Dianne Feinstein: “I join in the tribute to Senator Coverdell. As a Senator from California, I found him to be a remarkable man. He was a…”

“I join in the tribute to Senator Coverdell. As a Senator from California, I found him to be a remarkable man. He was a humble man. In a way, he was a prototype of the Southern gentleman. He was a determined man; he was a skilled legislative craftsman. I was really delighted to have the pleasure to work with him. Paul had a profound interest in improving the education of our young people. I worked with him closely as an original cosponsor of his Educational Savings and School Excellence Act, and during that time, I found him to be energetic. He was determined and, most importantly, I found him to be very easy to work beside. He was also very much above political correctness, and he strived to do what he thought was really doable, practical, and would help people. Another common interest we shared was in reducing the amount of illegal drugs on the streets of America. In fact, we worked together on several antinarcotics efforts. We debated together in this Chamber the issue of certification. I was his Democratic cosponsor of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. This law made it easier to crack down on leaders of the major drug cartels operating in Latin America. I believe these efforts are paying dividends today because U.S. law enforcement is more able to close in on some of the cartel leadership.”