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“COMMEMORATING THE LIFE OF FORMER SENATOR WILLIAM V. ROTH, JR.” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Senate section on pages S21-S26 on Jan. 20, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
COMMEMORATING THE LIFE OF FORMER SENATOR WILLIAM V. ROTH, JR.
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, Tom Carper and I have a resolution at the desk, and I ask for its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 284) commemorating the life of William V. Roth, Jr., former Member of the United States Senate from the State of Delaware:
S. Res. 284
Whereas William V. Roth, Jr. was born on July 22, 1921 in Great Falls, Montana, was raised in Helena, Montana, graduated from the University of Oregon, and earned law and business degrees from Harvard University;
Whereas William V. Roth, Jr. was decorated with a Bronze Star for meritorious service with Army military intelligence in the South Pacific during World War II;
Whereas William V. Roth, Jr. moved to Delaware in 1955 and resided in Delaware until his death;
Whereas William V. Roth, Jr. was elected to the House of Representatives in 1966, and served the State of Delaware with distinction until his election to the United States Senate in 1970;
Whereas William V. Roth, Jr. continued to serve the State of Delaware and the United States in the Senate from 1971 to 2001, where he personified the title ``Honorable'';
Whereas William V. Roth, Jr. championed tax and savings reforms and deficit reduction as Chairman and a member of the Senate Committee on Finance;
Whereas William V. Roth, Jr. worked tirelessly to control government spending as Chairman and a member of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and to shape foreign policy as president of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliament Assembly and chairman of the Senate NATO Observer Group;
Whereas William V. Roth, Jr. was a man of integrity, decency, and character who was committed to his family and to the people of Delaware; and
Whereas William V. Roth, Jr. was a trusted friend and colleague and a dedicated public servant: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) the Senate has learned with profound sorrow and deep regret of the death of the Honorable William V. Roth, Jr., formerly a Senator from the State of Delaware;
(2) the Secretary of the Senate shall communicate this resolution to the House of Representatives and transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the family of William V. Roth, Jr.; and
(3) upon adjournment today, the Senate shall stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of William V. Roth, Jr.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
Mr. BIDEN. I thank the Chair. I thank the clerk for reading the resolution in its entirety.
Mr. President, my friend, our colleague, Bill Roth, died while the Senate was out of session. Otherwise, I am certain there would have been a profuse outpouring of sentiment on the floor, as when any person of consequence dies.
Bill Roth was a man of the Senate and a man of consequence. He was also, even though we were on opposite sides of the aisle, one of my closest friends in the Senate. We had the honor, as my friend and colleague, Senator Carper, and I do, of riding Amtrak together. In Bill's case and my case, we rode the train together almost every day for 28 years. Literally, for the first 24 years probably every day the Senate was in session.
You can't have that kind of proximity with a man or a woman without getting to know them pretty darn well. I got to know Bill very well. I got to know his family. I got to know his hopes, his dreams, his fears, and his concerns, as he did mine, my family, my hopes, dreams, and concerns.
An unusual thing developed: a bond of trust. I can and will say for the record that there is no person in public life I came to trust more than Bill Roth. I trusted him with my concerns. I trusted him with family issues. I trusted him with personal issues. And I trusted his judgment on political issues, even when he and I disagreed.
We would ask each other questions: What do you think would happen if I do the following? What do you think the consequence would be? Even though we were in opposing parties, neither hesitated to give our friend the best advice we could.
I once said that running against Bill Roth was like running against a wheat thrasher: big, gobbles up everything in his way, and he was very silent. Before it was all over, everything was harvested.
Bill Roth, I think, was the most underestimated man with whom I have served going into my sixth term as a Senator.
I might note for the record that Bill Roth's family is incredibly talented. His wife, Jane Roth, is one step away from the Supreme Court as a Third Circuit Court of Appeals judge. None of us who know her ever hesitated to support her. We pushed her. She is highly regarded and, as my friend from Pennsylvania, Senator Specter, knows--and no one knows the Third Circuit better than he does; literally no one knows it better than he does--is one of the most respected jurists on that venerable circuit.
His son, Bud, is a lawyer who is an extremely talented young man, and his daughter, Katie, is a doctor. I might note that Bill finally had a namesake. Just shortly before he died, he got to see his daughter's son who they named William. Bill actually died here in Washington visiting Katie.
This is a man who lived a full life, raised a great family, and will be missed not just by his family, but by our entire State and all those who knew Bill.
I can say without equivocation that I would have been honored, quite frankly, to have any one of his senior staff members work on my staff. One of the ways I think you measure the mark of a national leader is to look at the people with whom he or she surrounds himself or herself. Look at the people who they pick to represent them. Look at the people who they choose to be their alter ego.
Without exception, Bill Roth chose administrative assistants and senior staff members out of the same mold as himself: always totally honorable, balanced, straightforward, not at all ideological.
I have close friendships, personal friendships, with Bill's former staff directors, people who still live in Delaware and, I might add--I don't want to ruin their reputations--support me politically, support me in my races. It is hard, as I said, in a State as small as ours--I see my friend from Utah, which has grown to be a very large State relative to us, but when I first arrived here, when his dad was here, with whom I served, I think we were a little bit bigger than Utah at the time.
In small States, everyone knows everyone. Everyone has a sense of who everyone else is. It is hard in a State as small as ours, when you are in close proximity to people you respect, not to let it show, and that is exactly what happened in Delaware.
We went through 28 years of serving together, and I cannot think of one single solitary time--not one single occasion--where Bill Roth had or I ever had even a negative inference asserted about the other guy. We have a tradition in Delaware of not being very negative and partisan. I can tell you with the single exception of one highly contested political race, you never heard Tom Carper, you never heard our sole Congressman and former Governor, Mike Castle, you never heard in my State any of us criticizing the other. It has been a wonderful State to represent.
Bill Roth set the pattern. He surrounded himself with people of character such as himself, and that is something that should be strived for.
Bill, as I said, was known on the Senate floor, known in the country like few of us will be for the Fulbright scholarships, for the Roth IRAs. Everybody knows that Bill Roth was a man who promoted savings. He was a man who was tight with the taxpayers' money, which is a great asset. We used to kid. Every once in a while we would go to a function here in Washington and we would take a cab together. I remember once Bill leaning in to talk to the cab driver.
I said: What are you doing?
He said: I gave him a dime tip and told him to vote Democrat.
He also had a sense of humor, which most people on the floor never got a chance to see.
I don't know anybody who worked with Bill Roth who ever suggested that you could not work with Bill Roth; that he would not weigh in.
One of the things I want to mention about Senator Roth, though--and I am trying to move through this in the interests of time because I know we have the State of the Union and I know matters are going to be brought up today--is that one of the hallmarks of his career is he had a real sense of proportion, a sense of proportion that is missing today in much of public life. He fully understood that the Federal Government was both dangerous and necessary, that it is of value and sometimes part of the problem. He never had any trouble distinguishing between when it should be proactive and when it should not be active at all. He was not driven by ideology that blinded him to the needs of the people of my State, the Nation, or blinded him to civil liberties and civil rights.
He used to always surprise many of my Democratic colleagues because Bill was always so conservative on tax policy. I hope I don't get my friend from Utah in trouble, but one of the things about him is he is a man of independence. I think it surprised some of my colleagues when he voted against the constitutional amendment on the flag.
They said: Wait a minute, this guy is a conservative. It is because he is a conservative, I might add, that he did vote against it. But it would always surprise my colleagues on the Democratic caucus. They would say: Wait a minute, Bill Roth is a strong proponent of Title IX. That is the title that says you have to spread a proportionate amount of money on women in sports and colleges and universities. Bill Roth was very strong on women's rights.
To the chagrin of his colleagues and some of mine, he is in large part a reason there is no drilling in ANWR. Bill Roth is a Republican leader of the effort to see there was no drilling in ANWR. We have the Tongass Forest in Alaska, which is multiple times the size of my State, because of Bill Roth. Bill Roth had an environmental record that could easily have been associated with a liberal Democrat. Bill Roth's views on women's rights, civil rights, was moderate to liberal.
It always used to surprise people on this side of the aisle when they would say, whoa, was that Bill Roth who just voted on this, that, or the other thing?
Bill Roth was a complex man, a man who could not be pigeonholed or characterized by a single label. But he was ultimately a practical guy, a man who knew what he thought, what he believed, and very quietly and unhesitatingly never, never ceased or backed off from what he thought was a right thing to do.
On a personal note, like all of you in these cynical times--I would like you all to know that Bill Roth was anything but cynical. Bill Roth was not only an honorable man, Bill Roth was a noble man. The word
``nobility'' comes to mind, to me. When I learned of his death--and I was caught off guard as I was asked by the press about it--the first thing that came to mind was: He's a noble man. He's a noble man.
Let me explain what I mean by that. It is the way he dealt with people. It is the way he acted. Name someone for me in contemporary politics who was a winner of the Bronze Star and never once mentioned it. You cannot find a single piece of campaign literature that I am aware of. I never heard him speak of it. I never heard his campaign use it. Who, today, would not be out there talking about having been the recipient of a Bronze Star--to prove their patriotism, to prove their bravery? Bill Roth never, never mentioned it.
This is a politician who was not afraid to use gimmicks. This is a guy who rode an elephant to make a point, out here in front of the Capitol. This is a guy who talked about the $3,000 toilet seats and would hoist up toilet seats. He was a bit of a showman in that regard. But when it came to talking about himself, Bill Roth never did. He had this sense of nobility about him.
The other thing I loved about Bill Roth, in an environment where--I guess it has always been this case in politics--where money is king, campaigns cost so much money--Bill Roth was the chairman of the Finance Committee. Bill Roth could have raised more money than the Lord Almighty. But he always used to drive his chiefs of staff crazy when he wouldn't do what other people legally would do. He wouldn't call in the heads of the corporation and the business community and others who had great interest in what went on before the Finance Committee. He wouldn't do it. Bill Roth had trouble raising money. He was uncomfortable. I loved him for it. I loved the fact that he was uncomfortable doing it.
The other thing that used to drive me crazy sometimes, to show you how he was, I remember we had a little fight on the floor here about a thing most people don't know much about but in Delaware it is a big ticket item financially for the State--escheatment. Escheatment means when somebody dies and leaves no heir and owns a security, under the rules that exist now, that money reverts to the State of incorporation.
So let's say you owned 1,000 shares of stock of General Motors and you passed away, you had no heirs, the estate was left--the State gets the estate. But which State gets it? Historically it has been the State where you are incorporated. So if General Motors is incorporated in Delaware, even though its business is in Michigan, the money goes to Delaware. That is a big amount in their budget.
There was a suit filed in the Supreme Court but the Supreme Court said, no, it is OK to do it that way, but it is up to the Congress to change it if they wanted to.
Mr. President, 78 Senators said let's change that, and 370-some Congressmen said let's change that. I didn't think it was a good idea to change it. I have a simple rule. I say it straightforward. I think I never take personally the competition for highway funds or bridges or programs. We all compete, each of our States, for that. I take it very personally when my colleague or a colleague in the Senate decides to take an action that would benefit his State only marginally, but would do great damage to my State. I take that very personally.
Changing law on escheatment would have been marginally beneficial to 47 other States but a gigantic detriment to my State. So I went to Daniel Patrick Moynihan; New York was affected by this. I went to my friend, my friend who is no longer here, Al D'Amato--affectionately referred to as pothole Al. And I went to my friend Senator Kennedy from Massachusetts, and we said we are going to do what we can to see this doesn't change.
I will tell you the end of the story. We ended up winning. Even though over three-quarters of the Senate cosponsored the change and more than that in the House, we ended up winning in the end of the day. That was because our colleagues realized we took it personally, it didn't affect their States very positively, and they in fact saw the better part of valor here and were willing to help us.
I remember standing in the well of the Senate saying to Bill: Bill, you are chairman of the Finance Committee. Let your colleagues know this is important to you.
He said: I don't know. You tell them. You tell them.
He was even uncomfortable saying that. He was one of the most powerful men in the Senate and he wouldn't say: Hey, look, Bennett, this is important to me. Please help me. He wouldn't even do that.
Although he had all this power, the thing that was so beautiful about him, he was uncomfortable with power. I think it is always healthy when people are uncomfortable with wielding power. But he never hesitated to wield it when he thought it was absolutely clear cut.
So this was a guy who was a noble man. I just watched him. I watched him operate for over 28 years.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed for 3 more minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, there is a quotation engraved on the wall at Union Station. It goes like this:
Be noble, and the nobleness that lies in other men sleeping but never dead will rise in majesty to meet thine own.
Bill Roth also brought out the humility in those who worked with him and those who were around him.
There is much more to say about him. I have said too much.
I apologize. I did not realize that time was controlled. My colleague from Delaware, a cosponsor of this resolution, Senator Carper, would like to speak. I ask whether my colleagues would object if Senator Carper is able to proceed.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have already talked to the Senator from Delaware. The junior Senator expects to speak 5 minutes, and I would like to be recognized to speak very briefly about Senator Roth and then introduce a bill. May I put that in the form of a unanimous consent request?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I would like to be allowed to speak very briefly about Senator Roth as well. I don't have a prepared statement. Could I go for 1 minute between Senator Carper and Senator Specter?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Delaware.
Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Biden, in offering this resolution commemorating Senator Roth. I thank Senator Specter for his willingness to let me slip in ahead of him.
I recall any number of times visiting the Senate when I was Governor. I have had the privilege of testifying before the Senate Finance Committee that Senator Roth chaired. I remember revisiting him in his office in the Hart Building from time to time.
It is not uncommon when you walk into the office of Senators that you see their pictures on the wall. There were, I am sure, a few pictures of Senator Roth and his family and others on the wall of his office. It is less common to walk into a Senate office today as a person who succeeded in a case where you ran against an incumbent, as I did against Senator Roth, and find the photograph of the Senator who was defeated, in this case in my race against Bill Roth.
We have a tradition in Delaware called ``Return Day.'' Every Thursday a few days after the election of even numbered years, winners and losers gather in our county seat in southern Delaware, Georgetown, DE, and have a great breakfast at the Delaware Technical Community College. Then the winners and losers ride together in a horse-drawn carriage throughout the streets of Georgetown. Thousands of people come from all over the State to cheer those who won. The town crier comes out on the balcony of the White House in Georgetown in the circle and calls out the results from the election 2 days earlier.
On that Thursday after the election in November of 2000, I rode in a horse-drawn carriage with Senator Roth and members of his family, and some members of my own family. It was an open-air carriage. It was a beautiful day. I asked if he would like to stand. We stood. The driver and the horses were ahead of us as we started down the parade route sitting there with our hands on the seat behind the driver.
I said to him: Why don't we do something else? Let me hold your hand. I held his hand up in the air as one does at the end of a prizefight holding up the hand of a winner. We went through the entire parade that day holding up the hand of the winner who won so many elections during 34 years as if there really wasn't a loser but only a winner in this situation--a real winner. That picture of us holding hands is still in my office today. It is a great picture. It tells a lot about the spirit of politics in Delaware and about the respect for Senator Roth as well.
Senator Biden talked about some of the legislative accomplishments and the work that Senator Roth did with respect to NATO and the reorganization of the Federal Government.
While those issues are important and what he did legislatively with respect to NATO and others is important, in Delaware, a State with about 800,000 people, you also have an extraordinary opportunity to help people with problems in their lives. For folks who are trying to grapple with the IRS on issues that need to be resolved or on Social Security issues and veterans issues, you can quite literally every year change the course of about 1,000 or 2,000 families who come to your office for help.
That day as we went through Georgetown, DE, on ``Return Day'' in the parade, I am sure Senator Roth got bigger cheers than I did. They were from Democrats and Republicans and Independents. In part, those cheers were the result of the kind of staff he put around him. He hired excellent people. They set the gold standard for constituent service in our State. If you were a Democrat or Republican or Independent and you called his office for help, you got it. They did a terrific job.
Bill Roth understood that we are servants of the people. They pay our salaries. We have an obligation to give our very best effort. He made sure that was what his staff provided--and he provided it during the 34 years he served in the Congress.
I said to him after the election: You set the gold standard. The challenge for me and my staff is to try very hard to match that standard. Maybe eventually, through new technology and training and services experience, we can even exceed it.
I have won statewide in Delaware 11 times. I have been fortunate 11 times. I have run against very good people but none more decent than Bill Roth.
At his memorial service at the University of Delaware a week after his death, we were joined by Senator Specter and others. Hundreds of thousands of people came from all over our State. One of the speakers said Bill Roth was a gentleman and a gentle man--a gentleman and a gentle man. He treated his staff, the folks who work in the cafeteria here, and the folks who run the elevators here with the same kind of respect as with his colleagues and his peers. I doubt that you can every day find that in a person who rises to the kind of power he enjoyed in this city and in this country. It says a whole lot about the man he was.
One of the persons who spoke at Senator Roth's memorial service was his former chief of staff, John Duncan, who is now Assistant Secretary of Legislative Affairs at the Department of the Treasury. I ask unanimous consent that excerpts of the very eloquent comments of John Duncan be printed in the Record. He said it certainly better than I could. It is the kind of tribute that belongs in the Congressional Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
Senator William V. Roth, Jr., Memorial Service, Clayton Hall, December
21, 2003
Today we celebrate a unique man whose legacy will live on for us, our children and our grandchildren.
As the representative of the Roth staff, I appreciate this opportunity to honor the man who had such a significant impact on our country and the lives of so many people.
Just a few weeks ago, the Senator was in Washington and some of us got together for lunch. After an hour or so of laughter and story telling we all returned to our jobs.
On my way back to the office, I couldn't help but reflect on what a big influence Bill Roth has had on those of us who worked with him over the years.
Some had started working for him as interns, others as subject matter experts. Some were form Delaware and knew about the Senator before they went to work for him. Others were from outside Delaware and came to know the uniqueness of this man only after they came within his orbit. All, in their subsequent careers, had gone on to great success in business, government and academia.
One participant at lunch that day was a very high ranking official in the Commerce Department who had been the Senator's top trade advisor. He had the best of jobs. He traveled the world working on trade agreements that would shape the future of our country in the world economy.
For twenty minutes in great animation he regaled us with stories about the exciting thing he was doing. Listening, you couldn't help but be envious that any job should be so important and so much fun.
But at the end he paused and, in serious vein, told the Senator ``This job is great. But the best job I ever had was working for you.''
The reason I tell this story is that Bill Roth is known for many accomplishments. But his biggest impact was on the lives of the people who did things with him, many of whom are in this hall today.
Whenever we reflect on the nature of a person's life we experience an interesting problem. We want, in our reflections, to capture ``who'' they were. But with every effort to describe ``who'' they were we inevitably end up describing ``what'' they were and the uniqueness we experienced and are trying to express escapes us.
This difficulty in no way lessens the importance of what we are doing here as we remember the life of Senator Roth. For it is at the end of a person's life that the uniqueness that God gave each of us becomes most apparent.
Though the uniqueness of individual personality will always escape being captured in words, I am pleased to join with the others on this stage to add my contribution to the appreciation of this highly unusual man.
I'd like to start my remarks by focusing on some of the ideas the Senator brought to his work and how they led to the achievements we so much associate with him.
Though those ideas were many and varied they all focused on the concerns and worries of regular people--the people, from all walks of life, who work hard, pay their taxes, and care for their families.
Senator Roth believed that government exists to serve the people. He started first with his own office.
Over the years he employed a number of fine and talented caseworkers that citizens could turn to when the bureaucracy became overwhelming. It's difficult to travel very far in Delaware without meeting a person assisted by his office or seeing something he helped fund, from Amtrak, to the Dover Air Force Base to land set aside for conservation.
One of his first legislative accomplishments was the creation of a source book for citizens that catalogued available grant and assistance programs. How could the government serve the people, he reasoned, if the people had no idea what was available to them?
Years later he authored the Government Performance and Results Act which set performance standards for government agencies and held managers accountable for results. It was this program, you may remember, that Al Gore adopted as his central task as Vice President.
Evidence that the IRS had slipped beyond the control of the Congress and was in danger of becoming a rogue bureaucracy was what prompted the Senator to conduct hearings on the IRS.
To understand the importance of what he did you need to know, that at the time of his hearings, a congressional commission to modernize the IRS had finished its work and legislation implementing its recommendations had been introduced.
That legislation, though, was going nowhere. The IRS opposed it. The Treasury Department opposed it. President Clinton opposed it. But within months of Senator Roth's dramatic hearings the Congress passed the restructuring bill and the President swiftly signed it. Reform that normally takes years was accomplished in months--all because of the determination and timely leadership of Bill Roth.
It was as Chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee that the Senator first disclosed his thinking that competition, so much a force for good in the private sector, might be useful in government administration.
The principle that competition ensures innovation and lowest cost operations was first applied by the Senator to government procurement where he was an ardent opponent of the practice of sole-source contracting.
Later, in interesting and artful ways, the Senator would apply this principle to other areas of government.
He teamed-up with his friend and colleague Joe Biden to expand NATO's membership and mission. Because of their successful work, there are choices available for dealing with international hot-spots and freedom and security are more than just a dream for millions of people.
In the area of transportation, the Senator's vigorous support of Amtrak, the Wilmington Trolley, and alternative fuels was based on his belief that we are better off with alternative modes of transportation and energy.
The Senator was best known for his work on tax policy. He though that every person who wanted a job should have one.
While he never thought we would ever be free from the business cycle, it upset him that the tax code--something we did control--discouraged the creation of jobs. The best thing to do, he reasoned, was to change the tax code in a way that encouraged people to work, save and invest.
That was the principle behind the Roth-Kemp tax cuts. Radical at the time, today the connection between low marginal tax rates and jobs is conventional wisdom, not only in America, but a good part of the world.
With tax policy moving in the direction of lower rates, the Senator turned his attention to changing retirement policy from income maintenance to asset ownership. He used his committee leadership positions to develop savings accounts as part of the Civil Service Retirement system and then created the highly popular Roth IRA.
As you can tell from the variety of things I've mentioned, Bill Roth was driven by big ideas and left a legacy of big accomplishments.
Success in Washington, though, doesn't just happen on its own. Anyone who knows the nature of public life can tell you that having a vision of a preferred future is not enough for success.
Abraham Lincoln, in one of his State of the Union Messages to the Congress, summarized it best when he wrote, ``it is not `can any of us imagine better?' but, `can we all do better?' ''
There are as many visions of the future as there are Members of Congress. The central task and art of political leadership is gaining the consent of a majority of Members to do the things that need to be done.
You can't get that consent, though, if don't know how to work with your colleagues. Just as Bill Roth had a core set of beliefs that guided him in what he did, the Senator had a firm set of ideas about the conduct of business.
The Congress can be a complicated and difficult place in which to act. The rules are complex. People are unpredictable, emotions run high and the best of human nature is often absent.
The legislative process can too easily become a game in which each political party tries to score points at the expense of the other. Relationships can too easily descend into acrimony and bitterness.
Senator Roth avoided all that. To him, the conduct of politics came down to a set of straightforward activities: Express . . . Discuss . . . Persuade . . . Negotiate . . . Compromise. It was primarily through these activities that he gained consent and advanced his goals.
His basic technique was to carefully craft an initial proposal that reflected common interests. He'd then bring the Committee together and would not let anyone leave the room until they reached agreement. His goal was agreement by consent. And nobody knew how to build consensus like Bill Roth.
He preferred persuasion to voting. But if the Senator needed votes, he knew how to get them. He knew when to negotiate. He knew how to compromise while remaining true to his principles. And, most importantly from the standpoint of his colleagues, he could be counted on to defend the products of joint decision.
I learned a secret from Bill Roth. In politics, as in life itself, means and ends are the same. To the Senator, how things were done was as important as what was done.
To him political power flowed from treating each colleague in a way that, as a group, they would never lose the ability to do things together. That understanding served him well and, in large measure, accounted for his success.
To the Senator the purpose of our political institutions is to move us forward as a nation, and keep us together as individuals.
Though he was a Republican and proud of his party's heritage, Bill Roth did not see the world in partisan terms. There is a nice irony here, because the ideas Bill Roth worked for have transformed the Republican Party.
Bill Roth felt that any important undertaking had to be done in a bipartisan manner. He had many friends on the other side of the aisle.
One of his closest friends was Joe Biden. The attentiveness and courtesies they showed each other convinced me that there was, in reality, a third political party that might best be called the Delaware Party.
As Senator Biden has often observed, Bill Roth led, but he led quietly. He didn't hog the spotlight, intimidate or run roughshod over his colleagues. In advancing his interests, Bill Roth rarely played hard bill. It was not in his personality to do so.
But if he had to, he could. I remember one time when he did.
The Senate was considering an extension of unemployment benefits. The legislation had been written in a way that excluded Delaware and some other states under the notion that their economies weren't suffering enough and didn't need the help.
Senator Roth's view was that Delaware's unemployed deserved to be treated just as well as the unemployed in other states. The states that benefited from the legislation had the votes to get it passed, but it was unclear whether they would break a filibuster.
I remember Senator Roth calling me from the Senate floor with a fire in his voice that I had never heard before and would never have occasion to hear again. He instructed me to locate a multi-volume history of the state of Delaware. I knew immediately that he and Senator Biden were prepared to read the entire history of Delaware to the U.S. Senate, if they had to, in order to stop this unfair treatment.
After a short but tense period of time the leadership backed off. The legislation was altered to include the unemployed from all states and passed by unanimous consent.
When the standoff was over, the Senator returned from the floor. The history of Delaware went back to the library. And I developed a new appreciation for the use of history in the development of public policy.
The Senator's personality was creative and fun-loving. He was always game for the unusual. He had a live elephant at a press conference when he was fighting to get attention for his tax cut proposals.
He hung spare parts from a Christmas tree to dramatize military procurement practices that were over-charging the taxpayer.
And on the first anniversary of the Roth-Kemp tax cuts, he wanted to celebrate everyone getting a bigger piece of the economic pie. So he had prepared and served a giant baked apple pie--a pie so large that it qualified for the Guinness Book of World Records.
And as everyone in Delaware knew, the Senator campaigned with a Saint Bernard. He told me about the Saint Bernard once. He said it was his secret weapon.
People might resist a politician he told me, but nobody could resist a dog--especially if that dog was a big and happy Saint Bernard.
But even if parents could resist the dog, children couldn't. When the children came so did their parents. And there he'd be with his ``HI, I'm Bill Roth'' button ready to greet and converse.
Hokey by some people's standards, but, when he told me that story, I knew why he became Delaware's longest-serving statewide lawmaker.
The Senator's love of his dogs was legendary in Delaware. But it wasn't as well known in Washington until a prominent local magazine did a profile on the Senator in which he listed his dog Sweet Pea as his closest advisor.
When people talk about Bill Roth as an individual one hears words like ``kind . . . shy . . . gracious . . . thoughtful .
. . considerate . . . humble . . . respectful.''
These words accurately reflect Bill Roth's personality. But they need to be leavened with some additional qualities. Bill Roth was a demanding leader. You couldn't do what he did in Washington without focused drive and ambition.
Bill Roth came to Washington with grand purposes. As with all big efforts there were setbacks, disappointments and failures. But they never stopped him or even slowed him down.
Senator Roth had great expectations and desired to do well. They were expectations he put on himself and the organization. And they came, I think, at least to some degree from Delaware's special role in America's founding and its long history of quality political leadership.
No matter what he was working on or where he was in the world, Delaware was never far from his mind. When crafting important trade and tax legislation, he always considered its effects on Delaware products and businesses. When traveling abroad he pressed his hosts to open their borders to products from Delaware.
Poultry was always prominent in those discussions. The efficiency of the industry was astonishing to him. That Delaware poultry could be grown, processed and shipped to markets in foreign lands at prices competitive with local producers had a big impact on his thinking about trade and his confidence in America's ability to compete in a global economy.
It was important to the Senator that he employ the best talent. He insisted that everyone who worked for him have a clear understanding of what was expected at work and that they have the resources to do their jobs.
But the important element that stood out in Bill Roth's office was the way he treated his employees. He did not use and discard people. He cared about each of us as individuals. His interest went beyond the workplace to family and career.
Though he was a very busy man pursuing important objectives, he always had time--time to counsel, time to celebrate and time to console.
He brought out the best in his employees and launched them on their careers and took great satisfaction in everyone's achievements.
This is very unusual. It is in our families that we expect to be cared about for who we are. By treating his employees as individuals and caring about their personal success, Senator Roth made each of us a part of his family.
I'd like to close my remarks by relating a small incident that I think says a lot about Bill Roth and his chosen profession of politics.
One day Neil Messick, the person who preceded me in my job, drove the Senator to a meeting. They parked in a large garage and went to their destination. When they returned to the garage Neil realized he had forgotten where he had parked the car.
He took a guess at the right floor but he chose wrong. Neil was new to the job and worried about the kind of impression he must be making on his new employer.
After some initial wandering around Neil turned to the Senator and said ``You wait here and I'll go find the car.''
The Senator, who had already sized-up the situation, said
``Neil you've already lost the car, you're not going to lose me, too.'' And off they went in laughter to find the car.
This little incident says a lot about the Senator's quick humor and his desire to put people at ease. But it also says something about the nature of the political experience itself.
Politicians enter the public realism alone but they never travel it alone. They travel it with the family who supports them at home, the voters and friends who support them in the state, and the staff who support them at work.
Bill Roth made the journey with the support of all of you. He was a good man doing a tough job--a job he loved. You were the source of his energy.
The Senator confided in me one time that he viewed himself as a plodder. That self-assessment was accurate. But he was a plodder with a vision.
As your Congressional delegation can attest, success, as a legislator, requires the sustained and focused activity of small steps over a long period of time. And, with each step, elected representatives face unique and difficult challenges.
But, as Bill Roth's life has shown, if you have a vision, stay on course, and are attentive to relationships, then small steps lead to big accomplishments.
Last January, during a graduation ceremony at the University of Delaware, the Senator was described as a dedicated public servant, an esteemed leader on foreign policy, an acknowledged leader of reform, and a respected environmentalist. This is ``what'' Bill Roth was.
Later, in that same ceremony, a former employee and long time political advisor, Pete Hayward, used a different terminology to describe the Senator: ``caring employer, patient teacher, supportive mentor, and trusted friend.'' This is ``who'' Bill Roth was.
Today we bring both together--what he did and who he was--and can appreciate the full measure of the man.
Thank you.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I will not take a great deal of time. I don't need to because all that needs to be said about Bill Roth has been said.
My wife and I had the privilege of going with Bill and his wife to Romania. We traveled with them to other countries throughout Europe talking about NATO and other issues. In that process, we became well acquainted with two of America's finest public servants. But on that occasion, they became two of our best friends.
I join with all of the people from Delaware and all of the colleagues in the Senate in paying tribute to Bill Roth, saying goodbye to him for his service, and extending my warmest sympathy and condolences to Jane for the loss of her husband as well as recognition of her service to this country. What a remarkable couple. America, as well as the State of Delaware, has been very well served for their willingness to participate in the public arena.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I join my colleagues in paying tribute to Senator Roth. I had the privilege of working with Bill Roth in the Senate for some 20 years.
On the route from Washington to Philadelphia I frequently road with Bill Roth as far as Wilmington. Frequently when I would catch the train in Philadelphia, I would see him board in Wilmington. During the course of 20 years, we had very many long and fascinating discussions.
Bill Roth was an outstanding Senator. He served in the House of Representatives in advance of coming to the Senate and was a native of the State of Montana. He was Harvard Law School educated. He was chairman of the Finance Committee. He had very deep insight into finances and taxes. He was a coauthor of the famous Roth-Kemp bill or Kemp-Roth bill--it depends on whether you accentuate the House or the Senate--with very substantial tax cuts in the early days of the Reagan administration. He later served as chairman of the Finance Committee, known for the Roth IRAs, so people could set aside funds and make a real contribution to the Nation.
My wife and I had the occasion to attend the memorial service for Senator Roth in Wilmington recently. As noted, his wife Jane is a very distinguished judge of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the circuit which covers Pennsylvania as well as Delaware and also New Jersey.
When Senator Roth finished his term at about his 80th birthday, it marked a very outstanding contribution to the Senate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate on the pending resolution?
The resolution (S. Res. 284) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
Mr. SPECTER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SPECTER. I ask unanimous consent the next remarks be in morning business under the introduction of legislation.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania is recognized.
Mr. SPECTER. I thank the Chair.
(The remarks of Mr. Specter pertaining to the introduction of S. 2008 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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