madam president, for nearly four and a half decades, george voinovich has dedicated himself to public service at just about every level of government. quite amazing. as a member of the ohio house of representatives, cuyahoga county commissioner, mayorer of cleveland, lieutenant governor of ohio, governor of ohio, and for the last 12 years united states senator from the state of ohio. across those 44 years of service, he has been respected for his independence, his pragmatism, his insistence on putting ideology and partisanship aside in order to accomplish important things for ordinary working americans. another constant in the career of george voinovich has been his insistence on fiscal discipline and his willingness to advance creative, tough-minded, nonideological approaches to help government live within its means. as mayor of cleveland, he took a municipality that had recently declared bankruptcy and turned it around to become a three-time all-american city winner. as governor, he returned the state budget to balance, despite a bad economy. and for the last 12 years he's been one