Olympia Snowe: “I rise to honor in the highest possible terms and with profound respect, Senator Paul Sarbanes, one of the true giants…”

“I rise to honor in the highest possible terms and with profound respect, Senator Paul Sarbanes, one of the true giants of this institution, a sterling public servant and an inspiration to the people he has represented for 36 years--30 of them in the U.S. Senate, where he has since become Maryland's longest serving U.S. Senator. I am grateful to call him a dear friend and treasured colleague. A graduate of Princeton University and one of only two Rhodes Scholars in the current U.S. Senate, Senator Sarbanes has brought a remarkable and stellar mind to his venerable legacy of public service. Elected to the U.S. House in 1970 and to the U.S. Senate in 1976, he has served the people of Maryland with exemplary integrity and distinction. The principles of fairness and opportunity have directed his tenure of tireless civic contribution, characterized by a relentless dedication to serving the public interest--a devotion to defending and promoting the common good exemplified by his efforts to enact the law that today bears his name--The Sarbanes-Oxley Act.”