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Commending Senator Mel Martinez

Floor Speech

Date: Oct. 8, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Defense Entitlements and the Safety Net Health and Health Care

COMMENDING SENATOR MEL MARTINEZ -- (Senate - October 08, 2009)

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I join my colleagues in appreciation and admiration of Senator Mel Martinez.

Mel lived the first 15 years of his life under communist dictatorship in Cuba. That experience gave him a special appreciation for the blessings of liberty. As Mel's own career in public service took him from Florida to Washington, he never forgot the people living under totalitarianism in his homeland. And he never wavered in his conviction that the people of Cuba deserved the same rights as the rest of us, especially the rights to choose our leaders, worship as we please, and live in freedom.

Mel distinguished himself as a lawyer in central Florida, then won elective office as mayor of Orlando, and was appointed by President Bush to serve as his first Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Secretary Martinez helped the people of lower Manhattan rebuild after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and he worked to expand opportunities for home owners nationwide. Mel was proud that he was the first Cuban-American to ever serve in a President's Cabinet.

Mel was also the first Cuban-American to serve in the U.S. Senate. In this Chamber, he raised his voice to strengthen our national defense, especially the Navy's shipbuilding program. He supported the development of America's natural resources in an environmentally responsible way. He had a heart for victims of Alzheimer's disease and their families, and supported greater Federal research funding to help find a cure.

Senator Martinez and I shared a concern about waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid. So earlier this year, he and I introduced legislation to do something about it. The Seniors and Taxpayers Obligation Protection Act or the STOP Act would give Federal agencies greater tools and authority to detect waste, fraud, and abuse before they happen. The STOP Act has sponsors on both sides of the aisle, and I believe its provisions should be a part of our efforts to reform our health care system.

Mel served less than a full term in the Senate, but he has helped shape legislation that will govern our Nation for years to come. He and his wife
Kitty are now back home in central Florida, and Sandy and I wish them both the very best.

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