November 20, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10687 

downturn we have seen perhaps since 

post-World War II and perhaps since 

the Great Depression—the worst set of 

economic circumstances. We must do 

something. To sit back and watch 

Americans continue to lose hope, to 

lose their jobs, to lose their sense of 

the potential of this country is unacceptable. We need swift action. No 

more debate; we need to vote. We need 

to pass an unemployment compensation extension bill before we leave 

today. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor. 

f 

EXTENSION OF MORNING 

BUSINESS 

Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time for morning business be extended until 12 noon, 

with Senators permitted to speak for 

up to 10 minutes each. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

Mr. REED. Mr. President, I suggest 

the absence of a quorum. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Florida is recognized. 

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 

order for the quorum call be rescinded. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, is the Senate in morning business? 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. It is. The Senator from Florida is 

recognized. 

Mr. NELSON of Florida. I thank the 

Chair. 

(The remarks of Mr. NELSON of Florida pertaining to the introduction of S. 

Con. Res. 106 are located in today’s 

RECORD under ‘‘Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.’’) 

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest 

the absence of a quorum. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, what is 

the parliamentary situation? Is the 

Senator from Virginia able to address 

the Senate? 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate is in a period of morning business. 

Mr. WARNER. I ask unanimous consent to proceed for no more than 5 minutes. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

TRIBUTE TO SENATORS 

TED STEVENS

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, this 

may well be my last opportunity to 

speak on the floor of the Senate. I see 

my senior colleague, the senior Senator from Alaska. I come for the purpose of saying some remarks about several colleagues, including my longtime 

friend. If it is convenient, I will take 

the 5 minutes I have just been granted 

by the Presiding Officer because I have 

to go out to the CIA for a meeting that 

has been established for some time. I 

shall leave shortly after I finish my remarks. 

Again, I see my friend from Alaska, 

and it evokes many long years of interesting and happy memories. I recall so 

well that when I came here 30 years 

ago to the Senate, Senator STEVENS

was one of those who sort of took the 

‘‘youngsters,’’ as we called ourselves in 

those days, under his wing. He had been 

here 11 years, I think, when I arrived. I 

remember serving under the Senator 

when he was the whip. I remember that 

whip; he exercised it judicially but 

with determination. All in our freshman class remember that very well. 

I suppose what I remember most is 

that I had a very modest and brief tour 

of military service in World War II. I 

was only 17. I went in the last year of 

the war, as did all the kids on my 

block. We joined and went in. I don’t 

know if I ever shared this story with 

the Senator. In those days, the boys on 

the block who were a year or two older 

than me had already gone in and started military service and were coming 

back on leave to visit their families. 

Some were severely wounded and having to stay for long periods of hospitalization. It was a dramatic period 

in American history. 

I remember the Army Air Corps and 

those fellows who would come back 

having flown their missions in Europe, 

Southeast Asia, north Africa, or wherever the case may be. All of us who 

were 16 and 17 and getting ready to 

take up our responsibilities stood in 

awe because the nearest thing we had 

connected with an airplane was building model airplanes. We built all the 

military model airplanes, and we knew 

them by heart. There were those magnificent flying jackets, and they were 

the envy of all of us. I tried to join the 

Army Air Corps and went down and 

signed up and joined the Navy. As happenstance would have it, the Navy first 

called me in. I had a modest career 

with my generation in the training 

command. 

The record reflects that Senator STEVENS, at a very young age, displayed 

courage, determination, wisdom, and 

leadership. His service in the Army Air 

Corps in World War II won him two 

Distinguished Flying Crosses, several 

Air Medals, and other decorations for 

flying those aircraft. He and I have 

reminisced many times over the different types of planes he flew—primarily the old C–47, if my recollection 

serves me—and flying over the hump, 

which was a perilous, dangerous mission not only from enemy resistance, 

but if anything malfunctioned on that 

plane, there was no landing field below 

you, just miles and miles of rugged 

mountain terrain, much of it totally 

uninhabitable. 

I think the Senator was under 21 

when he flew those missions, and his 

crew exemplified the courage of the 

World War II generation. He, among 

many, deserves credit as being a member of the ‘‘greatest generation.’’ 

In subsequent years, when I came to 

the Senate and joined the Armed Services Committee, it was my privilege to 

travel to many places in this world 

with TED STEVENS to visit the men and 

women in the Armed Forces. How 

many times did we work together on 

this floor—I as an authorizer and him 

as an appropriator—shaping that annual bill which I regard with a sense of 

humility as the most important bill 

this body passes every year; that bill 

that cares for the men and women of 

the Armed Forces and provides the economic resources for them to train, to 

modernize, and to preserve and protect 

the freedom of this Nation. Speaking 

on behalf of the men and women of the 

Armed Forces, they are grateful to 

Senator STEVENS for all he has done for 

them through his distinguished career 

in the Senate. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska is recognized. 

f 

FAREWELL TO THE SENATE 

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am 

grateful to the Senator from Virginia 

for his comments. I understand that 

duty calls him to go to his meeting at 

the CIA. I am grateful for his support. 

Mr. President, just before Christmas 

in 1968, I was appointed to succeed 

Alaska’s first senior Senator, Bob 

Bartlett. Next month will mark the 

40th year I have had the honor and 

privilege to serve in this great Chamber. 

First, and most important, I thank 

my family. After my wife Ann’s tragic 

death in 1978, I thought the end of my 

career had come, but my dear wife 

Catherine entered my life in 1980, and 

joined by my six children, Susan, Beth, 

Ted, Walter, Ben, and Lily, and my 11 

grandchildren, my family has given me 

love, support, and sacrifice, which 

made my continued career in the Senate possible and gave it meaning. I 

dearly love each member of my family. 

Forty years. It is hard to believe that 

so much time could pass so quickly, 

but it has. I want everyone listening to 

know that I treasure every moment I 

spent here representing Alaska and 

Alaskans, the land and the people I 

love. 

As a Member of this body, I served as 

whip from 1976 to 1984, as chair of the 

Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, as chair of the Arms Control 

Observer Group, as chair of the Ethics 

Committee, as chair of the Rules Committee, as chair of the Governmental 


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