Tribute To Senator Mel Martinez

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, we have had a chance today to recognize our colleague, Senator MEL MARTINEZ, who, sadly for most of us, is leaving the Senate. Today will be his last day. He had an opportunity to address the Senate this morning and give some final thoughts. I would like to take a few moments to give my final thoughts about Senator Martinez. I expect to see him many times in the future as a private citizen, but my thoughts about him and his contribution here and his life story.

Obviously, all of us have a story to tell, the story of a journey to this place. But in the case of Senator Martinez, the journey certainly has more twists and turns than most.

MEL MARTINEZ first came to this country when he was 15. A political exile, he spoke no English, and did not know when--or if--he would ever see his family again. His journey from that point to now is proof of the boundless promise that exists in America.

More than 50 years ago in a small town in Cuba, an 11-year-old MEL MARTINEZ comforted his little brother as they lay on the bedroom floor while gunfire erupted in the streets. It was Fidel Castro's takeover, and life changed very quickly for the Martinez family and every Cuban.

When MEL's parents overheard Cuban militiamen threatening to kill their son for wearing a religious symbol, they had had enough. Through a humanitarian effort sponsored by the Catholic Church, MEL was sent to America to find a better life.

Eagerly embracing his adopted hometown of Orlando, Florida, soon MEL came to feel part of America. He mastered English and earned both his bachelor's and law degrees from Florida State University.

And four long years after leaving Cuba, he was reunited with his parents in Florida after they too escaped Castro's regime--and they were so proud to see the brave young man their boy had become.

Because of this long separation from his parents, I can understand now when MEL says it is the tug of family ties that calls him back home to Florida. But those of us who had the pleasure of working with him in Washington are sorry to see him go.

In the Senate, MEL made his mark as a leading voice for greater democratic freedoms in Cuba. He has fought to strengthen Social Security and to eliminate fraud in Medicare and Medicaid.

He has given hope to millions of families by working to increase funding for research to cure Alzheimer's. And he has stood for America's defense in a dangerous world, and for the troops that so bravely take up the fight to defend us.

For 3 years as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Senator MARTINEZ worked to increase home ownership. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, his agency was charged with directing funds to rebuild lower Manhattan. He fulfilled his duties even as he, along with all of us, reeled at the senseless deaths of 3,000 innocents.

And as the cochair of the President's Commission for the Assistance to a Free Cuba, he played a leading role in the administration's efforts to bring freedom to the land of his birth.

While in Washington, MEL forged many friendships as well. I first got to know MEL during his days as a Cabinet secretary. Elaine and I certainly enjoyed the company of MEL and Kitty.

My wife Elaine and MEL had one thing in common. I used to pose the following quiz to people: Who were the only Cabinet Secretaries who never missed a State of the Union? As everyone knows, it is typically somebody in the line of succession who misses the Cabinet meeting because the entire government is up here on one night. MEL and Elaine never missed a Cabinet meeting because they were the only two members of the Cabinet who were not born in the United States and therefore were not eligible to assume the Presidency if an emergency required that.

We came to understand MEL's connection to his adopted hometown of Orlando, where for 25 years he worked as a successful lawyer. We learned how his election as chairman of Orange County--a job analogous to a mayor, and in one of Florida's largest counties--started a second career in public service to the country that had given him so much.

Now MEL will return to Florida, and I don't know what his future may hold. But I do know that he'll accomplish anything he sets his mind to. The incredible journey he has taken, ever since he flew on a DC-6 from Havana to Miami, is proof of that. MEL's life shows us that in America, any dream is possible.

MEL, it has been an honor serving with you, and it has been a pleasure for Elaine and I to get to know you and Kitty through the years. Whenever you may return to Washington next, please remember you will always have plenty of friends in the U.S. Senate.

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