Frank Lautenberg: “Finally, Mr. President, this is not a day without emotion. Eighteen years of my life have been spent here, 18 of the…”

“Finally, Mr. President, this is not a day without emotion. Eighteen years of my life have been spent here, 18 of the most satisfying years one could imagine. Couple that with some 3 years in the Army, and I have served the Government for 20 years. I have enjoyed it all. It has been an incredible learning experience for me, but I owe a special thanks to four people: My four children, Ellen, Nan, Lisa, and Josh. I asked them in the early stages what they thought about my running for office. I was chairman of a very large company, and life was pretty good. They all agreed that it was something I ought to do. We did not realize at the time what kind of an interference with normal family life it would be. It has taken lots of time away from our enjoyment of doing things together. I came to the Senate because I love them so dearly that I wanted to make sure their lives would be safer and fuller. How was that to be accomplished? It was not by earning more assets and resources. I knew my children and my grandchildren could never be as safe as I would like them to be unless everybody's children were as safe as they should be by getting rid of violence in the streets, in the communities, in the neighborhoods, in the schools. How does one do that? I could not single my kids out and say, OK, let's make sure they are safe and protected. No, I had to say all people's children have to be safe and protected, and that is what I have tried to do here. That was my inspiration.…”