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[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 177 (Thursday, November 20, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10694-S10697]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                          TRIBUTE TO SENATORS

                              ted stevens

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise to pay honor to Senator Ted Stevens 
of Alaska. While our country may not realize this, Ted has been a great 
advocate on a number of important issues for our country. Reminding our 
country of its responsibility to its indigenous people has been one of 
the major causes that Ted Stevens has pursued and advanced. It has been 
a delight to work with him to expand opportunities and help our 
indigenous peoples of the noncontiguous States of Alaska and Hawaii, as 
well as those across the country.
  We have worked well together to improve the lives of Federal 
employees. We tried hard this Congress to enact meaningful reforms on 
telework opportunities in the Federal Government and, most importantly, 
to provide retirement equity to Federal employees in Alaska, Hawaii, 
and the territories by extending locality pay to those areas. Your 
leadership on those issues was invaluable to our efforts to move the 
bills forward. Thank you for your efforts to expand opportunities for 
Federal employees.
  Also, I want to mention something that is probably an unknown part of 
history, and that is a number of years ago I discovered that since 1965 
the model of the Statue of Freedom was in storage at the Smithsonian. I 
worked to try to bring that statute here to the Capitol, and I was 
having a hard time with that until Ted Stevens joined me. With his help 
we were able to move that statue from storage in the Smithsonian to the 
Capitol.
  It was, as you may now know, the model which was erected in the 
Russell rotunda. I am pleased to say that on December 2, 2008, the new 
Capitol Visitor Center will be dedicated and that Statue of Freedom 
will be placed between the two escalators that will lead to the 
Capitol. For me and for Ted Stevens, this symbolizes that freedom is 
returning to the Capitol of the United States. And on December 2, 2008, 
the Center will be open and the Statue of Freedom will be an eminent 
part of the Visitor Center.
  I thank Ted Stevens for all the help that he has given us in Hawaii 
and other States. He has brought strength and passion to the Senate and 
has been a constant presence in this institution. And for Millie and 
me, Ted, I want to say aloha, and a warm aloha and mahalo nui loa to 
you for all the friendship that we have had and continue to have. I 
want to say God bless you and Catherine and your family in the years 
ahead.
  Mahalo.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I think the length of my service is a 
blink of the eye compared to those who have spoken before. And as I 
stand here, I cannot tell you whether it is going to be two blinks.
  But I was on the CODEL with the Senator from Washington. We were in 
China with Senator Stevens, and I would like to offer some insight, if 
I can, as to the question raised by my colleague from Kansas as to what 
makes Ted Stevens tick.
  When we were in China, Senator Stevens was treated as a hero. And he 
is a hero because of his service in World War II. He flew under General 
Chennault and went over, I think it was, the China-India-Burma bump. He 
landed in places in China to refurbish supplies, ammunition, I think, 
bring in intelligence sources, as described to me, where landing fields 
were cut out. There may have been a foot on one side and a foot on the 
other side, and this young guy was flying in there because he loved his 
country.
  When we talk about Ted Stevens and his service to our country--so 
many talk about 40 years in the Senate--as I reflected on who that 
young guy was, flying in there with absolute fearlessness, with 
courage, with love of country, he is the same guy. He is the same guy. 
That is what he has given to this country his entire adult life, and it 
has been given in great service to this country. I think that is pretty 
special.
  He has the veneer of a tough guy. And Ted Stevens can be tough. There 
is no question about that. But those of us who know him also see the 
love, the love that is in his heart, reflected in love of country, but 
love of family, love for his magnificent wife, love for his daughter. 
You see the gleam in his eye anytime he talks about her or she is in 
his presence. We see the love he has for this body, the love he has for 
his colleagues, even, by the way, for those with whom he disagrees. I 
have not been on the side of ANWR with my colleague from Alaska. But if 
you simply

[[Page S10695]]

tell him where you are and you give your word and live by that, he is 
always there with you.
  Senator Smith is not with us today, but few of us will ever forget 
when he stood on the floor of this Senate after the tragic death of his 
son and reflected upon the support of his colleagues and took special 
note of the fact that he was not with Ted Stevens on the most important 
issue to Ted at that time: ANWR. Yet when Senator Smith suffered 
tragedy in his life, who was the first person to step up to try to 
provide support, to try to ensure that cause get there? It was Senator 
Stevens.
  That is the person we know. He has given his entire adult life to 
service to this Nation--extraordinary service to this Nation--and he 
has done it with fearlessness, courage, love, and commitment, as with 
everything he did as a young man. He has never lost any of those 
qualities, and we see them today. This Nation has been blessed by his 
service, and many of us have been blessed by his friendship, and we 
wish him our very best.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon with 
tremendously mixed emotions to visit with all of you and with our 
country about Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska.
  Many have said much about this great man. I will not say a great 
deal, but I will try to express it in an emotional way for a fellow I 
have known of for 28 years and have known personally for 18 years.
  So let me visit for a moment as a westerner, as somebody from a 
public lands State, where the Federal Government is, in many instances, 
dominant over the lives of small communities and citizens in a way that 
most of you from nonpublic lands States wouldn't ever appreciate. I 
know that passion. I, every day of my life, in working with Ted 
Stevens, sensed that passion in a way that if you are not from a public 
lands State, if you do not have an agency or a bureaucrat dictating to 
you about the lives of your citizens and your people, you would simply 
never understand.
  But Ted grasped that early on and without question has been the 
champion of his State and their citizens in a way that no other Senator 
has been. I have so tremendously respected that.
  I have been in and out of Alaska several times in my tenure as a 
Senator or as a Congressman. I will close with an expression given to 
me by a cab driver in Anchorage that says more to me about this man 
than anything I could possibly say myself.
  I was en route from downtown Anchorage, Ted, to the Ted Stevens 
International Airport. We rounded the curve and pulled up. As I exited 
the cab, I looked up, and there was your name. I said: Oh, my, Ted's 
got an airport. That is neat.
  And the cab driver said, ``Do you know Uncle Ted?''
  I said, ``Well, yes, I do. I work for him in the Senate.''
  He said ``You do?''
  I said ``Sure do.''
  He said, ``Give him my best when you get back to Washington because, 
as an Alaskan, I know of no other person who has done more for my State 
than Uncle Ted.''
  Well, Ted Stevens now knows why I call him Uncle Ted more often than 
not. I view that as a much more affectionate term than Senator Stevens 
because, as I was flying out of that great State and headed down the 
coast, looking off to my left at those phenomenal mountains and 
expanses of wilderness and public lands and resources, I thought: If 
any one person deserves the credit for taking this phenomenal region of 
our world and providing reasonable points of life for so many of its 
citizens, it is Uncle Ted Stevens.
  Uncle Ted, I am going to miss you. This Senate will miss you. Your 
State will miss you. And America will miss you.
  Thank you for your service.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I have had the good fortune of coming to 
the Congress in 1987 as a Member of the House of Representatives. 
Therefore, I did not get to mingle and get to know Ted Stevens really 
well--just in conferences. If you want to get through to the other side 
of Ted Stevens--not the one we have heard about so much on the floor 
today--go to a conference with Ted Stevens, and he will defend his 
issues and his particular beliefs in that conference as good as anyone 
I know of these 100 people who are in the Senate.
  But then, in 1998, I had the good fortune of being elected to the 
Senate. When you come to the Senate for the first time, and you have 
had an encounter with Ted Stevens in any manner, it is kind of like: 
Oh, my God, is he really that tough to deal with all the time or is 
that a facade we see?
  Well, I have gotten to know, over the last 10 years, the true Ted 
Stevens. If you want someone who represents America representing you in 
the Senate, it is Ted Stevens--not only for his State, for the defense 
of our country, for the principles of the United States on which we 
stand, our Founders embedded in Ted Stevens' mind, but for all the 
other things this country stands for: the goodness of its people, 
giving to others, allowing them to get to know you to the point of 
changing that gruff outside into pure love. I have found Ted Stevens to 
be the most straightforward, honest Senator I have ever dealt with. He 
has given me, just by association for the last 10 years, the basis on 
which I serve here in the Senate. He has given me the example. He has 
given me the principles and the things that each and every one of us 
here on the Senate floor should demonstrate daily. Sure, we all look 
out for our State; he does it better than everyone. Sure, we look out 
for the United States of America as a whole--and he has done it better 
than anyone--but for family values or love of family, for love of 
fellow citizens and fellow Senators, this man is a shining example of 
what a Senator should be. I will hold his friendship dear until we both 
die. I thank him for his service.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, this is not my desk. I choose to speak 
from this place because the vantage point is better, because I will 
also have something to say about the delightful wife of Senator Ted 
Stevens. I am the junior-most Member of this body. I am here today with 
the junior Senator from Alaska and two of the longest serving Members 
of the Senate. It is almost presumptuous for me to even rise to speak 
at this occasion, but I do so because as the least ranking Member of 
the Senate, I wish to express my profound respect for Senator Ted 
Stevens.
  The previous speaker, my friend from Kentucky, said one way to get to 
know Members such as Ted Stevens is to go to a conference with them. As 
a Member of the House of Representatives, I had occasion to go to 
conferences sponsored by the Aspen Institute where we would discuss 
matters of importance to our Nation and to the world. It was at a 
conference in Istanbul on the subject of political Islam that I learned 
about the keen intellect of Senator Ted Stevens, and also the fact that 
a participant in that conference could be less than half Senator 
Stevens' age, but he was willing to engage with you, to listen to you, 
to have the give and take you can have in small group sessions such as 
that. I appreciate the opportunity I had as a Member then of the House 
of Representatives in having that sort of interaction with this great 
man.
  There has been expression today about the seemingly gruff exterior or 
facade of the man we speak of today. I will tell my colleagues who he 
is gruff about. He is not too happy about people such as Islamic 
jihadists, about the opponents of freedom around the world. He is a 
little gruff about anyone around the globe who would wish our country 
ill, and he makes no bones about that.
  I wish to commend Senator Stevens and to express my admiration to him 
for the good judgment and good fortune he has had in having as a spouse 
someone such as Catherine Stevens.
  I mention two very small stories that I think tell a lot about both 
Senator Stevens and Catherine. We were at this conference and my wife 
was not able to accompany me. According to the rules, I was able to 
bring my college-age daughter Caroline. It happened that she needed to 
take an earlier flight to get back and I would stay with the conference 
for another day. I

[[Page S10696]]

found out later what happened. She said: Daddy, Mrs. Stevens gave me 
some money before I left. It happened this way: Mrs. Stevens asked 
Caroline how much money she had to make it through the various airports 
and Caroline told her and, as usual, her cheapskate dad had 
shortchanged her. Mrs. Stevens said, That is not enough money, and she 
pulled out a couple of hundred dollar bills to make sure Caroline got 
through the airport system safely. Here was the wife of the President 
pro tempore of the Senate being kind and being careful that a college-
age girl was well taken care of. I paid the money back, I wish to 
assure my colleagues, but I don't know that I will ever be able to pay 
back the friendship.
  I have only been in the Senate some 10 months. Early on I offered an 
amendment which was important to my State and my region. It was obvious 
that the amendment did not have the support of a majority. It was going 
to go down and go down in flames, as it did. I was down close to the 
front and had already abandoned all hope for the amendment passing. I 
am sure Ted does not even remember this, but he walked by the desk 
there and cast an aye vote for the Wicker amendment. He was one of the 
few people to do so. Someone was taking Senator Stevens to task for 
voting yes. He did not know I was listening, but I heard him say, ``I 
did it to help Wicker.'' I am sure that was the only reason he cast 
that vote. I can tell my colleagues I appreciated that act of kindness, 
just as I appreciated Catherine Stevens' act of kindness toward my 
daughter.
  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said:

       Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives 
     sublime, and departing, leave behind us footprints on the 
     sands of time.

  Now, the junior Senator from Alaska did a wonderful job of outlining 
the many footprints our friend Ted Stevens has left for both the United 
States of America and the people specifically of his beloved State of 
Alaska. The people of Alaska will long live better, Alaskans yet unborn 
will live better because of the efforts of Ted Stevens. Americans today 
and Americans yet unborn will be safer and live freer because of the 
service and the leadership of Ted Stevens. I am honored down to my 
bones to be able to stand on the floor of the Senate today and pay 
tribute to this great man.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi is recognized.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to have been here to hear 
most of the comments and remarks of our colleagues about the 
distinguished career of the Senator from Alaska, Ted Stevens. I haven't 
had a better friend in the Senate than Ted Stevens and his example and 
his friendship have been very vital to my service in the Senate, and 
the people of my State have benefited from the relationship I have had. 
So I am glad to have this opportunity here today, when so many are 
saying the things that come to their mind and are in their heart about 
the impact Ted Stevens has had on the work of this Senate and on 
individual Senators and their careers.
  I am one of those who had the privilege of being by his side as a 
member of the Appropriations Committee. After 2 years in the Senate, I 
was able to get on that committee and moved up pretty quickly, because 
of the retirements of other Senators, to sit by his side and to benefit 
from his example. I am grateful to have had that opportunity, and I 
thank him for his generosity, for his time and his efforts to help 
assure that I was assisted. I tried to be helpful to not only my State 
but to programs and activities within the Department of Defense that I 
had strong feelings about and thought were very vital to our national 
security interests. Missile defense comes to mind as one of those 
issues that we dealt with in a way that led our country to move forward 
quickly. Senator Inouye was very much a part of that as well. I think 
their experience and the way they worked together served as an example 
to the rest of us as to how working through the committee system of the 
Senate benefits our country and how it is important to this institution 
that traditions be respected and observed. It is not just for 
procedural standpoint benefits, but it truly does improve the quality 
of the work and the importance of the influence of the Senate in our 
government today.
  So I can't say enough in terms of praise and expression of 
appreciation, except that we are going to miss the benefit and the 
example of Ted Stevens here in this Senate. There is no way around 
that. We are suffering a loss by his departure from the Senate. We wish 
him well. We know he is going to be around and we look forward to 
continuing the friendship and the opportunities to get advice. He may 
volunteer some advice that he thinks we might need, and I hope he will. 
I invite him to. We will continue to benefit from his service and the 
things he has done in his great career to help this institution and our 
great country.
  It is a sad day for me but one that I know he appreciates very much 
in terms of the people who have spoken and the things that have been 
said about him. These are words of praise that are very well earned.
  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, there have been some beautiful tributes 
made to my colleague, the senior Senator from Alaska today, and I am 
certain that others will be coming to the floor to speak of their 
relationship, their experiences, and to speak of the good works of 
Senator Stevens. I would encourage them to come to the floor or to 
certainly submit their written comments for the Record so that Senator 
Stevens can have the full opportunity of those, and I ask unanimous 
consent for that.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, are we in a quorum call?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. We are not.
  Mr. ISAKSON. I ask unanimous consent to be recognized to pay a brief 
tribute to our dear friend, the senior Senator from Alaska, Senator 
Stevens.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I wish to say that when I was elected 4 
years ago, a gentleman by the name of Mack Mattingly called me on the 
telephone, a former Senator from 1981 to 1986, and he said, ``Johnny, 
when you get to Washington and you get to the Senate, you go meet Ted 
Stevens. Ted Stevens is the best friend you will ever have.''
  I stand here today, 4 years later, telling you he was exactly right. 
There is not a person in this Chamber you have not been willing to 
help. There is not an Alaskan you have not helped. You are a steadfast 
friend, and you are as tough as nails. I wish to tell you how much I 
appreciate, from the bottom of my heart, what you have done to help me 
and the citizens of Georgia. Your work on Commerce, your work on 
Appropriations, your work on Armed Forces, and your work on the 
military, all of it is important to Georgia. You have been a champion 
all along. You are a true hero.
  The tributes today are well deserved to a great man, a great Alaskan, 
and a great Senator. God bless you.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I wanted to take a moment to say how much 
I have appreciated the friendship of Ted Stevens. He and his wife are a 
wonderful team.
  Since I was elected a short--to him--12 years ago, it has been truly 
enjoyable to work with Ted on the numerous western issues before this 
body. Often, those issues correspond to Alaska issues, working for a 
strong military, missile defense, sound land management practices, 
energy development. He has been very helpful to Colorado.
  I have particularly admired his work for our Nation's military. Ted 
and I worked together, and worked hard, on missile defense. He was an 
appropriator, I was an authorizer. I should also say, he was a titan of 
the Senate, I was a freshman Senator. So the workload was a little 
unfair, in my favor. But we, along with many others, got the missile 
defense established. I am delighted that after such a rocky fight the 
system is now a cornerstone of not only our national defense, but of 
our

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NATO relationship as well. European militaries understand the value of 
what we can do, and what protections we can afford them. Ted saw this, 
he knew what the results would be, and he shouldered the burden, fought 
the fight, and dragged the system into reality.
  I have had the pleasure of helping Ted raise money for his 
conservation efforts on the World Famous Kenai River. I have been 
fortunate enough to join him on the river. I had the even greater 
fortune to win his annual tournament a couple times. Some rivers are 
just lucky for some fisherman, and while I might wish my lucky river is 
a little closer to home than Kenai, AK, being lucky on a river famous 
for its prize salmon is not so bad. And what he is doing for that 
river, his conservation efforts, is remarkable. I have noticed a 
difference between my first visit and my last.
  My wife Joan and I wish Ted and his wife Catherine the best. God 
Bless.

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