Senate Republicans and Democrats may disagree on a lot, but they made it clear Wednesday they agree on one thing: They love Joe Biden.
The vice president's former Senate colleagues at 3 p.m. began an hour of tributes Biden, honoring a life marked by unspeakable loss and remarkable resilience.
Biden looked on, appearing moved, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and others recounted how Biden overcame a childhood stutter, the loss of his first wife and two children and brain aneurysms. And how he served 36 years representing Delaware, passing major women's rights legislation in the Senate, before becoming vice president and pushing his "Moonshot" initiative to cure cancer following the death last year of his son and Delaware's former attorney general, Beau Biden, at the age of 46.
"He’s been blessed in many ways," said McConnell, who called Biden a "real friend and trusted partner." "He’s also been tested, knocked down, pushed to the edge of what anyone could be expected to bear. But from the grip of unknowable despair came a new man, a better man, stronger and more compassionate, grateful for every moment, appreciative of what really matters."
Senators have been giving farewell speeches and tributes this week as they wrap up business for the year. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who spearheaded the idea for a Biden tribute, kicked off the speeches, recalling the more than 2 million miles Biden logged on Amtrak, traveling between D.C. and Delaware, the value of his "word as a Biden," and the comfort he's provided to those who have experienced loss.
Coons, who holds Biden's former Senate seat, said as long as he serves Delaware, "I'll be humbled by the challenge of living up to your legacy."
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, "We all respect him and I think most all of us love him."
The tributes come during an emotional week for Biden.
The Senate on Wednesday easily passed one of his major priorities, the biomedical innovation bill, “21st Century Cures,” that designates $1.8 billion over five years for research in keeping with Biden’s “Moonshot Initiative” to cure cancer.
As Biden looked on tearfully from the presiding officer’s chair in the Senate, senators voted on Monday to rename the legislation’s anti-cancer title, “Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot and (National Institutes of Health) Innovation Projects” after Biden’s son Beau.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., after the Senate cleared the bill for President Obama's signature on Wednesday, said "I sense that something good is going to happen for a lot of people in this country and I'm glad that the Biden name is closely associated with it."
Biden, in many ways, grew up in the Senate. He was elected in 1972, before his 30th birthday, and took his first oath of office next to Beau’s hospital bed after a car accident that killed his first wife, Neilia and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, and injured Beau and Biden’s other son, Hunter.
A self-described “Senate man,” Biden kept one foot in the chamber during his vice presidency, serving as the administration’s point man in negotiations on fiscal issues, working with McConnell on down-to-the-wire agreements.
Reid on Wednesday called Biden "a man of the Senate" whose life "is the stuff movies are made from."
Biden, 74, made news this week as he stoked speculation that he may — or may not — make his third run for president in 2020. He told reporters on Monday that he would, but then he wouldn’t commit when asked if he was kidding. On Tuesday night, he said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he doesn’t plan on running. But then he opened the door — and slammed President-elect Donald Trump with it.
“To say you know what’s going to happen in four years I just think is not rational,” he told Colbert. “I can’t see the circumstance in which I’d run, but what I’ve learned a long, long time ago, Stephen, is to never say never. You don’t know what’s going to happen. Hell, Donald Trump’s going to be 74. I’ll be 77, in better shape. I mean, what the hell?”
What’s next for Biden?
He told The News Journal in July that he plans to stay engaged in all the issues he’s engaged in now. And then, of course, who knows? There’s always the 2020 presidential election. Or not.
