Tom Harkin: “I wish to make a few brief remarks about one of our colleagues and a good friend of mine who is retiring this year.…”

“I wish to make a few brief remarks about one of our colleagues and a good friend of mine who is retiring this year. Senator Lautenberg is a perfect example of the American dream come true. He grew up the son of immigrants, joined the Army Signal Corps in Europe during World War II, and then attended Columbia University on the G.I. bill. After graduation, Senator Lautenberg helped found a payroll services company called Automatic Data Processing. He soon became the firm's CEO, and, with 33,000 employees, his company is now one of the largest computing services companies in the world. But Senator Lautenberg knew that the American dream isn't just about making it to the top. It's about giving back once you get there. That's why he ran for the United States Senate, and that's why, during his eighteen years in this Chamber, he's fought hard to make our country better for all Americans. He has fought hard to leave the ladder of opportunity down for others to climb. He's fought to improve transportation. His legislation and leadership has built and modernized highways and bridges and Amtrak rails across this country, and he's worked hard to make sure our planes and trains and cars are safe. Frank Lautenberg has fought to clean up our environment. Over the course of his career, he's worked on legislation to improve the Superfund program, redevelop Brownfields, force industry to cut down on pollution, clean up our beaches and protect our air and water.”