Appreciation to Senate Colleagues and Staff

APPRECIATION TO SENATE COLLEAGUES AND STAFF -- (Senate - December 08, 2006)

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I join in the chorus of praise and thanks to my friend--and I mean that; the word is thrown around here--Mike DeWine. We came to this job together. My very first memory of Mike and Fran DeWine was when we were both wearing tuxedos and Fran and Loretta were in evening gowns, and we were at our first dinner at the White House with President Ronald Reagan as Congressmen-elect. The year was 1982. My wife brought her little handbag, and Fran brought even more to that White House dinner, that formal dinner that evening. She brought a basket and in that basket was her brandnew baby who came with her to the White House dinner. It was the first time I ever met Mike and Fran. I still have vivid memories of that moment. I think it was a little daughter in the basket, if I am not mistaken, who might be up here. She was on her best behavior then, as she is now.

Another memory I have is when Mike DeWine asked me to join him on a trip to Haiti. I saw a side of my colleague from the Senate which many of us have not seen. Fran came along on the trip with bags full of sporting equipment and toys and clothes and food, everything they could jam into this small airplane to bring over to give to some of the poorest kids in the world. We went to the Cirque du Soleil, the poorest section of Port-au-Prince. If you haven't seen that poverty, you haven't seen poverty. It is as bad as it gets. We worked our way back to a little cinderblock school, the Becky DeWine School, named after Mike and Fran's late daughter. I watched Mike as he walked through that school and sat down with these little kids, and each one of them poured out to him the love and respect and thanks for all that he had done to provide this basic little school for them.

That wasn't the end of the day, for sure. We were then off to an orphanage where we were trying to help a nun, if I am not mistaken, with a building full of squalling babies, trying to get a little help so she could take care of them. Then he took me on a famous road trip where he wanted to show me one of the rural projects. It knocked out almost all the fillings in my teeth, it was such a wonderful road, and we had one of these glorious CODELs that you read about, bouncing around in a vehicle to go out and visit people who are at the lowest ranks of poverty in the world, with babies with red hair from their anemia and malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies. That is where Mike and Fran DeWine spent their time away from the Senate. They left a lasting impression and a legacy there. I am happy we are going to try to continue that legacy even tonight, I hope, or tomorrow as we bring this session to an adjournment.

Time and again, when I was up trying to find a vote, desperately trying to find a vote for global AIDS, for many other causes, I would look across the aisle and hope Mike DeWine was sitting right where he is sitting now, because I knew if I could get over there, I had a chance. Every time I would sit down with him, Mike would say: This is going to be tough. He used to always like to say: I am going to have to pray on this, which meant it was going to have to be a pretty tough political sell for him and for his colleagues. He never let me down. More importantly, he never let down some of the poorest people on Earth. He came through every single time.

Mike, you have got the heart of gold that we all dream about. I have lost a few elections in my time. It is a sad moment. But as you reflect on your public career and how much good you have done for so many people, your name and your legacy will live on. I am honored to count you as a friend.

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