Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today, I want to recognize and honor the life of Kurt Paul Pfotenhauer, an extraordinary public servant and three-decade friend who passed away on January 21.

Kurt was, first and foremost, a man of deep Christian faith. He was guided in his public service not only by his conservative political beliefs but by that faith, his integrity, his humility, and his sense of responsibility for others.

When I first met Kurt, he had been named Senator Gordon Smith's chief of staff. Gordon and I were brand new Senators, and we had a Mount Hood-sized mountain to climb. That is because we were to fill the giant shoes of two retiring, very powerful U.S. Senators from Oregon.

Kurt and my chief of staff executed an agreement between Gordon and I to set aside our political differences whenever possible and go to bat for the State of Oregon. That included making sure that our respective congressional and political staffs abided by that agreement. That last bit, as Senators know, sometimes can be easier said than done.

We quickly learned that Kurt's word really meant something. Trust can be awfully difficult to make happen in politics, even with those in your own political party, but we came to see that Kurt's word, in fact, was his bond. Our staffs learned to work together--occasionally through gritted teeth--and Kurt and Gordon always upheld their end of the agreement.

Those years of the Oregon bipartisan partnership with Gordon and Kurt were extraordinarily, extraordinarily important to me. I believe they were fruitful years, and we owe so much of that credit for all the collaboration to the leadership and decency of Kurt.

After Kurt left the Congress and Gordon's office, he went on to a very successful career in the financial services sector. He culminated his years there as executive vice president and vice chairman of First American Title Insurance. I know his colleagues there feel an enormous loss, too, because Kurt was the kind of individual who conducted himself professionally and lived his life daily in a way that served as an example, particularly to young people around him.

Kurt was generous with his time, his financial resources, and especially with his heart. He believed in the communities that he was a part of and he was beloved by the communities that he touched. His commitment to service was reflected in a lifelong dedication to always trying to help others. For decades, Kurt and his wonderful wife, Nancy, were sole supporters of The Children's Light Home orphanage in India. He served on the board of directors for the Opens Doors Foundation, and he helped provide mortgage and rental assistance to the many families that had disabled kids.

His support for those in need continued even in his final days. He extended help at that time to a chemo patient from out of town who lived out of the cab of his truck on his chemo days at the Mayo Clinic. Kurt helped his fellow patient with lodging. That, Mr. President--and I say this on behalf of all Oregonians who got to know Kurt--tells you what Kurt Pfotenhauer was always about, the Kurt we knew and the Kurt we loved.

He fought an incredibly courageous 18-month-long battle against cancer. Kurt used that time creating special memories with his beloved wife Nancy and their five kids and grandchildren. Family was everything to Kurt.

I want to extend a special thank-you to all of them for sharing Kurt with all of us here in the Senate, and I want to extend a heartfelt thank-you to Kurt's family on behalf of Oregonians and our Nation for all that he did to make our country and the great State of Oregon a better place.

Kurt's many wise and kind deeds on Earth are going to continue to create opportunity, and opportunity is what our country is all about. Opportunity is when we are at our best, and, my God, Kurt Pfotenhauer created a lot of opportunity for generations, in Oregon and in our country, to have a better life in the days ahead.

Kurt served as a trusted adviser and confidant to me, and that will be something I will always miss. My former chief of staff and I are always going to remember and love our friend Kurt Pfotenhauer. May his memory be a blessing to all who knew him and to all who have studied what he has done to make a difference. May people reflect on that in the days ahead and may it be a comfort.

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