>> mr. president, madame vice president, distinguished guests. i am honored. i have always thought that life has no blessing like that of a good friend. to know bob was to know the truth of that statement. bob's friendship was a blessing that enriched my life beyond

measure. his dedication to public service, his determination to keep washington and congress places of civility, and his kindness made our friendship a blessing as rich as life offers. when i arrived in the senate in 1987, bob was literally one of the first people to reach out. we served on the finance and agriculture committees together. almost from the beginning, we seemed to have similar views on

agriculture, nutrition, many other issues. bob faced the world, both its cruelties and its kindness. cruelties and its kindness, with humility, with humanity, and, of course, with humor. i remember my first appearance with bob after we were both elected leaders in 1994. it was at a reception, where he noted that my collection was received with great enthusiasm. for the first time, you had two senate leaders from farmer states. he said every farmer in america, that very week, ordered a new

tractor. [laughter] bob set the bar for me and, i suspect, many others, when he shared that story about when he first came to congress. a reporter asked what his agenda was going to be. he said "i'm going to sit and watch for a couple of days, and then, i'm going to stand up and do what's right." that's exactly what he did. as the president noted, he stood up for minorities early in his career, when he broke party ranks and voted for the landmark

civil rights and voting rights acts. he stood up for the elderly when he worked with pat moynihan literally to save social security. he stood up for the young, when he worked with my fellow south dakota and george mcgovern on nutrition assistance. he stood up for the disabled. he worked with ted kennedy and tom harkin on the americans with disabilities act. boy, did he stand up for his fellow veterans. as the chairman of the world war ii memorial campaign, i know from many conversations how important accomplishment was.

he even thought about being buried there. that may not be his final resting place. i think of bob every single time i visit. of course, these are all the things that made bob dole great. as rogers once put it, in one of bob's favorite sayings, "it's great to be great, but it's far greater to be human." almost everyone has heard the bob dole stories of amazing heroics, and his recovery from injury in world war ii. few know the bob dole who called

a florida dentist in 1993 to encourage him, after losing his right arm, and help him find a specialist to get a prosthetic arm. few people know the story about bob dole and the detour he took in his presidential campaign in 1996. he was in indianapolis, and he left the campaign for a few hours to attend the graduation party for a young girl who had become paralyzed because of a car accident. as pat already noted, the bob dole who waited at those airport gates for honor flights to greet veterans with a salute and a

thank you. he touched many people through his acts of kindness, including me. he taught me a lot when i became senate leader, but the teaching didn't end when i left the senate. when i lost my election in 2004, once again, bob was one of the very first to offer me his guidance and his support. he helped me find a bureau. he encouraged me to join it at his law firm. it was a decision i never

regretted, because he gave me an opportunity to spend a lot more time with him. i can't help but think of the first time i said farewell to bob. it was when he left the senate in 1996. i remember, he quoted a poem by carl sandberg in his final speech on the senate floor. what i tell you -- a bucket of ashes. i tell you yesterday, there is a wind gone down, a son dominic "i tell you yesterday, there is a wind gone down, a -- sky of t"

bob didn't always have an easy life. he faced some hard yesterdays. physical, political, personal losses. after all he did lose, he never lost himself. he never lost his sense of humor. he never lost his sense of integrity. he never lost his love for his hometown: russell, kansas. or, his deep, deep love for elizabeth and robin. and, he never lost his hope for tomorrow. his life was a testament to will

rodgers' truth, that the things that make us human, the laughs we share, the burdens we bear, can make us great.

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>> i stand here with a heavy heart, and also, as the grateful and proud daughter -- i have had an incredible 67 years with my dad. not many people get that time. i'm so thankful. i will be brief today to help me make it through this, and to make dad smile. a lot of us in this room know how much he appreciated brevity. i want to start by thanking all of you for being with us today.

i think i can speak for elizabeth when i say that the outpouring of love and respect is heartwarming. we are truly lifted by your presence. thank you, mr. president, for your warm remarks. i will always treasure your recent visit to dad and elizabeth and i at the watergate -- it was wonderful, and i loved listening to you share all your stories about the time you served together. i want to say thank you to his extended family, and now mine. former colleagues, former staff, current staff. members of his household. elizabeth's staff, who i have gotten to know really well this

last couple of days. the brunch crew. all of his visitors and friends and family who called him regularly. he so enjoyed time with all of you. i want to say thank you to his medical team, and believe me, it was quite a team. his team on the east coast and the west coast, for your dedication, and for giving us so many wonderful years with dad, especially this last year. we can't thank you enough. finally, i want to thank his caregivers. i will be eternally grateful to you for providing extraordinary care and compassionate care to my dad.

and, for always answering my many calls and texts with grace. there were a lot. the last years have been such a gift to me. i felt so fortunate i was able to spend hundreds of hours with my dad, and talk to him almost every single night on the phone. we talked about everything under the sun. he told me things i never knew. he asked about my life, but my friend's lives. we made lots of calls to family, to former colleagues in the senate and in the house, the former staff. he shared feelings he had not shared before with many of these people. it was a wonderful experience for me to listen to these conversations, and such a gift to them and to dad.

my dad is the most generous person i have ever known. he was a giver, not a taker. he cared more about others than he did about himself. he told me he set a personal goal to help at least one person every day of his life. then, he said "i'm not sure i have been able to meet my goal." i said "dad, you got to be kidding. some days, you help one person, other days you helped 40,000 people. i think you have met and exceeded your goal. well, you may be right, he said." there is no one he helped more than me. he has always been there for me

through thick and thin. he always has my back, even when i have made mistakes, and believe me, i made quite a few. he believes in giving second chances, and i know that firsthand. he was my rock. my dad was an animal lover. we share that love. you have heard a lot about us working in animal welfare, but i would like to share a few personal stories about his love for animals. when i was a little girl, my cousins and i would visit his parents every summer. grandma would often have animals for us to play with. one year, when i got home, i cried and cried because i didn't know what would happen to the little kitten that i played with and grew to love. dad left on a trip to kansas,

and much to my surprise, he brought the kitten home with him on the plane for me. we named the kitten rusty, because he started in russell. recently, i lost my dog, cooper. dad was the first one to call me. he consoled me and he said all the right things. that support meant the world to me. soon, he began to encourage me to get another dog and quite frequently, he encouraged me to get another dog. i would tell him "i just don't know if i'm ready," but he kept encouraging me. eventually, he got me a puppy. i wanted to name my puppy after dad but i didn't want to name

him bob. [laughter] i decided to name him jojo, after his middle name, joe. we visited many, many times. dad always wanted me to bring jojo with me, which wasn't always easy, but we did it, and dad always wanted me, when i got there, to hold jojo up so he could get kisses from jojo. i will hold him up to his face. dad always wanted elizabeth to get kisses too. [laughter] jojo did a very good job of spreading his love. dad and elizabeth's dogs, blazer and leader, were always trotting into his room. they loved to visit. it was blazer who was the most concerned about him.

blazer would lay at his feet whenever he suspected dad needed special nursing care. i believe it really helped. he loved them so much. when i was preparing to speak today, i learned about a farewell letter dad wrote with a former staff member. none of us knew he had written this letter. he swore him to secrecy, and he kept a secret. the joke is, you may move on to other jobs, but once you are a staffer here, you are always one. a lot of people in this room know that. i would like to share, in closing, part of that letter. i encourage you all to read it in its entirety. it has been released to the

public, as he wished. here are his words. as i make the final walk on my life's journey, i do so without fear, because i know that i will not be walking alone. i know that god will be walking with me. i also confess that i am a bit curious to learn if i am correct in thinking that heaven will look a lot like kansas. [laughter] and, to see, like others who have gone before me, if i will still be able to boat in chicago. [laughter] i do have one request to make of

you, since it was dedicated in 2004, it has been my honor to go as often as i could to the world war ii memorial here in washington, d.c., to welcome and thank the world war ii veterans and all veterans visiting there. since i won't be making a visit anymore, i hope that you will. and, that you will ask your children and grandchildren to visit veterans memorials across america, and ten never forget the sacrifice america, and then to never forget the sacrifice by all those who wear the uniform of our country. my final words are the exact ones that dwight eisenhower used to conclude his speech nearly seven decades ago.

"i believe in the future of united states of america." i will miss him so much. i i think i will still talk to him every night. i love you, dad. a promise, you will never walk alone. thank you.

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> readings from the new testament. "and one of the scribes came up

and asked him "which commandment is the first of all?" jesus answered "you shall love the lord, your god, with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and strength. the second is this: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. there is no other commandment greater than these. love is patient, kind. it does not envy. it does not boast. it is not proud. it is not rude. it is not self-seeking. it is not easily angered. it keeps no record of wrongs. love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. he who does not love does not know god, for god is love." "the word of the lord.

the word of the lord. >> mr. president, madam vice president, distinguished guests, and dole staff. having served with senator dole for 20 years, i am honored to read a poem that senator dole often included in his speeches in his later years. i believe we will hear, in these words, a description of the man whose life, leadership, and legacy we celebrate today. i read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. he referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning to the end. he noted first, came the date of the birth, and spoke the following date with cheers.

he said what mattered most of all was the dash between the years. that represents all the time they spent, life on earth. now, only those who love them know what that little line is worth. for it matters not how much we own, cars, house, the cash. what matters is how we live and love, and how we spend our dash. think about this long and hard. are there things you would like to change? you never know how much time is left. it still could be rearranged. if we could just slow down enough to consider what is true and real, and always try to understand the way other people feel. be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more, and love the

people in our lives like we've never loved before. if we treat each other with respect, and more often wear a smile, remembering that this special dash my only last a little while. when so, when your eulogy is being read, with your life's actions to rehash, would you be proud about what they say about how you spend your dash?

>> president biden, vice president harris, distinguished guests, beloved elizabeth. thank you, robin, for reminding me that your dad loved brevity. [laughter] i grew to love my brother in christ, robert joseph dole.

i am entering my 19th year in the senate. one of the high points, though i came after the honorable robert dole had left, was to meet elizabeth. elizabeth is one of the most ethically congruent people i know. to know you is to love you. i know the many phone calls, and how i have been blessed by our friendship, your spirituality. it rubbed off on bob.

[laughter] i used to have rendezvous with bob in this very cathedral. so many memorial services, he was here. sometimes, pushed in a wheelchair, but i would, at the end of the service, bolt around the side of the cathedral for our rendezvous. we really got to know one another well, particularly when we were -- i was able to work with him on the world war ii memorial, and learned so much from this great patriots. as i listen to the readings, i thought about him.

what an appropriate reading for the old testament? isaiah 40-31. "be that weight on the lord, shall renew their strength. they shall mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint." i used to wonder, did we get that right? it seems it should be run and not faint, walk and not be weary, but the pedestrian movement of life can often push you to the point of fainting,

for more than those emergency moments with the adrenaline rush. then, what a beautiful passage for the new testament. love, agape, understanding creative, redemptive, good will for humanity. it describes the life and legacy of robert dole. i am still working on calling him bob. i still can't do that. [laughter] i remember, elizabeth, when we had a conversation, and you put bob -- you said "let me put bob on the phone."

i had the experience of having a conference call with spiritual royalty. at the end, i had a sense that bob knew he was cared for by a great shepard. i would like to toss in another verse, psalm 23, verse 4. "even though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i will fear no evil, for you are with me. your rod and your staff, they

comfort me." i believe my beloved brother in christ knew he was cared for by a great shepard. a shepherd who said, in john 10-11, "i am the good shepard. the good shepard gives his life for the sheep." bob was a covert spiritual agent. he did not wear his religion on his sleeves. he resonated with the sentiment of francis -- preached the gospel everywhere you go when

necessary, use words. [laughter] he believed the sentiment of edgar guest. "i would rather -- than your your sermon any day. i'd rather it should walk with me than merely tell the way." this covert, spiritual agent believed that he was cared for by a great shepard who left the chance of -- and a rainbow encircled, and a lamb where night never and a land where night never comes, to see about job, to see about you, to see about me.

he could say, even though "i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i will fear no evil, for you are with." he knew -- i firmly believe, elizabeth -- he knew that there was brevity, as robin put it, in that valley. i'm not going to be walking around in that valley. i'm not going to be having a picnic in that valley. wherever i walk, remember they will walk and not faint. though i walk through, it is temporary. he knew that he was not in that valley to stay.

second corinthians side one says "if this earthly tent that we live in is destroyed, praise god, we have a building: not made with hands: eternal in the heavens." he knew that! he knew that there was light in the valley of shadows. if you have shadows without light to project the shadow in 27 psalm, the lord is my light and my salvation. then, shall i fear? he served a savior who said "i am the light of the world," but

there was one other thing he knew. he knew that there was comfort in that valley. we talked about this day coming. he knew there was comfort for us. that shepard he loved so much and we loved so much once said, matthew 11-27 and onward, "come unto me all you who labor and are laden, and i will give you rest. take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for i am meek and lowly

in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. for my yoke is easy. my burden is light. i remember when you told me that he died in his sleep, and i said "what a transition." those words immediately leapt to my mind, for he was telling us how we should aspire to transition. when you're someone comes, to join that innumerable caravan

where each must take his chamber in the solemn halls of death, go down not like the quarries slammed, scourged to his dungeon at night, but sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust. here it is. here is bob. "approach thy grave of those who -- drapes in the culture of him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. "my brother in jesus christ.

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>> for our brother, bob, let us pray to our lord jesus christ who said i am resurrection and i am life. lord, you consoled martha and mary in their distress. draw near to us who mourn for bob and dry the tears of those who weep. lou wept at the grave of lazarus, your friend. comfort us in our sorrow. you raised the dead to life. give to our brother eater and a life. give to our brother eternal life. bring our brother to the joys of heaven. our brother was washed in baptism and anointed with the holy spirit. give him fellowship with all your saints.

comfort us in our sorrows at the death of our brother, that our faith via our consolation and eternal life our help. we pray to you for bob and for all those whom we love but see no longer. grant to them eternal rest. let light perpetual shine upon them. may his soul of the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of god, rest in peace. ♪ ♪

>> ♪♪ shall we gather at the river ♪ ♪ where bright angel feet have tried ♪ ♪ with its crystal tied forever ♪ ♪ flowing by the throne of god ♪ ♪ yes we'll gather by the river ♪ ♪ the beautiful, the beautiful river ♪ ♪ gather with his saints by the river ♪ ♪ that flows by the throne of god ♪

♪ soon we'll reach the shining river ♪ ♪ soon our pilgrimage will cease ♪ ♪ soon our happy hearts will quiver ♪ ♪ with the melody of peace ♪ ♪ yes we'll gather at the river mom all the beautiful, the beautiful river mom all gather with the saints the river that flows by

the throne of god ♪♪ ♪♪ shall we gather at the river where bright angel feet have tried ♪ ♪ with its crystal tied forever ♪ ♪ flowing by the throne of god ♪ ♪ shall we gather at the

river ♪♪ >> give rest of christ to your servant with your saint. >> you only are immortal, the creator and maker of mankind, and we are immortal, formed of the earth. and to earth shall we return. for so did your day when you created me, say you are destined to dust you shall return. all of us go down to the dust, yet even at the grave we make our song. hallelujah, hallelujah,

hallelujah. give rest, oh, god, to your servant with your saints where sorrow and pain are no more. a sign but life everlasting. >> into your hands we commend your servant, bob. we humbly beseech you. a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock. a center of your own redeeming. receive him into the arms of your mercy and to the blessed rest of everlasting peace and into the glorious company of the saints in light. amen. >> now go forth into the world in peace. be strong and of good courage. hold fast to that which is good. render to no one evil for evil.

the love the lord your god. love your neighbor. love yourself. the blessing of god almighty. the father, the son, the holy spirit. be on you and remain with you in this world in which we live this day and forever more. amen. >> let us go fourth in the name of christ. >> thanks be to god.