, Opportunity and Inclusion for People with Disabilities; Drug Policy Alliance; National Council of La Raza; National Alliance of Faith and Justice; the Episcopal Church; National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund. 

Mr. WEBB. We have had a lot of discussion over the last 

6 years about the so-called pivot to Asia. I will say as someone who has spent a great deal of time in and out of east 

Asia that this pivot was heavily influenced by the actions, 

again, taken directly out of our office. We looked for people 

to come and work with us who had expertise and the intellect to work not only on the Hill, not only with Members of 

Congress, and not only with the State Department, but with 

our embassies around the world, with foreign leaders, with 

validators, to take a different approach and to refocus the 

energy of the United States on this most vital part of the 

world. David Bonine, Marta McLellan Ross, Gordon Peterson, and Philip Brady were among them. 

[ xii ] 

Our many visits to this part of the world sometimes included five countries in 2 weeks, traveling solely via commercial air rather than with military codel support, and included 

repeated meetings with the top leadership of countries such 

as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, 

and Burma, all of which represent the future of the United 

States in terms of trade, security, and cultural growth in the 

coming decades. 

With respect to Burma, it was a great moment for me to 

be able to sit down with and see Aung San Suu Kyi, recognized by the Congress a month or so ago, coming to this 

country as an elected member of their Parliament. We began 

the change in that relationship directly from our office based 

on work I had begun and become interested in over a period 

of 6 years before I was elected to the Senate. 

I am very proud to say we laid the groundwork for a historic visit in 2009 from inside our office—often, I would say, 

against the will and against the advice of our own State Department. We used validators. We talked to people we knew 

in the region. I became the only American leader ever to 

meet with General Than Shwe, the leader of the military 

junta, to express my belief that we could work forward and 

have a different relationship. We met with Aung San Suu 

Kyi. I hope those who had some doubts about the wisdom of 

opening this relationship now can see the benefits as we are 

seeing the political situation beginning to truly change in 

Burma. 

We worked heavily with Japan. This is a critical yet often 

overlooked relationship. It involved an effort to resolve basing issues on Okinawa that don’t always get the attention 

they deserve in the Congress but have at times absolutely 

paralyzed the political debate inside Japan. Ironically, I first 

began working on these issues as a military planner in 1974 

after I left the Marine Corps and was in law school. Our 

staff has met—and I have been a part of most of these meetings—with more than 70 delegations from Japan, in our office, organized and conducted by our staff. 

In Korea, we led an effort to bring Democratic Senators on 

board to support the critical free-trade agreement that is so 

important not only to our bilateral relations but to the signals of the United States in that part of the world, and we 

began what I believe is something of a pioneering effort to 

get Korea and Japan to come together at the table to realize 

their common security interests. 

[ xiii ] 

As to Vietnam, I have visited and worked inside Vietnam 

for 18 out of the last 21 years in addition to having served 

there as a marine. 

I fought in Vietnam because I believed in the importance 

of that country to our relationships in Asia. I have spent a 

great deal of energy for more than 30 years now in an effort 

to heal the final wound of that war, which is the relationship 

between our Vietnamese community here in the United 

States and the government inside Vietnam. 

We have worked in Thailand, Singapore, and Laos. I was 

the first American Senator to visit Laos in 7 years, the first 

Member of Congress to visit Cambodia in 2 years when we 

visited Indonesia. We worked hard on the sovereignty and 

maritime issues in the South China Sea. We initiated and 

sponsored two important Senate resolutions regarding China’s recent aggression in the South China Sea. Again, we initiated this from the staff members in our office. 

I could go on. Let me just say that the other areas—important areas—that our staff has worked on in the past 6 years 

include our pioneering work in economic fairness, the need 

for stronger programs in the area of adult education, the efforts from inside our office to encourage a full spectrum of 

energy development, the preservation of Civil War battlefields, and the vital need to rebalance the constitutional relationship between the Congress and the Presidency, which I 

have pursued in both administrations that have been in office while I have been a Member of the U.S. Senate. 

Mr. President, at this point, because I really will not have 

time to list all of the contributions by my staff members, I 

ask unanimous consent that the names and the positions of 

my staff members be printed in the Record. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be 

printed in the Record, as follows: 

Kathryn M. Wilmoth, Administrative Director; Arthur B. Scott, Assistant 

to the Chief of Staff; Colin MacDermott, Assistant to the Chief of the Staff; 

Will Jenkins, Communications Director; Heather Fluit, Communications Director; Jessica A. Smith, Communications Director; Rafael Anderson, Constituent Correspondence Manager; Verna (Tina) Graham, Danville Caseworker; Lisa Marie Stark, Director of Scheduling; Melissa Bruns, Director 

of Scheduling; Carolyn D. Walser, Executive Assistant; Nadia S. Naviwala, 

Legislative Aide; Ann M. Vallandingham, Legislative Assistant on Veterans 

Affairs; Doug Ierley, Legislative Assistant and Counsel on Economic Issues; 

Gordon I. Peterson, Legislative Assistant for Defense; Ali Nouri, Legislative 

Assistant for Energy; Trent D. Bauserman, Legislative Assistant for Energy 

and Environment; Juliet M. Beyler, Legislative Assistant for Veterans Affairs; Courtney L. Weaver, Legislative Assistant on Energy; Trevor L. Dean, 

Legislative Assistant on Environment-Transportation; Marta McLellan Ross, 

[ xiv ] 

Legislative Assistant on Foreign Relations; Jennifer Park Stout, Legislative 

Assistant on Foreign Relations; William Edwards, Legislative Assistant on 

Veterans Affairs; Maribel Ramos, Legislative Assistant on Women’s Issues, 

Indian Affairs, Immigration; Patrick Day, Legislative Correspondent; Amy 

E. Hensley, Legislative Correspondent; Ashleigh Owens, Legislative Correspondent; Jacob E. Terrell, Legislative Correspondent. 

Jacqueline R. Ball, Legislative Correspondent; Jennifer Ann Bryant, Legislative Correspondent; John L. (Luke) Principato, Legislative Correspondent; Kyle Grantier, Legislative Correspondent; Nathan D. Buniva, 

Legislative Correspondent; Olivia N. Marshall, Legislative Correspondent; 

Sara Brown, Legislative Correspondent; Will Rosenthal, Legislative Correspondent; Nelson M. Jones III, Legislative Director and Counsel on Judiciary; David N. Bonine, Legislative Director; Michael L. Sozan, Legislative Director; Regan Gwyn Dutton, Norton Caseworker Director; Gwen Sidga, 

NOVA Casework Director; Matthew Scott Lucas, NOVA Caseworker; Barrett Kinsella, NOVA Caseworker; Kali A. Matalon, NOVA Caseworker; Tuy 

Q. Le, Outreach Staff; Anne Elizabeth Hughes, Press Assistant; S. Logan 

Gibson, Press Assistant; Allison H. Jaslow, Press Secretary; Kimberly 

Hunter, Press Secretary; A. Nicholas Cohen, Richmond Caseworker; Hope L. 

Elliott-Murphy, Richmond Caseworker; Justin Jennings, Richmond Caseworker. 

Joann B. Pulliam, Richmond Deputy State Director; Deborah R. Burroughs, Richmond Director of Casework; Conaway B. Haskins III, Richmond 

State Office Director; Louise F. Ware, Richmond State Office Director; Linda 

C. Williams, Richmond State Office Manager; Frederick W. Hutchins, Jr., 

Roanoke Caseworker; Brittany A. Brown, Scheduler; Jessica VandenBerg, 

Staff Assistant; Martin Mash, Special Projects Manager; Cody Huffman, 

Staff Assistant; Erin Raymond, Staff Assistant; Gregory Willett, Staff Assistant; Hope W. Hurley, Staff Assistant; Jada Greenhowe, Staff Assistant; 

Jonathan Shields, Staff Assistant; Kevin Franklin, Staff Assistant; Liza 

Bray, Staff Assistant; Mary E. Humphreys, Staff Assistant; Russell M. Rivers, Staff Assistant; Sarah Broadwater, Staff Assistant; Daniel L. Gonzales, 

Systems Administrator; Joe G. Gallo, Systems Administrator; Andrea R. 

Trotter, Virginia Beach Caseworker; Charles F. Stanton, Virginia Beach 

Caseworker; Emily V. Mazich, Virginia Beach Caseworker; Jeanne S. Evans, 

Virginia Beach Field Representative; Joel R. Alvarenga, Staff Assistant; Michael (Mack) McGarvey, Legislative Assistant on Veterans Affairs; Amy 

Reiter, Strategic Planning Coordinator; Phillip F. Thompson, Executive Assistant; Debra T. Lawson, Roanoke Casework Director; Evan Chapman, 

Staff Assistant; Michael Mazzuto, Staff Assistant; Steven D. Le, Staff Assistant; Darryl Holt, Richmond Caseworker; Kimberly A. Hunter, Press Secretary; Philip O. Brady, Counselor. 

Mr. WEBB. So to my staff, a heartfelt thanks, and to each 

of those who have served with us, I say again, thank you for 

your contributions to our staff and, most important, to our 

country. I say also again that I will continue to expect great 

things from you in the future. You are my legacy. Never forget that the people you might have the honor of leading as 

you move forward in your careers, wherever you end up, will 

someday become your legacy. 

I yield the floor. 

TRIBUTES 

TO 

JIM WEBB 

[ 3 ] 

Proceedings in the Senate 

THURSDAY, December 6, 2012 

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I want to first, of course, 

commend the Senator from Virginia for his great leadership 

here in the Senate on a whole range of issues. He has served 

with great distinction here, and it has been an honor for me 

to serve with him. So I congratulate him on the various 

issues he discussed [in his farewell address] and the various 

issues he has worked on. I have had the good fortune to 

work and support his efforts on many of those issues. 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I wish to say a few words about 

my friend and colleague, Senator JIM WEBB. He has made a 

decision not to run for reelection which, for me, is very sad, 

and it is truly not a good deal for the State of Virginia or 

our country. JIM WEBB has served one term in the Senate. 

He accomplished more in that one term than most do in a 

lifetime. I repeat, I am very sorry to see him leave. 

JIM is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a highly 

decorated marine. He was an infantry officer and served 

with distinction in Vietnam, and that is an understatement. 

He did serve with distinction. He earned a Navy Cross, 

which is the second highest decoration in the Navy and Marine Corps. He got that for heroism in Vietnam. He was 

awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple 

Hearts. 

He, of course, wanted to be in the military all of his life, 

but when he returned from Vietnam he could not do it anymore. His injuries from the war prevented him from doing 

that. He attended Georgetown Law School where he graduated with distinction, served 4 years with President Reagan 

as Assistant Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy. 

He was the first Naval Academy graduate to serve as the civilian head of the Navy. He is also an author, having written 

nine books, a filmmaker, and a screen writer. He even won 

an Emmy. 

[ 4 ] 

Long after JIM WEBB left the Marine Corps, and despite 

his many civilian accomplishments, he remains a marine at 

heart. He is a marine through and through. He learned the 

tradition of service at home, although home changed often 

with his father’s duty station. JIM’s father was an officer in 

the U.S. Air Force and a pilot during World War II. 

JIM’s son, Jimmy Webb, a marine who served in Iraq, continued that tradition of service. Although JIM WEBB was a 

vocal opponent of the Iraq war, he was incredibly proud of 

his son’s service as a soldier in battle-torn Iraq. Every day 

of his 2006 campaign, JIM WEBB wore his son’s combat boots. 

It was a tribute not only to Jimmy, his boy, but to all people 

who have been sent into harm’s way, he said. 

I met JIM WEBB in my office not far from here as a result 

of Senator Bob Kerrey asking me if I would spend some time 

with him. I was happy to do so. I will never forget that meeting, just the three of us in the room. Those of us who worked 

with Bob Kerrey know he is and was such a vibrant person. 

He was almost mischievous, I guess you could put it that 

way. You could just tell he had a little touch of differentness. 

When he brought JIM in to visit with me I learned very 

quickly they were both warriors—Bob Kerrey, a Navy Seal, 

recipient of the Medal of Honor, and JIM WEBB, as we said, 

Navy Cross, a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, both veterans 

of the Vietnam war. 

As we sat talking, it was obvious they were both fighters, 

warriors. JIM certainly proved that in his 2006 campaign. 

The reason Bob wanted me to visit with him is because JIM

WEBB had decided he wanted to run for the Senate. What 

did I think of it? 

I probably told JIM what a lot of people told him: ‘‘You 

want to run for the Senate? The election is right upon us.’’ 

He said, ‘‘I want to do that.’’ 

Not many believed he had any chance of winning. He believed he could, Bob Kerrey believed he could, and he ran because he wanted to and, boy, did he run hard. 

For me, though, it did not settle in my mind until the 

night before the election. There was an event in Alexandria, 

VA. It was a cold November night. I stood with JIM on that 

stage. I realized then that he could win. People were lined 

up for blocks. ‘‘Lined up’’ was the wrong word—people covered blocks. Every open space as far as you could see was 

filled with people. 

President Clinton was there. I was there. They didn’t come 

to see me, of course. They didn’t come to see President ClinVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:04 Apr 24, 2014 Jkt 081113 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE12\81113.TXT KAYNE
[ 5 ] 

ton, they came to see JIM WEBB because he was doing the 

impossible. He had captivated the voters. He was unafraid. 

He spoke his mind. And what a smart man. 

I marvel at the intelligence of JIM WEBB, his ability to 

learn and to express his ideas. As I said, he captivated the 

voters. That is really why he won the race that he should not 

have been able to win. 

Once he was elected, he was a marvel to watch. He believed he could change the world. He did change several corners of the world. Let me give one example. He was a new 

Senator and he came to me and said, ‘‘I have an idea.’’ JIM

WEBB is not a person who just focuses on an idea and walks 

away from it. When JIM WEBB came to see me, he had the 

legislation he had drafted. It was not sent to some bill drafter to have him look it over, he drafted the legislation himself. What did he want to do? He wanted to introduce a post9/11 GI bill of rights. What he wanted to do was expand educational benefits for military families, and he brought our 

commitment to our veterans to the standard enjoyed by 

World War II veterans. And he was just a freshman Senator. 

After spending about an hour with him with facts and figures and the actual legislation, I said, ‘‘Sign me up. I will do 

whatever I can to help you with it.’’ 

A brand-new Senator passed this major piece of legislation. He built a coalition of veterans and Democratic and Republican Senators to fight for this legislation. Since this legislation became law in 2008, more than 750,000 veterans of 

the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families have 

used the program to access the education they deserve. 

JIM, who speaks Vietnamese, has also helped shape our 

country’s foreign policy in other places. He played a key role 

in Burma where he secured the rights of democracy activists 

such as Aung San Suu Kyi, who came to visit us a month 

or so ago. 

JIM WEBB is a unique individual in so many different 

ways. He has visited many of the places where the battles 

were fought in World War II. He went to those islands and 

spent time walking to see what the veterans had gone 

through in a war prior to the one in which he was involved. 

He actually did that. It was physically hard, but he wanted 

to do that and he did it on his own. 

Robert Kennedy said: 

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work 

to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will 

be written the history of this generation. 

[ 6 ] 

JIM WEBB should be proud of his part—it was not a small 

part—in writing the history of his generation. He did it in 

the battlefields in Vietnam. He did it in the Pentagon. He 

did it here in the Senate. 

I do not know what is ahead for JIM WEBB, but we have 

not heard the last of him. He has a wonderful, beautiful wife 

and wonderful children. He left his mark on the Senate and 

he will never be forgotten, even though he served here only 

one term. I am really sorry his Senate career was not longer, 

but I am gratified it was so productive. 

I congratulate JIM WEBB and express on this Record how 

much I admire him and what a strength he has been to me. 

He was a strength to me on the health care bill. He has 

given me wonderful information on immigration—which I 

have spent a lot of time on. I have read some of his books. 

I have not read them all but I read a couple of them. He is 

somebody I will miss very much and I will always consider 

JIM WEBB somebody who made me a better person. 

TUESDAY, December 11, 2012 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I would note the Acting President pro tempore [JIM WEBB] today. I had the good fortune 

of being able to come to the floor last week to talk about the 

Acting President pro tempore’s tenure in the Senate—some 

6 years—and I talked about some of the many accomplishments he had in that relatively short period of time, as we 

call Senate time. 

But I am reminded again of the Senator from Virginia, 

having spent an hour on Friday with Bob Kerrey. Bob 

Kerrey and I reflected back on his experience here in the 

Senate, and one memorable meeting he and I had. The purpose of that meeting was for Bob Kerrey to introduce me to 

Senator WEBB. It was a wonderful meeting because when the 

meeting finished—and I won’t go into the details of everything I said, but the Senator from Virginia knows—I came 

out of that meeting recognizing what kindred spirits these 

two gallant warriors were and are, both having been highly 

decorated, one in the Navy, the other a marine; one with a 

Medal of Honor, the other—the Acting President pro tempore—the Navy Cross, Silver Star, more than one Bronze 

Star for Valor, and a number of Purple Hearts. 

So I say again, but I can’t say it too much, what an honor 

and pleasure it has been to serve in this body with the SenVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:04 Apr 24, 2014 Jkt 081113 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE12\81113.TXT KAYNE
[ 7 ] 

ator from Virginia, JIM WEBB. I have learned so much about 

what a difference a positive attitude will make. There is no 

better example of that than the new GI bill of rights. To 

think a new Senator—a brand-new Senator—would have the 

idea, the confidence that he could do this; not only the confidence that this bill is important, but he wrote it himself. 

The Acting President pro tempore wrote that bill himself. He 

didn’t go to bill drafters, as most of us do, he wrote it himself 

and proceeded to get it passed. So this is a man I will miss 

a whole lot. 

Mr. DURBIN. To the Presiding Officer [Mr. WEBB]—I said 

a few words on the floor before—we thank you for your service. You did an extraordinary job here. There aren’t many 

one-termers who make a mark in the Senate and on the Nation. You did it. 

I can remember—I thought it was a little bold of you, 

maybe even more—when you came in and said, ‘‘I want to 

rewrite the GI bill,’’ and you did it, and it was exceptional. 

You have helped thousands of men and women who have 

served in our military come back to America and be welcomed and be productive parts of our future. 

In so many ways, I wish to thank Senator JIM WEBB, our 

Presiding Officer, for being an important and viable part of 

the Senate. I know you will continue to serve our Nation in 

many different capacities in the future, and I am sure they 

will be equally exceptional. 

WEDNESDAY, December 12, 2012 

Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I rise to comment 

about some wonderful men in the Senate who are retiring on 

both sides of the aisle. Earlier today I spoke about my deep 

affection and sorry-to-see-go friends Olympia Snowe and Kay 

Bailey Hutchison, but I want to rise as the dean of the 

women in the Senate to say some very special words about 

very special men on both sides of the aisle. Because when I 

came to the Senate, it was only Nancy Kassebaum and me, 

and yet we worked on so many issues together. There are 

really wonderful men here who supported me, supported our 

issues, but really stood up for those States and their communities. . . . 

Senator JIM WEBB, the Senate’s own marine and former 

Secretary of the Navy, I have known him for more than 20 

[ 8 ] 

years, since he was Secretary of the Navy under Ronald 

Reagan. In the beginning we fought on many issues, particularly gender equality. When Senator WEBB was the new Secretary of the Navy and I was a new Senator, we had a different view on where women should be in the military, and 

we duked it out. But you know what? Over the years we 

came to know each other, respect each other, and appreciate 

each other’s views. I so appreciate the fact that he is an unabashed, unrelenting fierce fighter for our men and women 

in uniform, fighting for them when they are on the frontlines 

and when they return to the homefront. 

I am so proud of the fact that I could vote for the 21st century GI bill for those serving in the military, to make sure 

that when they are on the frontline, they get the education 

here so they will not be on the unemployment line. His bill 

was the most significant legislation for veterans since World 

War II. So I say to Senator WEBB, semper fi, and God bless 

you. . . . 

I wanted to be sure that the day would not end without 

my acknowledging these wonderful people who have given a 

big part of their lives to making this country a better place. 

I want to, in the most heartfelt way—I am so sorry we did 

not have a bipartisan dinner or party to be able to express 

this. I would have liked to have been in the same room, 

breaking bread with them, in order to be able to tell them 

how much we appreciate them, across party lines, across 

those lines that ordinarily divide us. They came from different parts of the country, they arrived in the Senate with 

different objectives, they will leave under different circumstances. But I want to again let them know that each 

and every one of them had a positive impact on me and I 

think a wonderful impact on the future of this country. So 

I wish them well. God bless and Godspeed. 

THURSDAY, December 13, 2012 

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I am proud today to honor 

my colleague from Virginia, JIM WEBB. In just 6 years in the 

Senate, he has proven himself to be an agile and independent thinker on both military matters and issues of economic fairness, as well as a tireless advocate for veterans. 

His candid and moderate voice in the Senate will be sorely 

missed. 

[ 9 ] 

JIM WEBB has spent an impressive career working in public service and on behalf of our veterans and active troops 

overseas. The importance of discipline and service to country 

was instilled in him as a young boy, as he moved with his 

father, a career Air Force officer, to various Air Force bases 

across the country. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, 

Senator WEBB served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense 

for Reserve Affairs under President Reagan, as well as the 

U.S. Secretary of the Navy, before coming to the Senate in 

2007. 

Senator WEBB demonstrated his unwavering commitment 

to our troops and veterans on his very first day in the Senate 

when he introduced the post-9/11 GI bill of rights. He won 

passage for this important piece of legislation, the most comprehensive GI bill since World War II, in only his 2d year 

as a Senator—a remarkable feat. Since its passage, thousands of post-9/11 veterans have applied to use their GI bill 

benefits. The GI bill has been instrumental in providing a 

great opportunity and a demonstration of gratitude for our 

troops as they separate from service. 

I personally had the privilege of working closely with Senator WEBB on a bill that aims to preserve the valor of our 

decorated military heroes. I was proud to join him in introducing the Military Service Integrity Act, which creates 

criminal penalties for individuals who lie about receiving 

military medals for personal gain. On behalf of the nearly 

60,000 veterans in North Dakota and all of our active troops, 

it was an honor to work with him on this legislation in ensuring that the integrity of our Nation’s military awards are 

not belittled by those attempting to seek a profit. 

Apart from his dedication to our military heroes, I also respect Senator WEBB for his commitment to fiscal responsibility. Together with Senator McCaskill, he formed the U.S. 

Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan to analyze the efficacy and expenditures of Federal contractors abroad. When the findings of the commission were 

published, he subsequently introduced comprehensive reform 

legislation to address the failures and mismanagement of 

overseas contractors. As chairman of the Senate Budget 

Committee, I deeply respect his initiative and commitment 

to eliminating any waste, fraud, or abuse in our national security operations. 

It is a deep loss for the Senate to be losing such a candid 

and independent voice. Senator WEBB has set an extraordinary example of discipline, initiative, and candor in his 

[ 10 ] 

work on behalf of working-class Americans and military families. I thank Senator WEBB for his career of service in the 

Senate and the armed services and wish him all the best. 

THURSDAY, December 20, 2012 

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, in these final days of the 

112th Congress, the Senate is bidding farewell to a very special member, the junior Senator from Virginia, Senator JIM

WEBB. 

He came to this body with unique and extraordinary credentials: a graduate of the Naval Academy and first in his 

class of 243 at the Marine Corps Officer School at Quantico, 

a much-decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam war, and 

Secretary of the Navy during the Reagan administration. 

I would point out one more of his sterling credentials. I 

guess I can say this now, because he is retiring, and a political opponent will not use it against him: JIM WEBB is an intellectual with a passion for ideas and knowledge. For goodness sake, he writes books, excellent books, the kind that 

win glowing reviews in the New York Times, and get turned 

into documentaries on the Smithsonian Channel. 

Senator WEBB has put this past experience to superb use 

here in the Senate as an active member of the Committee on 

Armed Services, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

To his great credit, before coming to the Senate, he was an 

outspoken critic of the invasion of Iraq, warning that it 

would be a unilateral war with no exit strategy. After the invasion, he was equally outspoken in challenging the Bush 

administration’s conduct of that war. 

At the same time, as a member of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, he worked hard to pass legislation to provide 

enhanced education benefits for veterans, a 21st century GI 

bill, for those who have served in the military since the attacks of 9/11. 

I admire JIM WEBB as a friend and colleague. I have the 

greatest respect for his lifelong commitment to protecting 

America’s national security, and fighting for economic and 

social justice here at home. There is no question in my mind 

that JIM will find other avenues for public service in the 

years ahead. I certainly wish JIM and Hong Le all the best 

in the years ahead. 

[ 11 ] 

Mr. REED. Madam President, at this time, I wish to take 

a few minutes to salute my colleagues who are retiring at 

the end of this year with the conclusion of the 112th Congress: Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Kent Conrad of North 

Dakota, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Kay Bailey 

Hutchison of Texas, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Jon Kyl of Arizona, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Richard Lugar of Indiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Olympia Snowe of Maine, 

and JIM WEBB of Virginia. They have all worked ceaselessly 

to give their constituents the best representation and give 

the country the benefit of their views, their wisdom, and 

their experience. They are men and women who are committed to the Nation, and they have every day in different 

ways contributed to this Senate and to our great country. 

I wish to thank them personally for their service, and, in 

so many cases, their personal kindness to me; for listening 

to my points and for, together, hopefully, serving this Senate 

and this Nation in a more positive and progressive way. 

In particular, let me say a few words about some of the 

Members with whom I have had the privilege to work more 

closely. . . . 

JIM WEBB, a decorated combat veteran, is someone whose 

love for this Nation was manifested very early, as he led marines in combat in Vietnam. His extraordinary courage is 

only matched by his quiet demeanor and his calm sense of 

confidence that project outward in every different capacity. 

Of course, he has taken it upon himself to make sure we 

do not forget our veterans. He was the architect of the post9/11 GI bill and, in doing so, he has enriched the lives of so 

many who were willing to risk their lives for this Nation. I, 

again, salute him for all he has done. . . . 

I could go on with all of my colleagues, just thanking them 

for their friendship, for their camaraderie, and for their commitment to the Nation and the Senate. As they depart, they 

have left an extraordinary legacy. Now it is our responsibility to carry on in so many different ways, and I hope we 

measure up to what they have done. If we do, then we can 

go forward confidently. 

With that, I yield the floor. 

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, JIM WEBB has served our Nation in ways that few Americans can match. He is a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam war, where he was 

awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, two Bronze Star 

Medals, and two Purple Hearts. His experiences in Vietnam 

[ 12 ] 

helped him shape a series of novels for which he has received justified critical praise and which helped readers understand the experience of war and those who fight it. He 

served as the first Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve 

Affairs, and later as Secretary of the Navy. He won enormous praise for his TV coverage of the Marine mission to 

Beirut in the 1980s, and later for Born Fighting, a history 

of Scots-Irish immigrants to America. 

For the last 6 years he has been serving his Nation in the 

capacity we in the Senate have seen first hand, as U.S. Senator from Virginia. It has been my privilege to serve with 

him on the Armed Services Committee, and as chairman, I 

have benefited greatly from his intelligence, his experience, 

and his dedication to the men and women who wear the uniform of our military. Let me reflect on a few of the ways in 

which I have seen up close Senator WEBB’s dedication to 

service. 

Senator WEBB is rightly recognized for his work on national security, but that has not been his only concern in the 

Senate. He has been a welcome voice here on issues of economic fairness. Soon after his election to the Senate, he 

wrote in the Wall Street Journal of an urgent need to address growing economic inequality. He wrote: 

[T]he current economic divisions in society are harmful to our future. It 

should be the first order of business for the new Congress to begin addressing these divisions, and to work to bring true fairness back to economic life. 

He has acted on those words, fighting for a tax system 

that is more equitable to working families; for trade policies 

that recognize not just the benefits, but the costs, of free 

trade; and for education policies that give all Americans, including those already in the workforce, the skills and opportunities to prosper. 

An issue on which I have been able to work closely with 

Senator WEBB is the posture of U.S. military forces in the 

Asia-Pacific region and, in particular, the plan to realign Marine forces in the Pacific. I traveled with him to Okinawa 

and Guam, and even the island of Tinian, and saw first hand 

his extraordinary knowledge and understanding of the 

issues. I have benefited greatly, as I know Senator McCain 

has, from his insights on this complex and difficult issue, 

which involves pressing strategic issues, enormous budget 

pressures, and the concerns of our close ally Japan. Senator 

WEBB’s hard work on this issue has helped resolve the impasse that was blocking progress on the plan to move some 

of the marines off of Okinawa and move us closer to an 

[ 13 ] 

achievable, affordable plan for Marine realignment that will 

benefit the people of Japan and the United States while better serving our national strategic and security interests in 

this important region. 

What is perhaps most notable about Senator WEBB’s service in the Senate is the way that he has joined three of his 

concerns—America’s national security, the need for greater 

economic fairness, and his affection for the men and women 

of our military. 

This is perhaps best expressed by the post-9/11 GI bill, legislation he introduced on his first day in office, and whose 

passage he pursued with great determination. When signed 

into law in 2008, the post-9/11 GI bill provided the largest 

expansion of educational benefits for veterans since World 

War II. Just as the original GI bill honored the service of 

World War II veterans and helped pave the way for millions 

of servicemembers to earn college degrees, so, too, has Senator WEBB’s legislation honored the generation that has 

served in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere. The impact 

of this legislation—in improving the lives of our veterans and 

in its benefits for our Nation as a whole—will be large and 

long lasting. 

Senator WEBB has been a tireless advocate for the men 

and women of our military, in particular for our junior enlisted troops. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Personnel, he has fought for adequate pay and benefits, and 

against the unscrupulous who would seek to profit by taking 

advantage of these young men and women. Senator WEBB

speaks eloquently of the great strains of more than a decade 

of high operational tempo on these men and women and 

their families, and of the ‘‘moral contract’’ between our Nation and the troops who defend us. He speaks as the descendant of veterans, as a veteran himself, and as the father, 

father-in-law, and brother of veterans. The Senate, and the 

Nation, have been better off the last 6 years having that 

voice in the Senate. I have been grateful for his counsel, and 

I am sorry we soon will no longer have the benefit of his 

service on the Armed Services Committee or in the Senate. 

Even though we will miss him, I have no doubt JIM WEBB’s 

service to our Nation will long continue, and I wish him 

every success. 

Mr. COONS. . . . There are so many other Senators I want 

to speak about today [besides Daniel Inouye], but let me turn 

to a few, if I might, and give some insight for the folks who 

only see Members of this Chamber on cable TV shows or in 

[ 14 ] 

the give-and-take of election season or who only know them 

as the cutout and caricatures that the public thinks of as 

Senators. If there is a common thread between them, it is 

that they share that loyalty, work ethic, and humility that 

so characterized Senator Inouye in his decades here. . . . 

Serving with Senator JIM WEBB of Virginia has been an 

honor. He, too, is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. As a retiring colleague, he knows there are things in 

this world and in our lives more important than our politics. 

He was a decorated marine, a celebrated author, a former 

Secretary of the Navy, and now a respected Senator. His 

tireless work has helped to make the world safer, our veterans stronger, and our criminal justice system more fair. I 

will truly miss his company. . . . 

So here we are, 5 days before my family celebrates Christmas and 12 days before the new year and the beginning of 

the so-called fiscal cliff. Our politics have paralyzed this 

Chamber and this town. But what the example of all of these 

remarkable Senators has shown us, what it has taught me 

is that we can still be better than our politics. 

The humanity of this place, too often shoved aside by the 

politics of the moment, shows us that we can do better. One 

by one, these Senators, in delivering their farewell addresses 

to this Chamber, stood at their desks and each in turn urged 

us to find a way to return to the days when Senators knew 

each other and worked together. What will it take to get us 

to that point again—a horrific tragedy in an elementary 

school, a dangerous economic cliff, some devastating attack, 

a cyberassault on America? 

Our retiring colleagues are each telling us, each in turn, 

that it is not too late to restore the humanity of this Chamber and make a positive difference in the lives of all we 

serve. Will we heed their call? I hope and pray we will because we can do better. We must do better. In the spirit of 

each of these departing colleagues, I will do my level best. 

I hope we all can commit to doing the same. 

Thank you, and I yield the floor. 

FRIDAY, December 21, 2012 

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, as we have all learned, it 

doesn’t always take a lifetime of service to make a difference, 

especially here in the Senate. JIM WEBB is one of those 

unique individuals who had an impact here although he only 

[ 15 ] 

served for one term before deciding to retire. I know I will 

miss him and his great support for our Nation’s military and 

his heartfelt concern for our Nation’s veterans. 

As I have had the opportunity to come to know JIM a little 

better, it is clear that he is a man of strong convictions. As 

we say in the West, he is someone who means what he says 

and says what he means. He walks his talk. 

When he first arrived in Washington he made it clear he 

wasn’t going to be someone who could be taken for granted, 

especially when it came to those things in which he strongly 

believed. He put his home State of Virginia first and he was 

going to work hard to ensure that the concerns of the people 

back home were heard—and heard clearly—whenever an 

issue was taken up that was going to have an impact on 

them. 

A Vietnam veteran himself, he had a great interest in national security issues. His determination to make a difference in that area became clear right from the start. Serving on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee he worked hard to 

ensure that our veterans were able to access the benefits 

they had earned with their service. 

JIM is a good writer and he has several books to his credit. 

They have received a great deal of notice, and one of his stories has been made into a movie. 

I know I join with many of my colleagues in wishing him 

all the best as he returns to Virginia. I don’t know what his 

next great adventure will be, but I do know his skills and 

talents will provide him with a number of opportunities to 

choose from in which he can continue to play an active part 

in his State. 

Thank you, JIM, for your willingness to serve—not only 

here in the Senate but in our Nation’s military. The recognition you earned with your efforts will continue to inspire others. Because of you our Nation’s veterans have had a champion in committee and a warrior on the Senate floor who did 

everything you possibly could to ensure our veterans would 

never have to settle for anything less than the best. They 

have earned that and so much more with their service, their 

many sacrifices on our behalf, and their unsurpassed love for 

our country. 

[ 16 ] 

THURSDAY, December 27, 2012 

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, although he has served just 

one term in the U.S. Senate, retiring Senator JIM WEBB is 

no stranger to public service. A highly decorated combat veteran of Vietnam, JIM WEBB’s prior public service as an Assistant Secretary of Defense and a former Secretary of the 

Navy uniquely suited him as a fierce defender of our troops 

serving overseas, and when they come back home. 

Senator WEBB has been a positive force on a number of 

issues, and particularly through his roles on the Foreign Relations Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the 

Veterans’ Affairs Committee. His commitment to our Nations’ veterans and to supporting and strengthening our military has been a cornerstone of his Senate career. 

I worked with Senator WEBB on a number of issues in the 

last 6 years, especially on prison reform and the criminal 

justice commission. His initiative is something the Senate 

and our judicial system should follow and set as a guide. 

Senator WEBB brought a unique perspective to the Senate 

based on his years of dedicated public service. He has been 

a powerful advocate for military and veterans’ issues and 

criminal justice reform, all while promoting Virginia’s best 

interests. I wish him and his family the very best in the future. 

FRIDAY, December 28, 2012 

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I would like to pay tribute to 

the Senators who will not be returning when the 113th Congress commences next month. I have already spoken about 

Senator Kyl and about Senator Inouye, one of the truly great 

Americans and giants of this institution. At the time of his 

death, Senator Inouye was just a few weeks short of celebrating 50 years of Senate service. Only Senator Byrd served 

in this institution longer. 

Turnover is a natural occurrence, but it’s important to 

acknowledge that the Senators who are departing have 

served in the Senate for a combined total of 237 years, or 

nearly 20 years per Senator, on average. Add Senator 

Inouye, and the total is close to 300 years. That service represents an enormous amount of expertise on issues ranging 

from national defense and foreign affairs to the Federal 

budget to energy policy. The departing Senators will also 

[ 17 ] 

take with them vast institutional knowledge and bipartisan 

friendships and working relationships that will leave a void 

we will need to fill. . . . 

Mr. President, Senator JAMES WEBB is a highly decorated 

combat veteran of the Vietnam war, the first Naval Academy 

graduate to serve as a civilian Secretary of the Navy, lawyer, 

and accomplished author. Senator WEBB grew up in a military family and noted in his 2004 book, Born Fighting: How 

the Scots-Irish Shaped America, that his ancestors fought in 

every major American war. Senator WEBB’s father, a career 

officer in the U.S. Air Force, flew B–17s and B–29s during 

World War II, and dropped cargo during the Berlin Airlift. 

After Senator WEBB graduated from Annapolis, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. 

As a first lieutenant during the Vietnam war he served as 

a platoon commander with Delta Company, 1st Battalion 5th 

Marines. He earned a Navy Cross, the second highest decoration in the Navy and Marine Corps for heroism in Vietnam. He also earned the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and 

two Purple Hearts. Senator WEBB’s son Jimmy has continued the Webb family’s long, proud record of military service 

to our Nation as a rifleman and Marine Corps sergeant, 

serving a tour of duty in Iraq with Weapons Company, 1st 

Battalion 6th Marines. 

Senator WEBB has served just one term but he has made 

it a productive one, passing the 21st century GI bill to provide the same educational benefits to post-9/11 veterans that 

the World War II Greatest Generation received. He introduced the bill his first day in office, and saw it enacted into 

law. Thousands of veterans have since received educational 

benefits through the program. What a wonderful legacy for 

Senator WEBB to have. 

Senator WEBB also dedicated his time in office to refocusing and rebalancing our relationships in East Asia. He 

has long argued that getting mired in Iraq and Afghanistan 

was a strategic mistake, and that our long-term interests lie 

with Asia. As chair of the Senate Foreign Relations East 

Asia Subcommittee, he visited nearly every country in the 

region, focusing particularly on the countries of mainland 

Southeast Asia and our treaty allies. His 2009 trip to Burma 

was the first by a U.S. leader in 10 years; the visit is widely 

credited as the beginning of efforts to change our relationship with that country. Senator WEBB remains the only U.S. 

leader to have met with General Than Shwe, the former 

junta leader, and he also met with Aung San Suu Kyi while 

[ 18 ] 

she was under house arrest. Senator WEBB has worked continuously to resolve the basing issues with our main ally in 

the region, Japan, and to help pass a trade agreement with 

South Korea. 

A hallmark of Senator WEBB’s lifelong service to our Nation is his willingness to tackle the tough, unglamorous 

issues. Here in the Senate, he led an effort to reform our 

criminal justice system, introducing legislation to establish a 

commission of experts to review the entire spectrum of the 

American criminal justice system from drug laws to sentencing, prison conditions, recidivism, and judicial reform. 

Mr. President, these men and women who will be leaving 

the Senate soon have made extraordinary sacrifices to serve 

our Nation. We are fortunate that they have chosen to spend 

significant parts of their lives in public service. All Americans owe them a debt of gratitude. Those of us who will be 

in the Senate next month when the 113th Congress convenes 

can best honor the legacy of our departing colleagues by 

reaching across the aisle as they have done so many times 

to forge bipartisan consensus and solutions to our Nation’s 

most vexing problems. The men and women who will be leaving the Senate at the end of this Congress understand that 

compromise isn’t a dirty word; it is the genius at the heart 

of our political system. We will miss them. 

MONDAY, December 31, 2012 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I wish to recognize my 

colleague JIM WEBB for his distinguished service and leadership on behalf of our country and the people of Virginia. 

I will always have a special place in my heart for JIM

WEBB, and that is because he and I were members of the 

same incoming class of Senators back in 2007. We ran for 

the Senate at the same time in 2006, and to this day I will 

never forget how he wore his son’s old combat boots on the 

campaign trail. Day in and day out, no matter where he 

went, no matter what the weather, JIM was walking tall in 

those boots. 

Since his very first days in office, JIM has been a tireless 

champion for our men and women in uniform. On day one, 

he introduced a 21st century GI bill to deliver the most comprehensive educational benefits since World War II. It led to 

legislation that was eventually signed into law, and it has 

[ 19 ] 

made it possible for thousands of post-9/11 troops and veterans to afford a college education. 

While JIM is best known for his leadership on defense and 

military issues, he has also earned a reputation for being a 

problem solver who takes a commonsense, bipartisan approach to legislating. Time and again, JIM has reached 

across the aisle to put politics aside and get things done for 

the good of the country. He has been a clear and consistent 

voice for energy independence and a stalwart advocate for 

policies that benefit the middle class. As a former prosecutor, 

I have greatly admired his work to improve our criminal justice system from top to bottom—not just by strengthening 

law enforcement, but by addressing systemic challenges of 

reentry and recidivism. 

JIM, it would be impossible to do full justice to your legacy 

in a single statement. So instead allow me to end by saying 

this: The Commonwealth of Virginia is better because of 

your leadership, and so is our country. 

You will be missed in the Senate, but given everything you 

accomplished before you were elected—as Secretary of the 

Navy, as an Emmy award-winning journalist, as the author 

of nine books—I’m confident you will find some way to occupy your time in retirement. I know you will continue to 

find ways to improve our great country and give back to the 

State you love so much. Thank you, Senator WEBB. I wish 

you the best. 

THURSDAY, February 7, 2013 

ORDER FOR PRINTING OF TRIBUTES 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 

there be printed as a Senate document a compilation of materials from the Congressional Record in tribute to the retiring Members of the 112th Congress. 

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

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