Don Nickles: “It is a sad occasion that we see flowers on the desk of Paul Wellstone memorializing his service to this country and to…”

“It is a sad occasion that we see flowers on the desk of Paul Wellstone memorializing his service to this country and to the Senate. Paul Wellstone served very ably in the Senate for 12 years. I had the pleasure of working with him, and I had the pleasure of opposing him on many occasions. Many times, I would always say in the heat of the battle that Paul Wellstone had intensity, he had passion, and he had conviction. As Senator Byrd mentioned, those are qualities and traits that are very much needed in the Senate. October 25, when Paul Wellstone was killed along with his wife Sheila and his daughter Marcia, in addition to three staff members and a couple of pilots, was a real tragedy to the Senate family. Unfortunately, we have lost a lot of Senators through airplane crashes. Many of us have been in planes under questionable circumstances. It is a tragedy we hate to see. I remember receiving the phone call and the words were ``oh, no,'' when it was confirmed. As many of our colleagues, I went to Minnesota for the memorial service on October 29 to express our condolences and sympathy on the loss of a colleague. We wanted to show support to his family, friends and constituents and say that, yes, he was a valuable Member of the Senate and we hated to lose him. To lose him in such a tragic and unexpected way is really a loss for the entire country.”