[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 8] [Senate] [Pages 11175-11176] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]THE BIRTH OF MEGAN RILEY McGRADY Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I get to announce to my Senate family that I am a grampa again. Incidentally, that is spelled with an ``m'' and no ``d,'' grampa, the greatest title anyone can have. It is an indescribable thrill. It is incredible love. You cannot comprehend all of what I am saying unless you have a grandchild. I have two other grandchildren, but this time Diana's and my youngest child, the baby of the family, had a baby. Emily and her husband Mike, Mike McGrady, met at the University of Wyoming. Mike broke family Florida University Gator tradition to come to Wyoming, but it was part of God's plan. Emily and Mike fell in love and got married. Emily worked for the university while Mike went to law school. When he graduated, he got a job clerking for Federal Circuit Court Judge Terry O'Brien. Last year they bought a house. This year, they called to ask what we were planning to do for Memorial Day and suggested we might want to be near them for the birth of our grandchild. We were near. Our daughter Emily and her daughter Megan had extremely fortunate timing for Diana and me. Diana and I were in Wyoming for the workweek. Some call it a recess. I prefer to call it, more accurately, a workweek. The baby started coming almost on schedule. We went to the hospital when Emily went into labor. The family took turns walking the halls with Emily while she could. After 13 hours of labor, mother and baby were getting so tired the doctor suggested--strongly suggested--a Cesarean section to take the baby. When nothing is progressing, there is no other decision. Surgery is always a scary decision. But at 8:33 on May 29, we had a granddaughter, Megan Riley McGrady. She weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 20 inches long with delicate hands and long, thin fingers. I cannot begin to share the emotion and feeling that overwhelms me today. It is such an incredible feeling to hold another generation in your hands, to see such a miniature person and such a huge miracle. I had the pleasure of holding that baby and watching her breathe and move with 100 different facial expressions--with the tongue in, the tongue out, yawns, eyes closed and eyes wide, and listened to all the little sounds she made. I watched her hands close to tight fists and then open as if to stretch. Of course, I had to let my wife Diana hold her a little, too, and Megan's mom and dad, Emily and Mike, wanted a turn, too, and Mike's parents, Tom and Mary McGrady, came all the way from Florida and, of course, they wanted turns, too. It was a grand time for our family. I have some instant replay memories of that little face and those moving hands and the blanket and cap to hold in the body heat or the little pink bow on a pink band circling her tiny head. They are all locked in my mind, and I am constantly doing little instant replay memories for myself and thanking God for the opportunities that he has given me from finding Diana to learning about prayer with our first child, the daughter who was born premature, who showed us how worthwhile fighting for life is, to the birth of our son, to the birth of our youngest daughter, this one who had the baby, to helping me through open heart surgery so I might have this chance to hold another generation in my hands. I think of the Prayer of Jabez in Chronicles where he says: Lord, please continue to bless me, indeed. And I add my thanks for this and all the blessings noticed and, unfortunately, often unnoticed. So now I am a grampa. That is not grandfather. That is too stilted. Years ago, my daughter gave me a hand-stitched wall hanging that says: ``Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.'' That is a challenge for grampas to live up to, too. Please note the name is not ``grandpa.'' That is a great title, but it is a little too elevated. As I said before, my name, grampa, is spelled with an ``m'' and no ``d.'' That is what I called my Grampa Bradley who took me on some wonderful adventures and taught me a lot of important lessons. Now it is my turn to live up to that valued name. He liked to be called grampa, and I am now delighted to have the opportunity to earn that name. I wish I could adequately share the joy with you that is in my heart. After Megan was born, I went to the Republican Convention. When I spoke, I mentioned my mom's admonition that I need to pass on to my grandchildren; that is, to do what is right, to do your best, to treat others as they want to be treated. I use that guideline every day and expect everyone on my staff to measure legislation and casework by it too. Now I have an additional measure for myself. I don't ever want my grandkids to say: My grampa could have fixed that, but he didn't. I do know that most of what I do fix they will never know about. That is how America is supposed to work. America is a lot of people doing their job, doing it because it needs to be done, not because someone will give them acclaim. Some would say that you, my granddaughter, Megan Riley McGrady, have been born at a scary time, a time of fear, fear of almost everybody, fear of war, fear of people from other countries, fear for our neighborhoods, worry about energy supplies and energy prices and the effect on food prices. As an Enzi, we have faith that doing the right thing, doing our best, and treating others as they want to be treated will solve most problems which will overcome fear. In my job, I get to hear lots of disparaging comments about our country and our Government, but you, granddaughter, were very lucky to be born in this country. I have been to a lot of places in the world now, and I can tell you that there are none that I would trade for the United States. In my job, I often have to remind people that I never hear about anybody trying to get out of our country, but I do hear of millions who would love to live here. As you get older, precious baby, if things don't change, you will hear people who think Government owes them a living and all kinds of guarantees, and you will hear people portray business as greedy, and you will see attempts to keep faith and God out of your vocabulary. And all those things could come to pass, except for you, you and your family, you and others who will know how to do the right thing and will value the way our country was founded and has grown. Megan, granddaughter, welcome to this world of promise and hope and faith and love. Your whole family is excited to have you in our lives. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Presiding Officer congratulates and shares in the joy of the senior Senator from Wyoming. [[Page 11176]] ____________________