Tom Harkin: “With the close of the 109th Congress, the Senate will lose to retirement one of our most seasoned and respected…”

“With the close of the 109th Congress, the Senate will lose to retirement one of our most seasoned and respected Members--Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland. Across five terms in this body and before that three terms in the House of Representatives, where I was privileged to serve with him also, Paul Sarbanes has made his mark as a serious and diligent legislator, a classic workhorse Senator rather than a showhorse Senator. The Baltimore Sun has called him the silver fox Senator who 'works quietly but with shrewd skillfulness.' I have always respected and admired Senator Sarbanes, both as a stalwart Democrat and also always a proud, unabashed progressive. As a young man, he graduated from Princeton and went on to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and then Harvard Law School. But he never forgot his experiences growing up among the families of Maryland's Eastern Shore. He never forgot his roots as the son of a Greek immigrant who worked long hours to build a successful restaurant business. In the Senate, Paul Sarbanes has been outspoken in his support for public schools, expanded access to higher education, to job training, and the other essential rungs on the ladder of economic opportunity in America. He has fought to protect Social Security, to clean up corruption in the business world.”