Tribute To Senators

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise once again to honor a distinguished colleague and the longest serving Republican in the history of this body, Senator TED STEVENS.

I said it this morning. I will say it again: In the history of this Nation, no one man has done more for one State than TED STEVENS--no one. His commitment to the people of Alaska has been as constant as the Northern Star. And the list of things he has done on their behalf in a remarkable 40-year career is as vast as the State itself.

Today we remember that legendary service, and the man who achieved it.

Born in Indianapolis 85 years ago this week, TED STEVENS made his mark early. At 19, he was flying C-46 transport planes over the Himalayas in support of the legendary Flying Tigers. His appetite for adventure took him to Oregon and Montana for college, and then to even more exotic places as a pilot in the Army Air Corps. For his bravery, TED would receive a Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal. It was the first of many, many honors.

A decorated war veteran by his early-twenties, TED returned to California to resume his studies, and later enrolled at Harvard Law School. After law school, TED came to Washington, married a girl named Ann, and then set out on a new adventure in the vast expanse of the Alaska territory.

He would go on to devote the rest of his life to helping the people of Alaska achieve the same rights and privileges that those in the lower 48 took for granted. And today, the name TED STEVENS is synonymous with the State he loves. It always will be.

Who else can say that they helped draw the borders of the State in which they live? Well, TED can. As Senator Murkowski put it: ``for forty years, TED STEVENS has been Alaska.'' He was there at the creation. And an entire generation of Alaskans have grown up not ever knowing the Senate without him.

TED will tell you he works so hard because there is so much work to do. Alaskans don't have the benefit of centuries of infrastructure and planning that much of the rest of the country does. Of the giant State's more than 200 villages, only a handful had running water when TED came to the Senate. Thanks largely to him, roughly half of them do now.

No one has done more for the U.S. Armed Forces than TED STEVENS. He secured funds for the F-117, to replace Air Force One, for unmanned aerial vehicles like the Predator and Global Hawk, and for a replacement Coast Guard icebreaker and the F-16 program. TED was instrumental in ensuring funds for early military research on everything from breast cancer to AIDS.

TED STEVENS once said:

They sent me here to stand up for the state of Alaska.

For 40 years, he fulfilled that charge with passion and purpose. And the Senate will never forget TED STEVENS.

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