Volume 160, No. 148 covering the 2nd Session of the 113th Congress (2013 - 2014) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TRIBUTES TO DEPARTING SENATORS” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S6363-S6365 on Dec. 8, 2014.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTES TO DEPARTING SENATORS
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, in the waning days of the 113th Congress it is a bittersweet moment as many of us are saying goodbye--although not on a permanent basis but at least in terms of our official relationships working together as Senators--to so many of our good friends and valued colleagues. Every other December we find ourselves bidding farewell to some of the most admired and respected Members of this Chamber. Today I want to say a few words about three of these esteemed Members, starting with my good friend, the senior Senator from Georgia.
Saxby Chambliss
Saxby Chambliss and I arrived in the Senate at the same time following the 2002 elections. At the time, the war on terrorism, as we all know, was barely a year old, and it was by far and away the biggest issue on the minds of Americans across the country and in the Halls of Congress. Senator Saxby Chambliss immediately established himself as one of the Senate's most important leaders on national security issues, which came as no surprise to anyone who watched his career in the House of Representatives. Indeed, in his capacity as chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, he oversaw the first official investigation of the 9/11 attacks. It is hard to believe it has now been more than 13 years since that fateful day, but Senator Chambliss has never lost sight of the continuing threat posed by radical Islamic terrorists and he has never stopped working to uphold bipartisan support for strong national security policies. He has been a consistent leader on important pieces of legislation such as the PATRIOT Act and on the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay. He has also been a leader on the Armed Services Committee on the annual Defense authorization bill which we will be taking up later this week and on controversial but important topics such as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Most recently on the campaign to destroy the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Senator Chambliss again has been one of the leading voices helping us find our way to the right strategy and the right policy. In short, name any high-profile national security issue and there is a good chance Saxby Chambliss has been driving the debate and working to move the United States in the right direction. I know he is also especially proud of his efforts to improve current retirement policies for members of the National Guard and military Reserves.
Senator Saxby Chambliss comes from a State where agriculture is the single largest industry and he spent 6 years as chairman or ranking member of the Senate agriculture committee. He was one of the first Members of our class in 2002 to serve as a chairman of any standing committee, something we were all a little bit envious of, early on in his first term of office. But he has worked on several tough farm bills during the time he has been in Congress and he has been our go-to Member on all related issues.
In fact, Senator Chambliss understands these issues almost better than anyone on both sides of the aisle, which is another way of saying he understands the challenges facing American farmers better than almost anyone here. That understanding allowed him to play a key role in reforming Federal crop insurance.
Folks down in Georgia have been justly appreciative of Senator Chambliss's work on agriculture policy, and they also appreciate his efforts to accelerate the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project through a Federal-State partnership, which was officially signed back in October. It is an impressive list of accomplishments, and I know I speak for all of our Members on both sides of the aisle and staffers alike, when I say that Saxby Chambliss will be missed as much for his warmth and friendship as for his policy work.
As a diehard Atlanta Braves and Georgia Bulldogs fan, he is equally at ease discussing baseball, football, quail hunting or national security. He is unfailingly kind, thoughtful, and considerate to everyone with whom he works in this Chamber--whether Senator, staffer or casual visitor.
Saxby is now preparing for his life's next great chapter, which he will spend with his wife Julianne, to whom he has been married for nearly half a century, their two children, and six grandchildren, which I know bring them a lot of joy.
I wish my good friend all the best in his retirement, and I wish the entire Chambliss family a never-ending supply of health and happiness.
MIKE JOHANNS
Next, I would like to turn to my colleague from Nebraska, the senior Senator Mike Johanns. Even if Mike Johanns had never been a Senator, he would have compiled an extraordinary career of public service. It started with a stint on the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners and continued with 2 years on the Lincoln City Council, followed by 8 years as mayor of Lincoln, NE.
In 1999 Mike left the mayor's office and moved over to the Nebraska State Capitol, where he served for 6 years as Governor. He said one of his proudest gubernatorial accomplishments was enacting a mental health reform law that helped improve the lives of some of Nebraska's neediest and most vulnerable residents. That to me tells a lot about his character and sense of compassion.
Born and raised as a farm boy, Mike was named America's 28th Secretary of Agriculture in 2005. Over the next 3 years, he held more than 50 separate forums on the farm bill--more than 50. Not surprisingly, he continued to work on agriculture-related issues when he joined the Senate. Indeed, he has been a true leader, fighting passionately to defend the rights and livelihood of farmers and ranchers everywhere--especially in Nebraska.
These are issues that are vitally important to millions and millions of Americans, including Mike's constituents, but they are not the kind of issues that help land you prime time appearances on cable news. Luckily for us, Mike doesn't care about media attention, but what he does care about is doing the right thing for his State and for our country.
He understands something that many of us too quickly forget--that taxes and regulations should be forced to pass a simple cost-benefit test. That is why Mike worked so hard to block the national energy tax known as cap and trade, and that is why he has consistently demanded that the Environmental Protection Agency and other Federal agencies demonstrate how their proposed rules would affect American jobs and American workers.
It is also why he has so aggressively pushed to abolish the IRS 1099 reporting requirement in ObamaCare, which would have placed a costly new burden on America's small-business owners and indirectly on the jobs that they create. Mike did more than anyone else to help highlight the problems with this requirement and to demand its repeal. Thanks in large part to his efforts, 81 Members of this Chamber voted to abolish it back in 2011.
There is an old cliche in politics that there are two types of politicians--the show horses and workhorses. Mike has never sought the limelight, and has certainly done more than his fair share of the work. But he has done so in a very quiet and thoughtful manner. He is someone who has kept a low profile while working behind the scenes, building bipartisan consensus and being infallibly polite and gentlemanly in the process.
He is the type of Senator who is universally admired and respected by all of our colleagues. His accomplishments here in the Senate--I have just mentioned a few--have been manifold. Yet I am quite certain his proudest accomplishments are his family--his wife Stephanie, their two children, and five grandchildren. They have been generous enough to share Mike with us for the past 6 years, and now it is time for Mike to be with the people he cares about the most. We will miss him a whole lot, but he is moving on to perhaps the most rewarding chapter of his life.
Mike, thanks for all you have done. Thanks for your service, your guidance, and most of all for your friendship.
TOM COBURN
I will close my remarks today on our retiring colleagues by paying tribute to Dr. Tom Coburn. He is someone we have all come to know and admire over 20 years as a relentless fighter for limited government and conservative values here in the Congress.
Tom can be a very charming guy, but I know he can also be a pain in our side when he is determined to make sure he gets a chance to get a vote on an important matter here in the Senate. I think he is comfortable in both of those roles. In fact, I know he is.
Tom Coburn is a man of strong principle, a man of great integrity, and, perhaps just as importantly, a man of remarkable humility. Our country has benefited greatly from the wisdom and leadership Tom has provided during his service in Congress--first in the House and then in the Senate. I have been in the Senate now for a little more than a decade, and during that time our colleague from Oklahoma has done more than anyone else in this Chamber to eliminate wasteful spending, expose fraud and abuse in the Federal budget, and get our entitlement programs on a sustainable path. Tom would be the first one to say that job has just begun, but he has certainly given it everything he has.
He has educated our Nation on the fiscal threat we live under and what it means for our children and grandchildren, and he has worked tirelessly to correct it.
He has done a remarkable job as the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, as well as his service on the intelligence and banking committees.
Furthermore, Tom has been an unyielding force for protecting liberty and improving access to affordable health care by proposing positive patient-oriented alternatives, and for these reasons and many more I am grateful for his service.
But perhaps the thing he does not want to be remembered for--but that has made such a profound impression on many of us--is his courage and ability to deal with the fact that he is a three-time cancer survivor. Even last week, I know he was receiving treatment for this most recent flare up, but he will be back here today. He will be doing what he does best, and that is fighting for his principles and perhaps causing more than a little bit of turbulence in the process in this otherwise stayed Chamber.
I know I speak for this entire Chamber when I say it is an honor to serve with a man such as Tom Coburn. I know this to be true because Tom is well respected on both sides of the aisle.
In fact, when Time magazine named Tom one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013, a friend of Tom's and former Democratic Senator wrote:
The people of Oklahoma are lucky to have someone like Tom representing them in Washington--someone who speaks his mind, sticks to his principles, and is committed to the people he was elected to serve.
The friend I am referring to who made those remarks is none other than our President, Barack Obama, when he served with Tom in the Senate. When the President said that, he found out that Tom received a number of angry letters from constituents that said he and President Obama looked a little too chummy together, to which Tom replied--and this is classic Tom Coburn: ``What better way to influence someone than to love them.''
This serves as a testament to his character. You see, Tom has an extraordinary ability not just to win the respect of those who agree with him but the admiration and respect of those who disagree with him as well. That is a rare thing in politics and especially in today's society.
Nevertheless, Tom has spent his career promoting what is good for the country while never wavering from his personal conversations. Along the way he has racked up a lengthy list of accomplishments that protect taxpayers and increase transparency in government.
Tom's resume proves he has been a leader not only in Congress but in every aspect of his life. For example, I think many of our colleagues don't realize he had a distinguished career in business and medicine before he got here. Tom served as president of the school of business student council while getting his accounting degree at Oklahoma State University. Later he went back to law school--
excuse me, that was a Freudian slip he wouldn't be happy with. Later he went back to medical school, where he trained to become a physician and served as president of his class at the University of Oklahoma medical school.
Tom has a lot to be proud of about his service in the House and in the Senate. But, again, like all of us, he is most proud of his family. He has been married to the former Miss Oklahoma for nearly 50 years, and he and Carolyn have three daughters and seven grandchildren. Meanwhile, in his career as a physician, he has delivered more than 4,000 babies, which perhaps explains the vote totals in some of his elections, because I am sure many of them have grown up to vote for him.
The things that I mentioned are only a few of Tom Coburn's long list of notable achievements. Knowing Tom and his work ethic, I have no doubt he will be giving 110 percent right up until the last minute he serves in the 113th Congress on January 3, 2015.
I wish Tom and his family the very best as they enter the next season of life.
I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________
Alerts Sign-up