Tribute to Senators

Floor Speech

TRIBUTE TO SENATORS -- (Senate - October 02, 2008)

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LARRY CRAIG

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, as the 110th Congress comes to a close this fall, a chapter in Idaho politics also comes to a close. After serving in public office, first in the Idaho State Legislature from 1975 to 1981, then in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 1990, and finally in the U.S. Senate from 1991 to 2009, my colleague Senator Larry Craig is retiring from elective office. Over the years, he has doggedly pursued initiatives important to Idahoans and staunchly defended Western values.

Our colleagues in the Senate know about Senator Craig's work over the years ensuring that the U.S. agricultural community has the support needed to thrive and continue ensuring our food security and playing a major role in the global economy.

Our colleagues know about Senator Craig's consistent stand on public lands, his unflinching defense of private property rights and reliably supporting those who are caretakers of this invaluable national resource.

Our colleagues know Senator Craig's stalwart defense of our second amendment rights and his tireless call for a balanced budget and lower taxes.

Our colleagues in the Senate know that Senator Craig has, on a number of occasions, reached across the aisle to promote bipartisan legislation.

Our colleagues in the Senate know and have depended on the leadership exhibited over the years by a man with humble beginnings, born in a small Idaho town, on a family farm where he returned after college until the people of Payette and Washington Counties elected him to represent them in the Idaho State Legislature.

What may not be so well known about the senior Senator from Idaho is his commitment to adoption, to our youth, to community service, to our veterans, and to our seniors.

Senator Craig's three children are adopted. Over the years, he became a congressional leader in promoting adoption and working on policy initiatives that help adoptive parents and young children needing to find loving homes. He also helped found the Congressional Coalition on Adoption.

Senator Craig did not only champion adoption in Congress, he took a strong leadership role in the Congressional Awards Foundation. This is an outstanding program that encourages young people to set high goals, to work toward them, and then when they have achieved these goals, it gives this body the opportunity to recognize their extraordinary accomplishments. The sense of community service this program grows in young people imparts a lifelong sense of civic duty and responsibility. In short, it grows great Americans.

Speaking of great Americans, Senator Craig has been a champion of veterans as well, prioritizing their changing needs over the years and helping remind all of us that when a man or a woman defends the United States of America, that individual deserves to have this Nation care for them in their return and in their time of need.

A believer in bringing Washington to Idaho, Senator Craig has hosted over 300 townhall meetings since his election to the Senate. He has also made national priorities that involve Idaho and his priorities; namely, Department of Energy and defense operations and research at the Idaho National Laboratory, the Mountain Home Air Force Base, and Gowan Field for the home of the Idaho National Guard.

Senator Craig has not only supported children, young people, the military, and our veterans, he has also worked to champion the cause of the aging, serving on the Special Committee on Aging and keeping important senior issues at the forefront of our legislative policy.

Senator Craig's public service demonstrates a rich history of strong, conservative leadership, characterized by an unapologetic defense of democratic ideals of private property and personal liberty, woven together with an abiding and proactive concern for those without a voice in Washington. Idahoans across the State have come to know they can depend on Senator Craig to defend their economic well-being and their values.

It has been a privilege for me to serve with Senator Craig during my time in the Congress. I wish him and his wife Susan well as they enter this new chapter in their lives.

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

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Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I came down here to pay a tribute to our senior Senator from Idaho, Senator Larry Craig, and you can see the caliber of man he is--he came down and paid tribute to me. That is the way he is.

I want to add to my remarks by thanking Senator Craig personally for his tremendous assistance to me. From the very first day that I stepped foot on the floor of the Senate--in fact, before that, when I was trying to get elected to the Senate--Senator Craig was there to help. And once I was elected, Senator Craig set about making sure I could be successful.

As he has indicated by his gracious remarks, that is the kind of man he is. He is a tremendous friend and he is a tremendous advocate and he has the kind of principles and values that have helped him to represent the people of Idaho so well over the years. He has committed his life to public service and has shown the people of Idaho and the people of this Nation the kind of leadership we should have in this country, fighting for those kinds of principles that I have mentioned--whether it be private property rights, a balanced budget, lower, smaller government, protecting those without a voice, working for the veterans, working for senior citizens, and his commitment to working for our newest citizens of our world, those who need adoption. The list goes on and on and on.

I want to personally thank you, Larry, for the opportunity to serve with you here in the Senate, and to tell you that I and all of us in Idaho will miss you and look forward to continuing to work with you as you enter this new chapter of your life.

Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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