Sam Brownback

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to my colleague. What a great gentleman. This is an august body, a wonderful place, a delightful place to serve. It has great issues before it. There are people who are gentlemen and gentleladies in it who conduct themselves in one of the highest regards and highest abilities. And when I think of that, I think of George Voinovich. He is a really good guy, a real gentleman in the Senate, and a man who lives his faith, believes it, which is tough to do in this body. It is tough to do in any position in life. Yet he does it and has done it for over four decades in public service to the people in the State of Ohio and the people of the United States. That is quite a tribute.

He and his wife I get to see often. When I think of the expression ``two people becoming one,'' I don't know if I could describe it any better than the Voinovichs, how two become one.

The smile is the same. The look is the same. The attitude is just a wonderful togetherness that the two of them live. At a time when marriages have a lot of difficulties, it is great to see an example of somebody in high office who has lived in public life for over four decades and then has this oneness in their marital relationship. I think they both have served in that capacity, whether it is for their family or for the people of Ohio or the United States.

Living publicly the right way and living privately the right way are both beautiful attributes and difficult things to be able to get done, and it is great to be able to see it happen. For that, I give great tribute to a wonderful American, George Voinovich.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I thank the majority leader for setting up this period of time. This will be my last speech, probably, to the body. It is a speech I wish to give in talking about leaving the Senate of the United States.

I was just elected to be Governor of Kansas, and I am very excited about that post. I have served here a period of 14 years, which has been a wonderful chance to be able to serve the people of Kansas--the people of the United States. I love this body and I love this country.

A lot of folks, when they leave, talk about partisanship and the bickering. I like to think about the beauty of the country and the ability to come together because it does happen. The predecessor of the person sitting in the Presiding Officer's seat and I worked on one of the flagship pieces of legislation on human rights protection. It was on human trafficking, the initial bill. That was with Senator Paul Wellstone, who was from Minnesota. He was a delightful individual. It was a great chance for us to work together on something, and we couldn't have been further apart. I think he was ranked the second most liberal Member of the Senate. He aspired to be No. 1, but he was second. But he was a delightful man and he dealt from the heart and we got things done.

I say that because I think that is how we work in this place; that we fight on about 20 percent of the issues--and they are important, big issues--and then we cooperate and work together on a whole host of broad bipartisan issues, such as dealing with things like human trafficking. You do that primarily with people who deal from the heart--people such as Paul Wellstone, Ted Kennedy, and Jesse Helms. There are a lot of others, and many people get many things done in this body, but I think it is best when people deal from the heart. When they do that, then there is a chance for us to come together around key and heartfelt things. This has been a great body to serve in and I have delighted in being able to do that.

There is much to be done, much to be done for the country. We have to deal with the creation of jobs in America. We have to deal with our debt and our deficit. We have many issues to deal with. My hope for here, and my hope for our country, is that we go back to the virtues of the ``greatest generation'' and look to them for ways to move forward. It is looking back at the old path of what worked in tough times and moving it forward on the new path.

I came into this seat after Bob Dole served in this body. He served in this seat. Senator Dole from Kansas is the iconic figure of the World War II generation, of that ``greatest generation.'' He just got out of Walter Reed Hospital. He has been very sick and ill this year. He is coming back, recuperating. I think he is 87 years old this year.

Most everybody in America would agree about the ``greatest generation.'' They would say that World War II generation hit the mark of what it is to be an American, what it is to sacrifice, what it is to fight for a good cause. They did it with a set of virtues that are timeless, that are known, and I think we have to emulate this time for us to deal with the problems we have now. They were courageous; they were selfless; they were courteous; they were people who would fight for a cause. They were the ones who exhibited charity, thrift. That was certainly known in that generation. I think these are things we have to bring back--hard work, compassion.

It seems to me, when I think of that generation--and nobody is perfect and that generation is not perfect--those are ideals I saw in practice, whether it was them on the battlefield in World War II or if it was them raising their families at home or if it was their educating of their families, if it was saving for future generations; that is what they did.

I don't know, if you ask people of that generation, did you do this on purpose, they might say we did or didn't. Most of them would say this was the right thing to do and it is the thing we needed to do. I think it is what we need to do now. I think we need to emulate those virtues of the ``greatest generation'' and apply them to our problems.

Their problems were more foreign than ours. Ours I believe are more domestic, dealing with our own debt and deficit as a country and as a society and as individuals and individual households; us creating and saving for that next generation in the country and investing to do that, and being selfless and sacrificial in doing that. Building family structure and doing that which is for the good of our families is what we need to do, and that virtue and that old, ancient path they followed, that they said we did because it was a thing we needed to do, I think we have to do the same thing. I hope we will as a country.

There has been a debate that started in America that I do not agree with, and it is whether this is a special country and whether America is an exceptional land. I for one fully embrace the notion that this is a special place. I believe in American exceptionalism and I have been in many places over the world where you see this in action. I have been in many places in America where you see this in action, where somebody selflessly takes care of other individuals.

Last night I was at the Korean Embassy and we were talking about what is taking place in North Korea, and one of the people working there at the South Korean Embassy was amazed that people in the United States would care what happens to people in North Korea. I said one of the people with me was saying that is how we look at the world. If somebody else is in bondage, if somebody else is in difficulty, we feel that and we want to help to deal with it. That, to me, is part of what American exceptionalism is all about.

This is a special place and has a special calling. If it is not us doing it, in many cases around the world it does not get done. I have been in the Sudan and they are not calling on the Chinese to lead Sudan into a freer time period. I have been in other places--in Africa, on the North Korean border. If you are looking for somebody to solve the problem, it is the Americans who go in and do it.

Our task now is to not only do that around the world, but it is to do it domestically. I think we have to look more and more at ourselves and say we are a special place and I think we have to look at ourselves as the baby boomer generation that I am a part of and say you have to prove and earn your exceptionalism. I think we have to step up to the mark as the ``greatest generation'' did and be willing to serve in a tough way, in a sacrificial way, in the best interests of the future of our country. We have to do it and now is the time to do it.

I am appreciative that the President had a deficit task force he appointed and that they came up with some ideas, with some of which I agree, with some of which I disagree. But I am glad they started the discussion and the debate. If the figures I have seen are accurate, half the American households receive an entitlement check from the Federal Government--half of the American households. We have a deficit and debt that is structural. It is not based upon one-time war funding, although war funding has contributed to it, but it is structural in that we have more going out than we have coming in. It is time this is dealt with. I think that is part of the message from this last election cycle. The American people are ready to have an intelligent discussion, a difficult discussion of what we are going to do to be able to save ourselves fiscally. Now is the time to do it.

We actually have the structure set up to do it. With a Republican House, Democratic Senate, Democratic Presidency. This would be the time and the structure to talk about this sort of difficult issue. Our generation should step up and deal with it. I am not going to be here for that discussion and debate, but it is time we have it and it is time we bring back these timeless virtues to deal with our domestic problems the way we have dealt with international problems in the ``greatest generation.''

As I leave this body, one of the rites of passage is to sign your desk, and I just did that. I did it in pencil. I figure that all of us will fade with time and that signature will fade with time as well. But the things you remember are what you touched and that touched you and the souls that are touched. It is people who deal from the heart who are the ones who touch your life and the ones who touch your soul. I want to express my deep appreciation to my colleagues who have touched my heart. I hope I have been a positive statement to many of them.

The psalm that comes to mind is one that says: ``And his place knew him no more.''

The psalmist wrote: ``His place knew him no more.'' After a period of time you sign the desk, you move on, and then you look back and see the signatures in the desk and you don't recognize many of them. The place will know us no more. But the hearts that we touch, the hearts that touch ours, we will remember forever, and I certainly will.

I thank you and my colleagues in the Senate for letting me serve with you. It has been a great joy. It is a fabulous nation, the greatest Nation on the face of the Earth, and it was an honor to serve here.

God bless America.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise to speak in relation to the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2010 and to congratulate my colleagues on its unanimous passage. This legislation is vital not only to sanction Iran for bad behavior but to signal to the Government of Iran our determination to keep them from developing or acquiring nuclear weapons and from supporting terrorism throughout the Middle East region and around the world.

It did not have to be this way. Iran has been given every opportunity to change its ways and has chosen not to do so. Iran represents one of the biggest threats to our security, and these sanctions should help restrict Iran's ability to operate.

Specifically, this legislation will expand sanctions on foreign companies that do business in Iran. It will ban U.S. banks from conducting financial transactions with foreign banks that are connected to the Iranian nuclear program or Iran's terrorist enterprises.

It imposes a variety of new financial sanctions on Iran, limiting the mullahs' access to the international banking system. And, among other provisions, provides a framework for U.S., state, and local governments to divest their portfolios of foreign companies that work in the Iranian energy sector.

In the past, the United States has not fully utilized its sanctions authority when it comes to Iran. Obviously, enforcement is crucial. Sanctions are only effective when they are actually applied. I urge the administration, in the strongest terms possible, to make full use of the sanctions Congress has authorized in this bill.

It is no secret that Iran is openly hostile to the United States and our important allies, and failing to act would be foolish and irresponsible. The Government of Iran has rejected every opportunity to develop good relations with the rest of the world and sanctions are a logical and necessary response.

We must send a strong, unified message to Tehran and to those who aid their tyrannical ambitions. Terrorism, oppression, and subjugation ought not have any place in society. This legislation imposes financial sanctions and travel restrictions on human rights abusers in Iran. Passage of this legislation helps demonstrate that we reject the repression of the rulers in Tehran and support the efforts of the Iranian people to change their government.

And, I hope that the people of Iran will understand that is our goal here. We support the people of Iran. We support their right to chose their own leaders and chart their own future. We stand with them against the tyranny of the mullahs.

Iranians have a long and proud history, and are some of the most passionate and courageous people I have met. They are just as opposed to the actions of the Iranian regime as we are.

In fact, a little over a year ago, the people of Iran went to the polls to vote for a leader and saw their hopes for a democratically elected leader brutally crushed by a regime unwilling to cede its power. People around the world stood breathlessly, hoping the brave men and women of the Green Revolution would see their efforts rewarded.

Instead of listening to the people of Iran, Ahmadinejad and his cronies killed, imprisoned, and tortured those who were brave enough to speak out in opposition to tyranny.

Unfortunately, this violent course of action is not a recently developed tactic. To this day, there are members of the Green Revolution sitting in prison. Christians are killed for worshiping the God of their choosing, the free press has been silenced, women are brutally oppressed. The human rights abuses of Iran are extensive.

These sanctions are necessary because of the terrible nature of the regime. The rulers in Tehran have demonstrated that they cannot be trusted. They have subverted the interests of the Iranian people. They have manipulated the political process.

We in the United States of America have a duty to stand with the thousands of men and women in Iran who long for the basic rights that we in America take for granted. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, freedom of the press. These are the things the Iranian people long for, and these are the things I am confident they will one day enjoy.

Obviously, freedom for the Iranian people will require much more than legislation from the U.S. Congress, but we ought to do what we can, and this bill sends a strong signal at a key time for our efforts to halt Iran's nuclear program and for the people of Iran who seek a more representative government. I hope we take additional steps to support the Iranian people's free and unfettered access to the internet, boost their ability to receive unbiased news and information and provide the support and assistance they need to sustain the reform movement in the face of a hostile and repressive government.

Senator Cornyn and I have introduced the Iran Democratic Transition Act, which supports the transition to a freely elected democratic government in Iran by assisting eligible Iranian democratic opposition organizations with communications and distribution of information. It is an important bill to aid the courageous people of Iran, and it is my hope that in the coming weeks the Senate will be able to bring this bill to the floor for a vote.

Today is a great step forward. I look forward to working with my colleagues on other ways that we can strengthen

opposition to the regime, halt the development of nuclear weapons, and support the Iranian people's drive for freedom.