[Senate Document 109-34]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
From the Senate Documents Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
From the Senate Documents Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
S. Doc. 109-34
TRIBUTES TO HON. PAUL S. SARBANES
Paul S. Sarbanes
U.S. SENATOR FROM MARYLAND
TRIBUTES
IN THE CONGRESS OF
THE UNITED STATES
Paul S. Sarbanes
Tributes
Delivered in Congress
Paul S. Sarbanes
United States Congressman
1971-1977
United States Senator
1977-2007
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2007
Compiled under the direction
of the
Joint Committee on Printing
CONTENTS
Biography.............................................
v
Farewell to the Senate................................
ix
Proceedings in the Senate:
Tributes by Senators:
Akaka, Daniel K., of Hawaii....................
20
Alexander, Lamar, of Tennessee.................
13
Allen, George, of Virginia.....................
13
Boxer, Barbara, of California..................
32
Byrd, Robert C., of West Virginia..............
3
Clinton, Hillary Rodham, of New York...........
24
Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota..................
26
DeWine, Mike, of Ohio..........................
29
Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut...........
41
Durbin, Richard, of Illinois...................
15, 30
Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming...................
8
Frist, William H., of Tennessee................
45
Hagel, Chuck, of Nebraska......................
10
Harkin, Tom, of Iowa...........................
27
Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah.......................
35
Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas................
44
Kennedy, Edward M., of Massachusetts...........
18
Kyl, Jon, of Arizona...........................
28
Landrieu, Mary L., of Louisiana................
25
Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont..................
34
Levin, Carl, of Michigan.......................
37
Martinez, Mel, of Florida......................
39
Mikulski, Barbara A., of Maryland..............
30
Nelson, Bill, of Florida.......................
14
Obama, Barack, of Illinois.....................
21
Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island....................
11
Reid, Harry, of Nevada
...............................................
............
3, 29, 43
Salazar, Ken, of Colorado......................
17
Sarbanes, Paul S., of Maryland.................
7
Snowe, Olympia J., of Maine....................
39
Stevens, Ted, of Alaska........................
45
Warner, John, of Virginia......................
24
Biography
Paul Spyros Sarbanes was born in Salisbury, on
Maryland's Eastern Shore on February 3, 1933. He was the
son of Greek immigrants from Laconia, Greece--Spyros
(deceased 1957) and Matina Sarbanes (deceased 2001) who
owned the Mayflower Restaurant on Salisbury's Main Street.
The principles Senator Sarbanes learned growing up in
Salisbury that have guided his public life were
opportunity and fairness--principles that he strongly
believes are fundamental to a decent and just society.
While there were no diplomas on the wall, Sarbanes's
parents understood the importance of hard work and the
value of education. They instilled these values in their
children along with an appreciation of the benefits of
living in a democratic society.
After graduation from Wicomico High School in Salisbury,
Sarbanes received an academic and athletic scholarship to
Princeton University (A.B. degree, 1954). He was awarded a
Rhodes Scholarship that brought him to Oxford, England
(First Class B.A., 1957). Sarbanes then returned to the
United States and attended Harvard Law School. After
graduating in 1960, he clerked for Federal Judge Morris A.
Soper before going into private practice with two
Baltimore City law firms.
In June 1960, Sarbanes married Christine Dunbar of
Brighton, England, a graduate of St. Hugh's College,
Oxford University; lecturer in classics at Goucher
College, from 1960 to 1973; and teacher of Latin and
Classical Greek at the Gilman School in Baltimore, MD,
from 1978 to 2000. They are the parents of three children,
John Peter, Michael Anthony and Janet Matina, and the
grandparents of six. Sarbanes is a member of the Greek
Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Baltimore.
Paul Sarbanes learned from his parents early in life how
privileged we are to live in a democracy, the importance
of community participation and, in particular, the
importance of exercising the right to vote. In his many
conversations with students across the State of Maryland,
when he spoke of his passion for public service, Sarbanes
talked about the high premium placed on involvement in
public life by the ancient Greeks. In Athens, he says,
``those who lived only in private life were falling
short.'' They were called `idiotes,' from which our word
`idiot' is derived today.
The principles of fairness and opportunity instilled in
Paul Sarbanes by his parents from a very early age led him
to a life of public service. In 1966, Sarbanes ran for the
Maryland House of Delegates in Baltimore City and won.
During his 4 years as a State legislator in Annapolis he
served on the Judiciary and the Ways and Means Committees.
In 1970 he was elected to the U.S. House of
Representatives, for the first of three terms. While in
the House, from 1971 to 1976, Sarbanes served on the House
Judiciary Committee, the Merchant Marine and Fisheries
Committee, and the Select Committee on House
Reorganization. It was during his service in the House, in
August 1974, that Sarbanes was selected by his Democratic
colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee to introduce
the first Article of Impeachment, for obstruction of
justice, against President Richard Nixon.
On November 2, 1976, Paul Sarbanes was elected to the
U.S. Senate. He was re-elected in 1982, 1988, 1994, and
2000. Throughout his public service, Senator Sarbanes
worked hard to provide the citizens of Maryland with
dedicated, independent representation; representation
based upon intelligence and integrity; representation
which gives people the confidence that elected officials
are there to serve the public interest.
In response to the failure of Enron Corporation in 2001,
which, at the time, was the seventh largest corporation in
the United States, Senator Sarbanes, in his capacity as
chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Committee, held a series of comprehensive hearings
resulting in the passage of a bipartisan bill designed to
reform the accounting industry and restore the investor
confidence that had been eroded following the collapse of
Enron.
Immediately following the Senate Banking Committee's
approval of the legislation in June 2002, the accounting
woes of WorldCom further shook the financial markets and
created a tidal wave of support for the Sarbanes
legislation. Sarbanes appeared on ABC's ``This Week,''
NBC's ``Meet the Press,'' CNN and CNBC. In addition, he
was chosen by Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle to
deliver the Democratic response to the President's weekly
national radio address on June 29, 2002.
``The Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor
Protection Act'' was signed into law on July 30, 2002, and
has been referred to as ``the most far-reaching reforms of
American business practices since the time of Franklin
Delano Roosevelt.'' The law is now known as the
``Sarbanes-Oxley Act,'' named for the principal sponsors
of the legislation.
The legislation creates a strong independent oversight
board to oversee the auditors of public companies and
enables the board to set accounting standards, and
investigate and discipline accountants. It addresses
conflicts of interest, ensures auditor independence,
strengthens corporate governance by requiring corporate
leaders to be personally responsible for the accuracy of
their company's financial reports, and establishes
safeguards to protect against investment analysts'
conflicts.
As a result of his work in shepherding this historic
legislation through the Congress and into law, Senator
Sarbanes was honored in June 2003 with the prestigious
Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award from the
University of Illinois. The award, established in 1992 to
honor Senator Douglas, a man often labeled ``the
conscience of the United States Senate,'' was designed to
honor individuals who have made a substantial contribution
to promoting ethics. He also received the ``Rolfe Award
for Extraordinary Impact on Policy in Economics, Business
and Finance,'' from the Women's Economic Roundtable in
November 2003; the ``Cox, Coleman, Richardson Award for
Distinguished Public Service,'' from Harvard Law School in
March 2004, and numerous honorary awards.
Farewell to the Senate
Friday, December 8, 2006
Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, over the last few days, a
number of my colleagues have been very generous in coming
to the floor and speaking about my service in the Senate.
I am deeply grateful to all of them, and my wife is
greatly relieved that the session is drawing to a close
because she fears if it continues and I continue to hear
these excessively laudatory speeches, I am going to take
it to heart and she is going to have to contend with the
aftermath of all this praise. I do thank all of my
colleagues for their very generous and their very gracious
remarks.
As my service in the Senate draws to a close, I am above
all profoundly grateful for the trust that the people of
Maryland placed in me for the last 40 years--first as a
State legislator, then three terms in the House of
Representatives, and now five terms in this distinguished
body. I think that trust is the greatest honor that any
American could hope to have. I am deeply appreciative of
it.
I could not have risen to the challenge that these
opportunities for public service have provided without the
constant support and the wise and reasoned counsel of my
family. First of all, and above all, my wife Christine,
whose high standards and dedication to our family and to
our country are beyond measure and have been a constant
source of inspiration to me. The support and commitment of
my children, their spouses and their children has been
deeply gratifying, and I am indebted to them for the
encouragement they have always provided and also, if I may
say so, for their astute criticism, on occasion. My sister
and my brother and their families have also been, as one
would expect, a constant source of strength, and I am
deeply grateful to them.
My parents came to this country as immigrants from
Greece, both my mother and father, and it was from them
that I first learned about the meaning of a democratic
society and the potential it offers to move up the ladder
of opportunity on the basis of ability, hard work, and
conviction. Their memory is still a very powerful
influence in my life.
I could not have met the responsibilities of this office
without the support of staff who have been ever ready to
work at the highest levels of competence, often under
great pressure, and to stand up always for what they
believe is right. I am deeply grateful for the principled
dedication and sharp intelligence they have brought to
their responsibilities--whether they were serving on my
office staff in Washington or in my offices across the
State of Maryland; whether on the staff of the Banking
Committee, the Foreign Relations, the Budget and the Joint
Economic Committees on which I have served, or the staff
of the Senate generally, on whom the efficient functioning
of this legislative body depends.
I think it is important to pause from time to time to
think of the many men and women--they are sitting right
here at the tables and outside the doors and all across
the Capitol and in the office buildings--who make it
possible for us to function and who bring a dedication to
their work that is greatly encouraging. In fact, it has
been a source of encouragement and inspiration to me.
Working with all of the staff and in particular, of
course, my own personal staff, has been one of the great
rewards of serving in public office.
I leave the Senate confident that Maryland's
representation in this body will be in good hands. For the
past 20 years, it has been a privilege to work closely
with my colleague from Maryland, Senator Mikulski, who
will soon become our State's senior Senator. What a
fighter she is for a better America. And what a
pathbreaker she has been in the course of her political
career.
It was likewise a privilege to work with her predecessor
in this body, Senator Mathias, with whom I developed a
close friendship. Both have been wonderful partners.
It is especially gratifying to know that, in the 110th
Congress, Benjamin Cardin will take this seat and be
Maryland's junior Senator. Ben Cardin has given
extraordinary public service to the people of Maryland. As
a Member of the House of Representatives, he has for 20
years represented our Third Congressional District with
great distinction, and prior to entering the House of
Representatives, he served for 20 years with equal
distinction in the Maryland legislature, including an
outstanding tenure as Speaker of the House of Delegates.
He is an experienced legislator of the first rank, and he
is tireless in carrying out effectively the
responsibilities of his office. I know my colleagues will
enjoy their work with him in the coming Congress.
My wife and I are gratified that our eldest son John
will, in January, be sworn in as a Member of the House of
Representatives to represent the Third Congressional
District in the 110th Congress.
Throughout my years in public service, I have worked to
the limits of my ability to provide the people of Maryland
and the Nation dedicated, informed, and independent
representation based upon the fundamental principles of
integrity and intelligence. I have been guided in this
effort by a vision of a decent and just America, based on
a strong sense of community and offering fairness and
opportunity to all its people. These values and that
vision were shaped by my family and the community where I
grew up, by the pride my Greek immigrant parents took in
their citizenship in their adopted country, and by the
high standards of service that community leaders set in a
small community on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Salisbury,
MD, as I was growing up. Those values and that vision are
as clear and as steady today as they were when I first
entered public service.
Service in this body has reinforced, many times over, my
understanding and commitment to the institutions upon
which our system of democratic governance critically
depends. I have constantly kept in mind the words
reportedly spoken by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia at
the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention. We are
marking this year, of course, as my colleagues know, the
tercentenary of Franklin's birth. The story is told that,
as he came out of the Constitutional Convention, the
oldest delegate there, a woman in the streets of
Philadelphia called out to Franklin and said: ``What is it
to be, Dr. Franklin, a Monarchy or a Republic?'' And
Franklin's reply was: ``A Republic, Madam, if you can keep
it.''
A Republic, Madam, if you can keep it--the challenge
that Franklin uttered that day in the streets of
Philadelphia is a challenge each generation of Americans
face. All Americans bear the responsibility to rise to
Franklin's challenge but none more so than the Members of
this body.
I have been honored to serve with Members, past and
present, who have embraced the challenge and sought,
through common effort, often under difficult
circumstances, to strengthen our Republic and to make the
promise of America a reality for all of our people.
As I prepare to leave the Senate, I want my colleagues
to know how deeply I appreciate their friendship and
counsel and how highly I value the privilege of having
been their colleague. So long as the vision of America's
promise continues to shine brightly in this body, I have
every confidence that our Nation will prevail in the face
of great challenges and that its future will be assured.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
TRIBUTES
TO
PAUL S. SARBANES
Proceedings in the Senate
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Mr. REID. ... We have several Democratic Senators who
are experts on the economy who have come and spoken.
Senator Sarbanes, who sadly will retire at the end of this
year, has been a wonderful Senator. He has handled the
Banking Committee with expertise, and I so appreciate his
coming to the floor today and talking about this issue.
...
Friday, September 29, 2006
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the Chair.
Mr. President, this is a day I hoped would never come.
This is a speech I hoped I would never give. These are
words I hoped I would never say. The senior Senator from
Maryland, Paul Sarbanes, the longest serving Senator in
the history of his great State, Senator Paul Sarbanes, is
retiring. Now I must say goodbye.
I am so sorry to say those words to my good friend, my
true friend, and greatly esteemed colleague. More than
once, in fact, I have found myself hoping Paul Sarbanes
would change his mind. But the senior Senator from
Maryland must do what is best for himself and his family,
and I wish him the best.
The retirement of Paul Sarbanes from the Senate brings
to a close a fascinating and extraordinary Senate career.
This son of Greek immigrant parents grew up on the Eastern
Shore of Maryland, where he worked his way--yes, he worked
his way through school by waiting on tables, washing
dishes, and mopping floors in the Mayflower Grill in
downtown Salisbury. From there, it was on to Princeton,
that great university, for an undergraduate degree, to
Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar--as a Rhodes
scholar--and then on to Harvard Law School.
Paul Sarbanes began his career in public service in
1966. I had just begun my second term as a Member of the
U.S. Senate 2 years before when Paul Sarbanes was elected
to the Maryland State Legislature in 1966. In 1970, Paul
Sarbanes was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
where, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, he
introduced the first article of impeachment against
President Nixon.
That was Paul Sarbanes. After three terms in the U.S.
House of Representatives, in 1976 he was elected to the
U.S. Senate--yes, this body--where his career became even
more fascinating and extraordinary.
In the U.S. Senate, Paul Sarbanes has served as chairman
of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee and chairman
of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Committee. And he was chairman of the very impressive and
influential Maryland Congressional Delegation, which
includes Senator Barbara Mikulski and the House Democratic
whip, Steny Hoyer. Paul Sarbanes has also been a very
effective member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
and the Senate Budget Committee.
Senator Sarbanes has authored and sponsored important
legislation, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which has
been called the most far-reaching reforms of American
business practices since the time of President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt.
I have always admired the quiet but effective way in
which this unassuming, brilliant--I mean brilliant--and
most reasonable lawmaker has performed the Nation's
business. Paul Sarbanes. The Greeks taught the world to
think. I don't know whether that is original or not, but
that is the way I feel about it, in any event. The Greeks
taught the world to think. I have always thought of Paul
Sarbanes as a thinker--a thinker--a thinker. On the Senate
committees on which we have served together, I have
observed how he listens carefully, speaks--not often, but
when he speaks, he speaks so softly, and then gets right
to the crux of a matter. What a mind. What a brain. Yes,
what a thinker. In his own subtle way, he can dissect even
the most powerful and most arrogant witness. Let it be a
Senator, he is the same.
I will always remember and always appreciate the great
support that Paul Sarbanes gave to me during the time I
served as the Senate Democratic Leader. During the most
troubling times, during the most difficult votes, during
the most controversial debate on matters, I could always
count on Paul Sarbanes being there--with his friendship,
his assistance, and his advice. I always called on Paul
Sarbanes as I gathered the chairmen of the committees when
I was the majority leader of the Senate and when I was the
minority leader. I would call my Democratic chairmen
around me. They were my board of directors, the chairmen
of the various committees when we were in the majority. I
always called Paul Sarbanes --he and some others, like
Wendell Ford--but I am talking about Paul Sarbanes. I
cannot begin to describe how important his support was and
how much I appreciated it.
As I have said before, every leader would be fortunate
to have a Paul Sarbanes, this Greek--and I say that with
great pride--this Greek thinker. When I see the statue of
``The Thinker,'' with his fist under his chin, I think of
Paul Sarbanes. Yes, I think of Paul Sarbanes. I was always
so fortunate myself to have Paul Sarbanes as a colleague
to whom I could go and seek advice and counsel.
Senator Sarbanes was one of just 23 Members of this
Chamber who was willing to defy popular opinion--yes, to
stand up to the President of the United States and to
throw himself against the forces of war in voting against
the resolution to launch an unprecedented preemptive
assault, military assault, military invasion of a country
that had never attacked us, never attacked our country; a
country that did not pose a preeminent threat to our
national security--Iraq. If only there had been more
Senators like Paul Sarbanes, one of the 23 immortals. I
like to think of it in that way.
I am in my 48th year in the Senate, and I was 6 years in
the other body, making more than half a century in the
Congress of the United States. I have always, since that
vote, felt that was the greatest vote that I have ever
cast. I have cast more than 17,000 rollcall votes in the
Senate. I will always look upon that vote as the greatest
vote, the vote in which I take the most pride, during my
54 years in the Congress of the United States--the
greatest vote I ever cast. I cast that vote with 22 other
Senators, one of whom is now gone. He died in a plane
crash.
When Senator Sarbanes announced his retirement back in
March 2005, I remarked that he ``will be missed'' and that
he ``will not be replaced.'' While Paul Sarbanes will be
missed, I might have to qualify the latter portion of that
statement. Just a few weeks ago his son, Paul Sarbanes's
son John--John, what a name--won the Democratic primary in
the Third District in Maryland to become a Democratic
nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives. Therefore,
come January we might have another Sarbanes serving with
us in the Congress--praise God. If so, it will be
fascinating to watch that son follow in his father's
footsteps.
As the old saying goes: A Sarbanes goes and a Sarbanes
comes, and Congress, like Tennyson's brook, goes on
forever. That is not really an old saying. I probably just
made it up. But I like it; yes, I like it.
Let me close by simply saying thank you, thank you
Senator Paul Sarbanes. I thank you.
I remember Paul Sarbanes years ago when we were thinking
and talking about and debating the Panama Canal treaty. I
was against that treaty in the beginning, and then I read
``The Path Between The Seas'' and I changed my mind. I
studied the matter. I did what Paul Sarbanes did, I
studied the matter. I thought about the matter. I changed
my viewpoints.
Paul Sarbanes, I thank you. I thank you for being a true
friend. I thank you for being a truly esteemed colleague.
I don't say these words lightly. I have been here a long
time. I know a good man or woman, a good Senator when I
see a good Senator. And I know this man is one of the
finest of all Senators and a great American.
I thank you, Paul Sarbanes, for everything that you have
done for your State and your people and country, our
people. I wish you and your lovely wife Christine nothing
but ambrosia and nectar as you enter the next phase of
your lives.
God Give Us Men
(By Josiah Gilbert Holland)
God, give us men.
A time like this demands strong minds,
Great hearts, true faith, and ready hands.
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie.
Men who can stand before the demagog
And brave his treacherous flatteries without winking.
Tall men, Sun-crowned;
Who live above the fog.
In public duty and in private thinking.
For while the rabble with its thumbworn creeds,
Its large professions and its little deeds,
Mingles in selfish strife,
Lo! Freedom weeps!
Waits, and waiting justice sleeps.
Wrong rules the land, I say, and waiting justice sleeps.
God, give us men!
Men who serve not for selfish booty;
But real men, courageous, who flinch not at duty.
Men of dependable character;
Men of sterling worth;
Then wrongs will be redressed and right will rule the
Earth.
God Give us men--
More men, yes, men like Paul Sarbanes, the Greek
scholar, the Greek thinker, the Rhodes Scholar, a Senator
of whom I am proud and will always speak with great pride.
Mr. SARBANES. Will the Senator yield?
Mr. BYRD. Yes, I yield.
Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I thank the very able
Senator from West Virginia, our leader here for so many
years, for his very generous and gracious remarks. I am
deeply appreciative of his exceedingly kind words.
But I want to thank him even more for the extraordinary
leadership he has provided over his service, both in the
House of Representatives and, for the last 48 years, in
the Senate. I have been here three decades and there is no
one during that time who has spoken more eloquently, more
perceptively about our Constitution and the role of the
Senate within the Constitution, who has sought to
strengthen the Senate as an institution and to have it
play its role in the checks and balances arrangements
which our Founding Fathers established in Philadelphia in
the summer of 1787.
Senator Byrd again and again has called us to a higher
standard. He has urged us over and over to do the right
thing, to understand what our roles are as Senators, and,
as he said, I know of no issue, certainly in recent times,
where he has more pointedly expressed our role than when
we considered the issue of giving the President authority
to go to war in Iraq. It was Senator Byrd who sounded a
clarion call that was heard all across the country, as he
raised the basic questions that needed to be raised with
respect to an issue of such gravity and significance.
I have been honored to serve with the Senator. I early
recognized that the wisest course would be to follow his
leadership. Again and again I have been privileged to have
the opportunity to do that. I thank him very much for what
he just said. I want him to know that as long as he stands
on the floor of the Senate, I have confidence that our
Constitution and this body as an institution are in good
hands.
That is a magnificent service that he renders to the
Republic. I thank him very much.
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank my dear friend. I shall
always cherish the words thus spoken and always reflect
upon this Senator, Paul Sarbanes, with great pride. ...
Mr. ENZI. ... Mr. President, there is always an element
of sadness that touches us all when we come to the end of
a session of Congress. As the clock winds down on the
final hours of our legislative activities, it also signals
the time when several of our colleagues will be retiring
and ending their years of service in the U.S. Senate. One
of our colleagues who will be leaving at the end of this
session is my good friend Paul Sarbanes of Maryland.
I remember when I first came to Washington years ago. I
wanted my staff and I to hit the ground running, so I was
reading up on the people who would be my colleagues in the
Senate. One name caught my eye--Paul Sarbanes. It was
noted that Paul was a brilliant man who was one of the
Senate's most noted authorities on the nuances of finance.
As the Senate's only accountant I found that comment to
be a badge of honor. I knew Paul must be wearing it with
great pride. I knew I would. I took an instant liking to
him.
Through the years Paul and I served on the Banking
Committee together. Our 8 years of service there gave me
an opportunity to come to know him and appreciate his
skills as a legislator. He has a great ability to solve
complicated problems by piecing together workable
solutions and then reaching out to his colleagues on both
sides of the aisle to forge an agreement that could be
passed and signed into law.
As I came to know him, I came to greatly respect him,
the hard work he puts into his job every day of the year,
and his commitment to serve his constituents which
directed his every effort on the Senate floor.
A few years ago I had the chance to work with him one on
one as we crafted the provisions of what came to be known
as the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. We became good friends
during the process and developed a mutual respect for each
other's positions on the issues.
That was back during the days when several scandals had
rocked the accounting and financial industries of our
country. Determined to find a solution, Paul rolled up his
sleeves and went to work. I don't think anyone gave him
much of a chance to succeed, but those were people who
didn't know him or his determination to find a way to
solve a problem once it had captured his attention.
As he began to work on his bill, he knew he wouldn't be
able to pass it without the help of some Senate
Republicans. On the other side of the aisle, we knew we
couldn't get anything through the Senate without the
support of several Senate Democrats. So Paul reached
across the aisle and got us all to work together to bring
his bill to the Senate floor where it was ultimately
passed and signed into law.
As he worked for the people of Maryland and I worked for
the people of my State, we found, despite our political
and philosophical differences, we were always able to find
common ground on the 80 percent of every issue that unites
us. That is why Paul has a well-earned reputation here in
the Senate for his willingness to work out problems for
the greater good. He is known for his ability to navigate
through partisan waters and arrive at solutions which are
appreciated by the thoughtful majorities of both sides of
the Senate. If you ask me, those are the abilities that
have proven to be the secret of his success.
Back home, his constituents appreciate his workhorse
style. He has served Maryland in the Senate for almost
three decades and through it all he has earned the support
of the people back home for his hard work and determined
effort to make their lives better. The issues that were
important to the people who sent him here always led Paul
to the Senate floor to take up the cause and do everything
he possibly could to protect and promote the interests of
those who were counting on him to get results. Needless to
say--more often than not--he did.
Now three decades of service in the Senate have come to
an end and Paul is returning home to Maryland. I know we
will all miss his ingenuity, his creativity, and his
ability to focus our efforts and lead on both local and
national issues. It is a well-known adage that all
politics is local and that is a lesson that Paul learned
and practiced as a master craftsman.
Now he and Christine will have time to enjoy their
families together, and be a part of all that Maryland has
to offer. I have a hunch he will not be slowing down so
much as changing direction. I also expect I will continue
to hear from him from time to time on matters that will
still draw his interest.
It is a phone call I expect and look forward to
receiving in the years to come. ...
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Mr. HAGEL. Mr. President ... As we recognize, it is a
distinct privilege and high honor to serve our country in
any capacity, and certainly none higher than in uniform.
But it is especially important that we recognize those who
have given years of their lives, sacrificing their
families, their own time, to help make a better world for
all of us. I know of no capacity in which we serve our
country that has given those who have had this rare
opportunity to serve in the Senate anything more noble
than trying to shape a better world from this Senate.
These individuals who will leave the Senate, some on
their own terms, some on the terms of the election, but,
nonetheless, in their own specific way have contributed a
great deal to this country.
I take a few minutes to recognize each. ...
Senator Paul Sarbanes, the longest serving Senator in
Maryland, serving five terms in the Senate, was elected to
the U.S. House of Representatives in 1970. I first got
acquainted with Senator Sarbanes not as a Senator but as a
young staff member, chief of staff to a Congressman from
Nebraska, John McCollister, who also had been elected to
the House in 1970.
I have had the privilege of serving on two committees
for the last 10 years with Senator Sarbanes--on the
Foreign Relations Committee and the Committee on Banking.
His courtesies to me, his sharp, defined intellect, his
ability to dissect problems and focus on a resolution,
will be greatly missed in this institution. We wish the
Sarbaneses continued success and a little rest. ...
Mr. President, in conclusion, it is not easy to put
one's self on the firing line and offer one's self as a
candidate for any office. It takes a certain amount of
courage and, I suspect, a little dose of insanity. But
nonetheless individuals who believe deeply enough to
commit themselves to a cause greater than their own self-
interests need to be recognized. Having nothing to do with
me or you or any one individual, but it is the essence of
our country, it is the very fabric of our democracy that
makes it all work and probably gives rise to, more than
any one reason, why we have been such a successful nation
for over 200 years--because people from all walks of life,
in every community, in every State, offer themselves for
office. Whether it is a mayor, a Governor, city
councilman, county official, a sheriff, these individuals
deserve recognition.
We all make mistakes. That is who we are. But in the
end, it is not unlike what Teddy Roosevelt once referred
to in his magnificent quote about the man in the arena.
And it is the man and the woman in the arena who change
our lives. It makes a better world that shapes history,
that defines our destiny. And for these individuals who
will no longer have that opportunity to serve our country
in the Senate, we wish them well, we thank them, and we
tell them we are proud of them and their families and wish
them Godspeed.
Mr. President, I thank you for the time and yield the
floor.
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Mr. REED. Mr. President, this is an opportunity to
recognize the service of several of our colleagues who are
departing from the Senate. To Senator Jeffords, Senator
Frist, Senator DeWine, Senator Talent, Senator Santorum,
Senator Burns, and Senator Allen, let me express my
appreciation for their service to their States and their
service to the Nation and wish them well. I particularly
want to comment, though, on three colleagues with whom I
have had the privilege of working very closely.
The first is my friend and my chairman, ranking member,
Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland.
Paul has had an extraordinarily distinguished career in
the Senate, and he has been the chairman of the Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Joint
Economic Committee, and in both of those capacities he has
made profound and important impacts on the banking system
and the economy of the United States. Housing and urban
affairs have also been improved dramatically by the
efforts of Paul Sarbanes.
When it comes to understanding complex financial matters
there is no one more gifted and more knowledgeable than
Paul Sarbanes. He has an extraordinary record of
legislative achievements. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
stands as a testimony both to his skill as a thoughtful
observer of the financial scene and as a legislator. It
represented major reforms in corporate governance at a
time when confidence in our markets was waning
dramatically after the implosions of Enron and WorldCom.
Through Paul's efforts, confidence was reestablished in a
system of corporate governance which I think will stand
the test of time.
In addition, in 1999 he was instrumental in the
Financial Modernization Act, also known as Gramm-Leach-
Bliley, and was particularly concerned that the Community
Reinvestment Act aspects of the legislation be maintained
because he was always committed to serving people and
giving them opportunities. He understood that the
franchise to operate a financial institution with Federal
deposit insurance required a concomitant commitment to
serve the community, and Paul Sarbanes has done a
remarkable job of maintaining that commitment to all the
communities of America, particularly those that need an
opportunity, need a chance to move forward.
As chairman of the Joint Economic Committee in the late
1980s, he was a thoughtful and careful analyst, someone
who I think led the way analytically to the changes in the
1990s that returned us to a balanced budget and a robust
economy. Paul Sarbanes in many respects, through his work
on the Joint Economic Committee, was the architect of
those efforts in the 1990s.
He has long had a concern about our role internationally
in economic affairs. He was one of the first Members to
raise concerns about Chinese currency and its impact on
our trade, our productivity, and our manufacturing base.
In the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, he
mandated that the Treasury Department report semiannually
to Congress about international economic and exchange rate
policies. I think this is the lever that today is used to
rally support, debate, and attention to the issue of
currency exchange rate policies.
He has also, in his capacity as a leader on the Banking
and Urban Affairs Committee, been active in promoting
transit throughout the United States. He made sure that
our transit systems are supported, and are able to provide
greater accessibility, environmental benefits, while
reducing the demand on foreign oil. His insights into
transit, and his leadership, have benefited everyone in
the country, particularly the 14 million Americans who
rely on mass transit every day.
He has also been a champion for affordable housing. He
has been the author of the Home Investment Partnerships
Program, known as HOME. During the past 16 years it
provided funding to our States and localities to improve
affordable housing. He was one of the key legislators who
offered the Market-to-Market Program, which preserved so
much of our affordable housing, making sure low-income
people have a chance to live in decent and affordable
environments.
He has had the able assistance of Steve Harris, Marty
Gruenberg, Pat Mulloy, Johnathan Miller, Dean Shahinian,
Sarah Kline, Aaron Klein, Lee Price, Patience Singleton,
Jen Fogel-Bublick, Steve Kroll, and Lynsey Graham.
I want to express my best wishes to Paul, to his wife
Christine, and their family. His son John is now the new
Representative for the U.S. House in the Third District of
Maryland, so the Sarbanes tradition carries on.
Let me conclude by saying there is a word in Greek for
integrity and intelligence, and that word is Sarbanes.
Paul, good luck. ...
To all my colleagues who served and conclude their
service, let me once again express deep appreciation for
their friendship and for their service to the Nation.
I yield the floor.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, we are coming to the end
of the session and 10 of our colleagues are retiring. I
want to say a word about them ...
Or Paul Sarbanes, who was in the same Rhodes Scholar
class with Senator Dick Lugar. ...
When the most recent class of Senators was sworn into
office nearly 2 years ago, in the gallery were three
women. One was the grandmother of Barack Obama. She was
from Kenya. One was the mother of Senator Salazar, a 10th
generation American. One was the mother of Mel Martinez,
the new Republican National Committee chairman, who, with
her husband, put her son on an airplane when he was 14
years old and sent him from Cuba to the United States, not
knowing if she would ever see him again.
In a way, each one of us who is here is an accident.
None of us knew we would be here. Each of us is privileged
to serve, and one of the greatest privileges is to serve
with our colleagues. We will miss them and we are grateful
for their service.
I yield the floor.
Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, as the time for my departure
from the Senate draws near, on behalf of the greatest
blessing in my life, my wife Susan, and on behalf of
myself, I thank all of my colleagues for their many
courtesies and friendships that have been forged during
the past 6 years. I offer a few concluding reflections
about our time here together, as well as about the future
of our Republic. ...
Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I see others who
wish to speak, and I will make a couple of brief comments.
In the comments of the Senator from Virginia [Mr.
Allen], his final couple of comments recalled for me a
statement made in the closing of the Constitutional
Convention in Philadelphia, when on the back of the chair
of the presiding officer was a sunburst. Someone opined in
that Constitutional Convention: Dr. Franklin, is that a
rising sun or is it a setting sun? And Franklin ventured
to say that with the birth of the new Nation, with the
creation of the new Constitution, that he thought it was a
rising sun.
Indeed, it is that hope of which the Senator from
Virginia has just spoken that motivates this Senator from
Florida to get up and go to work every day, and to look at
this Nation's challenges, not as a Democratic problem or a
Republican problem, but as an American problem, that needs
to be solved in an American way instead of a partisan way.
We have had far too much partisanship over the last
several years across this land, and, indeed, in this
Chamber itself. And of the Senators who are leaving this
Chamber, I think they represent the very best of America,
and on occasion have risen in a bipartisan way. It has
been this Senator's great privilege to work with these
Senators: Allen of Virginia, Burns of Montana, Chafee of
Rhode Island, Dayton of Minnesota, DeWine of Ohio, Frist
of Tennessee, Jeffords of Vermont, Santorum of
Pennsylvania, Sarbanes of Maryland, Talent of Missouri.
As the Good Book in Ecclesiastes says: There is a time
to be born and a time to die. There is a time to get up,
and a time to go to bed. There is a time for a beginning,
and there is a time of ending.
For these Senators who are leaving, it is clearly not an
ending. It is an ending of this chapter in their lives,
but this Senator from Florida wanted to come and express
his appreciation for their public service, to admonish
those where admonishment is needed when this Chamber,
indeed, this Government, has gotten too partisan, but to
express this Senator's appreciation for the quiet moments
of friendship and reflection and respect in working
together, which is the glue that makes this Government
run.
Whether you call it bipartisanship, whether you call it
friendship, whether you call it mutual respect, whatever
you call it, the way you govern a nation as large and as
complicated and as diverse as our Nation is--as the Good
Book says: Come, let us reason together--that is what this
Senator tries to be about. And that is what this Senator
will try to continue to do in the new dawn of a new
Congress. So I wanted to come and express my appreciation
for those Senators who will not be here, for the great
public service they have rendered.
Mr. President, I am truly grateful for their personal
friendship and for their public service.
I yield the floor.
Mr. DURBIN. ... Another retiring colleague is one of my
favorites. I have been asked time and again: Who are your
favorite Senators on the Democratic side? And I usually
came up with two I always look to for wisdom and guidance:
Paul Sarbanes and Carl Levin. I am glad that Carl Levin
will continue his Senate career and has announced that he
will run for reelection. But Paul Sarbanes is leaving the
Senate after many years of fine service.
Paul Sarbanes is the quintessential American success
story. His parents were immigrants from the same little
town in Greece. They met in America, and what else would
Greek immigrants do? They opened a restaurant--in
Salisbury, MD. They picked a classic American name for
their restaurant. They called it The Mayflower, and Paul
Sarbanes started as a young boy working in his family's
restaurant and living ``above the store,'' as they used to
say.
He graduated from public high school, a pretty good
student and not a bad basketball player. He won a
scholarship to Princeton University, studied as a Rhodes
Scholar at Oxford, and earned a law degree from Harvard in
1960. He was set to make a fortune as an attorney in
private practice but, instead, he listened to President
Kennedy's call to public service and took a job as
assistant to Walter Heller, who was President Kennedy's
Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Paul Sarbanes won his first election 40 years ago to the
Maryland House of Delegates and was elected to the U.S.
Senate 30 years ago. He is the longest serving U.S.
Senator in the history of the State of Maryland. It is
said that the Senate is the most exclusive club in the
world. Paul Sarbanes is a member of one of the most
exclusive clubs within it. Of the 1,885 Americans who have
had the rare privilege and honor to serve in the Senate,
Paul Sarbanes is 1 of only 27 who have been here long
enough to cast 10,000 votes in the Senate.
He is a modest, soft-spoken, hard-working man and one of
the brightest people I have ever served with in the House
or the Senate.
A Congressional Quarterly profile says of Paul Sarbanes:
``He possesses the intellectual skills to leave his
opponents sputtering.''
He was a voice of reason in the House Judiciary
Committee during the Watergate hearings of 1974 and later
in the Senate's Iran-Contra and Whitewater investigations.
It was Senator Sarbanes's leadership in the wake of the
scandals at Enron and WorldCom that led to the reforms in
Sarbanes-Oxley, the most far-reaching reform of
accountability standards since the Great Depression.
An interesting thing happened a week ago. On November
30, a group with an impressive and quasi-official-sounding
name, the Committee on Capital Market Regulation, released
a report arguing that excessive and overzealous regulation
was hobbling U.S. capital markets. The report included 32
recommendations, among them to redesign the SEC, the
Securities and Exchange Commission, to make it friendlier
to business and increase protections against private
lawsuits against businesses--in other words, pull some of
the teeth out of the Sarbanes-Oxley reforms.
The very next day we learned that the report had been
financed by a foundation with ties to what the Washington
Post described as ``a pair of well-heeled business donors
and an executive battling civil charges'' in a lawsuit
filed in New York by the attorney general.
Some pension watchdogs and consumer advocates they
turned out to be. They were sounding an alarm bell with a
real personal interest in mind. So we should take care;
before we make any wholesale change in the Sarbanes-Oxley
rules, we need to understand that we must protect the
integrity and security of America's financial markets.
Paul Sarbanes had the courage to lead that battle. Change
can take place, but let's make sure it is reasonable;
study the issue, and ask the hard questions.
For over 30 years Paul Sarbanes has served Maryland and
the Nation. He has earned a reputation for excellence and
integrity, winning the Paul Douglas Award for Ethics just
2 years ago. He has given America some of the most
important legislation, but he has spoken out consistently
on the floor of the Senate so many times with the kind of
leadership which we ask for in the Senate. I will be sorry
to see him retire.
But the Sarbanes name lives on in Congress. On November
7 his son John Peter Styros Sarbanes was elected to
represent Maryland's Third Congressional District,
replacing Senator-elect Ben Cardin. In typical Sarbanes
fashion, his son won with 65 percent of the vote and will
continue the Sarbanes family tradition of serving Maryland
and America. ...
I wish all of my colleagues who are retiring well as
they begin the next chapters of their careers.
Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell
to several of my friends here in Washington. Too often we
get caught up here in the back-and-forth of politics and
lose sight of the contributions of those with whom we work
every day. It is only at moments such as these, at the end
of a cycle, that we have a moment to reflect on the
contributions of our colleagues. And while we may not
always see eye to eye, this Senate is losing several
admirable contributors who have made many sacrifices to
serve our democracy.
Mr. President, we are losing one of the great deans of
the Senate in my friend Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland.
As many have already noted, Senator Sarbanes helped bring
the greatest disinfectant--sunshine--into the corporate
boardrooms of America after the fall of Enron, to help
investors cull out the few bad apples from the American
economy. In his three decades in the Senate, Senator
Sarbanes has worked with five Presidents, seen the end of
the cold war, the boom of the information age, and even a
balanced budget a few years back. Any regular C-SPAN
viewer would agree that he is one of the most incisive and
skilled questioners in the Senate, and his work has
elicited important testimony, bringing valuable
information to the public sphere, strengthening our
democracy. Through it all, his focus has always been the
people of Maryland, and his wisdom and experience will be
missed. ...
America, when held to its finest ideals, is more than a
place on the globe or a work in progress. It is the
inspiration to those around the world and here at home to
seek out excellence within themselves and their beliefs.
It has been a pleasure to work alongside each of these
gentlemen, who have helped me as I have found my way,
sometimes literally, through the halls of the Senate, in
the pursuit of these greater ideals that we all share:
security, prosperity, and an America that we leave better
than when we arrived. These ideals will resonate here long
after we all are gone and another generation stands in our
place making the decisions of its day.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, for many of us on this side
of the aisle, there is a feeling of excitement and
possibility for the next Congress. But sadly, that
Congress will no longer have the wise counsel,
extraordinary talent, and perceptive insights of our
friend and colleague of many years, the outstanding senior
Senator from Maryland, Paul Sarbanes.
Over the course of his 30 years in the Senate, Paul has
been a consistently eloquent voice of reason, compassion,
and great intellectual depth. He has brought nothing but
dignity to this historic Chamber, and he eminently
deserves his place of honor as the longest-serving Senator
in the history of the State of Maryland.
As a member of the Banking Committee, he has been a
respected leader in expanding and enhancing the economic
vitality of America, especially urban America, through his
strong support for housing, transportation, and financial
policies that make sense for the Nation and its people. In
recent years, he guided into law one of the most
significant reforms of corporate governance in more than
half a century.
As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has
been a highly respected voice on many of the most serious
challenges we face on foreign policy. He was an opponent
of the war in Iraq from the beginning, and he was a leader
in the Iran-contra investigation in the 1980s.
He believes deeply in the importance of public service.
Drawing on his wide learning, he often speaks about the
great importance that the ancient Greeks placed on public
service. I understand he tells young students that in
ancient Athens, people who involved themselves only in
private life were called ``idiotes,'' which is the
original source of the word ``idiot'' in English.
Paul has always been a strong defender of the highest
ideals of the United States at home and for a peaceful
world that respects human rights.
Because of his leadership and the policies he has long
championed, America's cities are reclaiming their
historical role as the heart of American commerce and
culture, and today's shareholders have new confidence in
the integrity of the stocks and bonds they invest in and
depend so heavily on.
It is a record of accomplishment that has improved the
lives of millions of our people and has helped to restore
faith in American business, at a time when public
confidence in corporate America was badly shaken and storm
clouds were gathering over the American economy.
It is also the record of a patient, deliberative, and
active Senate workhorse, who has dedicated his career to
the mastery of complicated, nuanced, and often seemingly
insoluble problems at home and in the wider world. It's
the record as well of a public servant who responded to
the Nation's call to deal with some of the most difficult
challenges of corruption and incompetence in our lifetime.
From the impeachment proceedings against President
Nixon, to the Iran-contra investigation and the Whitewater
hearings, to the way he shone a bright light on the
outrageous and predatory lending practices that exploit
low-income Americans and keep so many hard-working
citizens mired in poverty, Paul Sarbanes was a Senator who
could always be relied on to take the assignment
seriously, prepare brilliantly, and make decisions on the
facts, on the rule of law, and his firm belief in the need
for justice and fairness in public life.
Needless to say, he was a match for even the best of
witnesses. I doubt that any other Senator could go head to
head with a witness in a hearing as skillfully as Paul
Sarbanes could do with Alan Greenspan.
Paul has also been a profile in courage. He voted for
what he thought was right, without regard to the political
consequences. And as his long and strong support by the
people of Maryland made clear, they respected him all the
more because of it.
Few Senators with whom we have been blessed to serve can
match Paul Sarbanes when it comes to decency,
intelligence, or mastery of policy. It is a privilege to
listen to him and learn from him in Senate debate. He can
champion a proposal he favors with great skill and
eloquence, and he can also utterly dissect a flawed
proposal point by point. It can be a very distressing
experience to oppose him on an issue and have him do the
same thing to your side of the argument.
I am fortunate to have supported Paul many more times
than I opposed him. But regardless of which side you were
on, his motivation in debate was always clear--to achieve
the best outcome for the public good, and to do so by
opening his opponents' eyes and minds, not by harshly
attacking their positions.
Author Elizabeth Drew well captured this quality of Paul
in her assessment of life in Washington during Watergate.
She wrote of the young Baltimore Congressman who, with
just 3 years in Congress, found himself in the thick of
the House impeachment proceedings against President Nixon.
He won the attention and respect of the Nation when his
colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee chose him to
be the manager of the first article of impeachment, for
obstruction of justice. As Liz Drew wrote:
History and process lift people, and they have lifted
this group--and given the public a chance to see it. Paul
Sarbanes would not have looked at all bad at the
Constitutional Convention; he might have been one of the
great ones.
I certainly agree. As we say farewell to this
outstanding Senator of our time, we will forever be
grateful to this Greek immigrant son of Maryland for all
he has done to make our country and our world a better
place, and for consistently elevating the quality of life
in the Senate we all love so deeply.
Fifty years ago, Paul was a young student at Oxford
University in England on a Rhodes Scholarship, founded
over a century ago by the wealthy British statesman whose
goal was to encourage students in the English-speaking
world and other countries to be involved in public service
and ``join the world's fight.''
Paul Sarbanes has helped to lead that fight for half a
century, and I am sure that Cecil Rhodes would be very
proud of him.
We will miss you, Paul. We wish you and Christine great
happiness in the years to come. You are irreplaceable, but
we take some comfort in the knowledge that a new young
Sarbanes, blessed with the same intellect and commitment
to public service, will be joining us in January as a
Member of the House of Representatives.
Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I want to express my
appreciation for all of the public service efforts of the
senior Senator from Maryland, Paul Sarbanes. My friend has
served in the Senate since 1977, which makes him the
longest serving U.S. Senator from Maryland.
It has been a pleasure working with Senator Sarbanes
over the years on a number of issues. In 2001, I was
fortunate to be added to the Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs Committee. At that time, the Senator from Maryland
was serving as the chairman of the committee, and it was a
memorable session to be a part of the committee. In the
wake of the accounting failures of Enron and other public
companies, Chairman Sarbanes conducted a very thorough
series of hearings which led to the legislation which is
now known as Sarbanes-Oxley. This is landmark legislation
that has increased corporate responsibility and resulted
in more effective oversight of public companies. Without
the vision, courage, and ability of my friend from
Maryland, that legislation would not have been possible.
Despite numerous obstacles, he brought about comprehensive
accounting reform.
In addition, I have enjoyed working closely with the
Senator from Maryland in trying to improve the financial
literacy of our country. Rising health care costs and
insurance premiums and the lack of affordable housing have
contributed to making the lives of working families more
difficult as they strain to meet their day-to-day needs.
The ability of families to meet their increasing financial
obligations is hampered by their significant debt burdens,
particularly credit card debt, and by predatory lending
practices such as refund anticipation loans. A lack of
financial literacy makes it harder for families to deal
with the difficult decisions they are confronted with
daily. Senator Sarbanes organized the first set of
hearings on the issue of financial literacy and led the
creation of the Financial Literacy and Education
Commission, the purpose of which is to promote financial
literacy and education among all American consumers.
Senator Sarbanes has been a champion for Federal
employees. Throughout his Senate career, he has fought to
ensure that Federal employees and members of the military
receive equal pay increases. He understands that the
Federal civilian workforce plays a significant role in the
support of our Armed Services, and I am honored to join
him annually in offering a resolution calling for pay
parity between the military and Federal workers.
He has been a leading advocate for consumer protection,
increasing access to affordable housing, and improving
public transportation in our country. I will miss having
my good friend from Maryland in the Senate. He has served
Maryland and the country very well. Millie and I wish him
and his family the very best.
Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I rise today to bid a fond
farewell to my dear colleague and role model, Senator Paul
Sarbanes, Maryland's longest serving Senator.
Senator Sarbanes represents the greatest traditions of
this body and of our country. He is the type of Senator we
all imagined in high school civics class--intelligent,
diligent, effective, and thoroughly decent. During the
course of 30 years in the U.S. Senate and another 10 years
in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Maryland
House of Delegates, Senator Sarbanes defined what it means
to be a trusted public servant in America.
Paul Sarbanes grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland,
the son of Greek immigrants who instilled the values of
opportunity and fairness in their child. Motivated and
hard-working, Paul attended Princeton University, studied
in Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and earned a law degree
from Harvard.
Paul first came to the Nation's attention during the
Watergate hearings, where as a freshman member of the
House Judiciary Committee he introduced the first article
of impeachment, which related to obstruction of justice by
President Nixon. Paul's own ethics and integrity are
beyond reproach, and he has brought dignity and
credibility to every task.
In the Senate, Paul's legacy reflects his ideals of
opportunity and fairness. He has continually fought for
legislation to aid veterans, seniors, workers, and indeed,
all Americans. He is a tireless champion for his
constituents, his country, and the highest ethical
standards. As a Princeton alumnus, he has lived Woodrow
Wilson's ideal of ``Princeton in the Nation's Service.''
Each and every day, Paul demonstrates that politics can be
an honorable profession. It should be an honorable
profession, and I can think of no better model for that
ideal than Paul Sarbanes.
In Senator Sarbanes's tenure as both chairman and
ranking member of the Committee on Banking, he led the
fight on behalf of working-class Americans to ensure
affordable housing. He was instrumental in developing and
enacting the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990,
legislation that helps States, local governments, and
nonprofit organizations work together to build, buy, and
rehabilitate housing that hard-working people can afford.
Paul has also worked to protect Americans from
unscrupulous lending practices and discrimination. His
hearings and legislation on predatory lending brought this
problem to the attention of the Nation, and his work to
reduce the cost of private mortgage insurance helped make
home ownership a reality for millions of Americans.
After Enron collapsed under the weight of widespread
abuse and accounting fraud, thousands of workers woke up
to see their jobs and life savings gone, investors lost
billions, and the public cried out against corporate
malfeasance. The credibility of American business and our
financial system was on the line. It was Senator Sarbanes
who brought his intelligence and concern to bear to
restore investor confidence and implement safeguards
against Wall Street abuses. He held comprehensive
hearings, nurtured a bipartisan coalition, crafted
thoughtful legislation, and shepherded it through Congress
with Representative Mike Oxley in the House.
The Sarbanes-Oxley law was the most comprehensive
overhaul of corporate oversight laws since the Great
Depression. It created a standard of transparency and
accountability to assure investors and protect workers. It
is a towering achievement that will strengthen the
American economy for many years to come.
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve with
Senator Sarbanes on the Foreign Relations Committee. I
have marveled at his keen intellect and commitment to his
responsibilities. During committee hearings and committee
markups, Senator Sarbanes is always well-prepared, asks
direct, insightful, and important questions, and makes
sure that no stone goes unturned.
He has played a key role in virtually all of the
significant foreign policy debates that have occurred
during his 30 years of service on the committee. As a
freshman, he was involved in the successful ratification
of the Panama Canal treaties. He worked to enact tough
antiapartheid laws in the 1980s. And he has developed a
long and impressive record on international economics,
foreign assistance, and human rights issues.
The American people have been well served by Paul's
leadership, and this institution would be well served if
each of us was a little more like him. On behalf of all of
us, and for my constituents, I want to thank him for his
service and his example.
Let's wish Senator Sarbanes and his wife Christine well
in this next phase of their lives. But let's also hope
that we will continue to hear Paul's voice on important
policy issues. He may be retiring from this body, but I
suspect his commitment to strengthening this country and
improving the lives of all Americans will continue. For
that, as much as for all that Paul has accomplished
through his distinguished career in the Senate, we should
be grateful. I know that I am.
Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence
of a quorum.
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I have had the privilege of
being here for the 28th year beginning shortly. I
calculated not long ago that I have served with 261
individuals. I am not about to try and review all of the
many magnificent friendships I am privileged to have
through these years. Indeed, if one looks at the rewards,
of which there are many serving in this historic
institution, the Senate, it is the personal bonds, the
friendships that we so firmly cement and that will last a
lifetime as a consequence of our duties of serving the
United States of America and in our respective States.
We are called ``United States'' Senators. I often
believe it is the first obligation, our Nation, the
Republic for which it stands. ...
I would also like to pay tribute to nine other U.S.
Senators who will retire from the Senate in the coming
days.
I have previously spoken in honor of my colleague from
the neighboring State of Maryland, Senator Paul Sarbanes.
Since my first days in the Senate, Senator Sarbanes and I
worked together on a host of important regional
initiatives, including the restoration of the Chesapeake
Bay, improvements to our Metro system, the creation of the
office of the National Capital Region Coordinator, and on
funding for the construction of the new Woodrow Wilson
Bridge. His retirement is certainly a loss to the region
as Senator Sarbanes has been a true champion of many
issues vital to the Maryland, Virginia, and DC
metropolitan area. ...
In conclusion, over the years I have served with each of
these 10 Senators, each has not only been a trusted
colleague, each has also been my friend. I will miss
serving with each of them in the Senate but know that each
will continue in public service in some capacity. I wish
each and every one of them well in the years ahead.
Mr. President, I see a number of colleagues here anxious
to speak, and I have taken generously of the time the
Presiding Officer has allowed me to speak.
I yield the floor.
Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the
great service of retiring Senators Paul Sarbanes, Mark
Dayton, and James Jeffords.
Senator Sarbanes's service in the Senate stretches back
three decades. First elected in 1977, he had previously
served as a Congressman and before that as a delegate in
the Maryland State House. I have been so grateful to the
Senator for his advice and his work in this Chamber.
Senator Sarbanes is the son of immigrants from Laconia,
Greece, and he has often spoken about the pride that he
has for his Greek heritage, as well as the inspiration
that he draws from it through his work in the Senate. His
parents instilled in him a reverence for the principles of
democracy and a respect for the values of opportunity and
fairness. He has championed these values throughout his
life in public service, passing important legislation to
reform the accounting industry, the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley
Act, among many other legislative accomplishments.
I want to thank Senator Sarbanes and his dedicated staff
for their extensive and laudable work on the surface
transportation reauthorization bill and in particular for
their tireless efforts to ensure our Nation's transit
systems are adequately funded. With so much congestion on
our roads it is critical that we continue to invest in our
trains, buses, ferries, and other modes of transportation
to reduce congestion and reduce travel times. Senator
Sarbanes did this work in his role as ranking member of
the Banking Committee, and millions of people every day--
especially in New York--who ride trains and buses to and
from work should be grateful that we had him on our side
for so many years.
I could stand here for a long time singing the praises
and accomplishments of Senator Sarbanes after a long and
distinguished career in the Senate. I will end by saying
this: We will miss him and he has left his mark on this
great Chamber. ...
Finally, I also wish the very best to my Republican
colleagues who will leave the Senate at the conclusion of
this Congress. The Senate, at its best, is a body that
promotes bipartisanship, deliberation, and cooperation,
and the dedication to shared values. It has been a
privilege to work with my departing colleagues on the
other side of the aisle.
Friday, December 8, 2006
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I have a few more minutes
before the 10:30 vote, and I take this time to say a few
words about some of my colleagues who are retiring. We had
a good bit of time yesterday devoted to their tremendous
contributions, and as each of us, the 100 of us, do know
each other pretty well, I have come to the floor to say a
few things about several of the colleagues I have had the
distinct pleasure of working with very closely. ...
To all of our retiring Members, I say thank you. Thank
you for your efforts on behalf of my State when you were
needed and thank you for your service to America.
Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute
to one of the Senate's finest Members, Senator Paul
Sarbanes, who is retiring after 30 years of service in
this Chamber. Senator Sarbanes has served this Senate, his
State, and our country with dignity, wit, and uncommon
wisdom. He is simply one of the smartest, most principled
people I have ever known. He is, quite simply, a class
act.
Paul Sarbanes has focused his energies on governance and
effective legislating. This thoughtful approach has served
him well, served his State well, and served this Chamber
well. Paul Sarbanes never lost an election, and he is the
longest serving Senator in the history of the State of
Maryland.
In the Senate, Paul Sarbanes served with great
distinction as chairman and ranking member of the Banking
and Joint Economic Committees and has long provided wise
counsel on the Foreign Relations Committee.
At the Banking Committee, he has been relentless in
protecting consumers from unscrupulous financial acts.
When the country was hit by scandals in the Enron and
WorldCom cases, Paul Sarbanes acted to protect against
further abuse and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is the result.
That is an act that has stopped further abuse.
Paul Sarbanes also fought for affordable housing, for
adequate public transportation, for transparency at the
Federal Reserve. In debating former Fed Chairmen and the
current one, he has never let central bankers forget that
they must pursue a dual mandate, with jobs for Americans
on an equal footing with fighting inflation.
It has been my honor and my privilege to serve with
Senator Sarbanes on the Budget Committee. Few can match
his understanding of economics and the interaction between
the budget and the economy. His insightful and tenacious
questioning, his even temper, and his humor have made
being his colleague on the Budget Committee both rewarding
and a pleasure.
My favorite story about Paul Sarbanes is from his youth.
Paul Sarbanes was an outstanding athlete. He was a great
baseball player and a great basketball player. In fact, he
was so good in baseball that he was chosen as a Maryland
All Star. He was chosen to play shortstop on that team.
When he showed up for the first practice, the manager
directed him to second base. Paul Sarbanes was a little
surprised by that because he had been chosen to play
shortstop. But he went out and played second base. He
thought there might be some mistake. The next day, he came
to the next practice and was again directed by the manager
to play second base. At this point, Senator Sarbanes
thought he should go to the manager and inquire why--since
he had been chosen to play shortstop--he was playing
second base. The manager looked him in the eye and said,
``Sarbanes, Kaline will be playing shortstop.'' Of course,
the Kaline was Al Kaline, who became a Hall of Fame
baseball player.
That is some measure of the extraordinary athletic
talent that Paul Sarbanes had. It was not his athletic
talent that so distinguished him in this body; it was his
remarkable academic talent, his remarkable ability to deal
with others.
I think in my time in the Senate I have never dealt with
a person of greater wisdom than Paul Sarbanes.
I wish Senator Sarbanes the very best in his retirement
and whatever endeavors he will pursue. His wife, too, has
become a special favorite to our family--so bright, so
talented, and such a good partner with Paul Sarbanes. I
know they are deeply proud that their son has been elected
to the Congress of the United States to represent a
district in Maryland.
Paul Sarbanes has been a great colleague and a very dear
friend to me. I will miss him and his service on the
Budget Committee and in the Senate.
I thank the Chair.
Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, with the close of the 109th
Congress, the Senate will lose to retirement one of our
most seasoned and respected Members--Senator Paul Sarbanes
of Maryland. Across five terms in this body and before
that three terms in the House of Representatives, where I
was privileged to serve with him also, Paul Sarbanes has
made his mark as a serious and diligent legislator, a
classic workhorse Senator rather than a showhorse Senator.
The Baltimore Sun has called him the silver fox Senator
who ``works quietly but with shrewd skillfulness.''
I have always respected and admired Senator Sarbanes,
both as a stalwart Democrat and also always a proud,
unabashed progressive.
As a young man, he graduated from Princeton and went on
to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and then Harvard Law School.
But he never forgot his experiences growing up among the
families of Maryland's Eastern Shore. He never forgot his
roots as the son of a Greek immigrant who worked long
hours to build a successful restaurant business.
In the Senate, Paul Sarbanes has been outspoken in his
support for public schools, expanded access to higher
education, to job training, and the other essential rungs
on the ladder of economic opportunity in America.
He has fought to protect Social Security, to clean up
corruption in the business world. In the wake of the Enron
and WorldCom scandals, Senator Sarbanes took the lead in
crafting legislation to prevent the recurrence of the
rampant accounting fraud that was destroying confidence in
corporate America.
In the early years of this past decade, in classic
Sarbanes style--methodically, thoughtfully, and with a
minimum of partisanship--he held 10 hearings on the issue
in 2002, listening to all points of view. The result is
known universally as the Sarbanes-Oxley law which cleaned
up the accounting industry and mandated new disclosure and
conflict-of-interest reporting requirements on U.S.
corporations.
There are many reasons why Paul Sarbanes is the longest
serving Senator in Maryland history. Throughout his career
in this body, he has fought hard on issues of special
importance to Maryland, including legislation to protect
the Chesapeake Bay. But he has never lost touch with his
roots among working people and the immigrant community.
He has always been a model public servant, a person of
enormous intellect, intelligence, integrity, and industry.
For 30 years in the Senate, Paul Sarbanes has faithfully
served the people of Maryland and the people of the United
States, and there is no doubt he will pursue new avenues
of public service in retirement.
I will miss his friendship, I will miss his wise counsel
in the Senate, but I wish Paul and also his wonderful wife
Christine all the best in the years ahead. ...
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I also will say a word about a
couple of my colleagues who are leaving, and I will be
brief. ...
Finally, Lincoln Chafee. Although I mentioned
Republicans in this list, I certainly don't want to
forget, of course, Paul Sarbanes, who will be leaving at
the end of this year, and others in the House of
Representatives with whom I served as well. I know we all
move on at some time and that none of us is irreplaceable.
But by the same token, these colleagues of ours who will
be leaving will be missed and they will be remembered for
their great service to the Senate, to their States, and to
the United States of America.
I yield the floor.
Mr. DeWINE. ... If there is one thing I have learned in
the Senate, it is that you must work together with members
of both parties, Democrats and Republicans. I see my
friend on the floor, Senator Paul Sarbanes, who will be
leaving. I have worked with him over the years. I have
worked with many Democratic Senators over the years. I
want to take a few minutes to thank them for their
willingness to set aside party politics to make a
difference and to get tangible results. ...
Mr. President, I want to wish the best to all of my
fellow Senators who were defeated this fall or who are
retiring this year ... . They are all good people and all
good friends. I wish them well. ...
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have expressed my feelings
about Paul Sarbanes. I have spoken before the Democratic
caucus about my affection for Paul Sarbanes.
I would like to read from the Congressional Directory
something that this humble man did not tell us. His
bachelor's degree at Princeton University, magna cum
laude, and Phi Beta Kappa; Rhodes Scholar, Balloil
College, Oxford, England; first-class B.A. honors in
School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics; LL.B., cum
laude, Harvard Law School.
These are the things he didn't tell us. He is a man of
great humility, a person the leaders whom I have served
with in the Senate--Senators Byrd, Mitchell and Daschle,
Democratic leaders--counted their font of wisdom, without
question. I sat for 6 years with Senator Daschle, and
whenever there was a difficult issue facing him, he had to
talk to Senator Sarbanes. I, on a number of occasions,
sought Senator Sarbanes to come and visit with Senator
Daschle.
I am disappointed that Paul Sarbanes is going to be
leaving because that font of knowledge, that font of
wisdom will no longer be available to me. The leaders used
the knowledge and the wisdom conveyed to them by Senator
Sarbanes for the good of the Republic.
Senator Sarbanes has heard me on a number of occasions
express my appreciation for his friendship and for his
dedication to our country, but he has also heard me on
every occasion I have had the opportunity to talk about
his athletic prowess.
Paul Sarbanes, even though he kind of saunters around
with the dignity of a Sarbanes, as a young man he was a
good athlete. My favorite story some of our colleagues
heard me say, and I know Senator Sarbanes has heard me say
it and he is going to hear it again. He was selected as
one of the best baseball players in all of Maryland. He
comes from the Eastern Shore for the All-Star tournament
in Baltimore. The starting lineup is announced: Sarbanes,
second base. He went to speak with the manager and said:
``I am a shortstop.'' The manager ignored him. He came
back a little bit later and said to the manager: ``I was
selected to be an All-Star second baseman.'' The manager
ignored him. He went back a third time. The manager said:
``Sarbanes, leave me alone. I'm starting Kaline at
shortstop.''
Of course, we know Kaline went on to the big leagues
when he was 18 or 19 years old.
I am going to miss this good man and his wife Christine
so very much. He is what, in my estimation, a Senator
should be.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I said a few words on the
floor the other day. I meant every one of them. Senator
Paul Sarbanes has been kind enough to thank me. I wanted
to say briefly that from time to time people back in
Illinois would ask me: Of all those Senators with whom you
serve, which ones do you respect the most? Without
hesitation, I would always mention the name Paul Sarbanes.
I respect him so much, not only for his intelligence and
his good humor but also for his wit and his wisdom.
The reflective past he has referred to in public service
starts in the House of Representatives, his service on the
House Judiciary Committee during the tumultuous days of
the Watergate hearings, impeachment trial, and coming full
circle to the Senate. He has a lifetime of public service
of which he can be proud.
Christine, his wife, has been at his side. And I know
she has shared in many of the great victories that their
family has been able to enjoy. The greatest victory, I
understand, is now the election of her son. She is so
proud, as Paul told us, their son John is going to follow
in his father's footsteps as a Congressman in this
upcoming Congress.
I will truly miss Paul Sarbanes as a great Senator and a
great friend.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I, too, want to join in the
chorus of colleagues by thanking Senator Sarbanes for all
he has meant to Maryland, all he has meant to the Senate,
all he has meant to the country, and all that he has meant
to me.
I knew Senator Sarbanes 20 years ago, but I knew Paul
Sarbanes long before that. I knew him when he was a young
lawyer starting out to run for the House of Delegates. I
was also, at that time, a young social worker. We were
working to stop a highway in the neighborhood. We were the
young reformers. Baltimore was dominated by political
bosses, by the political machine. And Paul Sarbanes was
the first one to buck the machine, to go directly door to
door to represent the people. Baltimore has not seen for
years someone who would actually go out and knock on doors
asking people for their vote, bypassing the existing
establishment and empowering the people.
Senator Sarbanes won that House of Delegates seat and
did a great job.
Then he had a hard-fought, again, door-to-door battle--
bucking the big boys and big bucks, door to door going
right through, going directly to the people who brought
him to the House.
In 1976, that wonderful Washington centennial year, we
in Baltimore, the home of the ``Star Spangled Banner,''
celebrated by sending Paul Sarbanes to the Senate. And, by
the way, that young social worker went to the House of
Representatives.
Senator Sarbanes and I have been side by side for those
years. All of my colleagues have talked about the enormous
trust and respect they have for him.
Much has been said and there is much to be respected
about Senator Sarbanes--his integrity, but trust is really
the word. You can trust Senator Sarbanes. You can count on
Senator Sarbanes. You always knew he would be there when
you needed him. The people of Maryland knew that when they
needed him to be able to stand up for those who didn't
have a voice, people with dirt under their fingernails,
the people who worked in those kinds of jobs where at the
end of the day you have a bad back, you earned the minimum
wage, you didn't have a health benefit, and you wondered
who really cared about you, Paul Sarbanes would do that.
When people invested their life savings and their
pension and saw corporate greed eating all of that, they
wondered who would speak for honesty and integrity. They
knew they could trust Paul Sarbanes.
On issue after issue, people knew they could trust him--
and they certainly could.
You could also count on his wonderful staff. The
Mikulski staff has such great admiration for the Sarbanes
staff. It is so outstanding. Similar to the man they work
for, they bring great intellectual vigor, great integrity,
and a great ethic of hard work.
We often laugh that we are the ``diner Democrats.''
Senators have heard about Senator Sarbanes's mom and dad
running a diner--my mom and dad owned a grocery store. We
were kind of the grassroots retail people. So we feel very
close to the people.
But again, a tribute to him would be incomplete without
recognizing the dynamic duo of Christine, who has been an
outstanding partner for Paul Sarbanes and quite a force in
the community in her own right. Whether it has been
working for the United Nations and for UNICEF in their own
community, or to be on the library board to expand
literacy opportunities, Christine has been a force in and
of herself and for their wonderful children--John who now
joins us in the House.
I could talk at length about Paul Sarbanes, but I will
tell you he has been my friend. We have sat next to each
other on the Senate floor. We have actually voted in the
Senate precincts. When I came to the Senate, I was the
only Democratic woman to serve here. But I had a saying as
I traveled Maryland and traveled throughout the country.
When people said: How does it feel to be the only
Democratic woman in the Senate, I said: You know, I might
be all by myself, but I am never alone. I have Paul
Sarbanes. And that is true for the people of Maryland.
We wish him well. I know I am going to be seeing him.
Wherever there is a good bagel or a good political event,
I know that Paul Sarbanes will be there.
Paul, Godspeed and God bless.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am very moved by the words
of Senator Mikulski. And as I look over there at the two
of them side by side for so many years, I feel a void
already because they have been so outstanding as a team.
And I must say they are an inspiration to all of us who
have watched their friendship, genuinely caring about each
other and their amazing partnership for the people of
Maryland.
I certainly can't add anything more to what Senator
Mikulski has said. I will try to say, from my perspective,
a little bit about what Senator Sarbanes has meant to me.
It is a story that not many people know. But when I was
in the House of Representatives, I was called on to speak
about the environment at the Democratic Convention when
Geraldine Ferraro was the Vice Presidential candidate and
Walter Mondale was the nominee. That was a long time ago.
I was thrilled. I was an unknown House Member. Now, of
course, I am so excited to be taking over the reins of the
Environment Committee, but the environment has been a
signature issue.
Well, what happened that night was I was slated to talk
in prime time. But something funny happened on the way to
the forum, which was that Jesse Jackson spoke at the
convention. And he spoke, and he spoke, and he spoke, and
then he spoke some more. And then they cheered him on, and
then he spoke some more. Well, this was my moment in the
Sun. I had bought a new suit. I called my mother on the
East Coast. I said: ``Ma, big time.'' She kept saying:
``When?'' And it kept going on and on. Now, when Jesse
Jackson finished his amazing oratory, the entire place
emptied out. There was no one left in this huge arena. The
chair of the convention had to say: Please leave quietly,
we have another speaker. And it was me. No one was left
but my family and Paul Sarbanes. He knew me just a little
at the time. He wanted to encourage me. And he sat down
right in front of me with a sign that said something like:
Go, Barbara, go green--or something like that. He stood
there and cheered.
Little did I know at the time that he would, many years
later, welcome me to the Senate, as of course he did.
I know there is other business coming before the Senate.
So I am not going to speak very long at all except to say
this: What a privilege it has been, Paul, to work with
you. We are on the Foreign Relations Committee together.
For a time we were on Banking and Budget. And I watched
you like a hawk. You are a humble man, but you could quiz
a witness like nobody else, and with your quiet voice made
your point and made a point for the people.
I think you are one of the finest minds the Senate has
ever had. I think that you have one of the finest hearts.
You don't wear it on your sleeve, but you have it. And I
want you to know I have benefited so much watching you and
learning from you, and even tonight as you made your
farewell speech, you spoke so little about yourself. You
spoke about your family, but the most important thing you
spoke about is this great country that has lifted us all
up, the three of us on the floor tonight. We know what it
is like to be born in a lower middle class family and
struggle our way up. We want to make sure that opportunity
is there. That is what you spoke about tonight, in all
your eloquence.
So I will miss you very much. I thank the people of
Maryland for being so wise to send us two such Senators. I
know Paul Sarbanes has many wonderful days ahead and much
work awaits him.
I yield the floor.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to
my good friend and colleague, the senior Senator from the
great State of Maryland, who will be leaving this body at
the end of this Congress. Paul Sarbanes and I have shared
the past 30 years in this body together, and I can say
that the Nation will be losing one of its most talented,
well respected, and principled public servants when he
steps away from the office he has held with such honor and
integrity.
Paul's career is one that I believe still to this day
reflects the values instilled upon him by his parents,
Greek immigrants to this country, who infused in him a
strong work ethic and a sense of service to others. He
worked his way through school while growing up on
Maryland's beautiful Eastern Shore and earned a
scholarship to Princeton University, where he excelled
academically, and earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford.
If that weren't enough, Paul also went to Harvard Law
School.
With all his abilities, with his clear leadership
potential and promising future, Paul chose to dedicate
himself to the service of others. From his years in the
Maryland House of Delegates, to his time across the
Capitol in the House of Representatives, through his years
here in the Senate, Paul has always used his unique
abilities and vast knowledge, tirelessly working toward
finding solutions to the country's most pressing issues.
That is why I was so honored to be able to work closely
with him in drafting portions of the Public Company
Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002,
more commonly known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Paul's
leadership as chairman of the Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs Committee was needed more than ever as the
American people learned of the deception that corporate
leaders had perpetrated. In a business culture that seemed
to reward greed and devalue honesty and accountability,
Paul was able to create a bipartisan piece of legislation
that mirrored his values and took a stand for countless
ordinary Americans who were victims of the prevailing
culture of corporate excess. It was my distinct pleasure
to work with him in such a noble effort, and I believe it
is fitting that such important legislation bears his name
and will serve as a testament to his character for many
years to come.
I will miss Paul Sarbanes, although I take comfort
knowing that he won't be far away. His career is a lesson
to us all in what the Senate is all about. It is with a
heavy heart that I bid my friend farewell, and thank him
for setting such a wonderful example for us all to follow.
I know he will stay a clear voice for America--but now
he and Christine can also have the time together they so
deserve.
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I would like to take a few
minutes to reflect on the remarkable career of my good
friend and colleague, Senator Paul Sarbanes, and to thank
him for his service to our country.
The life of Paul Sarbanes is the archetypical story of
America. He is the son of Greek immigrants who moved to
the Eastern Shore of Maryland and started their own
restaurant, where Paul helped out after school. His
parents encouraged him to get an education, a message that
he took to heart. He received a scholarship to Princeton,
was a Rhodes Scholar, and then graduated from Harvard Law
School.
After graduation, he quickly gained a taste for economic
policy by working at the Council of Economist Advisers
during the Kennedy administration under Walter Heller,
when the famous Kennedy tax cuts were passed. I am not
sure that people around here fully grasped--and he is
certainly not one to toot his own horn about the depth of
his experience in the area of economics, but it is
substantial.
He entered the Senate the same year I did, 1976, after
stints in the House of Representatives and the Maryland
House of Delegates. He quickly sought to use his economic
acumen and joined the Banking Committee and the Joint
Economic Committee, both of which he would later chair. He
played an integral role in the Banking Reform Act of 1999
that made it easier for banks to diversify their
investments and increased competition in the industry,
giving consumers wider choice in this arena and better
returns to their savings. While we all acknowledge and
bewail the low savings rate in this country and grasp for
ways to fix it, the reforms passed by Paul were an
important step in the right direction that we can and
should build on.
He has also fought a yeoman's battle to improve the
quality of economic data produced by our Government. It is
a topic that sounds deadly dull, but it is vitally
important, and Paul Sarbanes has made it his duty to get
this accomplished. Thanks to his efforts we have much more
accurate, reliable, and timely data on economic growth,
wages, and employment. We may not always agree on how our
Government should go about trying to increase these
economic indicators, but because of Paul's efforts we know
much better what we are arguing about and how successful
our efforts have been.
To me, that is one of the marks of a great Senator:
being willing to take on a low-profile issue that gains
him nothing with the press or his constituents, but
nevertheless improves our well-being. The economists who
use this data and the statisticians who produce the data
know exactly how much Paul's leadership has benefited the
country, and this is something that I want the rest of the
country to know as well.
Of course, despite his numerous accomplishments in the
Senate, he will be best known for his authorship of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. I do not need to remind my
colleagues that in 2002 our financial markets were in sore
shape and in dire need of ameliorative steps of some sort.
People were beginning to lose faith that they could trust
putting their money in the domestic stock market, a state
of affairs that potentially threatened the very fiber of
our economy. In the Congress there were lots of ideas on
how to fix this but very little consensus.
Paul waded into this morass and helped shape an all-
encompassing bill in short order that addressed many of
the problems endemic in our financial markets. Thanks to
his skillful maneuvering and that of his House partner on
this bill, Mike Oxley, this legislation quickly passed the
House and Senate and became law, stanching the wound in
our financial markets. Like every major piece of
legislation passed by the Congress, the Sarbanes-Oxley
bill was not perfect. However, today the Dow Jones
Industrial Average is near an all-time high and over 50
percent higher than in the summer of 2002, in no small
measure thanks to Senator Sarbanes's efforts.
This is, and remains, a mark of a Senator of
distinction: One who rises to the occasion when a crisis
ensues and creates an environment where Members can work
together, across party lines, and with scarce regard to
short-term political exigencies, to come up with a
solution.
To my esteemed colleague, Senator Paul Sarbanes, I give
you my best wishes in retirement, our thanks for a
sterling career in service to your country, and my
gratitude for your friendship over these many years.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I want to join my colleagues
in bidding good wishes and Godspeed to Senator Paul
Sarbanes, the senior Senator from Maryland and the longest
serving Senator in Maryland history, as he retires this
week.
Senator Sarbanes was elected to the Senate 2 years
before me, and thank goodness he was here. Paul Sarbanes
has been a dear friend, an indispensable source of wisdom,
a trusted ally, and an inspiration. Senator Sarbanes and I
even briefly shared an office, when the anthrax attacks of
2001 forced him to leave his office in the Hart Building
and set up shop temporarily in my conference room. After
years of close cooperation, we were literally working side
by side.
What I have found over these years is that Paul Sarbanes
is one of the smartest, kindest, and most thoughtful
public servants in Government. He is quiet and does not
seek the limelight, but behind his calm demeanor is a
skilled legislator with a keen mind. Senator Sarbanes
operates by compromise and by building consensus, but he
also has plenty of backbone when it is needed. He knows
when to coax, when to charm, and when to say ``enough is
enough'' and get things done.
In the wake of the accounting scandals at Enron and
other corporations, it was Senator Sarbanes's leadership
that led to the most significant reforms of accounting
practices in a generation. The landmark Sarbanes-Oxley
legislation, which grew out of his long-standing
commitment to corporate responsibility and high ethical
standards in business, curbed some of the corporate abuses
that had shaken investor confidence in American business.
That law has produced its critics, but most of the
detractors are unhappy because Sarbanes-Oxley is so
effective. Sarbanes-Oxley forces accountants to actually
review the books. It forces CEOs to understand, review,
and sign off on the company's financial statements. And it
forces companies to produce meaningful financial
statements with internal controls that back up the
numbers. There are some critics who are waiting for
Senator Sarbanes to leave the Senate, hoping to weaken
what he built, but they will find many Senators, including
this one, who will fight to maintain high standards.
Sarbanes-Oxley will continue to serve as the foundation
for reasonable regulation of our capital markets.
While his name will always be associated with the
Sarbanes-Oxley law, Senator Sarbanes remains an unsung
hero for another accomplishment: cracking down on money
laundering through the PATRIOT Act. I want to sing his
praises on this for a moment because it is an issue I am
passionate about and because Senator Sarbanes deserves
greater recognition for his work.
For several years prior to the 9/11 attacks, I worked on
strengthening anti-money laundering laws--holding
hearings, producing reports, and writing legislation, but
my effort had not succeeded. After 9/11, it was clear that
U.S. anti-money laundering laws were full of gaps and
vulnerabilities that needed to be addressed. But it was
also clear that many in the financial industry did not
want to have to operate under tougher laws. Nothing would
have been accomplished even then if Paul Sarbanes had not
stepped up and led.
In the month after 9/11, Senator Sarbanes showed his
legislative genius by taking a diverse group of provisions
suggested by many different Senators and House Members,
taming the competing interests, and writing a package
quickly enough to be included in the PATRIOT Act. His own
contributions included a key provision to make anti-money
laundering programs mandatory rather than optional and to
require anti-money laundering programs at a wide spectrum
of financial institutions, such as securities firms and
insurance companies, not just banks. He also required for
the first time that securities firms report suspicious
activity.
In addition to these major changes, Paul helped enact a
variety of provisions that I had been pushing for years.
For example, he included my provision that barred banks
and securities firms from opening accounts for shell
banks, closing a major gateway for money laundering. He
also helped shut down the flow of dirty money from foreign
dictators who were looting their own countries and
depositing their ill-gotten gains at U.S. banks by
including my provision to make proceeds of foreign corrupt
practices covered by our money laundering laws.
And he did all of this work in 1 month, running the
conference committee out of his hideaway office in the
Capitol with 1 computer, 3 phones, and a shifting group of
about 50 staffers from the White House, Senate, House,
Justice Department, Treasury, and other agencies. He was
the only Senator who was present throughout the entire
conference, and it was his work at key moments that kept
the anti-money laundering provisions in the PATRIOT Act.
Senator Sarbanes's leadership is one of the great untold
stories of that bill, and I hope that his role will one
day be properly recognized.
Paul Sarbanes has given Maryland and America a lifetime
of public service, on President Kennedy's Council of
Economic Advisors, in the Maryland House of Delegates, in
the U.S. House of Representatives, and in the U.S. Senate.
I know that Paul is proud that his son John will now carry
on that tradition of service, having been elected last
month to represent Maryland's Third District in the House.
We will welcome John Sarbanes to Congress, but we will
greatly miss his dad.
My wife Barbara joins me in congratulating Senator
Sarbanes on his retirement and in wishing him and his wife
Christine all the best. We treasure their friendship and
hope they will visit our Senate family often.
Senator Sarbanes, with apologies to your Greek forebears
for my pronunciation: chronyapola. May you have many
years.
Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, today I acknowledge and
honor my colleague, Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland. As
Maryland's longest serving U.S. Senator, Senator Sarbanes
leaves our great halls with a legacy of distinction and an
undying dedication to his State and this country. I have
tremendous respect for Paul Sarbanes and the statesmanlike
ethics he has brought to this institution. Though his
three decades of service contain many significant
achievements, none stand out more for me--on a personal
level--than when Senator Sarbanes assisted in my
confirmation process to become the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development. I greatly
appreciate the opportunity I had to serve this country in
that capacity, and Senator Sarbanes played no small role
in allowing me to do so.
Thank you, Senator Sarbanes, for your meaningful work
and lifelong commitment to public service.
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise to honor in the highest
possible terms and with profound respect, Senator Paul
Sarbanes, one of the true giants of this institution, a
sterling public servant and an inspiration to the people
he has represented for 36 years--30 of them in the U.S.
Senate, where he has since become Maryland's longest
serving U.S. Senator. I am grateful to call him a dear
friend and treasured colleague.
A graduate of Princeton University and one of only two
Rhodes Scholars in the current U.S. Senate, Senator
Sarbanes has brought a remarkable and stellar mind to his
venerable legacy of public service. Elected to the U.S.
House in 1970 and to the U.S. Senate in 1976, he has
served the people of Maryland with exemplary integrity and
distinction.
The principles of fairness and opportunity have directed
his tenure of tireless civic contribution, characterized
by a relentless dedication to serving the public
interest--a devotion to defending and promoting the common
good exemplified by his efforts to enact the law that
today bears his name--the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
I also share a bond with Paul Sarbanes that transcends
our service together in the U.S. Senate, including our
substantial work together on the Senate Budget Committee
as well as on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We
are both the children of Greek immigrants--both of our
parents owned restaurants and inculcated in us a passion
and commitment to education, service, and hard work.
Paul Sarbanes has been a hero to Hellenic-Americans for
decades. On countless occasions I have been referred to as
``one of two Greek-Americans in the U.S. Senate'' and I am
so proud that the Senator from Maryland, Paul Sarbanes,
has been the other. Whether serving in the Maryland House
of Delegates, the U.S. House of Representatives, or the
U.S. Senate, Paul has always been driven by the same
Hellenic principles that make our heritage and community
great. He remains an inspiration to innumerable Hellenic-
Americans.
As a result of heroic and Herculean service, Paul
Sarbanes was honored in June 2003 with the prestigious
Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award from the
University of Illinois--established in 1992 to honor
Senator Douglas, a man often labeled ``the conscience of
the United States Senate.'' The award was fittingly
designed to honor individuals who have made a substantial
contribution to promoting ethics. And Senator Sarbanes
also received the Cox, Coleman, Richardson Award for
Distinguished Public Service, from Harvard Law School in
March 2004.
Senator Sarbanes's vigorous and exemplary engagement in
matters of public affairs undeniably epitomizes the
following admonition from Pericles in his funeral oration
more than 2,000 years ago that ``we do not say that a man
who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his
own business; we say that he has no business here at
all.'' Being involved in the civic life of one's
community, country, and heritage was not an option for the
sons and daughters of Pericles, and it has been an
expectation that the legacy of Senator Sarbanes inspires
all of us to meet.
As much as the Senate will miss his esteemed presence
and I will miss his collegiality in this Chamber, I am
heartened by our enduring friendship and by a new
generation from the Sarbanes family entering public life
in the upcoming Congress with John Sarbanes, serving in
the U.S. House.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today unable to find the
words I need to express just what it has been like to go
to work every day with a real, live Greek philosopher.
Of course, I mean Paul Sarbanes--who is the longest
serving Senator in the history of the State of Maryland;
who has been among the wisest Members to sit in this body;
who is serving out his last week here with us. I have come
to the floor today to say goodbye; and as I do, I remember
one of my favorite Greek stories--which, in a bit of a
roundabout way, reminds me of Paul.
When the Athenians set up the first democracy and
declared that every citizen could go and vote in the
Assembly, they ran into just one problem--no one wanted to
go. It turned out that the Athenians were also the first
to discover voter apathy: It turned out that most of the
citizens would much rather spend time buying and selling
in the marketplace than arguing politics in the assembly.
So the leaders came up with a plan. They hired the two
burliest men they could find and gave them a long rope
clipped in fresh red paint. And then the two burly men
would stand on opposite sides of the market square and
shout ``Everybody out.'' And after about a minute, they
would each grab an end of the rope that was dripping with
paint and walk down the square; and anybody who didn't get
out of there in time had to go around for the rest of the
day with his shirt ruined.
I said that story reminds me a bit of Senator Sarbanes.
Not because his clothing has been anything but impeccable
and stain-free--but because it points out just how
remarkable his 40-year career in public life has been. The
truth is that people have been finding ways to avoid the
responsibility of governing since governing was invented.
So when we have the luck to find a man willing to give not
just an afternoon's service to his country, but a whole
life--and when he turns out to be a man of uncommon
intelligence and humility--we know what a treasure we have
stumbled on.
We can think back to those Athenians dawdling in the
marketplace and ask ourselves: didn't they know? Didn't
they know they were in ``Ancient Greece,'' for crying out
loud? Didn't they know they were supposed to be in the
cradle of democracy? Didn't they know we'd be talking
about them a couple of millennia later on the floor of the
U.S. Senate?
But of course, they had no idea, and we can't blame
them--they had lives to live. Compared to the getting and
spending, the errands and talk that go on in the market
square, the work of governing can seem like a book of the
driest prose. The print is tiny and the lines are closely
spaced.
It takes an uncommon mind to appreciate the value, the
necessity, of what's in that book--but Paul Sarbanes has
had one all his life. He showed it when he won a Rhodes
Scholarship and went on to graduate first in his class at
Oxford. He showed it when he was elected to the Maryland
House of Delegates back in 1966, and then through three
terms in the House and five in the Senate, through a
career one newspaper called ``electorally invincible.''
And he showed it as one of the most quietly influential
members of this body, a listener in a town full of
talkers, a living example of the maxim, ``It's amazing
what you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the
credit.''
But I can think of at least one accomplishment for which
Senator Sarbanes's credit is assured. In 2002, when he was
chairman of the Banking Committee, a series of corporate
scandals shocked the stock market, sapped trust in our
economy, and cost shareholders and workers billions of
dollars. But Paul confronted the crisis of confidence and
wrote legislation that helped restore accountability to
accounting. Sarbanes-Oxley was greeted as the most
fundamental reform of American business since the Great
Depression; and I believe it will be Paul's legacy. I was
proud to help him; and I will be even prouder to sit in
his chairman's seat on the Banking Committee. Paul--your
work will be mine, I promise.
Of course, Senator Sarbanes will be leaving another
legacy here in Washington--his son John, who was elected
to represent his father's old House district in the 110th
Congress. I've never met John Sarbanes, but if the son is
anything like the father, 2006 will look a lot like 1970:
We'll be able to walk over to the House side and find a
bright young man of immigrant heritage at the start of his
Washington career, brought up in the tradition of service
and full of the quiet virtues.
I don't think politics has changed so much since 1970
that those virtues aren't still in high demand. And come
to think of it, politics hasn't changed so much since the
days of the rope in the marketplace--with at least one
notable exception. We have gotten rid of the rope. In our
country, no one forces you to care. No one forces you to
vote. No one forces you to serve. If you do those things
anyway, it's not a measure of compulsion, but of
conviction. And if, like Paul Sarbanes, you had the talent
to make a career for yourself anywhere in the world but
chose to spend it here, then we owe you our thanks--for
your company, for your wisdom, for 40 years well spent in
the Assembly.
Goodbye, Senator Sarbanes,--and my best wishes for you
and your wife Christine for many years to come.
Mr. President, today I pay tribute to my departing
colleagues who have, for a time, lent their talents, their
convictions, and their hard work to this distinguished
body. I may have had my disagreements with them, but the
end of a term is a time for seeing colleagues not simply
as politicians, but as partners who have ``toiled, and
wrought, and thought with me.'' Each, in his own way, was
distinctive; and each, in his own way, will be sorely
missed. ...
Mr. REID. Mr. President, the great Senator Daniel
Webster once remarked that the Senate is a place ``of
equals of men of individual honor ... and personal
character.''
He was right, and we can see what he was talking about
in the fine men the Senate is losing to retirement at the
end of this Congress: Senator Frist, Senator Sarbanes,
Senator Jeffords, and Senator Dayton.
On previous occasions, I have talked about how much I
appreciated serving with Senators Frist and Jeffords.
Today, I would like to say a few more words about Senators
Sarbanes and Dayton.
Paul Sarbanes is a man I have always admired. We share a
similar background.
I grew up in a small Nevada town. My parents weren't
well connected or highly educated. But as we see in my
life--and Paul Sarbanes's life--in America your background
does not matter. Paul is the son of Greek immigrants. His
parents didn't have a formal education, but they worked
hard. They owned a restaurant--the Mayflower Grill on Main
Street in Salisbury, MD.
Paul worked hard too, and as a result, he has lived the
American dream. This son of Greek immigrants is the
graduate of some of the world's leading educational
institutions, and for the last 30 years, he has been a
leading voice in the world's greatest deliberative body.
Paul received an academic and athletic scholarship to
Princeton University, from which he graduated in 1954.
After graduation from Princeton, he received the Rhodes
Scholarship, which sent him to Oxford, England, until
1957. When Paul came back to the States, he went to
Harvard to earn his law degree.
In 1970, Paul won his first Federal election--to the
U.S. House of Representatives. In 1976, he came to the
Senate.
During the next 30 years, he made a tremendous mark on
our country.
Paul Sarbanes has been an excellent Senator, but he has
always excelled when the country needed him the most--
during times of crisis.
During Watergate, he was a leading voice for reform in
the House. During Iran-Contra, he led the fight for the
truth in the Senate. And more recently, in the wake of the
Enron accounting scandals, he was largely responsible for
reforms which restored the people's confidence in
corporate America.
During his 30 years in the Senate, Paul Sarbanes has
cast over 11,000 votes. Not all of them were as monumental
as his work on Watergate, Iran-Contra and Enron, but every
one of them was cast with the people of Maryland, and the
people of the United States in mind. ...
Mr. President, Mark Dayton, like Paul Sarbanes, like Jim
Jeffords, like Bill Frist, will be missed.
The Senate--and our country--are better off because of
their service.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. ... Mr. President, Senator Sarbanes, the
son of Greek immigrants, embodies the very heart of the
American dream.
Senator Sarbanes's parents, who never received a college
education, instilled in him the belief that no matter
where you go and what you see, you should always stand by
your principles and never forget your roots.
He became a Rhodes Scholar.
Senator Sarbanes served the people of Baltimore with
distinction and honor in the Maryland Legislature before
coming to Washington to represent them on a national
level.
After a period of service in the House of
Representatives, he was elected to the Senate in 1976.
Since then, he has held numerous positions within the
Senate.
Most recently, he served as the ranking member of the
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and as
a senior member of the Foreign Relations, Budget, and
Joint Economic Committees.
Today we bid him farewell after five terms in the U.S.
Senate, which makes him the longest tenured Senator in
Maryland's storied history.
Paul is a good friend, and I will miss him. ...
UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--TRIBUTES TO RETIRING SENATORS
Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the tributes to
retiring Senators be printed as a Senate document and that
Senators be permitted to submit tributes until December
27, 2006.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Mr. STEVENS. ... Mr. President, I've come to the floor
to pay tribute to Senator Paul Sarbanes for his
outstanding service. The senior Senator from Maryland has
served longer than any other Senator from his State.
Throughout the years, I have been jealous of one thing--
his short ride home. There are, actually, other things I
admire about Paul. For instance, we are a Chamber with
many lawyers, and I can say Paul has been one of our best.
Senator Sarbanes has used his skill to greatly benefit
his State. We recently worked together on a bill that will
enhance the security of our Nation's ports. As a Senator,
Paul Sarbanes has worked tirelessly to ensure the ports in
his home State, and all ports in America, are safe.
This distinguished gentleman from Maryland has served
his constituents admirably and I wish him well. ...