Tribute to Tom Udall

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, Senator Udall and I came here in the same class 12 years ago. It is hard to believe that 12 years have passed. How can that happen so quickly? We have seen the Senate in various chapters as it sought to address the big challenges facing America.

Colleagues have already noted Tom's intense advocacy for the wildlands of the West and the poetry that he brought to it in his speech today with Mr. Stegner's reflections on the majesty and importance of the wildlands of the West and all of his efforts to protect those lands.

Colleagues have mentioned how, when folks thought it couldn't be done, he dived into this partnership with Senator Vitter to drive the Lautenberg Toxic Substances Act and got it accomplished through months and months of intense negotiations.

He cares about the function of this body and has shared with us idea after idea on how we might make it work better--ideas that we should still work to consider in the months and years ahead.

As he thought about protection of lands, he thought about protection of the oceans and the role of plastics in the oceans. He spearheaded efforts for us to reconsider how we produce so much plastic waste and where it ends up and the damage that it does--a vision that others will have to carry the baton on after his departure.

He has stood up fiercely for the constitutional vision of a nation and a government of, by, and for the people, that money is not speech, and that corporations are not people.

Tom, thank you. Thank you for fighting for the vision of our Constitution, for a government that can and will take on the issues facing us. We will miss you. I personally hope that you will have a major role in continuing to advance the protection of those wildlands in the West in the near future. All my best, and take care in your next chapter.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source