David Obey: “the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Durbin] would be on it. There is no question that any time he comes to the floor he…”

“the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Durbin] would be on it. There is no question that any time he comes to the floor he knows his subject. He is speaking because of what he believes, and he always does it with grace and with honor, and I think has represented the finest traditions of the history of this House. He is as close to a perfect definition of being a true public servant as any human can possibly be. We are going to miss him greatly. We are going to miss his talent. We are going to miss his sense of fairness. We are going to miss his sense of judgment and his insistence on always putting the public interest first. That does not mean I have always agreed with him. I have not. But he has been a tremendous addition to this committee and this House. He is a worthy and will be a worthy successor to Paul Simon. He is in that tradition of clean as well as effective government, and he continues that proud tradition that Senator Paul Douglas established so many years ago. He was Mr. Integrity.”