Mr. President, as we conclude the 107th Congress, we will be saying goodbye to our colleague and friend, Senator John Ashcroft of Missouri.

A former two-term Governor, John Ashcroft has earned a reputation in the Senate for his principled pursuit of conservative issues. He is also recognized as a strong proponent of the wide use of the internet by federal agencies as a way to make the government more responsive and accountable. As a leader in the term-limits movement, he carried out the innovative online petition drive.

Senator Ashcroft served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as the Commerce and Judiciary Committees. He established himself as a leader among Republicans on a range of issues from term limits to tax reform and welfare reform. While in many instances I have found myself on the opposite side of issues from John, I have always respected his intellect, his integrity, his principled positions and his ability to disagree without being disagreeable.

Since 1995, John Ashcroft and I have co-chaired the Senate Auto Caucus. In this capacity, we have worked together to provide Senators with up to date information on issues affecting the automotive industry and its employees. Through the Auto Caucus we organized informational briefings to give Senators and their staff and opportunity to better understand the auto industry's remarkable progress as well as the challenges it faces. The Caucus provides a forum for Senators to exchange ideas on issues affecting the industry such as transportation, environment, trade, technology and health care.

Working together with Senator Ashcroft's, we were able to increase membership in the Auto Caucus from six Senators to twenty-eight. The Auto Caucus played a leadership role in pressing the Administration to negotiate market opening trade agreements with Japan and Korea in the automotive sector and continues to weigh in on and monitor those agreements. In addition, the Caucus hosts meetings between Senators and Automotive CEOs, provides timely briefings on US-Japan and US-Korea automotive trade negotiations, and encourages the Administration to fight to open markets to U.S. vehicles and auto parts.

Last year, Senator Ashcroft and I worked together to urge the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to use an unbelted 25 mph barrier test instead of a 30 mph test to design air bags that will help better protect children, teenagers and small adults. Our work on this very complicated and controversial issue brought the Administration and Auto industry together to reach a result that will increase automobile safety.

We also worked together to continue the moratorium on unfair and ineffective increases in Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards and worked toward a compromise in the Senate to ensure that a National Academy of Sciences study of the effectiveness and impacts of CAFE standards will include the effect of those standards on motor vehicle safety as well as discriminatory impacts of those standards on the U.S. auto industry.

Also, we have worked together in the past to ensure that environmental regulations recognize and reinforce the voluntary environmental improvements and technological achievements of the automobile industry.

Not only will John's contribution be missed in debate on the Senate floor, but his voice will be sorely missed, I suspect, by the "Singing Senators", the wonderful quartet in which he has joined with Senators Lott, Craig and Jeffords. My wife and family, join me in wishing the best in the years ahead for John, his loving wife (and co-author), Janet, and their family.