S20 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 6, 2009 

records related to the payments to Mr. 

Zilkha, as well as an explanation of the payments. On December 17, 2008, Mr. Samberg 

responded that the payments to Mr. Zilkha 

were for the purpose of ‘‘settling a civil 

claim related to his employment and termination by Pequot.’’ Mr. Samberg enclosed a 

few documents, but we have requested additional records, and have asked for a complete 

production. 

Given the troubled history of this case, the 

SEC should also be seeking answers as to 

any payments made to Mr. Zilkha by 

Pequot. I therefore write to strongly urge 

the SEC to consider filing pleadings in the 

Connecticut action, so that the court will 

have all relevant information when it considers the Pequot and Samberg motions for 

protective orders. Please respond as to 

whether the SEC will take such an action. I 

also ask that you notify me immediately if 

the SEC reopens its investigation or takes 

any enforcement action in light of this new 

evidence. 

Sincerely, 

ARLEN SPECTER. 

Mr. SPECTER. Madam President, in 

the absence of any other Senator on 

the floor seeking recognition, I suggest 

the absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. 

MCCASKILL). The clerk will call the 

roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. 

SALAZAR.) Without objection, it is so 

ordered. 

f 

ISRAEL AND GRIFFIN BELL 

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise 

for a few moments to address two subjects, the first will be about Israel and 

the second about the passing of Griffin 

Bell. 

All of us are deeply concerned with 

the conditions in the Middle East, most 

recently in the last 12 days, the actions 

in Gaza, the loss of human life and the 

conflict. 

But there is a necessary perspective 

we all must understand. In November 

of 2007, I stood at the last Israeli outpost overlooking Gaza. In fact, if you 

watch Fox or CNN or NBC or ABC tonight, where you will see those reports 

coming from, I stood on that very spot 

just a little over a year ago. 

Also, I went to Sderot, the Israeli 

settlement outside Gaza, that since 

mid year last year has received 1, 2, 3, 

10, 15 missile attacks, random attacks 

coming out of Gaza dropping on this 

Israeli settlement for no reason at all 

but the absolute ability or desire to 

terrorize the Israeli people and destroy 

that settlement. 

What Israel has done by moving into 

Gaza is a major military operation. In 

some reports that you see on television 

or you read about in the papers, you 

would think it was unprovoked and unnecessary. The opposite is true. It has 

been provoked for 15 months by Hamas 

in Gaza. The Israelis have finally 

drawn a line in the sand and they have 

moved in to try to protect the best interests of their citizens. 

For perspective, Gaza and Sderot are 

a little bit like Arlington and Washington. You are not talking about a 

large land mass, you are talking about 

a very narrow, tight area. It would be 

similar to South Carolina and Georgia 

lobbing missiles back and forth. 

What would happen if one of those 

States did it? We would immediately 

react to protect our citizens and protect their lives and their livelihoods. 

That is what Israel is doing. 

I pray every night that somehow and 

some way we can be a catalyst for ultimately a lasting peace in the Middle 

East. But surrendering to terrorism or 

the acts of terrorism such as Hamas 

has been taking out on the Israeli people is no way to go. I support the Nation of Israel. I believe they are doing 

the right thing to confront head-on the 

terror that has been imposed on them. 

It should not be lost on any of us 

that the supplies that have gotten into 

Gaza through what is known as the Eisenhower Passageway, which is from 

Egypt into Gaza, have been military 

materials being flown in and then 

taken in through tunnels basically by 

operatives of Iran. Just as what happened in Lebanon a year ago with 

Hezbollah and the Lebanese, the same 

thing is happening today between Gaza 

and the Palestinians and the Israelis. 

The catalyst for the conflict is another nation, Iran. It wants to diffuse 

the focus on its producing of nuclear 

weapons and instead keep turmoil in 

the Middle East to use it to its benefit. 

As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, I take very seriously 

my responsibility to look upon every 

nation in this world as a nation we 

should respect, as a nation we should 

dialogue with, and as a nation we 

should work with. But we cannot and 

we must not turn our head away from 

a nation that is causing terror to be invoked against innocent people such as 

Iran is doing against Israel through the 

Palestinians in Gaza. 

So I hope and pray these difficulties 

end tonight. I hope and pray there is 

not another loss of life. But as long as 

Hamas is unwilling to enter into a 

meaningful peace, a meaningful effort 

to stop the terror, one that can be 

trusted and verified, then Israel is 

doing precisely what it should be doing 

in the best interests of its people. It is 

doing no less than we in this Congress 

and America would do were we attacked in the same way in the same 

time. In the first part of my remarks, 

I stand in solidarity with the people of 

Israel in hope and prayer that the hostilities end but not because of surrender; because ultimately we confront 

terror and get people to lay down their 

arms, not for a day, not for a cease-fire 

but for generations to come. 

The second subject is, for me, a very 

sad subject but also a subject that 

brings a lot of joy to my heart. There 

is a great American by the name of 

Griffin Bell, known to many people in 

this room. I know you, Mr. President, 

being a former Attorney General in the 

State of Colorado, are familiar with 

Griffin Bell’s record and jurisprudence 

in the United States for the last 75 

years. 

Griffin Bell first rose to prominence 

in America when Jimmy Carter 

brought him from Georgia to become 

the Attorney General of the United 

States of America. He brought him in 

at a critical time in our country’s history because Griffin Bell had done unbelievable things as a lawyer during 

difficult times in the South. 

Griffin Bell was the man whom Andy 

Young and the civil rights leadership of 

Atlanta and Ivan Allen, the mayor of 

Atlanta, turned to to write the plan for 

the desegregation of the Atlanta public 

schools. It was Griffin Bell who, as a 

lawyer but more so as a human being, 

worked through the difficult stress of 

those times of integration and the enforcement of the Brown v. Board of 

Education ruling, to see to it that separate but equal ended and equal access 

to education prevailed for all. 

He did it in a way where Atlanta was 

one of the few major cities in America 

that had no violence, no conflict, and 

no academic loss because of the imposition of the desegregation guidelines 

that were imposed by the courts. 

Griffin Bell did something no one 

thought could be done. It was because 

of his ability to do that and find common ground and find understanding 

that Jimmy Carter brought him to 

Washington, DC, and appointed him 

Attorney General. 

When Griffin left and went back to 

his law firm of King & Spalding in Atlanta, there was not a single thing that 

happened in our major capital city and 

our State for four decades that Griffin 

Bell was not a major player and a 

major part of. 

During Olympics, when they came to 

Atlanta in 1996 and there were difficulties, to whom did the Olympic committee go to weed through the minefield of Washington to get the security 

assistance necessary for the Olympics 

and Atlanta? It was Griffin Bell. 

When there was a company that was 

in need of a forensic audit by a legal 

man who would come in and clean up a 

problem in their company, such as E.F. 

Hutton did, whom did they call? They 

called Griffin Bell. For the better part 

of the last six decades, Griffin Bell has 

been the most prominent lawyer in the 

State of Georgia and I would suggest 

one of the most prominent lawyers in 

the United States of America. His 

mark has been left on countless hundreds of thousands of lives in our country. Sadly, at 9:45 a.m. yesterday morning in Piedmont Hospital, Griffin Bell 

passed away. I know where he is now. 

He is in heaven and he is looking down. 

He would be the last person to want 

anybody in the Senate or the House or 

anywhere else bragging about him. But 

I sing his praise for the greatness he 

did for our State and the greatness he 

did for his country. 


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January 6, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S21 

To his children and to his wife, I pass 

on my sincere condolences and my 

thanks for the support they gave to a 

great father and a great Georgian, Griffin Bell. 

I yield the floor and 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. 

Mr. REED. I ask unanimous consent 

that the order for the quorum call be 

rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO CLAIBORNE PELL 

Mr. REED. Mr. President, this 

evening I have the privilege of joining 

my friend and colleague from Rhode Island, Senator SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, to 

say a few words about our esteemed 

predecessor, Senator Claiborne Pell. 

Senator Pell served 36 years in the 

Senate—the longest serving Senator in 

the history of Rhode Island. He was 

elected in 1960, along with his friend 

and young Democrat John F. Kennedy. 

They brought a new spirit, a new vision, new hope to America. He served 

until 1997, when I had the distinct 

honor and, indeed, privilege of succeeding him as a Senator from Rhode 

Island. He was an extraordinary gentleman, and he will be missed by all 

Rhode Islanders and, indeed, by this 

Senate. 

I was honored yesterday to be asked 

by Nuala Pell to say a few words at his 

services in Newport, RI. First, I obviously pointed out that Claiborne’s public service was sustained and inspired 

by his wife and his family. Nuala and 

all of their children were the support, 

comfort, and the meaning in his life. 

We owe them our thanks as well for his 

36 distinguished years of service in the 

Senate. 

Claiborne Pell was a remarkable individual. He was born to great wealth 

and privilege, but he had an abiding affinity for the average guy. I sense that 

part of that was at a critical moment 

in his life, before Pearl Harbor, when 

the war clouds were gathering in Europe and Asia. He had graduated from 

Princeton, but he knew he had to 

serve. Because of his prestige, because 

of his family, he could easily have secured a safe posting somewhere. He 

chose instead to join the U.S. Coast 

Guard as an enlisted cook, to sail the 

North Atlantic on deadly convoy 

routes bringing needed supplies to 

Great Britain. There, he worked with 

other young Americans, without pretense, without preference. There, he 

understood the great talent, the great 

power of Americans, that if they had 

opportunity, if they could better themselves through education, they would 

be extraordinarily important to this 

Nation and they would be able to provide a better life for their families. 

They could, indeed, seize and realize 

the American dream. 

Many people had that experience in 

World War II, but Claiborne used to it 

shape his entire public life. He served 

in the diplomatic corps, but by 1960 he 

was committed to serving the people of 

Rhode Island, and he entered the primary against two venerable, wellknown, distinguished Rhode Island 

Democrats, Dennis J. Roberts, former 

Governor, and J. Howard McGrath, 

former U.S. Senator, a former Solicitor 

General, former Attorney General in 

the Truman administration. Young 

Claiborne Pell won because he struck a 

cord with the people of Rhode Island, 

because he was able to translate his 

feeling for opportunity, for the privilege that education bestows on every 

person, to the people of Rhode Island. 

He and Nuala campaigned and won, and 

then for 36 years they served with such 

distinction, with such honor, and 

brought such credit to our State. 

He is best known as the author of the 

Pell grant, which provides grants to 

students to go to higher education, but 

he did so much more in the field of education. He was involved in numerous 

reauthorizations of the Elementary 

and Secondary Education Act. He labored over these provisions to make 

sure young Americans were prepared 

for college. He was also the author of 

the national sea grant college grant. 

Just as we have land grant colleges 

dating back to the Moral Act of the 

1860s, Claiborne said we should have a 

sea grant act that would allow the 

sciences of the oceans, maritime 

sciences, to be taught, to be explored, 

to be investigated on college campuses. 

He did so much. In addition to his 

dedication to education, he also was 

the creator of the National Endowment 

for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1965. He understood that in the great sweep of 

time, our military power might fade, 

our economic power might fade, but 

the power of our ideals, as expressed in 

our literature, in our arts, would continue to move the world. And in order 

to make that access possible, not for 

the well-to-do but for everyone, he created the notion of a National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities. 

Thinking back in preparation for my 

words yesterday, I thought of how 

often his life intersected with mine, 

starting at 10 years old in 1960. I saw 

the motorcade rushing by my grammar 

school with John F. Kennedy and Claiborne Pell in those final days of the 

campaign. But in regard to the National Endowment for the Arts, my 

first exposure to theater—and I was the 

proud son of working-class 

Cranstonians in Cranston, RI—was 

Project Discover in which Trinity Repertory Company brought students in to 

see an act from Richard the II. That 

was all part of the vision Claiborne had 

of giving people an opportunity to explore the arts, to find their talent. He 

did it remarkably well. 

Today, these two institutions endure. 

They provide access for millions of 

Americans to the arts, to the humanities. They have encouraged creativity, 

and all of it is a tribute to Claiborne 

Pell. 

He was perhaps most recognized in 

international affairs for his staunch 

support of the United Nations. Yesterday, one of the eulogists, President 

Clinton, pointed out that every time he 

saw Claiborne Pell, as President, Claiborne would take out from the back 

pocket a worn copy of the U.N. Charter 

which he carried and point out to him 

the value of the United Nations, the 

value of collective security. He was 

there in San Francisco in 1945 when the 

U.N. was created. He was there in New 

York City 50 years later for its 50th anniversary. 

But his notion of a powerful America 

leading the world, not standing apart 

from it, his notion that our values, our 

system, our commitment to human decency would prevail in the face of Soviet totalitarianism and other forms of 

totalitarianism was wisdom of the 

ages. In his service on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he not only 

espoused those views, every day he reminded us our destiny would take us 

far beyond what simply a military operation or our economic power might 

because of our ideals, because of our 

commitment to multinational support 

of creating a world community—a remarkable man. 

He was someone who left and has left 

an indelible mark on Rhode Island and 

Rhode Islanders. As I mentioned yesterday, I had the privilege of witnessing this profound bond so many 

times. We have a parade each Fourth of 

July in Bristol, RI. It is the largest parade in Rhode Island. One hundred 

thousand people, which is about a 

tenth of the population of our State, 

gathers for it. It is the oldest consecutive Fourth of July parade in our country. To walk in that parade is a great 

honor. But to walk with Claiborne Pell 

is an extraordinary experience. For the 

first few steps, you pretend the cheers 

are for you, but that quickly fades because, mile after mile, people rush up 

and say: Thank you, Senator Pell. 

Thank you, Senator Pell. Thank you 

for the help when I needed it. Thank 

you for the Pell grant. Thank you for 

being the ideal public servant. Then 

you would see parents lift toddlers and 

say: There goes a great man, Claiborne 

Pell. 

Well, he has touched us and he has 

made us so much better. I had the rare 

privilege and opportunity yesterday to 

say, on behalf of the people of Rhode 

Island, something all of my fellow citizens wanted to say as soon as they 

heard the news, as soon as they realized the great light of Claiborne Pell 

had dimmed; and those are two simple 

words: Thank you, Senator Pell. 

Mr. President, now I would like to 

yield the floor to my colleague and 

friend, Senator SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, 

who is someone who is molded in the 

image of Claiborne Pell, someone who 

understands, as Senator Pell did, that 

opportunity is the engine that drives 


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