Pete Sessions: “Don Nickles has been truly one of our great Senators for almost a quarter of a century. I join with the remarks of…”

“Don Nickles has been truly one of our great Senators for almost a quarter of a century. I join with the remarks of others who came before me, and particularly Mitch McConnell's belief that Don Nickles is one of the best of all times in this body. He rode into Washington at the age of 30, determined to fight for a heartland vision of America with all his strength and energy. As he leaves here, still a young man, limping a little bit from that New York marathon he just ran a few days ago, every one of us can say he was true to those ideals and extraordinarily effective in advocating them. This Senate and this Nation is losing a tremendous champion. We are losing one of our most valuable Members. Don was a small businessman who had seen personally the oppression of mindless regulation and taxes and rules that make creating a business and creating jobs difficult and frustrating. He knows taxes stifle growth and human creativity and taxes mean a transfer of power and wealth from the people who have earned it by the fruit of their labor, sending it to Washington for governmental politicians to dispense. He knows government spends too much and too wastefully. And he knows as a true man of faith that ultimately it is the families, the hearts, and the faith of America in which our strength resides. Those values he holds and he holds them very strongly. For those values he has worked ably and courageously to his last day in the Senate.”