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And he had the politician's great gift: an amazing memory for names. I saw him once

[Page: S10828]  GPO's PDF

   Even those who continued to disagree with Paul did not question the sincerity of his idealism. He was sometimes attacked for nai 4veté (as in his brave vote against authorizing the president to go to war with Iraq), but never for dishonesty. He voted, as he spoke, from the heart.

   It's often forgotten that Paul, nearing 60 with a bad back and a respectable batch of grandchildren whom he treasured, began his rise in the world with a college wrestling scholarship. His working-class parents had no money for school, so wrestling earned him a doctorate.

   He preserved a wrestler's sensibility in both his academic and political life. In 1998 I met Paul at a reception at the Governor's Mansion just before Jesse Ventura, a professional wrestler by trade, first occupied that house. How curious, I told Paul, that the two most interesting politicians in Minnesota at the moment should both be wrestlers. He replied with a wry smile: ``But I'm a real one.''

   He thought himself an athlete, not an entertainer, and I suspect he saw his whole political life in that metaphor. He wrestled with the power of big money, military adventurism and penny-pinching against the poor. He meant to fight fair, but he meant to win.

   Not only Minnesota, but the whole country will feel the absence of his voice and his bravely combative spirit. We say with Walt Whitman: Salud, Camerado. We look for you again under our boot-soles.

   Mr. LEVIN. I thank the Chair and suggest the absence of a quorum.

   The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. STABENOW). The clerk will call the roll.

   The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

   Mr. HOLLINGS. Madam President, liberal? Worse, The London Economist called Senator Wellstone the most ``left wing'' Senator in the U.S. Senate. Yet, as the most conservative Senator, I found myself time and again fighting at his side.

   The year started with the Bush seduction of Senator TED KENNEDY on education. Senator Kennedy looked at the amount--$7 billion. President Bush looked at the thrust--prove that public education was a failure so that private education could be financed by the Government. Testing. Somehow the billions being spent by the States on testing was not enough. A Federal test was necessary.

   Failing schools would be closed. Failing students would be tutored. But most likely, the student failing for the lack of a competent teacher could find no competent tutor. For all this testing, the education bill provided no help for the student to pass the test. And for this, Senator Wellstone ranted and raved. But nobody listened. Senator Wellstone was liberal, but as a conservative I knew he was right. We both voted no.

   Next was the Bush tax cut. No doubt Senator Wellstone, the liberal, was the target for this initiative. For the purpose of Voodoo II, or Bush's Reaganomics, was to eliminate the resources of Government so that without the money there would be no programs. But in reality, programs persevered, with a horrific debt, and the devastating waste of interest costs. Senator Wellstone, the liberal, was for programs. I, the conservative, was for putting Government on a pay-as-you-go path. We both voted no.

   Then there was jobs. Fast Track--this was a device that Presidents use to control trade agreements. With it, the agreement submitted by the President could not be amended. Congress was required to vote it up or down, and, of course, no agreement was ever submitted until the White House had the vote fixed.

   To get NAFTA approved, President Clinton bought the vote with numerous favors not related to the agreement, such as defense contracts, cultural centers, and golf rounds in California and Arkansas. One could readily see that the intent was to create jobs south of the border. Sure enough, we lost 700,000 textile jobs alone. So, when fast track expired, we refused to renew it for President Clinton. Again, Senator Wellstone and I both opposed giving fast track authority to President Bush.

   ``Liberal.'' ``Conservative.'' Wrong references. Adlai Stevenson used to say it's not whether one is liberal or one is conservative, but whether one is headed in the right direction.

   Adam Nagourney of the New York Times writes of the ``homogenization'' of American politics. Politics has changed. Triangulation has taken over so that every party compromises, or triangulates, the other party's issues. Both are for tax cuts. Both are for saving Social Security. Both are for defense. Both are for the war with Iraq. Both are for homeland security. Both are against corporate corruption. Worse, money locks in this triangulation so that we are back to George Wallace's, ``There's not a dime's bit of difference between the parties.''

   But there is a fundamental difference. The Republicans know to campaign. The Democrats know to govern. PAUL WELLSTONE came to Washington to govern. He could see the crying needs of the country: schools, health care, jobs, infrastructure, et cetera. And he was determined to do something to provide for these needs. But with the Democrats in control by only one vote, we abandoned governing. The needs of the country were abandoned and both parties went into high gear to campaign, with money controlling the issues. Y2K, free trade, corporate reform--money controlled with a refusal to even cancel the principal corruption: stock options. The Congress danced around the fire of intelligence failures, terrorism insurance , seaport security, rail security, energy policy, pension reform, prescription drugs--but no governing.

   PAUL WELLSTONE was a fighter. The shortest fellow in the Congress, most of us couldn't touch his shoes. Today, there are no fighters in Washington, just campaigners.

   Mr. COCHRAN. Madam President, the tragic death of our colleague, PAUL WELLSTONE of Minnesota, was such a sudden shock to all of us. It was hard to believe he had died. PAUL was so full of life, and full of energy and enthusiasm. It was so incongruous, so unbelievable, that his life could be needed so abruptly.

   But, it was, and we continue to grieve and to miss him.

   PAUL and I were friends. We also collaborated on legislation to help farmers and to find a cure for Parkinson's Disease and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

   We often talked about our strategy for accelerating the research that is so important to the effort to conquer these threats to human life.

   He traveled to my State to see for himself the plight of the poor in the Mississippi Delta. He was sincerely interested in helping alleviate the burdens and problems faced by the poor people who lived in the Delta. I told him about the initiatives we had started and let him know I shared his concerns and that we were trying some new approaches such as the Delta Regional Initiative.

   Senator WELLSTONE will always be appreciated for the efforts he made to help those who needed help the most.

   Mr. FRIST. Madam President, the Senate has been a unique institution since its inception. We take great pride in our deliberative nature. Debate may take time, but it is time well spent. It is always better to pursue the right--rather than the rushed--course of action. This style of governance has served the American people well for more than two centuries.

   This does not mean the Senate is not a dynamic body. It is full of the same vibrancy that marks this great experiment called American democracy. For within this Chamber have echoed some of the most lively and spirited debates in our Nation's history. And outside this Chamber as well--in committee rooms and caucus meetings and other public forums.

   On Friday the Senate lost one of its most animated Members in PAUL WELLSTONE. He was a proverbial ``true believer.'' Conviction was not something about which he simply spoke at opportune moments; he showed it time and again with his unabated enthusiasm for being a United States Senator. PAUL WELLSTONE's beliefs rose from a deep and impenetrable well of principle.

   Indeed, PAUL was a proud and unabashed voice for liberalism. His votes often landed him not only on the other side of Republicans, but on the other side of his fellow Democrats, as well. He was a man who simply did not blink in the face of political pressure. He stared it down without regard to price. Even if you did not agree with him, you admired him and the courage he so frequently displayed.

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   I saw this first hand on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. There PAUL and I served together on the Subcommittee on Public Health and the Subcommittee on Children and Families. We shared a common concern for the health of women and children and the mentally ill. He spoke out often on their behalf. He fought hard for them. And his passion for their well-being will be missed.

   PAUL WELLSTONE was one of a kind. We were blessed to have him, his wife, Sheila, and his daughter, Marcia, as members of the Senate family. And the people of Minnesota and the United States were blessed to have him in their service. May we keep PAUL and Sheila's sons and grandchildren and the families of all those who lost loved ones in our thoughts and prayers in the coming weeks.

   Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, several days after this terrible tragedy, the loss of our beloved colleague, PAUL WELLSTONE, his wife Sheila, his daughter Marcia, three loyal members of his staff and two pilots, we still remain in a state of shocked disbelief.

   We have lost a unique and gifted man, who embodied not only the independent spirit of his home state, but one that resides at the very heart of the American soul.

   A few years ago, when speaking on this floor about the loss of his legislative director, PAUL claimed that ``sometimes the only realists are the dreamers. .....''

   In many ways he could have been referring to himself, the cerebral political science professor willing to stand alone, when necessary, for what he believed.

   He had the common touch, and was an impassioned speaker, noted as much for his big heart as for his sharp mind.

   Elected as the only new Senator in 1990, PAUL's crusading voice would not have had the same impact in the House of Representatives as it did in this Chamber.

   Only in the Senate could he have helped to lead the successful opposition, in 1991, to an energy bill that would have opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, or five years later force a vote on a minimum wage increase.

   For two terms he fought tirelessly for increased funding for education at every level, healthcare that was accessible and affordable for all Americans, sweeping campaign finance reform, and farm legislation that sought to protect the small farmers.

   While he was, on the one hand, an ideological liberal, willing to speak with his conscience, PAUL was also able to work with Republican colleagues on many occasions, and he was responsible for passing important bipartisan legislation, most notably the expanded insurance coverage for mental illnesses, with Senator Domenici.

   But PAUL WELLSTONE's commitment to social justice did not stop at our borders. He was an outspoken champion of the poor and the powerless around the world, in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

   I remember when, back in 1996, I voiced concern over the plight of women and girls under the reactionary rule of the Taliban, PAUL was one of the few who was receptive to the need for the United States to respond to such violations.

   In 1999, PAUL and I introduced the ``International Trafficking of Women and Children Victim Protection Act,'' which established an interagency task force to monitor and combat trafficking, provided assistance to other countries that met minimum international standards, and withheld U.S. non-humanitarian assistance to countries that failed to meet these standards.

   To his eternal credit, it is worth noting that PAUL had originally introduced his own bill, which contained much tougher criminal provisions and stronger protections for victims.

   He was a leading advocate for Tibetan autonomy, able to work closely with his ideological nemesis, JESSE HELMS. In fact, the last time I worked with PAUL was in cosponsoring an act to safeguard the cultural, religious, and ethnic identity of the Tibetan people and to encourage further dialog between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Government.

   We must not forget that the world has also lost Sheila, PAUL's wonderful wife of almost 40 years, and a passionate campaigner against domestic violence, and for the need to create violence-free families. Hers was a noble cause, a critical fight, that must be continued.

   Minnesota has produced some of America's most eloquent, committed, and honorable leaders. Hubert Humphrey, Harold Stassen, Eugene McCarthy, and Walter Mondale come quickly to mind.

   Even if he had not met such a tragic and untimely end, PAUL WELLSTONE would have surely earned his place among this distinguished group. The fact that he has left us so abruptly, and left all of us so sad, will not diminish his achievements, nor weaken his message.

   To quote PAUL:

   I still believe that government can be a force of good in people's lives.

   We in the Senate should take these words to heart, just as we were truly honored to have had him among us. We are all the better to have known him and worked with him. He will be sorely missed.

   Mr. DAYTON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

   The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. STABENOW). Without objection, it is so ordered.

   The Senator from Minnesota is recognized.

   Mr. DAYTON. Madam President, it has been a very moving afternoon in the Chamber listening to my colleagues speak so eloquently about my good friend, the senior Senator from Minnesota. The words of my colleagues were very moving. It was touching to hear of their respect and their affection and their admiration for PAUL WELLSTONE.

   I spoke earlier this afternoon about the Senator, my dear friend, and because others were waiting to speak I abbreviated my remarks. I wanted to close by noting, as others have so well, that PAUL's remarkable achievements were not his alone.

   He was one of those people who, in his greatness, was able to attract great people to his side. He had extraordinarily dedicated men and women who worked for him, worked with him, gave of their time and their energy, their hearts and their souls to his work: Colin McGinnis and his staff here in Washington; Connie Lewis, Minnesota State director, and her staff in Minnesota were always with PAUL and Sheila and extraordinarily dedicated.

   Of course, if you wanted to make a difference in Washington, if you wanted to try to move mountains and you were young and idealistic, who better to work for than PAUL WELLSTONE?

   Many of his former students at Carleton College in Northfield, MN, went on to be his key staff aides. I used to tease PAUL and say that is what he was doing during his time there; he was recruiting the best and the brightest to work on his campaigns and organize the State and to work in Washington and in Minnesota on behalf of the many causes he championed--Jeff Blodgett, who was managing his campaign for the third time and doing so with great skill, and according to the last published polls, with very successful results, and others in Minnesota who gave up their careers, family life, and set it aside to one more time bring the man they loved and in whom they believed to victory.

   Kari Moe, who was involved with Senator Wellstone's Washington office, was his chief of staff for years before. They are incredibly dedicated people each in their own right.

   Tom Lapic tragically was on the plane with PAUL and lost his life in service to his friend and his country. Tom was the deputy Minnesota director. Several hundred friends and family came to his memorial service a week after his death. He was a man who touched people deeply, as did PAUL. His wife Trudy and others shared their recollections, the wonderful qualities Tom had that complemented PAUL, his calmness, virtually unflappable under any circumstances. Like PAUL, he was astute and eloquent, and he and PAUL collaborated on many of the words that PAUL used in speeches. Tom was always by PAUL'S side offering his guidance and perspective.

   Will McLaughlin was on PAUL'S campaign staff. He was just starting his political career at the age of 23 in Minnesota. But everybody could see he was destined to be a star, a Governor or

[Page: S10830]  GPO's PDF

   Thousands of Minnesotans knew Mary McEvoy who was on the plane as staff in name but really as a friend of PAUL'S and Sheila's. She was one of Sheila Wellstone's very closest friends. Sheila flew with PAUL because he loathed it, and Mary flew with Sheila because she loathed it. It was beyond tragedy, beyond words that Mary had taken a leave of absence from the University of Minnesota where she was a full professor, where she chaired the department, where she had her own very distinguished career in her field, so she could help her friend

   Sheila and her friend PAUL during their time of need. She had a service where over 1,500 Minnesotans, friends, and family came to pay their respects. She was associate chair of the DFL Party. She was a leader. She was a colleague. She was a mother of three beautiful children, and she had her husband Jamie. She will be terribly missed by all of us in the life of Minnesota.

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