Tribute to Senator Paul Simon

TRIBUTE TO SENATOR PAUL SIMON

Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, we have all just heard the sad news about our former colleague, Senator Simon, from the Senator from Illinois. There will be opportunities in the future for more formal comments from many Members of the Senate, but I thought this afternoon I would make a few brief comments about our colleague Paul Simon.

I had the opportunity to serve in the Senate with Paul, but I also had the opportunity for a few years to serve in the House of Representatives with Paul. What a treat it was to serve in both bodies with Paul. Shortly after I came to the House, I discovered that when Paul Simon came to the well of the House of Representatives, he was someone to come into the House Chamber and listen to because no matter what the topic, we could count on the fact that he was going to give a thoughtful speech. You might agree with him, you might not agree with him, but you could bet that this man of great integrity had thought through what he was going to say. You can bet that he truly believed what he was saying.

Members would listen to Paul Simon, whether it was in the House or Senate. Paul Simon was a man of great integrity. When he spoke, it was clear he was a man of great moral clarity in his comments and thoughts. There was great precision to those thoughts.

We all know that Paul Simon was first, in his career, maybe first and foremost, a writer. He started, as my colleague from Illinois has just said, at a newspaper. Some have labeled him as a crusading newspaper editor. That is how he got his start. He continued to write throughout his career, writing his columns back to his home State and writing books.

I was back home in Ohio at the house of my daughter and son-in-law this past weekend and I happened to look down and there was what I took to be one of Paul's newest books. I picked it up and read a few pages. There was Paul again, being very provocative, being very thoughtful. He made me think. That was Paul.

One of the books Paul wrote many, many years ago continues to be cited today. Anybody who reads a biography of Abraham Lincoln will find the work of Paul Simon in that book because, you see, Paul Simon wrote the definitive book about Abraham Lincoln's time in the Illinois Legislature. So whatever definitive biography you read of Abraham Lincoln, it will cite Paul Simon's book for that period of Abraham Lincoln's life.

Paul Simon was asked once why he wrote the book. He said he had discovered there just hadn't been a good book written on that period of Abraham Lincoln's life, so Paul Simon wrote it. He did the research, dug the information out, and wrote the book. It is still the definitive book.

Paul Simon was, more than anything else, a teacher. You could see that in his speeches on the Senate floor and the House floor before that. You could see that, really, in his columns, his writings. So I think it is fitting that at the end of his career, as Senator Fitzgerald said, he went home. He went home to southern Illinois. He created this great institute at southern Illinois, his home community. He brought in great speakers, talked about big topics, great topics that we have to deal with in our country. He headed that up, put it together, and dealt with those issues.

He ended his life as a teacher, what he really was throughout his entire career, beginning as a newspaper man: Paul Simon the teacher. So as he taught us in the Senate, as he taught us in the House of Representatives, he ended his life as a teacher to young people in his home of Carbondale, in southern Illinois. I think that is clearly the way Paul Simon wanted it. I think it is fitting that is how he ended his life.

This is a sad day for the Senate. It is a sad day, certainly, for Illinois, and for his country. But we can take joy in this very good man's life and what he has done for our country and what he ended his life doing for our young people.

I yield the floor.

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