Cord Byrd: “At the close of the 108th Congress, we say farewell to Senator Peter G. Fitzgerald who is leaving us after one term. The…”

“At the close of the 108th Congress, we say farewell to Senator Peter G. Fitzgerald who is leaving us after one term. The former congressional intern, commercial banking attorney, and Illinois State Senator was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998. In fact, he was the first Republican in Illinois to win a Senate seat in 20 years. It has been a busy 6 years for Senator Fitzgerald. During his brief tenure in this chamber he served on the Senate Agriculture, Commerce, Government Affairs, Small Business, and Aging Committees. He was active in a number of legislative areas, including mutual fund reform, consumer safety protection, aviation, environmental, and agricultural issues. And he actively pursued the expansion of overseas markets. During his 6 years in this chamber, Senator Fitzgerald threw himself into some of the most challenging and complex issues considered by the Senate. In 2000, he attacked waste in Government contracting and crafted legislation to improve the process by which contractors are awarded taxpayer monies. He later worked with me to address the Pentagon's 'revolving door'--an egregious practice utilized by government contractors in exerting influence over the contracting process. In 2002, the former commercial banking attorney lashed out at Enron executives who robbed thousands of workers of millions of dollars of their life savings, and he later crafted legislation to reform the mutual fund industry.”