Russ Feingold: “Wisconsin has inspired some of the greatest conservationists this Nation has ever known. Wisconsinites have had a…”

“Wisconsin has inspired some of the greatest conservationists this Nation has ever known. Wisconsinites have had a powerful influence on the environmental movement. I now hold the Senate seat held by Gaylord Nelson, the founder of Earth Day, and a man for whom I have the greatest admiration and respect. I am pleased that Wisconsin can lay claim to the genesis of Earth Day, a day of national and international remembrance of the importance of our natural resources and a clean environment. I know that the people of Wisconsin, living in such a beautiful and ecologically diverse State, feel a special connection to our natural resources and share a long tradition of our State government achieving excellence in its conservation policies. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Gaylord Nelson, a former member of this body and a distinguished former Governor of the State of Wisconsin, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for changing the consciousness of a nation. He is the living embodiment of the principle that one person can literally change the world.”