“TRIBUTE TO SENATOR BOB DOLE” published by Congressional Record on June 11, 1996

Volume 142, No. 85 covering the 2nd Session of the 104th Congress (1995 - 1996) 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.

“TRIBUTE TO SENATOR BOB DOLE” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S6028-S6043 on June 11, 1996.

The publication is reproduced in full below:

TRIBUTE TO SENATOR BOB DOLE

Mr. NICKLES. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield to the Senator from Kansas, Senator Kassebaum, 5 minutes.

Mrs. KASSEBAUM. Mr. President, I think it is appropriate that Senator Dole, in one of his last acts of the Senate, introduced legislation to provide for security of the Medicare trust fund. It was his strong endorsement and leadership at the beginning of the 1980's that addressed the solvency of the Social Security system. Just yesterday, he was instrumental in bringing a number of us together to address the concerns of health insurance reform. It is my hope we can reach across the aisle and forge with the administration a lasting piece of legislation addressing many of the concerns regarding health insurance reform.

For nearly 18 years, Mr. President, Senator Dole and I have served as partners in representing Kansas in the U.S. Senate and in working on many other issues. We have not always agreed, but far more often we have agreed. More importantly, Mr. President, we have respected each other's dedication. Today, that partnership ends, at least in its current form.

This day creates many mixed emotions. Like others in this Chamber, I will miss Bob Dole's steady presentation and his can-do attitude that has helped the Senate through so many rough times. I know Kansans also view his departure with some trepidation.

At the same time, I believe that Senator Dole has made the right choice by deciding to focus all of his time, energy, and skill on the Presidential campaign. It is a mark of his dedication and commitment that he would give up so much in order to bring his very best to the challenge at hand. It also, I think, marks his confidence.

In our years together here, Bob Dole and I have created a spirit of cooperation and teamwork in representing our State. There is no one who understands middle America and grassroots sentiment better than Bob Dole. That is where his roots are. We have joined forces many times to see the needs of Kansans were addressed and that the concerns of Kansans were voiced clearly and forcefully. I could not have asked for a better partner in helping me. I hope my support for him in those efforts has been worthwhile as well.

Our work together has ranged across the spectrum of issues and problems. Countless hours were spent helping farmers get through the credit crunch of the 1980's. No one understood that better than Bob Dole. Today, there are family farms across our State and our Nation who still work their own lands due to Bob Dole's leadership.

We have gone to bat repeatedly to assist our aviation manufacturers to get fair treatment in world markets. Today, there are thousands of aircraft workers producing airplanes that might never have been sold without Bob Dole's firm hand and persistent efforts. Senator Dole took the lead in the effort to rebuild McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, KS, after a devastating tornado swept through the outskirts of Wichita. He saw to it that every small town in Kansas had a tornado warning siren to protect its citizens.

Mr. President, through all of these years, no challenge has been too large and no concern has been too small for Senator Dole. Our State motto is ad astra per aspera, ``to the stars through difficulties.'' I have never known Senator Dole to not look at a challenge and find a way to address it. He has been a tireless champion for our State in every farm bill, every tax bill, every bill of any kind that touched Kansas and, more importantly then, by extension, the Nation. As a direct result of his efforts, our State is a better place to live, to work, and to go for school. His legacy is written not merely in laws but in a better life for every Kansan.

It is with a mixture of regret and pride that I say goodbye to Senator Dole today. We will miss him deeply. I will miss him most of all. I know that there is other work for him to do now, other challenges to be met, and I have no doubt at all that he will do that job and meet that challenge. Bob Dole is a remarkable man with an extraordinary life story, yet on this day all I can offer him is a heartfelt thank you for all that he has done for me and for Kansas and the Nation.

I yield the floor.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Kansas for her eloquent remarks. She has known Senator Dole and worked with Senator Dole maybe closer than any of us over the last several years. She, likewise, will be retiring this year and certainly will be missed by all of us in this body. She has brought a certain degree of civility that is certainly needed in this body. I compliment Senator Kassebaum for her statement.

Next, I call on Senator Grams from Minnesota.

Mr. GRAMS. I thank the Senator. Mr. President, I want to pay tribute to a man who, for 20 some years, while in the broadcast news industry, I used for sound bites and sources of information. I have now had the pleasure, over the last 2 years, to work with him in the Senate and am now able to call him a friend.

Bob Dole's name alone stirs up many images among the American people. Bob Dole--war hero, Congressman, Senator, party chairman, majority leader, Presidential candidate.

Yet, when I think of Bob Dole, other words come to mind: midwesterner, mentor, colleague, and most of all, friend. I'm sure that all of us in this Chamber feel the same way, and today, we honor Bob Dole, our leader, our distinguished colleague from Kansas, our friend.

As Bob leaves Washington to return home back to the heartland of our great Nation, I wanted to share some of my thoughts about this man whose life story and distinguished career reflects the very values we cherish most as Americans.

Bob was born and raised in Russell, KS--living the small town American life about which legends are made. His family was not wealthy; in fact, during the Depression, the Doles, like many families, had to put together just to make ends meet, moving into the basement of their home in order to rent out the rest of their house.

As a young man, Bob worked as a popular soda jerk at a local drug store, learning early on the lessons of hard work, fiscal responsibility and the value of a hard-earned dollar.

Growing up in Kansas taught Bob the importance of patriotism and sacrifice. It's not surprising that at the age of 19, Bob answered the call to serve his country by joining the Army to fight in World War II.

And by now, everyone should be familiar with the story of Bob crawling out of his foxhole during heavy shelling in the hills of Italy to save a wounded colleague, only to be hit by Nazi machinegun fire.

There are some for whom love of country and self-sacrifice are just phrases--words to be used for a holiday speech. For Bob Dole, it is the standard under which he has led his life--a badge of honor he wears even today.

The 3 years and nine operations it took for Bob to rehabilitate required strength and perseverance, a burden too great for some to carry. But Bob Dole was never one to give up--not even under the most difficult of circumstances.

His determination to recover and get back on his feet was backed up by the now-legendary support of his friends, family and community, when the people of Russell passed around a cigar box to raise the $1,800 needed to pay Bob's medical bills.

Bob has never forgotten their generosity. He still keeps that cigar box, the receipts and the love and support they represent in his office, and recalling those days still overwhelms him with heartfelt emotion.

Upon recovering from his war injuries, Bob wanted to give something back to his community--he chose public service. Since receiving his law degree in 1952, public service has been exactly what Bob Dole's life has been about. Public service has led him all the way to the U.S. Senate, and now, the White House.

The character traits that Bob Dole learned since his humble beginnings in small town America have been reflected in his everyday work as a Senator.

Bob has consistently worked for a Government that serves the people but is a accountable to the taxpayers who pay for it, and a society that is based on people helping people without creating a permanent dependency on Government.

These principles have been apparent in his efforts to balance the Federal budget, return hard-earned tax dollars to the middle class, overhaul the welfare system, and preserve programs like Medicare for generations to come.

I am proud to say that I had the opportunity to stand at Bob Dole's side during these debates, to have worked with him in making our Nation a better place for our children and grandchildren.

But Bob has been more than just a colleague--he's been my friend. When I campaigned for my seat in the Senate, Bob came into Minnesota five times. As a fellow Midwesterner, Bob knows my State, its people, and our heritage. Minnesotans like Bob Dole; he is one of us.

Bob's friendship extends beyond the 1994 campaign. Shortly after arriving in the Senate, I got caught up in one of last year's biggest fights over national policy: whether or not to include tax cuts in the budget. I promised the people of Minnesota that I would not support a budget that did not include tax relief for the middle class.

Bob understood my pledge, and though he could not, as Senate majority leader, take public sides on the debate, he privately encouraged me to stick to my guns, telling me not to give way on my principles. Sure enough, when the final budget came out, tax cuts were included, thanks in no small part to Bob Dole's support.

On May 15, I had the opportunity to join many of my colleagues in standing with Bob again as he announced his resignation from the Senate. Like many of those who heard the speech, I was moved by his words, particularly when he said to the American people: ``I will stand before you without office or authority, a private citizen, a Kansan, an American, just a man.''

I thought to myself about this man--a man who has served his Nation in times of war and peace with honor and integrity, who carries through when he gives his word, who has sacrificed so much of himself for the country he loves so dearly.

Bob is not a man who learned his political philosophy from a book, but instead, developed it as the result of his life experiences, from the people whose lives he has touched and whose lives touch him, and the commonsense wisdom one can only expect from a son of the Midwest.

It is with this wisdom and the good feelings of all of us who have known and grown to respect Bob that he closes this chapter of his incredible life story, only to open a new one--full of the promises and hope that have marked his life. And while I am saddened to see him go, I am comforted by the fact that the Senate's loss is the American people's gain.

I look forward to traveling with Bob across this great country, a country he has served with distinction throughout his life, and introducing to the American people, a man I am honored to call my friend, Bob Dole.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Minnesota for his comments. I call upon Senator Bennett from Utah for 5 minutes.

Mr. BENNETT. I thank the Senator. Mr. President, we here in the greater Washington area have been celebrating the remarkable baseball career of Cal Ripken. I sometimes do not like sports analogies, but I would like to draw on one relating to Cal Ripken, and other sports heroes, to give you my take on the majority leader, the Senator from Kansas, Bob Dole.

We have sports heroes in the various sports that we follow in this country, who will have a brilliant season, and as a result of that brilliant season, be all over the papers as a tremendous performer. And then something happens and they fade from our consciousness.

If I can switch from the Orioles for just a moment and go back to the New York Yankees, I would like to talk about Roger Maris, who set a record for the most home runs in a single season. When you think of the primary home run hitter of the Yankees, you do not think of Roger Maris, you think of Babe Ruth, or of the modern counterpart to Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron. Babe Ruth had a brilliant season, with 60 home runs. But the reason we remember him is because he endured over a long period of time and set the record for the most home runs in an entire career, which stood until Hank Aaron came along and did more over an entire career.

We must judge Senators, public leaders, not on the basis of a brilliant season, or a brilliant speech, or a brilliant campaign, but by what they do over a long career.

Bob Dole came to the U.S. Senate in 1969, the year Richard Nixon assumed the Presidency. I was in Washington at the time and had the privilege of serving in the Nixon administration. It was known around town that Bob Dole was the ``rookie of the year.'' Bob Dole was the brightest star of the new Senators taking office as a result of the 1968 campaign. Now, did he have a single brilliant season? Fast-forward the tape. In 1976, Bob Dole was chosen as the party's Vice Presidential nominee. It was not a flash in the pan in his first experience in the Senate. He was a national figure chosen to be number two on the ticket. That ticket failed. Did Bob Dole fade? In 1985, after Howard Baker retired from the Senate, Bob Dole was chosen by his colleagues to be the majority leader, and then he went on to serve longer in that position than any other Republican in history.

When we look at this man, we can pick out the brilliant seasons here and there, but the real legacy of Bob Dole is the long career, putting together a string of brilliant seasons and a long legacy of service.

I remember, as a new Senator, listening to the then majority leader, George Mitchell, talk about service in the Senate. He said that it is a great honor to serve in the Senate of the United States, and that very few people have had that honor. And then he went on to say, with some truthfulness and a little wry smile, that many of those people disappear and are forgotten after they have left the Senate and leave behind no legacy whatsoever. He said that only a few make a serious difference by virtue of their service in the Senate. And then he said that one of those that we serve with, whom we know will be remembered for his towering contribution--and these are not his exact words, but I am not doing violence to them--will be Bob Dole.

I thought that was a particularly generous tribute for George Mitchell to pay to his adversary across the aisle. That comes to mind now as we contemplate Senator Dole leaving this arena in order to compete in another. It is not the brilliant season, it is not one particular campaign, or one particular legislative accomplishment that we remember. We honor the fact that this man has been at the center of American politics for longer than any of the rest of us, in a serious way, in the serious debates, addressing the serious issues.

So we wish him all the best, regardless of party, on a personal basis, and as a personal tribute to the fact that we have been privileged to serve with one of the great Americans of our history, the Senator from Kansas, the majority leader, our friend, Bob Dole.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Utah for his excellent speech. I appreciate his comments very much. Next, I will yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Florida.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.

Mr. MACK. Mr. President, I come to the floor of the U.S. Senate today to bid farewell to a friend, a leader, a colleague, and an authentic American hero. Bob Dole embodies what is right about America. Seasoned by the values and humble atmosphere of small-town America, the experience of war, and perseverance through physical trials, Bob Dole has earned the respect and admiration of us all.

He is a legendary legislator who is known for his honesty, integrity, and fair-mindedness. Bob Dole is an authentic war hero who stood on the front lines in the fight against tyranny and sacrificed so that others may live in freedom. He understands the commitment and sacrifice necessary to protect and preserve freedom.

I would like to share a couple of stories with my colleagues, one having to do with a trip to France back in the mid-1980's. I had an opportunity to respond to questions from a French audience for almost 2 hours and at the end of that, had the opportunity to ask them a question. I told them I was going to be returning to America in a few days, and I wanted to know what they would tell me to tell the people of Florida about what they thought of our Nation. The first several people who came and stood up said that we think of America as a great, dynamic, growing country, and one that is providing opportunities for millions of Americans.

The third person that stood up was a fellow who was probably his late seventies or early eighties, a little bit wobbly, steadying himself with a cane, and looked me square in the eye, and he said, ``When you go back to America, you tell the people of your country that we will never forget that it was the American GI that liberated our little town.''

The second story is the opportunity that I had, along with some of my other colleagues here on the floor of the U.S. Senate, to be in Italy with Bob Dole at the time he returned to the battlefield where he was wounded and stood on the road as he looked over to the area in which he laid for 9 hours before being rescued. Later, we walked down the street of this little town where Bob Dole laid a wreath at a monument in memory of those individuals who gave their lives in defense of freedom and liberation of Italy. As I stood by his side that day, I truly understood that this was a man who understood the importance of freedom; that freedom is the core of all human progress, and while the price of freedom may be great, there is no price so great as the loss of freedom.

We can see the mettle of the man in his decision to leave behind leadership of the U.S. Senate to pursue the Presidency. He is doing it because it is simply the right thing to do.

Bob Dole has so much to give America through his experience and his wisdom. While this is a day of reflection, it is also a day of anticipation. I am confident that Bob Dole is not done serving his country, and America will be better for it.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. NICKLES addressed the Chair.

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coverdell). The Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank our colleague from Florida.

I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Texas.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I thank you, Mr. President. I thank the Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. President, today we are saying farewell to our leader in the Senate so that he can become the leader of our Nation and of the free world. This is a remarkable man who can shoulder this great burden. This is a man who has shown that he is worthy of our trust. He has kept his promises to the American people, starting with balancing the budget. For the first time we are on a track to balancing the budget in 7 years due to the leadership of Bob Dole. It is the first time in 40 years that Congress has made the decision that we must not burden our children and grandchildren with the kind of debt that has been built up by Congresses of the past.

This is a man who can be Commander in Chief of our country. He has respect for our military. He respects the people who have chosen to protect the freedom of America. He understands the need for peace--not through unilateral disarmament, but through strength. And he will not send our troops into harm's way unless there is a U.S. security interest. He has shown that through his leadership on the Senate floor to make sure that we do not commit American lives unless there was a U.S. security interest.

He has fought for the working American family. He grew up in Russell, KS. He knew poverty. He knew what it was like to struggle to make ends meet. That is why his priority was tax relief for the hard-working families of this country such as the $500-per-child tax credit and homemaker IRA's. It was Senator Dole who led the way for the homemaker to have retirement security, just like those who work outside the home do. And it was Senator Dole who passed that bill in Congress only to have it vetoed by President Clinton. He fought to lower the marriage penalty because he wants the American family to stay strong.

He has been a leader in the fight for women's health issues. During his time as majority leader, we have increased the spending for research on women's health care concerns. He is trying to make sure that we have a strong health care system--a strong Medicare system that will be there for those who will need it in the future.

He is fighting for the spirit of entrepreneurship to be kept in this country because he knows it is the small business people that make the economy grow and prosper in America and takes the new people into our system for jobs. He knows that, and that is why he is trying to provide regulatory relief.

We have passed the free trade agreements, so our small businesses are going to be able to compete for those jobs. Senator Dole knows, and he has led the way for regulatory relief for our small business people so that they will be able to grow.

He has been a defender of private property rights because he believes in the fifth amendment to the Constitution.

Finally, Mr. President, he has been good for our border concerns. He is trying to help us deal with the severe problem of illegal immigration. He is doing that by trying to make sure that we have the help we need in the border States to meet these terrible issues that are of such concern to our country right now.

So we are saying goodbye today to our Senate leader, a man who has proven his mettle time and time and time again; a man who understands what America is all about and who has voluntarily said that he would rather be going out across this great country talking to the people who are working, who know what the problems and concerns are for the heartland of America. He would rather be out there talking to them one on one, listening to their concerns and telling them what he would like to do to make their lives better. He has chosen that over the traffic of Washington, DC.

He has his priorities straight. He wants to keep the American dream--

his dream that every child in this country will have the same opportunities that he did to reach his or her full potential, and he means to make America a place that will allow that to happen.

So we are saying farewell to a Senate leader today, but we are saying farewell to a leader of this group so that he can take on the greater challenge with his spirit and his integrity of leading our great Nation in the free world.

We wish him farewell, and we will be with him out in the heartland of America talking to the concerns of the people of this country.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank our colleague from Texas for a beautiful statement.

I now yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Colorado, Senator Campbell.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. President, it is a great honor for me today to join my colleagues in recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of one of the greatest Senators in this great institution: Bob Dole.

This is a special day in history for those of us gathered here in this Senate Chamber. For on this day in 1775, the Continental Congress did something this body has been doing ever since--it appointed a committee. We have come a long way since then. But this committee's job was to write the Declaration of Independence which has protected our freedom and liberty ever since. The committee was composed of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. While no congressional committee has ever done a more important job, Bob Dole's service of 36 years in Congress as legislator, Finance Committee chairman, and majority leader has had a profound impact on the course of our Nation.

Although he has worked on behalf of countless individuals, families and communities, Bob Dole has stood out as a champion of veterans in Congress. Therefore, as a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I rise today and join with veterans from across the country and throughout this Congress in honoring a lifetime of achievement by my friend--a warrior, a leader, a hero.

In modern times, the word ``hero'' is often bandied around a great deal. But after much reflection, perhaps Ralph Waldo Emerson's perception of heroism best describes how so many of us feel about Bob Dole. Emerson said: ``The characteristic of heroism is its persistency. The heroic cannot be the common, nor the common heroic.''

Bob Dole is a man who has risen to uncommon and heroic heights. And, as it is with most heroes, he seldom speaks of his accomplishments.

He represents, I guess, the best of our country's warriors and heroes. The story of what he went through in 1943 while attending Kansas University and joining the U.S. Army is legendary. As a second lieutenant platoon leader, he went into training with the 10th Mountain Division, which was based in my State of Colorado. Perhaps his only mistake at that time was not buying the land around the training site, because that has become what we know as Aspen today. But certainly it was that highly trained infantry of the 10th Mountain Division that began the final attack April 14, 1945, which led to his wounds of World War II. He went off to war to defend the Nation and our freedoms. And, as a result of that wound, of course, he went through nine operations, which several other Senators have told about, and 2 years of recovery.

I guess, just to talk about wounds and recovery is one thing, but the Germans have a saying. They say, ``He who laughs at scars has suffered no wounds.''

When we think of the time it cost and the terrible pain Senator Dole must have gone through, through that recovery time, we know there is a difference between talking about it and actually going through it.

Bob Dole's legacy as a warrior, hero, and statesman reminds us of another outstanding American leader, President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Senator Dole, then a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, first met General Eisenhower on a rain-soaked day in the spring of 1952 when the General returned home to Abilene, KS, to officially launch his Presidential campaign. It was most fitting, therefore, when Senator Dole was awarded the Eisenhower Leadership Prize in 1995 by the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute for lifetime accomplishments which reflect Eisenhower's legacy of integrity and leadership.

As President Eisenhower said 41 years ago:

Of the nations of today the future will say that there were two kinds: Those that were intelligent, courageous, decisive and tireless in their support of high principles--and those that disappeared from the earth. The true patriots give their best to assure that our country will also be found in the first of these categories.

Bob Dole clearly stands among the true patriots.

As a decorated World War II veteran, his service on behalf of our Nation's veterans can be seen in four major areas: benefits, POW/MIA issues, education, and health care.

Veterans who have served their country deserve and have earned quality benefits. Toward this end, the Dole GI bill, introduced in 1995, revamps the veterans benefit program and brings it up to date and in line with the needs of veterans today.

He also authored legislation in 1996 to create the Veterans Transition Benefit Commission. Its purpose is to ensure that veterans leaving the military due to downsizing have access to the necessary assistance to return to civilian life in the most productive manner.

On the difficult POW/MIA issue, Bob Dole has been in the forefront, seeking answers and helping families who do not know the fate of their loved ones. Bob Dole is considered the 1970 founder of the POW/MIA League of Families. Since then, he has continued to assist families to get a full accounting and disclosure of the fate of their loved ones.

This past Memorial Day over 100,000 veterans converged in D.C. on The Mall, as they do every Memorial Day, angry in their belief that many people in government have abandoned them. Bob Dole has not abandoned them, nor will he ever abandon the veterans of the United States.

In the area of veterans health, Bob Dole has a special and deeply personal understanding of the importance of quality health care and the power of rehabilitation. He has worked to provide a service-connected presumption for certain diseases, expand the number of disorders for which former POW's could receive disability compensation.

Although we served in different wars, Senator Dole in World War II and myself in Korea, we share with all veterans a unique perspective on life and country. If war teaches you anything, it is that the world is a mixture of vulnerability and enduring strength, and that it is the job of the human spirit to strike the balance we call peace. Bob Dole has never wavered from the pursuit of peace.

This courageous leader understands so much about the price of freedom, and as he goes forth from this Chamber, let him know that our hearts, our prayers, and the hopes of all America's veterans go with him.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank Senator Campbell for his outstanding statement.

Next, I yield to Senator Thomas, from Wyoming, 5 minutes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I rise today to join in the tribute to Senator Bob Dole. Certainly, his accomplishments extend over many areas, but I want to limit my remarks specifically to health care.

His record is one that truly demonstrates compassion, dedication and selflessness. This is not a man who simply talks about quality health care. He knows the importance of it firsthand.

Of course, we all know the story, Bob Dole's valiant service in World War II. He spent 4 agonizing years in a hospital bed. It was this experience that led to his commitment to give each and every American the security of knowing health care is there today and will be there tomorrow.

Proof of such dedication is reflected, not just in the way he votes on major issues, but also in smaller efforts like helping to keep a 12-

bed hospital in rural Kansas open, or creating employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. These are little things that do not always receive a lot of fanfare, but over the course of 35 years, they build a solid legislative record.

As the Wyoming State chair for the Senator's 1988 Presidential bid, I came to know and understand the person who has so willingly fought the good fight to make insurance more affordable and accessible to all. For instance, during the 1970's, when many policymakers were advocating a nationalized health care system, it was Bob Dole who recognized the flaws of such an approach. Rather than let the Federal Government be in control of individual medical decisions, he coauthored a more simple, practical piece of legislation, the 1979 Dole-Danforth-Domenici health insurance bill. The initiative aimed to improve access to health care, but in a manner that did not turn the reins over to Washington, DC. He had the foresight back then to keep reform affordable and free of Federal mandates. This same philosophy continues.

A few years ago when the Congress considered the Clinton health care plan, it was Bob Dole who warned against the ill effects of federalizing our health care system. As an experienced legislator, he reminded Congress that increased taxes and price controls are not the way to improve coverage for the uninsured.

But, before I reflect on the Senator's more recent accomplishments, I want to highlight an issue near and dear to the hearts of Wyoming people--rural health care. In the 1980's, hospital closures were plaguing rural America and providers were vacating these communities for urban practices. To be exact, 237 rural hospitals closed during the decade. There would have been more if not for Bob Dole's commitment to a notable package of rural health care reforms. Reforms that improved Medicare reimbursement rates to small hospitals, created primary care centers, and recruited vital family practitioners. These solutions helped to revitalize our communities and gave rural families the same access to quality medical care as their urban counterparts.

As someone who hails from a town of 500-people, I know the importance of such measures. If a rural hospitals closes, it often devastates a community. Jobs are lost and individuals are left without care during times of a medical emergency.

Establishing a successful rural health care delivery system can be very difficult. Yet Senator Dole and his staff have helped make that goal more plausible.

I am sure I speak for many members of the Rural Health Care Caucus when I say, ``Thank you.''

Mr. President, Bob Dole's commitment to quality health care extends to senior citizens as well. Last year, when Medicare was projected to be bankrupt in 2002, it was our leader who fought to preserve the program well into the next century. His plan provided thoughtful solutions to complex problems while still maintaining spending increases for every senior citizen. Unfortunately, the President rejected the proposal, not because it did not do enough, but because it was politically expedient thing to do.

Despite the administration's refusal to save Medicare from insolvency, Bob Dole continues to work on behalf of the elderly. Just 1 month ago, before he announced his intention to leave the Senate, he steered passage of an amendment to the Health Insurance Reform Act. The measure helps alleviate the burden of long-term care costs, which is becoming all the more important as nursing home expenses rise.

Mr. President, these are a few of the many accomplishments of Bob Dole. Unfortunately, time does not permit me to list them all. But the purpose of reciting his achievements is not to boast about our longest serving Republican leader. Rather, it is to provide insight into the man who represents the State of Kansas.

He has served his State and his country well. He is one of the most effective and wise legislators of our time.

Great legislators should be measured by their actions, not by their words. Bob Dole's actions on health care clearly state where his priorities are. So my friend, Bob Dole, good luck. It has been a pleasure serving with you and I know you will continue to serve our country in the future.

I yield the floor.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank Senator Thomas, from Wyoming, for his remarks.

I yield to the Senator from Rhode Island, Senator Chafee, 5 minutes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I wish to comment briefly today upon Bob Dole's record in an area where I have devoted a considerable amount of time, namely the environment. Under Bob Dole's leadership, we have been able to continue the proud tradition, the Republican tradition, of protecting our environment. That is a tradition that dates back to Teddy Roosevelt. It is interesting to note that Bob Dole came to the Senate in 1969. Shortly thereafter the modern era of environmental law began to take shape.

In 1970, he supported President Nixon's creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, and he has supported every major environmental law since he arrived in the Senate; all of which have come about in the past 25 years.

What are some of these laws? The National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, Superfund, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to control hazardous waste, and on the list goes.

Mr. President, those bipartisan efforts have brought about an extraordinary, tangible change in our Nation. The successful protection of the environment has been called the greatest social achievement of the United States of the past quarter century. Let us consider briefly the successes we have had under the laws that were enacted with the help and support of Bob Dole.

In the 15 years 1975 to 1990, automobile miles traveled in the United States increased by 70 percent. They went to 2.2 trillion vehicle miles per year in those 5 years--increased by 70 percent. But in the same period, hydrocarbon emissions were cut in half. Lead in the air, for example, has a terrible effect on the mental development of children, especially in congested inner cities. Because in the mid-1970's we mandated the use of unleaded gasoline, lead in the air has declined by 98 percent. That is an extraordinary achievement.

EPA has just completed a study showing that the positive effects of air pollution controls have been enormous. The study found that, in 1990, Americans received roughly $20 of value in reduced risks of death and illness and other adverse effects, $20 of value for every $1 of expenditure spent on air pollution control.

What about clean water? In 1970, only one-third of the lakes, rivers and streams in the United States of America were considered fishable and swimmable. Now, not one-third but two-thirds of the lakes, rivers and streams in America are considered fishable and swimmable, and the percentage continues to rise every year.

Since its enactment in 1973 by a vote of 99 to nothing, the Endangered Species Act has achieved remarkable results. Populations of whooping cranes, brown pelicans, peregrine falcons and many other formerly endangered species have come back from near extinction. So there is a lot of good news out there, and much of that success is due to Bob Dole's leadership in this Senate.

Senator Dole recognized early on the importance of dealing with the threats to our global environment. Under his leadership, the Senate approved, in 1987, the Montreal protocol, dealing with substances that deplete the ozone layer. Then that was followed by the 1990 London amendments to eliminate the production and use of chlorofluorocarbons, CFC's, and other chemicals that destroy our protective ozone layer.

Last year, Bob Dole cosponsored a bill that was developed by the Committee on Environment to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act. The result was approval by the Senate in a recorded vote of 99 to nothing, and that is a tribute to Bob Dole's leadership.

He was a key architect of this year's farm bill which demonstrated his interest and commitment to protecting the environment. The 1996 farm bill produced one of the most significant conservation packages ever enacted into law, and Bob Dole was a key player in every step of that farm bill.

Bob was a champion of the free-market approach to controlling acid rain in the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, and that free-market approach is working.

With his support, we are exploring similar approaches to protecting wetlands through mitigation banking and to create incentives for private landowners to protect endangered species--use the free-market approach.

Eighty-six years ago, the first of the great environmental Presidents, Teddy Roosevelt, said the following:

Of all the questions which can come before this Nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us.

We have seen from his work in the Senate that those are sentiments that Bob Dole heartily agrees with.

On a personal note, may I say it has been a joyful experience for me to have been associated with Bob Dole for the past 20 years here in the Senate.

May success and happiness be in his future, and we wish him Godspeed. I thank the Chair.

Mr. NICKLES addressed the Chair.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Rhode Island for his excellent remarks.

I now yield 5 minutes to Senator Gramm from Texas.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, by his skill and courage, Bob Dole has earned a place in history, alongside the modern giants like Lyndon Johnson and Bob Taft, as one of the greatest leaders in the history of the Senate.

I think it is fair to say that of all the people who I have worked with in my service in the House and the Senate, Bob Dole is the greatest legislator, and I am very proud to have served with Bob Dole in a period which inevitably will be called in the history books the

``Dole era.''

Bob Dole has my strong support and my deep affection as he leaves the Senate he loves to fight for the leadership of a nation that he loves even more. I think for many of us here today, this is a sad moment. Bob Dole has been the leader of the Republicans in the Senate every day that I have served in the Senate. My first vote that I cast 12 years ago when I came to the Senate was a vote to make Bob Dole the majority leader.

I have known him as an ally and an adversary. I think I can say I know Bob Dole pretty well. I know that he is a good and great man. I know that as Americans get to know him in the coming months that they are going to conclude that he has the leadership and the convictions that we need to change America.

So as he leaves us in the Senate, I am delighted that he is leaving us to seek higher service, and I am confident that he is going to get an opportunity to provide that service. I am very proud to join his colleagues today in paying tribute to him, the greatest legislator of his era, as he serves his last day in the Senate.

I yield the time that is remaining back to the Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES addressed the Chair.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I compliment Senator Gramm for an outstanding and very strong statement.

I now yield to Senator Snowe from Maine 5 minutes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.

Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oklahoma for yielding this time.

I rise today to join my colleagues in honoring the preeminent Republican leader in the history of the U.S. Senate, Senator Bob Dole. Throughout his distinguished career, Senator Dole has served the people of Kansas, as well as this Nation, with honor, distinction, and integrity.

We gather on this bittersweet occasion to pay tribute to a remarkable man for his lifelong commitment to America, as well as his unparalleled leadership in this august institution. As President Reagan said so eloquently in describing Senator Dole as a leader, ``It's not just a job description, it's a description of the man.''

His leadership has touched virtually every aspect of public policy, but I would like to speak specifically on a topic that has been of paramount importance to me throughout my career--an area where Senator Dole has been a champion, an area where he has made a difference, and that is on behalf of America's women.

Mr. President, Senator Dole's commitment to ensuring fairness and opportunity for America's women is not a newfound phenomenon. In fact, it has always been an integral part of who Bob Dole is. Throughout his career, Senator Dole has fought to make America what Susan B. Anthony called the ``true Republic: men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.''

In his personal and professional life, Bob Dole has been guided by a singular belief that every individual--regardless of gender--has the right to fulfill his or her God-given potential.

Bob Dole has always known that we cannot have a truly representative democracy unless women are represented at every level of government and society. Not content just to rely on words, he has taken action.

As chairman of the Republican Party, over two decades ago, he appointed the first woman in the history of the party as deputy chair. As Senate majority leader, he appointed the first woman as Secretary of the Senate. And he was the first Senate leader in history, Republican or Democrat, to select a woman, whom we all have known, the extraordinarily capable and talented Sheila Burke, as his chief of staff.

It is not just women on the Hill who have benefited from Senator Dole's efforts. The lives of women in small towns, big cities, and everywhere in between in America have been improved as a result of Senator Dole's leadership.

From his Retirement Equity Act of 1983, which protected women from an arbitrary pension system that left them without a pension after their husbands died before retirement age, to his Sexual Assault Prevention Act, which finally expanded the rights of women after years of taking a back seat to criminals in our justice system, Bob Dole was at the forefront of the fight to guarantee economic opportunity and personal safety.

Bob Dole recognized that 2.5 million women are battered annually, the single greatest cause of injury to American women, and he saw that as being unconscionable. It was under his leadership that the Violence Against Women Act was fully funded for the first time ever.

But his leadership did not end there. Senator Dole also recognized that the highest echelons of corporate America did not reflect the true landscape of this Nation. Where others did not or would not, Bob Dole saw barriers which are rarely penetrated by women, and he believed those lines were made for crossing. As Senator Dole himself has said,

``The issues boil down to equal access and equal opportunity.'' Bob Dole knows there is something wrong when women are not represented in the upper levels of management in corporate America, and that is why he authored the Glass Ceiling Commission, the first ever Federal commission that created the most comprehensive report on how business could make full use of our Nation's human capital.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I yield the Senator from Maine an additional 2 minutes.

Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, Senator Dole's commitment to women goes beyond the workplace. Under his leadership, the Senate passed legislation to provide Medicare coverage of a drug that was proven effective in the fight against breast cancer. He created a tax credit for expenses associated with the long-term care of elderly spouses who are sick or family members, especially important for women because they represent 78 percent of our Nation's primary caregivers.

For those who found themselves in need of a helping hand, Bob Dole has been the driving force behind meaningful, compassionate welfare reform, to transfer welfare into workfare and move people from the welfare rolls to the payrolls. He made sure it was not done on the backs of children by ensuring that we inserted $3 billion in additional child care funding, and this bill passed the Senate with 87 votes.

In another commitment to women and families, he joined with me in providing for tough child support enforcement provisions to send a message to deadbeat parents that the days of parental irresponsibility are over.

The bottom line is, Mr. President, the record goes on and on. The record shows that when it comes to America's women, you can count on Bob Dole.

Finally, on a personal level, I would like to express my deepest appreciation for Senator Dole's friendship and wise counsel over the years, not only here in the U.S. Senate but throughout my years in the House of Representatives. As he takes leave of this institution he loves so much, he and Elizabeth take with them our profound respect, our great admiration, our heartfelt friendship, our deep gratitude and our prayers for Godspeed as he and Elizabeth embark on an exciting and historic new chapter in their lives.

I am reminded of what Winston Churchill said when the tide had turned in favor of the allies. He said this:

This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, rather, the end of the beginning.

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank Senator Snowe for her outstanding comments.

I now yield 5 minutes to the senior Senator from Wyoming, Senator Simpson.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, it is my great pleasure to comment about my friend Bob Dole. We have heard all of the facts and the extraordinary history of the man's life and his life in the Senate, and it indeed is extraordinary. We all have known that. He is the very best--the very, very best.

I will be saying much about this man in the next months, for this is a leader, a real leader, not just in the title he held but way down inside, and that is a gift. That is the ability to lead, to engender trust and loyalty and the admiration--even grudging sometimes--of your toughest adversaries, and he has had that and it will serve him well.

One of the great and singular honors in my life was to serve as his assistant for 10 years. I was his first lieutenant. He was the captain. We had a pretty good platoon, a good company, too, and a good battalion. It was one wonderful run. I must say that some joy of it was lost, was sometimes when we took our work too seriously--but we never took ourselves too seriously. When you have a couple of gentlemen with a rather spirited sense of humor, it does spark up and brighten the day. I love those types.

I learned much from this man. I learned not to judge, to try to make things work, to have ultimate patience. That is what I really have not learned yet. It is out there though. He gave me some good tips. In those times, I found this man to be true, honest, and so natural, a very remarkable gentleman. By taking leave from here in this honorable way, the American people will come to see him as we do, as I do--fair, strong, firm, a man of great resolve.

With this extraordinary woman Elizabeth at his side, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, they will surely captivate and unite this country in their quest, for she is a person of great personal faith and an inspiration to many of us. And his daughter Robin too, what a fine woman, making a fine impression all over America, as she is deeply involved in the campaign activities. Those are the things we will see the Bob Dole family doing in these months to come.

A legislator, a listener, a loyalist. No one served President George Bush with more loyalty than Bob Dole. He was always supporting the man who defeated him, supporting him to the hilt. That is class.

I have no sadness. No, I am excited to know that this man will be out there in America, and that the people of America will see what we here have always seen in this man, a man of deep, personal conviction, a man of deep moral fortitude, guts, always telling the truth, and the strong leadership--a man who can make a decision and stick with it. Bold and courageous are other examples of his leadership--purposeful, direct, and decisive.

So here we go. He will seek this job in the same way he has sought everything in his life, with that great energy, from that spirit. He has great capability, so very competent, and we will all see this man as a deeply sensitive man, a decent--very decent--and caring man. I think America is longing for that.

I wish him well, with this magnificent woman of charm and grace at his side. God bless them both for, indeed--he is all the man there is.

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Frist). The Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank Senator Simpson for his comments and for the excellent working relationship that he has enjoyed with Senator Dole over the years. As all of us know, he is retiring as well. Certainly, he will be missed. His wit and wisdom will be missed in this body, as well.

I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Iowa, Senator Grassley.

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today the Senate loses its leader, but our Nation and its people gain a leader. What this country needs at this time is to see a good example coming from its political leaders. What this country needs is moral leadership. It is truly lacking, of course, in the current White House. I have been speaking out on this subject of lack of moral leadership, with several specific examples of that failed leadership by the President and First Lady, since March 19.

It is not enough to call Bob Dole a friend, a steady presence in the Senate, an ally. It is more important to know his qualities. These qualities are what make Bob Dole a leader. Above all else, Bob Dole has earned respect. You gain respect, Mr. President, by first showing respect for others. He has done so. He has shown respect for his fellow Kansans, for working men and women of America, for America's farmers, for the small business entrepreneur, to his colleagues, for his party, but, most of all, respect for America.

When you get Bob Dole, you get someone who will do what he says he will do. That means you get a man of integrity. You get a person of accountability. He does not point the finger. The buck stops with Bob Dole. He takes responsibility for his actions. That is important, Mr. President, because this is what America needs and needs right now. At a time when public cynicism is riding a crest, fueled by the actions from current leaders in the White House, we need Bob Dole's tie of leadership, because historically, the best leaders are those who have integrity, who demonstrate fairness, and who have compassion.

If I have learned nothing else about Bob Dole in my 16 years serving with him in the U.S. Senate, it is that he is a person of integrity, a person who treats people fairly, and a person who has and demonstrates compassion. One of the best experiences I have had with Bob Dole was campaigning with him in my State of Iowa. The first time was in 1988. The next time was this year. Whenever I introduced Bob Dole to the people of Iowa, I introduced him as one of us. Iowans knew right away exactly what I meant. It meant that Bob Dole has the same roots as we have--Midwestern, small town, rural, traditional values. He never forgot where he came from and how he got there. That is the mark of a humble public servant. That is what our country so desperately needs today.

Yes, I will miss Bob Dole as a friend and a political ally. I will miss him more as a leader. I take comfort in the fact that in losing a leader, the country is gaining one. For that, I can only be truly grateful.

I say to citizen Dole, your new journey of a thousand miles begins with this first step that you are taking today of leaving the Senate, saying goodbye to the people's branch of Government, and going out among the people themselves. I wish you, Bob Dole, great success as our future leader.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I wish to thank Senator Grassley from Iowa for an outstanding statement.

I yield 6 minutes to the Senator from Oklahoma, Senator Inhofe.

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, while I was presiding, I listened to the accolades and the very warm remarks that have been aimed toward our leader, Bob Dole, and so richly deserved by Senator Dole. I could think of only two characteristics that have not been brought up yet. They came from two experiences that I had.

One was back when I was a very fresh, new, freshman Senator. I happened to have been supporting Phil Gramm for President of the United States, who was a primary opponent of Bob Dole's, only to find that he and I had a trip to take together from Washington out to Independence, KS, since we had been active in getting a very significant product liability bill passed that put America back into making airplanes again. I got to thinking of traveling all the way with a guy when I was actually opposing him. I was very uncomfortable about it. I can tell you during the entire trip, you would have thought I was his, Bob Dole's, chairman. I have never seen a person so absolute in his forgiveness and understanding.

Second, a couple of years ago I can remember when Bob Dole was coming in to do a fundraiser for me at 7:30 in the morning in Tulsa, OK. By coincidence, it happened to be the morning after the night they considered President Clinton's soft-on-crime bill. Bob Dole was really wrapped up in that. That was one of the disappointments he had. He lost it by one vote.

He got on a plane, it had to be sometime after midnight, came all the way to Oklahoma in a driving rainstorm, and was there at 7:30 in the morning. His staff was exhausted. He looked like he was just showing up for his first prom.

I have never seen a guy with energy like he has. The two characteristics, boundless energy and compassionate forgiveness, are two characteristics that will serve America in a grander way. What a guy.

Mr. NICKLES. I thank Senator Inhofe, my colleague, for his statement.

I now yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Washington, Senator Gorton.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, nothing I can say here today can add to the richness or the depth of the picture that has already been presented over the course of the last 2 weeks or so by other Members of this body and by those outside of this body with respect to our candidate for President and our retiring majority leader, Senator Bob Dole. All I can do is to take that photograph from a very slightly different angle and, I hope, make it at least a slightly deeper photograph of a great man.

This is important, however, because the Bob Dole we, who have worked with him for a year or for a decade, know is not the Bob Dole as he has been pictured to our fellow citizens all across the United States. It is exactly for that reason, of course, that he is leaving us and his magnificent and, I believe, rewarding career in this body to share his real character, his real personality with all of the people of the United States in his quest for the Presidency.

Bob Dole is, I think, first of all, a man of extraordinary patience--

perhaps the single most significant requirement for a leader of a body of 99 other Members, all of whom most of the time feel that they are in possession of absolute truth or the precise way in which the Senate should conduct its business.

Bob Dole seems never to have lost a sunny equanimity, even under the most difficult circumstances. His wit seems never to have deserted him. His willingness to listen to advice and counsel--almost always unsolicited--seems to have been infinite, and at the same time that he has been willing to listen and been willing to consider the views from disparate sectors, he has been possessed by a deep dedication to principle, to direction, and to love of country.

On the one hand, people in politics are criticized for being too rigid and not understanding and, on the other hand, for being too compromising. Bob Dole is neither. He has that rare combination of a dedication to principle and a willingness to listen and to accommodate the principles and ideas of others, which has made him a great success, has caused him to be the longest-serving leader of this party in the history of the U.S. Senate.

And so because of those winning traits of personality and those deeper traits of character and principle, each of us who remain here in the Senate will be slightly the lesser by reason of his leaving. He, on the other hand, will be the better for it--for this surprising and principled decision, for his willingness to present himself to the American people without the protection of any office on which to fall back.

I believe, Mr. President--and I believe firmly--that this open risk-

taking, courageous Bob Dole, whom we have known for as long as each of us has been in the Senate, and whom his friends, neighbors, and family have known from his youth, will become increasingly known by, respected by, and loved by the people of the United States as he presents these traits of character and personality to them during the balance of this campaign.

So we wish him bon voyage, the best of good luck, and we wish to the American people a new President with all of these wonderful characteristics for leadership and for making our country a better and stronger place in which to live.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank Senator Gorton from Washington for an outstanding statement.

I yield 5 minutes to Senator Ashcroft from Missouri.

Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, when Abraham Lincoln walked onto the battlefield at Gettysburg to commemorate what had been done there, he succinctly encapsulated the understanding that deeds far surpass words in terms of value. He said, ``The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.''

We are not talking this morning just to be talking, to be saying things, but it is a way of helping people understand what Bob Dole has done, who he has been, the depth of his care, and the breadth of his knowledge of how we need to proceed in America. It has been properly said that the world does not care how much you know until they know how much you care. And because Bob Dole has not been a person to sound his own trumpet, to tell people about himself, I think people have mistaken him. They have not understood how much he cared, because Bob Dole has been a person who has answered the call every time the call has come. He has not only answered the call, he has answered the call with everything--everything--at his disposal, the entirety of his existence.

In 1945, Bob Dole nearly gave up his life--and there would have been those who said it was gone--to the call of duty. And, today, he relinquishes the power and prerogatives of policy development in the Senate because he, similarly, will pursue a call from his country, a call that we are pleased that he hears, a call to shape the tomorrows in which we live, a call to reestablish the fundamental values of American greatness, to align himself with the virtues of the American people, rather than the vices of a system that has really guided us down the wrong path.

In 1945, Lt. Bob Dole volunteered to lead his company to take out a German machinegun nest. He scrambled out of a shell hole in order to rescue a fallen comrade. The Germans sighted Dole and blew apart the right side of his back. Few people would have had the courage to live as he has lived. He willed himself to recovery, with God's help, and with the help of his neighbors. He willed himself to law school, and he willed himself to run for office.

Many of the medical experts at the time had given up on Bob Dole. A doctor from Chicago decided to try some things that were virtually experimental and gave his services. The people of Russell, KS, donated their nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollars in the cigar box at the pharmacy down on the corner to cover the expenses.

Bob Dole made a commitment that he would be an individual of service. We need that kind of determination. We need that kind of grit. We need individuals who have looked the very most serious of all circumstances in the face and have said, ``With God's help, we can overcome, we can prevail.'' And that is Bob Dole.

Well, America needed Bob Dole when, in 1945, he was willing to give himself totally. They needed him when he went to the U.S. House of Representatives, they needed him when he became a Senator, and it needs him today.

All of us know the statistics. A child born today will end up paying

$187,000 in interest on the national debt if we do not do something about it. Bob Dole has devoted himself not just to a balanced budget--

sure, he sent two balanced budgets to the President this year--but to the structure of a balanced budget; that is a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

Bob Dole knows that American families spent about 3 percent of their income on taxes in the 1950's, and now we spend almost 40 percent. He understands that Americans have an ability to spend on themselves and to do for themselves, if Government will stand aside. He understands that, for a long time, Washington has acted as if Government were the answer--faith in Government, governmentalism. He knows that is not the solution, that Washington's one-size-fits-all solution is not the way to solve this Nation's problems. He knows that when we placed that faith in Government, instead of ourselves, we injured ourselves.

Bob Dole really is going to go to the American people and say: You have the quality, the character, and the capacity to do those things that are necessary to shape the next century constructively. I am delighted that he has so much commitment to this responsibility that he would say, ``I walk away from the U.S. Senate in order to offer myself to the American people.''

When the American people learn about Bob Dole and get to know him the way we in the Senate know him, they will ask and demand that he be President of the United States. It will be a pleasure, as a Member of the U.S. Senate, to remember his outstanding service to the people, not just in the military, in the House and the Senate, but as the leader of this Republic. I am grateful for the opportunity to make these remarks regarding our majority leader.

I yield the floor.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I compliment the Senator from Missouri. That was a truly outstanding statement. I want to announce to my colleagues that I have several colleagues seeking a lot more time than we have available. I hate to disappoint colleagues because I know many wanted to speak prior to Senator Dole's speech at noon. We may not be able to accommodate everybody. I cannot accommodate everybody on the floor, and that disappoints me greatly. If I stay on the order of requests, the Senator from New Mexico actually has been here for some time, and I know the Senator from Arizona has also. We actually have a unanimous-consent request that would allow Senator Byrd to speak at 11:30. And the Senator from Virginia and the Senator from New Jersey would like to speak. That makes it very difficult.

I would call on the Senator from New Mexico. I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from New Mexico.

If my colleagues could not spend all of that time it would be greatly appreciated.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.

Mr. DOMENICI. Thank you very much.

Mr. President, fellow Senators, I think what I will do is start with wit. I think everybody remembers Bob Dole for a lot of things. I am going to mention five or six that make him my great friend. But I want to hearken back to a budget debate in 1990 that was a brief moment when we were going to have a shutdown even back then for a very short period of time. And the tourists in the community were all kind of in turmoil because of various things that were going to be closed. And Senator Dole said the following: ``If you are hanging around with nothing to do and the zoo is closed, come over to the Senate. You will get the same kind of feeling, and you will not have to pay for it.''

Mr. President, nobody should think that a statement like that in any way denigrates this great man.

I am really at a loss to say goodbye to him. But I am quite convinced that he is leaving as a legend. He leaves a legacy of leadership second to none in the entire history of the U.S. Senate. He leaves a legacy of laws and concerns that are so broad and so deep that I am doubtful whether his story ends in looking over the entire panorama of Senators from the beginning. I am very doubtful that they will find a Senator with such a legacy.

Let me start with senior citizens. In 1983, Social Security was going bankrupt. Who took the lead in the Senate to make it solvent for 30 to 40 years? Senator Bob Dole. When it comes to the young people of America, some people choose to talk about programs. I choose to say Bob Dole's deep and abiding concern for our young people is epitomized by his constant fight to live within our means so that we do not have to have our children and grandchildren pay our bills. Everything, from seniors to children and everything in between, has received the attention of this great man.

In fact, I will find it difficult. I think my feet will find me walking down that hall and my feet will find me going into that office because I have done that so many times when we needed leadership.

The legacy of leadership that he leaves will be sorely missed, and only history will indicate its true depth. Besides having wit, without which it is tough to run the Senate, he had courage. Can anyone forget the night when we wheeled Pete Wilson in? He had an appendectomy. We brought him in here from the hospital bed so we could get the vote, and so that Vice President Bush voting from the Chair could assure us of what would have been a balanced budget long before today that failed not because of Bob Dole's leadership but because of something else.

So anybody following him better know that they better be honest; they better tell the Senate the truth for he knew no other way.

As he leaves, there is a bit of sorrow and even sadness, at least in my heart. But in a very real sense I am very, very happy because I think the American people now have a chance to meet, to know, and to understand the Bob Dole that we know. If they get that chance, he will be the next President. He will be the next President of this great land where the same leadership that he gave to us will be there for everyone.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.

Mr. DOMENICI. I yield the floor.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I join my many colleagues in expressing my congratulations to Senator Dole for a historic career in the Congress of the United States, which ended with his resignation today, and I also express my regrets that we will no longer have Robert J. Dole as our majority leader and as our Republican leader.

I speak for both the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which I represent, and in a sense, also for Russell, KS, because Senator Dole and I both grew up in Russell, KS. I moved to Russell from Wichita when I was 12 years old, so I have known Senator Dole for a good many years. My father, Harry Specter, was a friend of his father, Doran Dole. My dad was in the junk business, and the only scale big enough at the time to weigh the junk yard truck was the Dole scale and elevator run by Bob Dole's father. Our brothers, Kenny Dole and Morton Specter, both passed away at the same time, approximately 3 years ago.

Senator Dole's story is a story like Horatio Alger, except that Bob Dole's story, compared to Horatio Alger, looks like Horatio Alger was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Both the Doles and the Specters, figuratively, lived on the wrong side of the tracks. It is a true story that the Dole family, during the depression, moved out of the first floor of their home to live in the basement to help defray expenses at a very tough time when Kansas was a dust bowl. Bob Dole grew up and worked at Dawson Drugs at the soda fountain. There is sort of a legendary and famous story about how he would flip the ice cream and catch it behind his back. I recounted that story not long ago on a campaign appearance for the Presidency in Delaware County. Bob added that sometimes when the ice cream fell to the floor, it became a chocolate shake. He went to college--a tough thing to do in the early 1940's. Russell High School had the State debating championship, but Bob Dole chose not to be a debater. He was a renowned high school athlete. And then we all know of his heroics during World War II, and of his injuries and how he laid his life on the line. He did not suffer loss of life but did suffer loss of limb, and came back with a phenomenal rehabilitation. So he has a real understanding of what it is like to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when you have neither bootstraps nor arms to pull yourself up by; and has a real feeling for the disabled; and a real understanding of the need for medical care; and a real understanding of what it is like to be an underdog. That historic, monumental rehabilitation has been recounted on many occasions.

Then he became a State legislator while going to law school. He came back and was county attorney, in Russell, KS. He told the story today about how his parents had been Democrats and how he became a Republican, checking the local registrations. I originally heard the story in Russell, about how he was courted by both parties to become their nominee for county attorney and then checked the registration in Russell County and found it was 2 to 1 Republican. And as Senator Dole has said previously, as a matter of conscience he instantly became a Republican. And then so much of the rest is history: Elected to the House of Representatives in 1960 serving four terms, and then to the U.S. Senate in 1969.

I have had the privilege of serving with him in this body for the last 15\1/2\ years. I watched him, as the chairman of the Finance Committee, and he did a really extraordinary job in that capacity. It was in that capacity that I think Senator Dole earned the confidence of his colleagues for the leadership position that he sought in 1984.

I recall the 1982 tax bill, when Senator Baker, then the majority leader, stood at the leadership position, and at 11:45 p.m. on that complex bill said that there were 63 amendments pending, amendments like mushrooms grew overnight, and that we were going to plow ahead. Standing beside him was Senator Dole, the chairman of the Finance Committee. Senator Baker said Senator Dole thought we ought to persevere. We worked through the night, as it was Senator Baker's custom to do on occasion. There were, perhaps, half a dozen rollcall votes, many more voice votes, many amendments dropped. At 6:30 a.m. we walked out of the Chamber having finished an extraordinary bill, which showed Bob Dole's leadership.

Then we had the extraordinary election for majority leader in 1984, contested by Senator Ted Stevens and Senator Pete Domenici and Senator Dick Lugar and Senator Jim McClure. We had to have a series of ballots. First one dropped and then the next and then the next. And finally--and I happened to be sitting next to Senator Dole on the left-hand side of the Chamber in the rear of the whole Senate when Senator Dole won by a narrow margin of 28 to 25; two votes changed and Senator Dole went on to be the leader. I was in the photo in the scene when Senator Dole shook hands.

He was an extraordinary leader in many, many ways. Always a conciliator, always with a velvet touch. Some of us were not too easy to lead, in terms of the votes. But never a demand, never a ruffled feeling, never a sense of pressure or, certainly, not undue pressure.

I recall legislation changing the Grove City decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, as illustrative of what Senator Dole would do. Senator Packwood and Senator Hatch were on opposite ends of the issue. Suddenly Senator Dole came up with compromise language. In unison, Bob Packwood and Orrin Hatch said, ``But that is unsatisfactory because it will leave the issue open to controversy as to what it means.'' Senator Dole smiled and said, ``That's the perfect solution.'' It wasn't quite that language, but Senator Dole got it worked out.

Today's speech by Senator Dole, I think, was historic. I hope he can continue to speak with the same easygoing manner, the same light touch, the same sense of substance, and at the same time, the same sense of humor. Because I think if Senator Dole does that, he will really establish a rapport with the American people for his next challenge.

In a sense, Senator Dole's farewell address to the Senate has significant similarity to George Washington's farewell address. It was a different time, a different tempo, different tenor, but I think it was a historic farewell address. This Chamber was filled with respect and admiration, and, really, love.

I do not know, if on prior Senate occasions, there has been a recording of the time sequence for the length of applause, but that event speaks for itself as Senator Dole moved from one part of the Chamber to the other, surrounded by his colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans; many of the colleagues expressing themselves on more than one occasion.

Then a few of us who were privileged to be his fellow Republicans in the Republican caucus had an opportunity to hear Senator Dole's last speech in the Mansfield Room. The balcony, now named for Senator Dole, as we have paid tribute to a few of our colleagues by memorializing their presence, became that accolade.

Then, at 3 or a little after 3, a number of us were waiting outside in the boiling Sun to watch him walk down the Senate steps for the last time, at least the last time on the day of his resignation. The steps were filled with well-wishers, staff, and citizens from all walks of life. He came down and it was a symbolic transition from the U.S. Senate, where he had achieved such heights, walking out as citizen Dole, to see the people of America.

When he finished saying goodbye to his colleagues on the steps, he moved across the yard to greet Americans who were waiting to see him, smell him, touch him. From there he moved over to the large crowd that was assembled between the two chambers. I think it was a very, very significant and a symbolic move, as he has left the U.S. Senate in his quest for the Presidency of the United States.

It was obviously not an easy decision for Robert J. Dole to make, to leave the embellishments and accouterments of office, as majority leader, one of the loftiest positions in the Government of the United States or in the world. But he did so in his quest for what he saw as a higher calling.

In the contemporaneous time period with his departure, he addressed one of the toughest issues in America, the issue of abortion, which has been the most divisive issue facing America since the Civil War, with his characteristic and traditional Solomon-like judgment. It is a political issue, but worthy of a moment or two, leaving the Republican platform intact to accommodate one segment of the party and offering the olive branch, the spirit of tolerance and the big tent to another segment of the party. Almost, in a sense, squaring the circle and accommodating almost seemingly irreconcilable differences. But that has been the life of Senator Dole. That has been his tradition as a young man growing up on the plains of Kansas where he learned, really, fundamental American values--accountability, integrity, honor, and trust, serving his Nation so well in war and serving his Nation so well in peace.

Seeing him go is a tough thing for all of us who have known him, in many ways over the years. We wish him the very best as he continues in his quest to serve America.

I ask unanimous consent that my comments appear in the Congressional Record in advance of Senator Dole's statements. All of us could not be recognized in the limited time before he spoke today, and although it is obvious on the face of my comments that they were made after he spoke, I would ask they appear in advance of his text, including my unanimous-consent request, so the sequence makes some semblance of sense.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, today we pay tribute to a man who has served his country ably and well for well over 50 years, and who will be remembered for his leadership of an institution that is not easily led.

From his humble beginnings in the town of Russell, KS, Bob Dole has taken seriously, and has exercised responsibly, his call to serve. While those of us who have served with him in this institution are disappointed to see him go, and will miss him, he has greater challenges and rewards ahead. I believe Bob Dole will go on to engage this Nation in a critical debate over the next few months about where America is headed as we approach the turn of the century. The United States, and the office of the Presidency, need Bob Dole's leadership desperately. The words ``noble'' and ``man of integrity'' are not often used to describe the current occupant of the White House. Yet they are words that come to mind immediately to describe Bob Dole.

Bob Dole did not shirk his responsibility to fight for his country during World War II. He accepted it, fought bravely in Italy, and nearly paid the ultimate price--his life, for his country. Bob Dole is now willing to sacrifice his political career in order to meet the challenge of defeating Bill Clinton, restoring fiscal sanity to American Government, and restoring honor to the office of the Presidency.

Bob Dole has been well prepared through 27 years of Senate service to assume the Presidency. He has led Republicans through long years in the minority, and has more recently led us to some significant accomplishments in our effort to roll back Government and ever-

increasing Government spending.

Bob Dole's skills are not well known to most Americans, because many Americans are unfamiliar with what it takes to make this side of Congress work. The Founding Fathers set up the U.S. Senate as an institution to protect the rights of the minority. This is a place where, in fact, a Senator adhering to minority viewpoint has much greater power in many ways than a Senator whose view reflects the will of the majority party. One Senator can hold up landmark legislation simply by taking to the floor and refusing to relinquish it. A significant minority, 41 Senators of 100, can thwart the will of the majority party simply by refusing to cut off debate.

Bob Dole understands these challenges. As minority leader for many of the 9 years I have been in the Senate, he used the rules effectively to protect the rights of a significant minority. This was referred to in the media as gridlock, but it is really the way the institution was designed, to protect the Nation from the passions of the moment and to provide for reasoned, reflective debate.

Since assuming the role of majority leader, he has managed to overcome challenges raised by the Democratic minority, and hold his troops together to pass significant legislation. Under his watch, the Senate has passed and sent to the President the first balanced budget in a generation, meaningful welfare reform, the Congressional Accountability Act, legislation preventing unfunded mandates on State and local entities, and regulatory relief. The President has vetoed the two most significant of these initiatives: namely a balanced budget and welfare reform.

The speeches we give today in honor of Bob Dole sound a lot like eulogies, but they are in reality reminiscences of a stage in Bob Dole's life. He will go on to do even greater things. He will continue his long and distinguished career of service to country by holding its highest office, and will restore to that office the respect and honor of the American people.

Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, as we all know, Bob Dole will resign from the Senate to run for the Presidency today.

It was a courageous decision--but also a sad one for the Senate.

I am personally proud of Senator Dole. I think it is the right decision.

I strongly believe that when the American people are given the chance to know Senator Dole and his wife Elizabeth better--the polls will change dramatically--and he will be elected President.

Senator Dole was raised in an era in America when hard work and strong values were rewarded. This is an era that we can have once again in America, if Bob Dole is elected President.

When Senator Dole's country called on him to serve--he went, and almost gave his life. He didn't flee the country and protest against it from overseas.

When his family struggled in the depression--they didn't seek a Government handout--instead they rented their own home and lived in the basement to get by.

He didn't allow his war injuries to sideline him in a hospital for the remainder of his life--instead he picked himself up and rose to one of the highest positions in the Government and became a candidate for Vice President and now a candidate for President.

Bob Dole will bring to the Office of President the values of his upbringing. He will not spend the taxpayers' money irresponsibly. He will not put this country further into debt. He will not coddle criminals that threaten our communities. He will not tolerate drug use in the White House or tolerate a disrespect for our Armed Forces.

This is the Bob Dole that has been our majority leader. And, I am confident this is the man that American people will want to be their President.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I want to echo my colleagues' gratitude to a remarkable Senator and majority leader, Bob Dole. Few Members of Congress can boast similar years of commitment to our country. In fact, Senator Dole's entire life has been dedicated to public service; from his brave service in World War II, to his service in the Kansas State Legislature, the U.S. House, and for the past 27 years our U.S. Senate. He has devoted his life to serving the people of Kansas and our country. I truly admire his agility in handling the people's business in this body, the U.S. Senate.

It will be difficult to imagine the Senate floor without Bob Dole. We have always had a cordial and collegial working relationship. I have admired his wily way of moving legislation. He often commented on my way with a quip.

I think it's fair to say that members of both parties have learned from Bob Dole. His mastery of Senate procedure, and his skill at moving legislation, are matched by few in this Chamber.

I thank Senator Dole for his service in the Senate. In an age when over half of married couples can't stay dedicated to each other for 10 years, it's remarkable for someone to stay dedicated to an institution as tempestuous as the U.S. Senate for 27 years.

With deep admiration and respect for a trusted colleague, I wish Senator Dole all the best.

Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, Bob Dole first came to Congress at a time when the world--and he himself--was still recovering from the wounds of war, and America, catapulted into world leadership, was about to enter one of the most difficult periods in our young history as our Nation became bitterly divided over the Vietnam conflict.

These events shaped the man who came to Washington to represent his home State of Kansas back in 1960. And, from my experience in working with him over the last few years in the U.S. Senate, it is clear that Bob Dole never forgot the values those experiences taught him. He has left an imprint on this body that deserves our recognition and our thanks.

Having nearly given his life for his country in the battle for freedom, Bob Dole brought strong convictions about honor and public service with him to the U.S. Congress.

And, having seen this Nation spill blood in battling its own conscience, he understood that--even in the rough and tumble world of politics--we can not afford to forget the warnings of our predecessors: United we stand; divided we fall. Bob Dole's tenure as majority leader reflected these convictions.

He leaves the Senate having made an indelible mark on this body with his ability as a leader, his skill as a statesman, and his commitment to the service of his country.

I have not always agreed with Bob Dole, but I have never found his door closed. That, to me, says more about the man than anything else. In my view, the mark of a true statesman is his willingness to listen to all sides of an issue in a search for common ground. But the mark of a leader is the ability to move people forward in spite of our differences in search of progress.

Although I have not known Bob Dole for very long--I came to this body in 1993 and worked with him, first as minority leader, then as majority leader--I have come to hold high respect for him, and think of him fondly. These are very tumultous times, and his was no easy task.

I have been particularly struck, time and again, by his willingness to seek solutions by forging agreements--even in circumstances where he had the votes to win on an issue and did not need to regotiate.

I remember when the issue of moving the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem arose last year in Congress. Senator Dole had all the votes he needed to pass a resolution supporting the move. And yet, he listened to those of us who had concerns about the impact the wording of this resolution would have on what, at the time, was a very delicate phase of the peace negotiations in the Middle East.

He did not have to listen. He chose to listen, and he chose to address our concerns. And we passed better legislation as a result. That is leadership.

I have been struck by his forthrightness as majority leader--his word was his commitment, and his commitment was a matter of honor. These have been difficult times. But, although he and I did not always end up on the same side of an issue, I knew Bob Dole cared more about the integrity of the democratic process than he cared about short term political gain, and that he respected each and every Senator's place in that process--because we represent the America people.

No, we did not always agree. But even on issues where we disagreed, I always knew where I stood, and I knew I could trust his word.

Robert Dole will be remembered for his lifetime of service to the American people, and for helping to shape the course of our Nation during some of the most pivotal times.

He deserves our praise and our thanks, and we wish him and Elizabeth well.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, next in order for appearance, I know on the unanimous consent request Senator Byrd had this time. He is not here right now. I yield to the Senator from Arizona 5 minutes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, when Americans came home from World War Two the time reserved for celebrating their hard won victory was of necessity brief. Joyous though those celebrations were, they had to give way quickly to the hard work of repairing the damage done to families and communities by the long separations and tragic losses which war visits on the victors as well as the vanquished.

But Americans, having defeated the Axis Powers, were upon the moment of that success obliged to assume the new responsibility of leading the free world's resistance to the imperial ambitions of our former ally, the Soviet Union. By so doing, they undertook a mission of immense proportions and difficulty, but great historic significance and nobility.

For it was the Americans who fought so valiantly from Guadalcanal to Normandy who would then devote their lives to ensuring that the second half of this century not collapse into the bloody calamities or succumb to the aggression of freedom's adversaries that made this century one of the most violent and tragic times in recorded human history. At both the mid point and the end of the 20th century, these Americans ranked among the greatest generations of our countrymen. They are accorded that distinction for their dedication to their country's cause and humanity's hope, and for the dimensions of the victories won by their devotion, selflessness, ingenuity and courage.

Even in this distinguished company, Bob Dole stands out. When he returned from war he could not, as many of his comrades could, immediately pursue the veteran's dream of building a peaceful and prosperous life. He had to first rebuild himself. The exemplary courage and determination he brought to his own recovery is the stuff legends are made of. And they are also America's good fortune for they are the same virtues he offered in his subsequent years of service to the advancement of our country.

In these days when more and more young Americans are attracted to the mores of the detached and indifferent cynic, to the affectations of Hollywood anti-heroes, Bob Dole's life is a rebuke to those corrupting influences on our popular culture. When I am asked by anxious parents: where are today's American heroes by whose example I can instruct my children?; the list of such Americans I can offer in response is still a long one. But I can identify no better example than the man to whom we wish good luck today. Bob Dole is what an American hero is supposed to be.

His sacrifice in war and his hard road to recovery earned Bob Dole the peace and quiet to live a life of personal pursuits, of individual attainment and success. But he chose instead to chase his country's dreams. And in America's historical mission to contain and defeat Soviet imperialism and to wrench from this violent century some greater hope for humanity's progress in the next. Bob Dole brought the patriotic optimism of the young soldier off to war, but he brought also the veteran's appreciation for the dimension and seriousness of the task before us. He enlisted again in the war against totalitarians, and again he is in the front ranks of those who earned the victory.

Bob Dole's Senate leadership was essential to the efforts of Presidents Reagan and Bush to win the cold war. He built majority coalitions for the defense build up of the 1980's, helping to restore the readiness and modernization of our Armed Forces which had been so badly neglected in the previous decade.

He has been a consistent and skillful advocate for ballistic missile defense beginning in 1973 with his support for the Sam-D, the predecessor to the Patriot missile, continuing with his support for SDI and ending most recently with his sponsorship of the Defend America Act. In his determination to provide Americans with an affordable and adequate defense from the greatest danger facing our country, Bob Dole has shown the vision and the will required to meet the security threats that will confront policymakers in the 21st century.

Senator Dole organized congressional support for Reagan Doctrine policies which gave critical assistance to freedom fighters confronting Soviet aggression from Nicaragua to Afghanistan. Together with his support for our defense build up and a strategic defense system, Senator Dole's commitment to sustaining the front line resistance to Soviet imperialism hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union, and made possible the liberation of millions whose rights had long been denied them as citizens of captive nations.

As cracks in the Soviet empire became the breech that brought down the Berlin Wall, Bob Dole hastened the final dissolution of the Soviet Union by sponsoring the Direct Aid to the Republics Act which provided direct assistance and trade relations to the Soviet Republics, bypassing Moscow, and further weakening the Kremlin's control over its subject peoples.

In the first crisis of the post-cold-war world, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Bob Dole cautioned President Bush to seek congressional authority for Operation Desert Storm, and then employed his peerless legislative skills to win majority support for authorization over a very determined opposition, sending a message of American unity to Saddam Hussein.

More recently, Bob Dole's consistent, principled support for the legitimate Government of Bosnia and the strong Senate majority he built for his position forced our own Government and our allies to replace their previous indecision and indifference with the resolve to enable the Bosnian people to resist aggression, and determine for themselves their nation's fate.

Mr. President, my time is nearly up, and the brevity of this tribute his required me to offer only an abbreviated, very incomplete list of Bob Dole's many important contributions to the security of the United States. Suffice it to say, that Bob Dole is a statesman who has worked tirelessly and effectively to protect other Americans from having to pay as a high a price for love of country as he was once asked to pay.

Before I close, Mr. President, I would like to offer a personal expression of gratitude to my leader.

I have had the honor in my life of being commanded by a great many brave, resourceful, and decent leaders, but none more so than our friend, Bob Dole. A long time ago, in another walk of life, I lived for a period of time without liberty. I and a great many men whose courage and honor enabled me to endure that experience wanted nothing more than to keep faith with our country and for our country to keep faith with us. When well-intentioned Members of this institution unwittingly attempted to break faith with us by denying support for the war necessary to ensure our eventual liberation, Bob Dole led the opposition to that effort. For 7 weeks he forcefully debated a cutoff of funding while so many of America's sons remained the prisoners of our enemies. All the while he waged that debate, Bob Dole wore a bracelet that bore my name. I have never properly thanked him for the great honor he did me. I wish to do so now. For myself, for my comrades who came home with me, and for the many thousands who did not, thank you, Bob, for the honor of your concern and support for us. We fought in different wars, but we kept the same faith.

Bob Dole leaves the Senate now, and all of us, Democrat and Republican alike, know in our hearts we will not soon see his like again in our ranks. But he leaves only to continue his service to America from another office. I take considerable comfort from that. For I know that the tasks that confront us as we consolidate our cold war victories and make for our children and our children's children another, better world than the one in which we lived most of our lives require the service of an American who appreciates from his experience and from his heart the indispensability of American leadership. This is a daunting responsibility, which is shared by all of us. But I am reassured that we will not be found wanting in our assignment by my confidence that Bob Dole will soon be our leader again and that our Nation will still benefit from the service of this honorable man.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES. I compliment Senator McCain for an outstanding, moving, inspirational speech that I hope my colleagues will have a chance to review.

I ask unanimous consent to postpone the time allocated to Senator Byrd and Senator Daschle to 11:45.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. NICKLES. I yield to the Senator from New Jersey, 2 minutes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.

Mr. BRADLEY. Mr. President, today Bob Dole will leave the Senate. I have served with him for nearly 18 years, during which time, at different times, he has been the ranking member and chairman of the Finance Committee, minority leader, and majority leader.

Over the years I have disagreed with him often, but I have also worked with him on many things, from one of my first amendments in the Senate on the strategic petroleum reserve to closing tax loopholes in 1982 to tax reform in 1986 to maternal and child health care issues to GATT agreements to aid to the Bosnian Moslems and countless other issues.

Bob Dole is a good man and an extraordinary legislator. Although he is personally shy, he knows how to build a political consensus, use power, make things happen. He keeps his word, which is an essential ingredient in building trust. He listens well, a trait of the very best legislators.

Any time you are trying to build a bipartisan majority, which is more the way it used to be in the Senate than the way it is now, you have to be able to listen. You have to understand intuitively where someone's bottom line is. And when an agreement will not be reached, you cannot view the other person as flawed, corrupt, and stupid, and expect that tomorrow they will forget your attitude. I do not remember Bob Dole ever acting out of a grudge or perhaps even harboring one. He never burned his bridges.

One afternoon in my office more than a few years ago, Senator Dole and I visited with a Russian politician named Boris Yeltsin whose visit I was sponsoring. Yeltsin had been over an hour late and we were 25 minutes into our discussion when one of his aides informed him he was an hour late for a meeting with Secretary of State Baker, to which Yeltsin responded by saying, ``Humph, who cares about an appointed minister when I am meeting with those who are elected by the people.''

To which Dole responded, ``He's got his priorities right.''

That was the voice of Bob Dole, the democrat, the man who has a deep and abiding respect for the will of the people. Time and time again the people of Kansas gave him their votes. Although Senator Dole has given his life to public service, I sense he would be one of the first in this body to admit that a legislator's accomplishments are like sand castles built at the edge of the ocean surf--short-lived and often forgotten.

Therefore, the only thing that any of us as Senators have is whether those who worked with us gave us their respect, and those who elected us felt well-served. In Senator Dole's case, I think the answer to each is yes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I yield 1 minute to the Senator from North Dakota.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.

Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, last year I indicated to my colleague from West Virginia, Senator Byrd, that one of the real privileges of my being able to serve in the U.S. Senate was to serve here while he served in the U.S. Senate. I told Senator Byrd that. I was thinking last evening that I feel the same way about Senator Dole. It has been an enormous privilege to serve in the Senate at the same time that Senator Dole has served in this Senate. He has demonstrated an enduring commitment to public service that represents the kind of public service that we owe a substantial debt for in our country. He is truly the Cal Ripken of public service in the Senate year after year after year, doing his job and doing it the way the American people hope public servants will do their jobs.

I am here today only to say I wish Senator Robert Dole well. The Senate will miss him. Those of us who have had the privilege of working with him honor his commitment to public service.

I yield the floor.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES. I thank my colleague from North Dakota, and I yield 2 minutes to the Senator from Virginia.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, from his earliest days on the sports fields through his military career to his days in the Senate, Bob Dole's destiny was and is leadership. How greatly has he enriched the lives of all of us here in the U.S. Senate. Like my good friend, Senator Bradley, I was there on the Yeltsin trip. I remember that. I also remember accompanying Senator Dole to a hilltop in Italy, near the small village where he was struck down by enemy fire. But the hand of destiny reached down, the hand of Providence, and brought him back to serve this great Nation, to serve the world, and to become a great leader.

He will take his place--modestly, he might not acknowledge this--but he will take his place with Everett Dirksen, with whom our distinguished senior colleague, Mr. Byrd, served; with Howard Baker and with Hugh Scott. In that row of great Republican leaders, he has earned his spot.

Commander in Chief, a position to which he aspires, and a position in the Constitution of the United States he has fought to preserve on the floor of this Senate from the first day that he stepped entered this Chamber, irrespective of who has been in that office. He has been a staunch defender of the prerogatives of the Commander in Chief. I was proud to join with him on January 12, 1991, when we stood together for the Persian Gulf resolution, to give the Commander in Chief the authority to use force in the gulf. That was a hard-fought battle, a debate ending in a vote of 52 to 47.

Most recently, in my own endeavors, he stood beside me. He did not have to do it. He stood beside one of his colleagues in the name of friendship and he said, ``It's not all politics. It's friendship.''

Mr. President, I close by reading a brief quotation that I carry with me at all times. It relates to Bob Dole. Thomas Jefferson once said:

I had laid it down as law to myself, to take no notice of the thousands of insults issued against me but to trust my character to my own conduct and to the good sense and candor of my fellow citizens.

I yield the floor.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I compliment my colleague from Virginia and now recognize the Senator from West Virginia, Senator Byrd.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia is recognized.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I rise to say farewell to my friend and longstanding colleague, the able Senator from Kansas, the Senate majority leader, Bob Dole. Bob Dole has responded to the call of duty throughout all of his adult life, and we are all the richer for his dedication and his work. His life and his service have made a difference.

American politics is a rough and tumble occupation, and we in this Chamber are all too familiar with the savagery, the criticism, the negativity that have so infected political life in our day. But there are times when politics must be put aside, and the honest, heartfelt contributions that we each and all make as servants of the people must be acknowledged.

I congratulate the majority leader on his long and distinguished service in the Senate, and before that in the House of Representatives, and before that, in the Kansas Legislature, to which he was elected at the young age of 26. As one of his fellow Americans, I thank him for his service and his bravery during World War II.

It has been a privilege and it has been a pleasure to work with Senator Dole in the leadership positions given to both of us by our colleagues, first when he was majority leader and I was minority leader, and then when our roles were reversed.

Senator Dole and I are the only floor leaders in Senate history to move from majority leader to minority leader and then back again to majority leader. I guess it is a classic case of what comes around goes around; or what goes around, comes around. Often, I have pondered this turning of the Senate wheel, a continuing rotation of individuals of different temperaments and talents, of opposing beliefs and varied backgrounds.

I have been honored to serve in the Congress of the United States for almost 44 years. I have witnessed the comings and I have witnessed the goings of many fine men and women. Some were extraordinary leaders, like Joe Martin, of Massachusetts; Sam Rayburn, of Texas; Lyndon Johnson, of Texas; Everett Dirksen, of Illinois; Hugh Scott, of Pennsylvania; and Howard Baker, of Tennessee; and Mike Mansfield, of Montana; who served as Senate majority leader for 16 years. Many made outstanding contributions to their country and were considered irreplaceable in their time. And yet our brief appearance upon the Senate stage is only temporary. It is applauded, remarked upon and then forgotten, washed away like footprints in the sand by the next turn of the wheel and the next wave of events.

But through it all, the Senate endures and goes on like Tennyson's brook--forever. It is far, far greater than the sum of its 100 parts.

Senator Dole, in his four terms in the House and five in the Senate, has been a serious and successful legislator. He was the 1,645th person to have taken the oath of U.S. Senator. He has served as leader of his party in the Senate longer than any other Republican--10 years, 11 months and 20 days, today. Bob Dole has served longer as a Republican in Congress--35 years, 5 months and 8 days--than any other current Republican Member of the Senate and House. Additionally, he is the only Kansas Senator to have chaired the Senate Finance Committee.

He has earned the respect of his colleagues. He has been a hands-on leader, often working personally with other Senators and staff to craft legislative compromises and solutions to difficult national questions.

As Republican leader, both when he served as majority leader and as minority leader, he was always available to work on solutions to problems of both a national and international nature. He gave his time, including the hours spent away from the Chamber and the Hill, wrestling with those solutions.

I have fond memories of the time that we worked together in the 100th Congress, when I served as majority leader and he was the minority leader, and we succeeded in crafting important legislation, including the landmark Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. Together, we developed a new trade tool for the United States called ``the super 301 law,'' which required annual reviews of foreign trade practices, the identification of priority foreign country practices against American products, and the triggering of automatic investigations against such countries' practices.

Senator Dole has been particularly attentive and active in the foreign policy and national security areas. While we have not always agreed on specific policies, he has been a major contributor to our Nation's policies regarding the Soviet Union before its collapse, arms control, Bosnia, and the Gulf war with Iraq, to name a few important examples.

When he was majority leader in 1985 and I was minority leader, together we created the arms control observer group to monitor arms control negotiations and treaties with the Soviet Union. Together, we led a Senate delegation to the opening of United States-Soviet arms control negotiations in Geneva that year. We also traveled together at the request of President Reagan to Moscow to celebrate the historic exchange of instruments by Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev ratifying the INF treaty.

In the order of domestic policy, Senator Dole has been a long-time central figure on farm legislation. He has amassed an impressive record of service on behalf of the disabled and the handicapped. He has particularly advanced the cause of handicapped children.

While I have enjoyed working together with Bob Dole, and sometimes have equally enjoyed working at odds with him on various issues, I am saddened that he is leaving the Senate. He will cast a long shadow as he goes.

It isn't enough to say in our heartsThat we like a man for his ways;It isn't enough that we fill our mindsWith psalms of silent praise;Nor is it enough that we honor a manAs our confidence upward mounts;It's going right up to the man himselfAnd telling him so that counts.

So when a man does a deed that you really admire,Don't leave a kind word unsaid.In fear to do so will make him vainAnd cause him to lose his head.But reach out your hand and tell him, ``Well done,''And see how his gratitude swells.It isn't the flowers we strew on the grave,It's the word to the living that tells.

And so I say to my friend, Bob Dole, ``Well done.''

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Democratic leader is recognized.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, let me begin by complimenting the distinguished Senator from West Virginia for his eloquence. Following his words is a very difficult task.

Senator Dole has said that he wants to be judged now as just a man. But I think history will judge him as something more--a good leader, a good Senator, a good American. When you are from a small State in the Midwest, there seems to be a sense of pride in someone who makes it to the top the hard way, with hard work, with fairness, with adherence to principle.

Regardless of politics, religion or education, when someone starts at the lower rung and makes it all the way up, there is a pervasive feeling of ownership, of affinity that he is one of our own, a Midwestern sense of self-respect that he is like us, and now just look at where he is, what he has done and how he has done it. That is especially true when adversity hits. When someone rises above adversity to make it against the odds, the admiration grows greater. The greater the adversity, the greater the adherence to principle and decency, the greater the admiration.

Maybe that is why someone from South Dakota, someone of different politics, different religion, different education can reflect on the admiration that I hold for Bob Dole with the sincerity that I do now.

I have had the good fortune to work closely with the majority leader now for 18 months. The conditions for a good working relationship could not have been much worse. We had just lost the majority. He was the likely nominee to run against a Democratic President, and the House Republican leadership, now also in the majority, had proposed a Contract With America. Of course, the events over the past year and a half could easily have led to bitterness and personal animosity of major consequence. I have no doubt that in virtually any other set of circumstances, there would have been no other result.

The fact that it did not occur, and in spite of it all we remained friendly, is due to Bob Dole and who he is. His civility, his pragmatism, his quick wit, his self-effacing humor have not only served him well these past 45 years of public life, but have served his colleagues and his country well, too. His sense of fairness and decency is a standard by which all people in public life should be held. He believes in the institutions of democracy and has helped guide his party and this body in a way that has enhanced them, too.

While our philosophical differences are great, his willingness to do what is difficult has been a source of admiration and respect for us all. His courage in standing for principle has been evident from the start.

It was there when he broke ranks with his party to support the landmark civil rights measures of the 1960's, most notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Acts of 1965 and 1982.

It was there when he championed landmark nutrition programs with a visionary leader and a giant from South Dakota whose name was George McGovern.

It was there in 1991 when he and our colleague, Tom Harkin, arguably did more for the disabled than anyone in our Nation's history.

And it was there in this Congress when, against all political advice, he fashioned a resolution on Bosnia that led to broad support for our troops being stationed there.

I am grateful to Senator Dole for that leadership, for the decency and fairness he has demonstrated to me over these past 18 months. I have learned from him. It has been an invaluable education.

It has always impressed me that Bob Dole would come to my office for a meeting--the seasoned leader coming to the newcomer, the majority leader, coming to the minority leader's office. I thought it was yet another demonstration of Bob Dole's grace and demeanor. I know now that it was. I also learned that in doing so, this man, with the experience of thousands of such meetings, could always be the one to determine when the meeting was over.

I regret that we did not accomplish more together in these last 2 years. Obviously, bad timing was a factor. Our accomplishments have been eclipsed by our partisanship in the eyes of the American people. Still, nothing should cloud America's view of just a man from Kansas who began with little, who in fighting for this country lost almost all that he had, who came back to help lead his party and his country with courage and civility, who leaves this place with the gratitude of us all.

While I cannot wish him ultimate success at his next political venture, Linda and I wish Elizabeth and Bob Dole well in their new life ahead. May it be filled with good health and much happiness. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The able Senator from Oklahoma is recognized.

Mr. NICKLES. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

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

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I rise on behalf of all my colleagues in the Senate, Democrat and Republican, to say thank you to Senator Dole for his years of service in Congress, House and Senate, but especially the Senate, especially for his leadership, for his willingness to really embody what leadership is all about.

The man from Russell, KS, has indeed done very well. The man from Russell, KS, has overcome a lot of difficulties, and truly been a national hero. I was with Senator Warner, Senator Mack, and Senator Dole in Italy where Senator Dole nearly lost his life in Castel Diano, and I realized what real leadership was all about, that a young man from Russell, KS, risked his life, almost gave his life, to reestablish freedom in a faraway land. I saw the love and respect that the people had in northern Italy for Senator Dole, and my respect and admiration for him only grew. It has grown as we have shared many fine years in serving together, and I thought about this, most of our colleagues here have only known Senator Dole as the leader or minority leader. Some have had the pleasure of serving with Senator Baker and Senator Byrd, as majority leader, but to our leader, we want to say thank you for your service not only to Kansas but to our country, for reaching out in bipartisan fashion and making great changes for this country.

I remember when you were elected chairman of the Finance Committee, tax rates were 70 percent. When you were finished, they were 28 percent. The economy really grew. You forged bipartisan working relationships with everyone. You are well liked by every Member in this body.

I want to apologize to my friends and colleagues that have been coming to me for the last hours, saying, ``I want to speak,'' because we could not accommodate all the requests. I ask unanimous consent following the swearing in of Senator Frahm, that we will keep the Record open for the remainder of the day so that remarks can be added to the remarks made earlier this morning.

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

Mr. NICKLES. To our leader, I say that you embody what we think is great about a leader. That is character. That is integrity. That is loyalty. You have earned the respect not only of your colleagues, you have earned the respect of all Americans.

To our leader, again, a man from Russell, KS, you are our friend. You will always be our friend. We wish you and Elizabeth every success this year.

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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 142, No. 85