Robert Torricelli: “in a culture and in an institution where the word ``friendship'' is used so casually that it often has little meaning…”

“in a culture and in an institution where the word ``friendship'' is used so casually that it often has little meaning, it is difficult to express on this anniversary of Paul Coverdell's death what he meant to each of us and the nature of our relationships with him. I am left with few words other than to simply claim that he was a friend, a friend that I admired. I rise today in recognition of his loss because of the injustice of it, and that all of us probably recognize that as much as Paul did, it was but a downpayment on what his life was to be. This is not a man who had made his final contribution. His life had not run its real course. Paul Coverdell was an enormously talented man. He was a very good man. From almost the moment I joined this institution, I came to know Paul and work with him on a very close basis, unlike, perhaps, the relationship I have had with many or maybe all Members of the other party. We fought together for education savings accounts and we failed for years. But it is the best thing I could say about Paul Coverdell, that every time we failed on the education savings accounts, he took out his piece of paper, he worked the list again, and we came back. Few may ever remember that indeed the massive tax reduction plans voted upon and passed by the Congress this year closely resembled the tax plan that Paul Coverdell introduced in 2000 in the midst of the Presidential campaign. I joined with him in that effort.”