On the recordDecember 7, 2016
Mr. President, today I wish to honor the contributions and the long and colorful career of Vice President Joe Biden--the pride of Scranton, PA--and of Wilmington, DE--and the pride of the entire United States. Joe Biden lived, learned, and grew up among hard-working Americans in the 1950s and 1960s, when everything in America seemed possible--and it was. Remarkably, this gifted orator grew up with a crippling stutter--a challenge which he overcame through determination and perseverance. He displayed that same uncommon strength after he lost his wife and daughter in a horrific car accident just weeks after being first elected to the United States Senate. Vice President Biden considered giving up his seat to tend to his injured children. It is one of this country's great fortunes that Joe Biden decided against that. Scarred by the tragedy and by a close brush with death himself and more recently by the loss of his son Beau, the Vice President has shown us the power of and the comfort derived from a deep personal faith. When he was first elected to the United States Senate in 1972, he was only 29 years old. And in a Senate career spanning 36 years, Senator Biden left behind a legacy as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Perhaps his greatest achievement was his tireless advocacy for civil rights, especially the protection of women and children from domestic violence.…





