Douglas Alexander: “last August, Ted Stevens and Dan Inouye led a bipartisan group of Senators to China for a parliamentary visit. Dan, of…”

“last August, Ted Stevens and Dan Inouye led a bipartisan group of Senators to China for a parliamentary visit. Dan, of course, was accorded great respect because of his winning the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War II. But it was Ted Stevens for whom the Chinese rolled out the red carpet. Ted had flown with the Flying Tigers. He flew the first plane to land in Beijing after World War II ended, and the top Chinese leaders had not forgotten. They made more time for our delegation than they had for any other recent group of American visitors. No one in our group, of course, was surprised to learn that Ted Stevens had flown risky missions and, for that bravery, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. Ted still has the cockiness, adventuresome spirit and attitude that distinguish most pilots. And he has the love of country that permeates those who fought in World War II. We see both qualities every day in the Senate. For example, 2 years ago, when we were considering how to maneuver through five Senate committees legislation based on a National Academies report that would help America keeps its brainpower advantage, Ted was both unconcerned about committee prerogatives and impatient about getting the job done. "Let's form a select committee," he said many times. "You be the chairman of it." He said this even though he was then the most senior Republican in the Senate and I was nearly the most junior.”