Indiana's junior senator marked the end of his Congressional career Friday, with what may have been his final speech on the floor of the Senate.

In reflecting on his public service career, Coats said he sees three issues of central importance to his work in Congress - how public policy issues affect quality of life, national security and a focus on community.

"Three debates have been and will remain central questions of our time," Coats said. "One is the issue of life. How we, as a nation, treat the weak and the outcast. I hope my colleagues in coming years will seriously consider their place in this story without an ending - the central drama of American history.

"Perhaps uniquely among our deliberations, the cause of life is informed and ennobled by a simple truth - humanity is not an achievement. It is an endowment, and that endowment is made by a creator who gives inalienable rights, first among them, the right to life," he said. "This is the founding principle of our political tradition. It is the teaching of our moral heritage. And it is the demand of our conscious."

National security and military preparedness is the second key issue Coats urged fellow members of Congress to place a priority on, as he did during his time in the Senate.

"We have a unique opportunity, perhaps a short-lived strategic pause, to build a new military equal to a new century. This is imperative for two reasons," he said. "First, because of the new threats we will face - threats that are predictable and deadly serious.

"Second, because we have a tremendous opportunity, presented by technology, to make revolutionary advances in our ability to keep the peace. This is our challenge - to prove ourselves equal to the emerging threats and this emerging opportunity."

The third issue Coats said should be stressed in any future deliberations is the importance of family, church and community in the lives of all Americans.

"It is my hope that this Senate, in every future debate, will focus on the role of families, churches and community institutions in meeting the human needs and touching human souls," he said. "This is a world of heroic commitment and high standards and true compassion that must be respected and fostered and protected, not harassed or undermined by government or Hollywood."

Finally, Coats urged his colleagues to use the wisdom of tradition in adjudicating any possible impeachment trial the Senate may be asked to try in the 106th Congress.

"We can win or lose on countless issues - succeed or fail in a hundred goals - but there is one thing that isn't forgiven or forgotten: to hold this office and leave it diminished," he said. "This scandal has many bad outcomes, but the worst possible outcome would be for transgressions against the rule of law and the moral duties of power to be treated as trivial because they are viewed as 'private.'

"These are not mistakes to be excused with weary realism. They are acts in other instances, in other places in our society, that still bring disgrace and dismissal and shame," he added. "The president, in short, is actively lowering the bar of ethical behavior for national leaders so that he can clear it." [[In-content Ad]]