Mark Dayton: “for more than 20 years Paul and Sheila Wellstone were my friends and my political allies, so it is with a heavy heart…”

“for more than 20 years Paul and Sheila Wellstone were my friends and my political allies, so it is with a heavy heart that I stand here today. For the last 2 years Paul was my mentor and partner in the Senate, and I will miss him especially, as will Minnesota, as will America. I thank my many colleagues in the Senate who came to Minnesota just a short time ago for the memorial service commemorating Paul and Sheila, their daughter Marcia, their staff and friends, Mary McEvoy, the Democratic Party Associate Chair, Tom Lapic, and Will McLaughlin. Over half of the Senate attended that evening. Another dozen former Senators, a dozen or so Members of the House, President Clinton, Vice President Gore, Secretary Thompson, Reverend Jackson. Paul and Sheila would have been honored. I especially want to thank my Republican colleagues, Senator Lott, Senator Nickles, and the others who attended that evening. I was not aware until the next day that Senator Lott was treated discourteously by some in the Minnesota crowd. To him and anyone else who suffered that misfortune, I deeply apologize. Paul and Sheila would have been horrified, as was I when I learned about it, as would the people of Minnesota have been. That is not the way we treat distinguished guests in Minnesota. As for the rest of the evening, if the eulogists spoke sometimes a little long, they at times became impassioned, political, or even partisan--well, it was a service for Paul Wellstone.”