A resolution to commend Senate Enrolling Clerk Thomas J. Lundregan on Thirty-Six Years of Service to the United States Government.

Mr. President, I come to the floor for a couple of minutes because I want to thank a man who is a fixture in this institution.

Tom Lundregan is the Senate's enrolling clerk and as fine a public servant as you will find anywhere. Today marks his last day in the Senate, and I know that I speak for all of us when I say we are going to miss him.

Tom began his Government service 36 years ago as a printing apprentice with the Government Printing Office.

Over the next 21 years, he was detailed a number of times to both the House and the Senate.

Fifteen years ago, the Senate was fortunate enough to convince Tom to join us full-time, as member of the Office of the Senate Enrolling Clerk. Since 1995, he has headed that office and served this institution with great distinction.

``Enrolling clerk'' is one of those curious Senate titles that even devoted C-SPAN watchers might have a hard time defining.

It is the enrolling clerk's responsibility to proofread and prepare for printing every page of legislation the Senate passes, and then transmit those pages to the House of Representatives, the National Archives, the Secretary of State, the United States Claims Court, and the White House.

It is also the enrolling clerk who transmits Senate messages to the House, and arranges for the delivery of all Senate-enrolled bills and resolutions to the White House.

The job demands diligence, intelligence, enormous attention to detail and often incredibly long hours.

When legislation needs to be moved quickly to the House, or prepared for preconferencing, the enrolling clerk and his staff work until the job is done.

I know that, many times, Tom has had only enough time to go home and take a shower before coming right back to face another workday. He and his staff have also worked through weekends, recesses, and holidays, and they have done so without a word of complaint.

As enrolling clerk, Tom worked closely with the Secretary of the Senate and the Senate Legislative Counsel's Office to establish policies regarding the proper form and language of legislation.

He also worked with the Legislative Counsel's Office to develop software that will soon allow the enrolling clerks and legislative counsel offices to share data electronically. These projects--and others--will ensure that Tom's influence will continue to be felt in the Senate for years to come.

As some know, Tom was actually scheduled to retire 16 months ago but he stayed on to help train his successor and ensure a smooth transition. That's how committed he is to this Senate.

More than once in these last 16 months, Tom has reminded his successor, ``We need to be 100 percent right, not just 99.9 percent.'' In 36 years of service to the people of the United States, Tom Lundregan has held himself to that same high standard. With Tom, there is no such thing as ``good enough for government work.''

We could not have a Government ``of the people, by the people and for the people'' without the extraordinary devotion and skill of people such as Tom. He is a public servant in the best sense of that term and an important and valued member of our Senate family.

Today, on the occasion of Tom's well-deserved retirement, I joint the rest of the Senate family in thanking Tom. I also want to thank Tom's wife Yanjie Xu for sharing her husband with the Senate at least 16 months longer than she had planned.

We wish them well as they finally begin those travels they have looked forward to for so long, and we want them to know that they take with them the thanks, admiration, and best wishes of the entire Senate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 347 submitted by Senators Frist and Daschle.

``Reserved, low key, self-deprecating, totally professional, and devoted to the Senate,'' that is how assistant enrolling clerk Joe Monahan describes his colleague Tom Lundregan, who retires tomorrow from his post as the Senate's enrolling clerk.

For 15 years in the Office of the Secretary, Tom has had the crucial task of ensuring that the written copy of the legislation we pass in this body is thoroughly accurate before it is sent on to the House and to the President. As Tom explains, ``We cannot make mistakes. The final paper that is sent to the White House is being signed by the President and is going to become the law of the land.'' He says the responsibility can be ``a little scary.''

Despite the stress, Tom has maintained an impeccable record and earned the admiration of all of his colleagues. Not once on his watch has a piece of legislation been sent back from the House or from the President because of an error.

Through work weeks that have stretched up to 90 hours, sometimes even 50 hours straight, Tom has shown total focus, dedication and commitment to the integrity of this institution.

Says his colleague Joe, ``There are darn few people who can do that.'' He is right. The Senate has been incredibly fortunate to have such a meticulous and hard working member of the team.

Tom says his most vivid memory of working in the Senate is 9/11, and realizing that a plane was heading this way. September 11 reinforced his idea of the importance of every Senate job, from clerks to staff to elected officials. ``This is the finest institution in the world that represents democracy to everyone in the world. To have an opportunity to work in this building has been a tremendous honor.''

Tom and his wife plan to spend their retirement years where it is warm all year round. They hope to travel throughout the States, starting this spring with Yosemite, Lake Tahoe and the Grand Canyon. Tom also anticipates after 15 years of grueling and unpredictable hours finally being able to spend quantity time with his four grandsons.

I thank Tom for his extraordinary service to the Senate and to the American people. I wish him safe travels and all the best in his well- earned retirement.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record at the appropriate place.

Mr. President, I would also like to spread across the Record of the Senate our congratulations and appreciation for the work that Tom has contributed to this institution. Especially late in the session, when we are at home, he and the other enrolling clerk are working long, long hours after we have left, long after we have left, very tedious, very difficult, but a very important job to make sure the work we do here winds up in the final record--in the law books, in effect--the way it is supposed to be. It is an art that has been developed over these many years, and we are very appreciative of all that Tom Lundregan has done for not only the Senate but the country.