[Senate Document 105-32]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



105th Congress, 2nd Session  - - - - - - - - - - Senate Document 105-32


 
                              Dale Bumpers

                       U.S. SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS

                                TRIBUTES


                           IN THE CONGRESS OF
                           THE UNITED STATES





                                                         S. Doc. 105-32

                                      Tributes

                                Delivered in Congress


                                    Dale Bumpers

                                United States Senator

                                      1974-1998

                                         ---


                           Compiled  under the  direction

                                       of the

                              Secretary of  the  Senate

                                       by the

                    Office of  Printing  and  Document  Services


                                      CONTENTS

             Biography............................................. vii
             Proceedings in the Senate:
                Tributes by Senators:
                    Boxer, Barbara, of California..................  45
                    Burns, Conrad, of Montana......................  18
                    Byrd, Robert C., of West Virginia..............  14
                    Cochran, Thad, of Mississippi..................   1
                    Daschle, Tom, of South Dakota............... 11, 23
                    Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut...........  41
                    Domenici, Pete, of New Mexico..................   7
                    Ford, Wendell H., of Kentucky..................  22
                    Hutchinson, Tim, of Arkansas...................   2
                    Feingold, Russell D., of Wisconsin.............  31
                    Ford, Wendell H., of Kentucky..................  22
                    Harkin, Tom, of Iowa...........................  29
                    Jeffords, James M., of Vermont.................   4
                    Kempthorne, Dirk, of Idaho.....................  20
                    Lautenberg, Frank R., of New Jersey.......... 8, 17
                    Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont..................  43
                    Levin, Carl, of Michigan.......................   6
                    Lott, Trent, of Mississippi....................  36
                    Mikulski, Barbara A., of Maryland..............  47
                    Nickles, Don, of Oklahoma.................... 4, 14
                    Sessions, Jeff, of Alabama.....................  28
                    Thurmond, Strom, of South Carolina.............   5
                Farewell address of Senator Bumpers................  48
                Order for printing of individual Senate documents..  56
             Proceedings in the House:
                Tributes by Representatives:
                    Berry, Marion of Arkansas......................  59
             Articles and Editorials:
                Seniority Bites, Roll Call.........................  63
                Bumpers Presses on Toward Legacy of Changes on 
                  Hill, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette..............  64
                Senators Extol Bumpers' Candor, Constancy, The 
                  Arkansas Democrat-Gazette........................  67
                It's Bumpers Big Day, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette  70
                Amid Tears, Bumpers Says He'll Quit in 1998, The 
                  Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)..................  71
                Bumpers Calls an End to Political Career, The 
                  Arkansas Democrat-Gazette........................  72
                Exodus From Politics, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette  75
                What Dale Bumpers Says, He Believes, The News and 
                  Observer (Raleigh, NC)...........................  80
                Bumpers Retirement Statement, The Arkansas 
                  Democrat-Gazette.................................  81



                                      BIOGRAPHY

               First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974, U.S. Senator 
             Dale Bumpers is serving his fourth term as a Democratic 
             Senator from Arkansas. He was reelected in 1992 with more 
             than 60 percent of the vote.
               Before joining the U.S. Senate, Bumpers served two terms 
             as Governor of Arkansas, where he reorganized State 
             government and trimmed the number of State agencies from 
             69 to 13; doubled the number of State Parks; started the 
             State Kindergarten Program and launched an initiative that 
             doubled the number of doctors trained at Arkansas' only 
             medical school.
               Before entering politics, Bumpers lived in his home town 
             of Charleston, where he practiced law; operated a small 
             hardware, furniture, and appliance store; raised cattle; 
             and pursued several other business interests. During those 
             years, Bumpers was active also in community affairs, 
             serving as city attorney, school board president, and 
             president of the Chamber of Commerce.
               After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps for 3 years in 
             the South Pacific during World War II, Senator Bumpers 
             returned to continue his undergraduate work at the 
             University of Arkansas, and later received his law degree 
             from Northwestern University.
               Bumpers is married to the former Betty Flanagan of 
             Charleston. They are the parents of three children, Brent, 
             Bill, and Brooke, and they have six grandchildren.
               A champion of the taxpayer and a foe of government 
             waste, Senator Bumpers fought for a balanced budget long 
             before it became a publicized national issue. He led the 
             successful battle to cancel the $12 billion 
             Superconducting Super Collider, and he is continuing his 
             efforts to ground the $100 billion space station, a 
             boondoggle he contends offers few, if any, scientific 
             benefits. While supporting a strong but not bloated 
             defense, Senator Bumpers has fought to eliminate Star 
             Wars, a pipe dream that would make the heavens a 
             battlefield and cost citizens hundreds of billions of 
             dollars for an illusion of security; and the F-22, an 
             unneeded fighter plane that sports a price tag of $180 
             million each.
               From his position as the ranking member of the Senate 
             Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Bumpers also 
             fights policies that attack the common good. Calling it 
             ``the biggest ongoing scam in America,'' Senator Bumpers 
             has, for 9 years, sought to stop the giveaway of America's 
             public lands. Since 1872, mining interests, many of them 
             foreign-owned, have paid as little as $2.50 an acre for 
             mineral-rich public lands and extracted billions of 
             dollars worth of gold, silver, platinum and palladium 
             while paying not a penny in royalties to American 
             taxpayers. ``Mining companies get the gold and the 
             taxpayers get the shaft,'' he says of this staggering 
             abuse of public assets.
               Also, he has fought for nearly 20 years to bring 
             competition to the operation of concessions in National 
             Parks, which, because of preferential treatment for 
             contracts, rake in about $700 million a year but offer 
             taxpayers a meager 2.4 percent return on the use of their 
             land.
               Senator Bumpers was one of only three Senators to vote 
             for the 1981 Reagan budget cuts but against the reckless 
             1981 tax cuts. Had a majority adopted his positions, 
             Federal budget deficits would have been eliminated by 
             1985.
               A student of history with a profound respect for the 
             intelligence, ideals and vision of the country's founders 
             and a healthy skepticism of passing fads in economic and 
             social theory, Senator Bumpers is hesitant to change the 
             Constitution, which he calls a ``sacred document.''
               As a Senator from a rural State and the top ranking 
             Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on 
             Agriculture, Dale Bumpers has fought to protect family 
             farmers, to expand rural housing and to promote rural 
             development, especially the water and sewer programs that 
             improve the quality of life and help bring jobs to rural 
             areas.
               A dedicated environmentalist, Senator Bumpers believes 
             we must preserve America's natural heritage and warns that 
             America's fate may hinge on stopping and preventing 
             threats to our air, land, water and habitats. And he has 
             played a crucial role in protecting the integrity of 
             national historic sites, such as the Manassas Battlefield 
             in Virginia.
               Senator Bumpers and his wife Betty have long been 
             national leaders in protecting the health of children by 
             promoting childhood immunization. Their efforts have 
             helped Amer- 
             ica reach a record high level of immunizations. Since 
             1991, Mrs. Bumpers and Rosalyn Carter have been actively 
             involved in ``Every Child by Two,'' a program dedicated to 
             fully immunize every American child by the age of two.
               In January, 1997, Senator Bumpers became the highest 
             ranking Democrat Member of the Senate Energy and Natural 
             Resources Committee, and also in 1997 introduced the first 
             comprehensive legislation of the 105th Congress to 
             deregulate the electricity industry, which could save 
             consumers billions of dollars. He also sits on the 
             powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and is a member 
             of the Small Business Committee.
               During his tenure in the Senate, Bumpers has kept in 
             close touch with the people of Arkansas, making more than 
             100 appearances in the State annually.
               Senator Bumpers has received numerous awards and honors. 
             In April 1996, because of his tireless efforts on behalf 
             of research projects for the University of Arkansas, the 
             University's Board of Trustees renamed the College of 
             Agriculture the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food 
             and Life Sciences.
               In a poll by The Hill newspaper in 1994, Senate staff 
             members chose him as the second best-liked Democratic 
             Senator, just behind the majority leader. Admired for his 
             unshakable integrity and his willingness to cast the 
             occasional unpopular vote, Bumpers has been described by 
             the respected political weekly National Journal as a 
             Senator to whom ``other Senators pay attention.''
               Bumpers reveres the Senate's traditions of deliberation 
             and debate and is widely recognized for his gift of public 
             speaking. Bumpers has been named one of the ten best U.S. 
             Senators in a poll of Washington correspondents, and was 
             chosen as the top Senator orator in a USA Today poll of 
             Senate press secretaries.
               Senator Bumpers received the 1993 Medal of the Society 
             Award from the National Park Foundation for his commitment 
             to scenic and historic preservation. He also was awarded 
             the 1993 Dream Award from the National Association of Home 
             Builders for his support of rural housing and tax credits 
             for first-time home buyers.
               More recently, Senator Bumpers and Mrs. Bumpers received 
             the 1995 Maxwell Finland Award from the National 
             Foundation for Infectious Diseases for their longstanding 
             efforts to improve health care, especially in the realm of 
             childhood immunization. In 1997, he received the Lifetime 
             Achievement Award from the League of Conservation Voters 
             for his work protecting the environment.


                                      TRIBUTES

                                         to

                                    DALE BUMPERS


                              Proceedings in the Senate

                                               Thursday, June 18, 1998.
               Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I must also observe, before 
             yielding the floor, that my good friend from Arkansas, who 
             is the distinguished ranking Democrat on the subcommittee 
             on agriculture appropriations, is helping manage this bill 
             this year, and it will be his last opportunity to exercise 
             this important responsibility.
               He has chosen not to seek reelection in the State of 
             Arkansas for another term in the Senate. And I must say 
             that it pains me to contemplate going through the process 
             of developing and helping to write an agriculture 
             appropriations bill without his intelligent and thoughtful 
             assistance. He has been a good friend to me since I have 
             been in the Senate. We have worked closely together on a 
             number of issues, not only in agriculture, in rural 
             development, but in other areas as well.
               I pointed out earlier in my statement that in 
             recognition of his outstanding service for the people of 
             Arkansas in the U.S. Senate, and particularly for his work 
             on agriculture research issues, there is included in this 
             bill a general provision to designate the U.S. National 
             Rice Germplasm Evaluation and Enhancement Center in 
             Stuttgart, AR, the ``Dale Bumpers National Rice Research 
             Center.''
               The distinguished Senator from Arkansas has been a very 
             effective advocate of agriculture research funds for this 
             ARS Research Center. I think he is the father of that 
             center. I believe it is most appropriate to name this 
             facility in his honor.

                                               Thursday, July 16, 1998.
               Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I express my sincere 
             appreciation to all Senators for their assistance and 
             cooperation in the consideration of the agriculture 
             appropriations bill. In particular, I thank my 
             distinguished colleague and good friend from Arkansas, who 
             has served for 20 years as a member of this committee and 
             was helping manage the agricultural appropriations bill 
             for the last time in his Senate career. He has been not 
             only a very good friend but very helpful, thoughtful, 
             intelligent and effective as a Senator in this capacity, 
             helping shape this legislation during the time we have had 
             the opportunity to work together as members of the 
             Appropriations Committee.
               I am going to miss him very much. The Senate is going to 
             miss Dale Bumpers. He is one of the most astute, 
             articulate and effective Senators serving in the Senate 
             today.
               I want Senators to know, too, that at my request, this 
             bill includes a general provision to designate the United 
             States National Rice Germplasm Evaluation and Enhancement 
             Center in Stuttgart, AR, the Dale Bumpers National Rice 
             Research Center.
               In my judgment, Senator Bumpers is the father of this 
             center. He has helped guide the development of the 
             research there in this important agriculture sector. I 
             think it is very appropriate and I was pleased that the 
             subcommittee included that in our committee print. It was 
             approved by the full committee and is included in the bill 
             that was passed by the Senate.

                                            Wednesday, October 7, 1998.
               Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. President, I rise today to pay 
             tribute to my retiring colleague from Arkansas, Senator 
             Dale Bumpers. Arkansas is a State with a small population, 
             and it is a State where politicians of even opposing 
             political parties and philosophies find their lives and 
             careers intersecting and intertwining.
               As a high school student, I followed Dale Bumpers' 
             meteoric rise from an unknown country lawyer from 
             Charleston, AR, to the Governor of the State and a man who 
             became known in Arkansas politics as the giant killer, 
             defeating such luminaries of Arkansas politics as Win 
             Rockefeller and J.W. Fulbright.
               I worked for Dale's opponent in 1980, not because I was 
             enamored by his opponent, but because I was upset with 
             some of Dale's votes. That has always been the way with 
             Dale Bumpers; you either agreed with him passionately or 
             you disagreed vehemently.
               While Dale has always been as smooth as honey, he has 
             never tried to varnish his views or dilute his positions 
             to make them more palatable to the general public, whether 
             it was the Panama Canal or the space station.
               Mr. President, I mentioned that in Arkansas, political 
             lives and careers intersect frequently. In 1986, my 
             brother Asa, then a U.S. attorney and now serving in the 
             U.S. House of Representatives, ran against Senator Bumpers 
             in his second reelection campaign.
               I worked in Asa's campaign, and I encountered and 
             experienced firsthand the high esteem in which the people 
             of Arkansas hold Dale Bumpers. After Senator Bumpers won 
             that race resoundingly, delivering a good old country 
             thumping to the Hutchinsons, I returned to my service in 
             the Arkansas legislature and Asa became the State GOP 
             chairman. We continued to follow Senator Bumpers' career 
             from afar, occasionally bumping into him at events in the 
             State.
               In 1990, Asa ran for attorney general of Arkansas. It 
             was a politically tough, mean, even nasty race. It was 
             hard fought and a very close race. I remember 1 day as I 
             was working in Asa's headquarters in Little Rock, Dale 
             Bumpers walked in off the street unannounced. He came by, 
             he said, to wish us well and to say that he always 
             respected us and thought well of us. I saw a side of Dale 
             Bumpers that those who know him well see all the time. He 
             knows well that there is life beyond the political arena 
             and that politicians are, first and foremost, human 
             beings.
               I saw this again in 1996 when I was running for the U.S. 
             Senate. It was the closing days of a very close race. Dale 
             and my predecessor, Senator David Pryor, were campaigning 
             for my opponent in a fly around of the State. I suppose 
             Dale was returning the favor from a decade before when I 
             was campaigning for his opponent.
               In the closing days, my son Timothy was involved in a 
             tragic and terrible automobile accident. Timothy was 
             seriously injured, and I was in the hospital room, not 
             sure whether he was going to make it or not. The phone 
             rang, and it was Dale Bumpers. He called to assure me of 
             his thoughts and his prayers and to tell me that he and 
             David were suspending campaigning until it was clear that 
             my son was going to be OK.
               Dale, we will miss you around this place. I won't miss 
             your votes, but I will miss you. I will miss your stories, 
             and I will miss your humor. I will miss your eloquence, 
             and I will miss your passion. I am grateful that our 
             Senate careers overlapped for these 2 years. Thanks for 
             your advice and counsel, and best wishes on this next 
             phase of your life.

                                             Thursday, October 8, 1998.
               Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I would like to pay a brief 
             tribute to my friend and colleague and neighbor from the 
             State of Arkansas for his 24 years of service in the 
             Senate.
               I have had the pleasure of working with Senator Dale 
             Bumpers since I was elected to the Senate 18 years ago. So 
             I am completing three terms. He is just completing four 
             terms. Twenty-four years in the Senate is a long time. But 
             I think the Senate has been blessed by his humor, his 
             levity. The camaraderie that Senator Bumpers has brought 
             to the Senate floor and to the Senate group has been 
             enjoyable, educational, and humorous, to say the least.
               I have had the pleasure of serving with Senator Bumpers 
             on the Energy Committee where he has been ranking member 
             for the last several years. We have worked together on a 
             lot of legislation. We passed some good legislation, I 
             might add, as well. So I compliment him for his years of 
             service.
               He served 4 years as Governor of Arkansas; I think he 
             was elected in 1970; and elected to the U.S. Senate in 
             1974. It seems like he has been in the same chair for 
             years. He has been the same Senator who will still get 
             excited on a speech and pull his microphone cord to the 
             limit. Maybe he might test the limit of the cord as much 
             as anybody I know in the Senate--a very good speaker, a 
             very good friend who has served his State very well.
               We worked together on several pieces of legislation, 
             including legislation that dealt with the exchange of 
             lands, both for the Forest Service and for protecting 
             lands in both Arkansas and Oklahoma, that would not have 
             happened if it had not been for his good work and 
             leadership. And frankly, he was a pleasure to work with on 
             that bill, and many other pieces of legislation throughout 
             our careers.
               So I certainly wish Dale Bumpers and his wife Betty 
             every best wish in their days ahead. He has made a 
             valuable contribution as a Member of the U.S. Senate and 
             as a Member of our Senate family.

               Mr. JEFFORDS. Let me first join my good friend from 
             Oklahoma in his accolades for Senator Bumpers. I expect 
             that I, as a Republican, probably supported some of 
             Senator Bumpers' pieces of legislation more than any other 
             Republican. And I had an opportunity to work with him on 
             many that were not popular with some of the people, 
             especially in the far West. But I point out that I have 
             enjoyed so much working with him, especially on things 
             which most all of us agreed on, as the preservation of 
             Civil War sites and other of our historical aspects which 
             are so important to this Nation.
               I am going to be so sorry to see him leave. We had many 
             wonderful times together. And I expect we will have some 
             more out in his great State.

                                               Friday, October 9, 1998.
               Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, one of the things that 
             makes the Senate such a unique and enjoyable place to work 
             is the fact that there are 100 unique personalities that 
             make up this institution. While each member takes his or 
             her duties seriously, I hope that I do not offend anyone 
             when I say that not all are gifted orators. One person who 
             definitely can engage in articulate and compelling debate, 
             and is also able to bring a little levity to our 
             proceedings through his wit and ability to tell a story is 
             the Senator from Arkansas, Dale Bumpers.
               First elected to the Senate in 1974, Senator Bumpers 
             arrived with an already well established and well deserved 
             reputation for having a commitment to serving his 
             constituents and our Nation. He served in the United 
             States Marine Corps during World War II, as well as the 
             Governor of Arkansas, having been elected to that post in 
             1970. Clearly, his training as the chief executive of his 
             home State, along with experiences as a trial lawyer, gave 
             him the skills that would make him an effective and 
             respected Senator.
               For the past more than 20-years, Senator Bumpers has 
             worked hard to represent his State, and in doing so, has 
             made many valuable contributions to the U.S. Senate. I 
             regret that we have not shared any committee assignments, 
             but I have always respected and valued the opinions of the 
             Senator from Arkansas. His exist from the Senate leaves 
             this institution without one of its most impressive and 
             effective advocates.
               I am certain that Dale and his lovely wife Betty will 
             enjoy the more deliberate lifestyle and pace that being 
             out of politics will afford them and I wish the both of 
             them health, happiness and success in the years ahead.

               Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the U.S. Senate is about to 
             lose one of the great orators of its long history. I never 
             had the opportunity, of course, to hear Webster or Clay or 
             Calhoun. But, I have heard Dale Bumpers of Arkansas on the 
             Senate floor and it's hard to imagine anyone could have 
             been a more forceful, eloquent, or effective speaker.
               I was reminded recently by a former staff member of one 
             debate in particular. The issue was the proposed real 
             estate development in Northern Virginia at the site of the 
             Second Battle of Manassas. The debate had stretched into a 
             Friday evening and a larger than usual number of Senators 
             were on the floor. The manager had made an effective 
             presentation when Dale Bumpers, the author of a more 
             restrictive version of the bill rose to speak.
               Knowing that many of his colleagues love history, Dale 
             Bumpers using detailed maps laid out the story of the 
             Second Battle of Manassas more than a hundred years ago. 
             Every Senator on the floor that night listened with rapt 
             attention. As he reached the climax of his performance, 
             Dale Bumpers said:
               ``Well, I could go on and on, but I want to just simply 
             say * * * I believe strongly in our heritage, and I think 
             our children ought to know where these battlefields are 
             and what was involved in them. And, I don't want to go out 
             there 10 years from now with my grandson and tell him 
             about the Second Battle of Manassas * * * and he says, 
             ``Grandpa, wasn't General Lee in control of this war 
             here--didn't he command the confederate troops.?''
               ``Yes, he did.''
               ``Well, where was he?''
               ``He was up there where that shopping mall is.''
               Senator Bumpers then said, ``I can see a big granite 
             monument inside that mall's hallway right now: `General 
             Lee Stood On This Spot'. Now if you really cherish our 
             heritage, as I do, and you believe that history is very 
             important for our children, you'll vote for my 
             amendment.''
               Rarely in the modern Senate do we see issues actually 
             decided in debate on the floor. But, I suspect that that 
             night I watched Dale Bumpers, with that speech, win the 
             ``Third Battle of Manassas''.
               Dale Bumpers has served in the Senate for four terms. He 
             has been one of the most consistent voices for elimination 
             of wasteful government spending. We will all miss his 
             leadership in efforts to reform Federal mining law and 
             grazing fees. His battles against the Clinch River Breeder 
             Reactor which he won in 1984, the superconducting super 
             collider which he finally won in 1993 and the space 
             station which he did not win, have become legendary.
               Dale Bumpers and I both take pride in the fact that we 
             were among the few Senators to vote against the Reagan tax 
             cut and unfunded defense buildup of 1981 which together 
             led to the huge deficits of the 1980's.
               Dale would have made a great President because he is a 
             person whose clarity of expression is matched by the 
             courage of his vision and his commitment to America's 
             working families.
               Mr. President, when the 106th Congress convenes next 
             year, the Senate will seem an emptier body in the absence 
             of one of its most memorable leaders and all of us in the 
             Senate family with miss Dale and Betty Bumpers.

                                            Saturday, October 10, 1998.
               Mr. DOMENICI. First let me talk for a moment, since he 
             is present on the floor, of Senator Bumpers, the senior 
             Senator from Arkansas. Let me use a couple of minutes of 
             my time to say a few words about him before I proceed to 
             talk about the budget and a few other matters.
               First, I want to say to Senator Bumpers, I don't think 
             he needs me to repeat again what I have said in committee. 
             He is going to be missed. He has been a real credit to 
             this place called the U.S. Senate. I have never known him 
             to behave, act, or in any way conduct himself as to demean 
             this place. He has held it in respect, and that makes it a 
             better place when we do that.
               But I also want to remind the Senate, since it has not 
             been stated here on the floor as I know of, that in the 
             energy and water appropriations bill it was my privilege, 
             at the behest of some of Dale Bumpers' good friends here 
             in the Senate, with the help of his staff and others, to 
             include a resolution honoring him for his diligent and 
             hard work on behalf of the public domain in the United 
             States--the forest lands, the wilderness, the parks. In 
             that bill, the resolution says we want him to be known for 
             as long as there is an Arkansas. Thus, we took eight 
             wilderness areas that are in his State that he had a lot 
             to do with, and for name purposes we made all of them part 
             of one wilderness called the Dale Bumpers Wilderness Area.
               That is now 91,000 acres in total that will bear your 
             name. I know many other things could be done to indicate 
             our esteem for you, but many of us thought that this might 
             just be one that would strike you as quite appropriate. 
             And we hope so. It is now the law of the land. The 
             President signed it about 22 hours ago. Thus, I am here 
             saying it in your presence.
               I thank you personally on behalf of our side of the 
             aisle for everything you have done.
               Then, might I say to Senator Bumpers, that aisle, from 
             your podium on down here to the first step into the well, 
             is going to get a deserved rest when you leave. That aisle 
             and the carpet there is going to take a new breath and say 
             there is nobody walking up and down on top of us, because 
             Dale Bumpers is not walking, walking the floor there as he 
             delivers his eloquent speeches on the Senate floor. I only 
             say that by way of the great respect we have for the way 
             you talk to us, and talk to the American people. I am very 
             pleased that you used that little 30 feet of carpet and 
             hall as your place to talk.

               Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, this is one of those 
             moments that one feels a bit overwhelmed--to follow Dale 
             Bumpers in a discourse that he gives here on the floor. 
             This is a task that I never liked--to get on the floor 
             after Dale Bumpers moved us with his oratory and described 
             his feelings for this institution and our responsibility. 
             But there is another reason that I am really feeling 
             uneasy; that is, the prospect that this place will be 
             without Dale's voice, without his wit, his humor, but more 
             importantly, his commitment to the people of this country.
               I want you to know, Dale, what a sacrifice I make today. 
             I decided to stay here rather than to go to a budget 
             conference down the hall trying to wrestle with the issues 
             of the day. So I sacrificed that time just so I could 
             stand on this floor to hear your terminal speech. That is 
             devotion and friendship, I assume.
               I have to say that one could see the position that Dale 
             has earned over the years, because people were as generous 
             and as warm and as friendly from the other side of the 
             aisle. That doesn't mean that we always agree, and it 
             doesn't mean that we always share a similar direction for 
             our country.
               But Dale has succeeded in winning friends, in making 
             sure that we never forgot about who it is we are here to 
             serve. We could make lots of jokes, but one never wants to 
             compete with Dale's humor. I think about the only close 
             match was with Dale Bumpers and Alan Simpson. That was a 
             good team. The jokes were always better when we were off 
             the floor somehow. But beyond the wit, beyond the humor, 
             beyond the jokes was always this incredible pursuit of 
             what is right for our country and what is right for our 
             people.
               I have submitted a written statement without the kind of 
             eloquence I wish I could have borrowed from Dale. He was 
             right, he was accurate when he said his impression of his 
             IQ was overblown. All of us agree with that.
               We know Dale well. We love him. We love to tease him a 
             little bit. There were very few times on this floor when 
             Dale could not get attention from others, and it wasn't 
             just the volume; it was the substance of his mission that 
             we all paid attention to. They kid him about stretching 
             the cord that holds our microphones, but everybody was 
             anxious to hear what Dale had to say or read what was in 
             the Record.
               So I just wanted to have a chance to say how pleased I 
             am for the opportunity to be here at the last speech 
             Senator Dale Bumpers was going to make in this Chamber. It 
             has been an honor to serve with Dale as well as to serve 
             with people such as John Glenn. John Glenn is one of the 
             finest people who, it is fair to say, has ever left this 
             Earth. But we are going to see John Glenn at the end of 
             the month and witness his heroic and incredible mission 
             into the sky. John Glenn was with me when I was sworn into 
             the Senate. We happened to be in Colorado on a vacation 
             just 16 years ago, and he stood while I found a magistrate 
             to swear me in because there was an opportunity based on 
             the resignation of the then-appointed Senator.
               At the same time we are saying goodbye to Wendell Ford. 
             Wendell is someone who you could fight with, get your 
             blood pressure up, more often than not you would lose the 
             argument and lose the debate. But Wendell Ford got things 
             done. And I want to tell you, if I had to be served by a 
             Senator, I would want that Senator to have the same 
             concern about my State and my well-being and my family and 
             my future as did Wendell Ford. He never let an opportunity 
             go by without defending his people and the State of 
             Kentucky. Although we disagreed on lots of occasions, I 
             always walked away with a high degree of affection and 
             respect for Wendell Ford.
               So when I listen to Dale Bumpers summarize his life, I 
             think about where we are, because too often the arguments 
             here overtake the purpose of our functioning. But Dale 
             Bumpers, Senator Dale Bumpers reminds us that the mission 
             is almost a holy one and that we have to step back and 
             take a deep breath and get down to the business of the 
             American people.
               I wish to thank the Democratic leader for giving me 
             these few minutes. I also wanted to take an opportunity to 
             say so long to Senator Dan Coats. Dan Coats was a 
             formidable opponent for me when New Jersey persisted in 
             sending its trash out to Indiana where it was welcomed by 
             the communities that had the certified landfills and all 
             that. But Dan Coats didn't object when New Jersey sent its 
             All-American football players to Notre Dame or to the 
             University of Indiana. But serving with Dan also has been 
             a privilege.
               Mr. President, I wrap up just by saying that Dale 
             Bumpers, if you listened to his words, arrived here 
             encouraged by a father who saw the value of government 
             service, and it is an interesting and touching explanation 
             of what it is that provided his motivation. My father also 
             motivated me to engage in whatever enterprise I could to 
             serve the public. But he didn't know it then. He worked. 
             He tried to survive with his family during the lean and 
             tough years, ashamed that he had to resort to a job with 
             the WPA. I will never forget how discouraged he was when 
             he came home, but, he said, he needed the job; he had to 
             feed his family. My father died at the age of 43, after a 
             year of illness with cancer. I had already enlisted in the 
             Army. He disintegrated in front of our eyes, leaving not 
             only an empty house but an empty wallet. My mother had to 
             work. I had to send home my allotment to help pay the 
             bills that were accumulated during that period of time.
               But we both got here because we were encouraged by 
             things that occurred in our families, messages that were 
             sent by our parents, mine perhaps less articulate than the 
             one I heard Dale Bumpers describe. But we are here because 
             they were able to give us that opportunity and we are here 
             because we want to serve, to do something, to give 
             something back as a result of having that opportunity.
               To Senator Dale Bumpers and the others, we say farewell. 
             This place will be a lesser place without your presence, 
             but because of your presence this place will continue to 
             gain strength and to do what we have to do for the future. 
             Rest assured that America will be strong. It will be 
             different forces and different faces, but the work will 
             continue to be done here.

               The PRESIDING OFFICER. If the Senator will suspend for 
             just a minute, I am going to stretch the prerogatives of 
             the Chair to say I came over to talk about Senator 
             Bumpers, whom I have gotten to know recently. We worked on 
             park bills. I know no one more committed nor more easy to 
             work with and who keeps his word any better.
               I am sorry to say that, but I needed to.

               Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I don't think anyone could 
             say it any better than that, and I appreciate the 
             Presiding Officer's comments. They are certainly well 
             spoken and very appropriate. I join my colleague from New 
             Jersey in expressing feelings that are very hard to 
             express in public. Senator Bumpers and I have some things 
             in common. I am not as eloquent as he is, but I feel at 
             times such as this probably as emotional.
               I love his sense of humor. I have used more Bumpers 
             material in my public career than anybody else in this 
             Chamber. I don't think this is his story, but I might as 
             well start with it. There was a time when Senator Bumpers 
             was at a dinner. We all go to these banquets over and over 
             and over. We all drag our wives along. And they are so 
             good to come with us so often. Betty was at this 
             particular dinner with Senator Bumpers, sitting, as she 
             always does, at his side supportive and smiling.
               The emcee introduced Senator Bumpers as one who is a 
             model legislator, a model politician, a model spokesperson 
             for Arkansas, just a model person all the way around. On 
             the way home, Dale commented to Betty about what a 
             wonderful introduction that was. They got home; Betty 
             brought the dictionary to Dale, sitting now in his own 
             study, and read to him the word ``model,'' as it is 
             defined in Webster's. There it is defined as ``a small 
             replica of the real thing.''
               Senator Bumpers is a model in the truest sense of the 
             word. In many respects I call him my model, for how he 
             speaks, for what he stands for, for how he interacts with 
             his colleagues, for how he represents his State, for all 
             of the courageous positions he has taken. I don't know how 
             you do better than that. I don't know who it was who once 
             said, ``If we are to see farther into the future, we must 
             stand on the shoulders of giants.'' Dale Bumpers is a 
             giant. And it is upon his shoulders that we have stood 
             many, many, many times to see into the future, as I have 
             seen. He persuades us, he cajoles us, he humors us, he 
             always enlightens us.
               As I heard Senator Domenici, the senior Senator from New 
             Mexico, say earlier: ``He does it in a way that is not in 
             fashion perhaps, not in keeping with what the normal rules 
             of the body are.'' The normal rules are, you are supposed 
             to stay at your desk. Not Senator Bumpers. Senator Bumpers 
             has the longest cord in Senate history. I joked the other 
             night, when we finally see Senator Bumpers depart, we are 
             going to cut up his cord and give 10 feet to every Senator 
             and save 10 more for the next. He goes up and down that 
             aisle.
               Since, as we are prone to do in this body, we name 
             things after our colleagues--I happen to be fortunate 
             enough to reside in the Byrd suite--I am going to start 
             referring to that as the Bumpers corridor. And I am 
             pointing, for the record, to my left. For anybody who has 
             served with Dale, I don't have to point at all. We all 
             know what the Bumpers corridor is.
               So it is a bittersweet moment. We recognize the time 
             comes for all of us to depart, to say goodbye. As others 
             have noted, and I am sure more will note before the end of 
             the session, we say goodbye not only to our dear, 
             wonderful friend Dale, but to his wife Betty as well. 
             There is no question, as we all know, he over-married. 
             There is no question who the real force in the family is. 
             There is no question who the visionary and the giant is. 
             As Senator Bumpers so capably noted, there is no question 
             who is beloved in the State of Arkansas. We will miss 
             Betty Bumpers and her vision and her humor and all of her 
             contributions.
               I asked my staff to put some thoughts together and I 
             really want to share some of them because I think, for the 
             record and for our colleagues and for those who may be 
             watching, it is important to remember who it was we just 
             have heard from.
               We heard from a Marine. We heard from a man who 
             volunteered to serve during World War II. We heard from a 
             person who grew up in a small town, Charleston, AR--I 
             don't have a clue where it is--where he worked as a 
             smalltown lawyer and taught Sunday school. He may not have 
             been a Methodist preacher, but he was a Sunday school 
             teacher. He told us about his decision, in 1970, to run 
             for Governor. What he did not say is that he was one of 
             eight candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. He 
             did indicate that polls taken at the start of the race 
             gave him a 1-percent approval rating. That is half of what 
             it is right now. He sold a herd of Angus cattle for 
             $95,000 to finance his TV ad campaign. You couldn't get 
             that much for Angus cattle today.
               He finished the primary in second place, behind someone 
             whose name we all know, Orville Faubus, whose race-baiting 
             brand of politics still dominated much of Arkansas 
             Democratic politics. He beat Orville Faubus in a runoff 
             and went on to beat the incumbent Republican, Governor 
             Winthrop Rockefeller, in a general election by a margin of 
             2 to 1.
               After being elected Governor, Dale Bumpers was asked by 
             Tom Wicker, then a reporter for the New York Times, to 
             explain how a man would come from obscurity to beat two 
             living legends. He answered simply, ``I tried to appeal to 
             the best in people in my campaign.'' And that is what he 
             has done his entire public career; he has appealed to the 
             best of people.
               As Governor, he worked aggressively and successfully to 
             modernize the State government. He put a tremendous 
             emphasis on improving education and expanding health 
             services. Then, in 1973, with 1 year remaining in his 
             term, he made the decision to challenge another living 
             legend, William J. Fulbright, for the Democratic 
             nomination for the U.S. Senate. Senator Fulbright was, at 
             that time, a 30-year incumbent Senator. It probably did 
             not come as any surprise to people in Arkansas, but it 
             must have to the Nation, because when all the votes were 
             counted, Dale won that race too, 2 to 1.
               In the Senate, there is not a colleague in this Chamber 
             who has not been affected by his eloquence and his 
             reasoning on everything from arms control to the 
             environment. He has been a champion for rural America. He 
             has been a consistent advocate for fiscal discipline. In 
             the 1980's he voted against the tax cuts, arguing that 
             they would explode the Federal deficit. In the 1990's he 
             took the tough votes needed to eliminate those deficits.
               He has been a tireless defender of the U.S. Constitution 
             and the separation of powers it guarantees. He did not 
             mention this, but he should have. In 1982 he was the only 
             Senator from the Deep South to vote against a proposal 
             stripping the Federal courts of their right to order 
             school busing. He said at the time, while he opposed the 
             use of busing to achieve racial balance, he opposed even 
             more ``this sinister and devious attack on the 
             Constitution * * * [this] erosion of the only document 
             that stands between the people and tyranny.''
               This past July, shortly before launching the last of his 
             annual attempts to kill the international space station, 
             Senator Bumpers told a reporter that he expected to lose 
             again but he would try anyway because he thought it was 
             the right thing to do. Then he added, ``I probably lost as 
             many battles as anybody who ever served in the U.S. 
             Senate.''
               I want to tell my friend as he prepares to end his 
             Senate career, if you did in fact lose more battles than 
             someone else who may have served here, it is only because 
             you chose tougher and more important battles. Even more 
             than the outcome of your battles, you have earned your 
             place in history for the dignity and the courage and the 
             eloquence with which you have waged those battles.
               I remember, having just arrived--I was elected in 1986, 
             sworn in in 1987--by the end of the year, in 1987, I had 
             already decided who my man for President was. I remember 
             the conversation as if it took place yesterday. I was 
             reminded again, as our colleague spoke on the Senate 
             floor, about his ambition. That was the ambition for many 
             of us as well. He would have been the same kind of 
             outstanding President that he has been the outstanding 
             Governor and Senator we know today. That was not to be. 
             But in the eyes of all of us, Dale Bumpers will always 
             stand as the giant we knew, as the respected legislator we 
             trust, and as the friend we love.

               Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I compliment my colleagues 
             on their fine remarks about our colleague, Senator 
             Bumpers. I already made a speech complimenting him for his 
             service to the Senate. I noticed my speech had several 
             things in common with the speech of Senator Daschle. I 
             alluded to the fact of Senator Bumpers' sense of humor, 
             which all of us have enjoyed, Democrats and Republicans, 
             and I also referred to the fact that he had the longest 
             microphone cord in the Senate. He has used it extensively, 
             and we have all enjoyed that as well.

               Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, in the bustling commotion of 
             the ending days of the 105th Congress, Members are 
             preoccupied with efforts to enact sought after objectives 
             important to their constituents. We are busy tying up 
             loose ends, putting the finishing touches on projects, and 
             looking forward to going home to our constituents and to a 
             break in the hectic schedule of the U.S. Senate. 
             Regrettably, as this session of Congress adjourns, we are 
             also faced with the difficult task of saying goodbye to 
             colleagues who have chosen to follow a new path in life.
               As I reflect on my years in Congress and on my 
             association with its many Members and their various 
             personalities, their goals and, yes, sometimes, their 
             eccentricities, I am reminded of some very important 
             milestones in history made possible by these fine 
             Americans. I am reminded of my good fortune to have been 
             associated with men and women representing the American 
             people from all walks of life and from all corners of the 
             United States.
               In my reflections, I have thanked my Creator for 
             allowing me to serve my country with such fine men and 
             women, and I am, indeed, sorrowful at the upcoming loss of 
             some of the finest men I have ever known.
               I pay tribute today to an exceptional U.S. Senator, a 
             man with whom it has been my honor to serve and to have 
             been associated with--a man of unusual conviction, 
             passion, and resolve. He has been called the last Southern 
             liberal, and he is proud of it. He often quotes from ``To 
             Kill a Mocking Bird.'' He is THE commanding foe against 
             the space station.
               The above discourse clearly references the actions of 
             only one man--Senator Dale Bumpers, Democrat from 
             Arkansas. He is the U.S. Senator responsible for ``right-
             turn-on-red,'' his first legislative victory and one for 
             which, I am told, he received devilish teasing from a 
             colleague who warned that ``many people might want to 
             drive straight!''
               I will miss my friend, who is retiring following 24 
             years of service. He leaves a legacy that has made a 
             difference, not only to the people of Arkansas, but to all 
             Americans. His tireless efforts to end Federal policies 
             that he believes give away resources that belong to the 
             taxpayer will long be remembered by certain mining and 
             ranching interests out West. And more than a few NASA 
             space station contractors will continue to run when they 
             hear his name! Contractors who worked on the now-
             terminated superconducting super collider can only wish 
             that Senator Bumpers had chosen to retire earlier.
               While many a press story covered his crusades against 
             alleged lost causes, Senator Dale Bumpers is a man that 
             leaves this Senate with a triumphant record for the 
             American people. In particular, Senator Bumpers has been a 
             national leader in protecting the health of children. In 
             fact, along with his wife, Betty, Senator Bumpers has long 
             promoted childhood immunizations, known safeguards in 
             protecting the health of millions of children.
               As the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations 
             Subcommittee on Agriculture, formerly the chairman, Dale 
             Bumpers has represented the rural heart of America. He has 
             fought for policies to help rural families, including 
             securing funding for basic infrastructure projects that 
             provide water and sewer facilities to small towns 
             throughout the Nation. I personally wish to thank Senator 
             Bumpers for being a leading advocate for funding on these 
             vital projects, and I share his concern for the millions 
             of Americans who do not have access to a clean, ample 
             supply of drinking water.
               Senator Bumpers has further made a significant mark on 
             efforts to protect family farmers. In particular, we owe 
             our gratitude to Dale Bumpers for his efforts to initiate 
             programs to help young Americans become this Nation's next 
             generation of family farmers, a dwindling breed at risk of 
             extinction. In honor of his service to rural America, I am 
             proud that this Congress, in the Fiscal Year 1999 
             Agriculture Appropriations Bill, is formally paying 
             tribute to his work by designating an Agricultural 
             Research Service facility as the Dale Bumpers National 
             Rice Research Center. This action follows the recognition 
             by the people of Arkansas in dedicating the Dale Bumpers 
             College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences at the 
             University of Arkansas.
               Senator Bumpers' noteworthy record also extends to many 
             other constituencies. Through his ranking membership on 
             the Senate Small Business Committee, he has fought to help 
             self-employed people obtain health care. He has also been 
             an advocate of funding for rural hospitals; for Medicaid; 
             for the Women, Infants and Children feeding program. The 
             list goes on and on.
               Dale Bumpers' legislative skills and record are clear. 
             He is a modern hero to the underdog. But there is yet 
             another side of the Senator from Arkansas that deserves 
             recognition--the Dale Bumpers who is a husband, a father, 
             and a grandfather. Married to Betty Lou Flanagen, Dale's 
             ``Secretary of Peace,'' for 49 years, he is devoted to his 
             marriage and his family. Dale and Betty have three 
             children and six grandchildren, and Dale often speaks 
             affectionately of his family and of their influence on his 
             consideration of legislative issues. Yes, Senator Dale 
             Bumpers of Arkansas has a personal record of which he can 
             be proud.
               It is with regret that I bid farewell to my friend and 
             colleague, who is now departing the U.S. Senate. I believe 
             that the Senate has deeply benefited from the work of U.S. 
             Senator Dale Bumpers. As I say my farewell to Dale 
             Bumpers, I want him to know that when the 106th Congress 
             convenes, I will remember his thoughtful recital of the 
             fictional Atticus Finch in ``To Kill a Mocking Bird,'' 
             ``For God's sake, do your duty.''

               Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to 
             an extraordinary person, a respected and honorable man, a 
             true friend, and one whom I am truly saddened to see leave 
             the Senate--Senator Dale Bumpers.
               Mr. President, Senator Bumpers is, more than most, a 
             true advocate for the citizens of the United States. I 
             know of no better person who embraces issues with the 
             passion and intellect that he demonstrates. His oratory 
             skills are well-known and rarely matched. Dale is a true 
             champion of the public's interests, and particularly when 
             that clashes with special interests.
               Throughout his decades of public service, as Governor of 
             Arkansas and U.S. Senator, Senator Bumpers has carried 
             with him a strong, unyielding belief in a few basic ideas, 
             ideas that have driven him in his tireless efforts to make 
             our country--and the world--a better place.
               Senator Bumpers believes in ensuring equal opportunities 
             for all, including the poor and indigent. He believes in 
             providing high quality, comprehensive education and health 
             care. He believes in the sanctity of our Constitution. He 
             believes in the value of the arts and humanities in 
             developing human creativity and a national culture. He 
             believes in the importance of environmental conservation 
             and preserving our natural resources. He believes in 
             eliminating needless corporate subsidies and reducing 
             wasteful defense spending. And he believes in the need to 
             slow the growing gap between the rich and the poor.
               Senator Bumpers has never shied away from taking on the 
             powerful special interests, year after year, even when he 
             knows the odds are stacked against him and he is often 
             disappointed with the results. But he has kept on trying.
               We have all been witnesses to his eloquent and powerful 
             discourses on a number of subjects. Every one of his 
             presentations before us and before the country have been 
             grounded in personal experience and intellectual strength. 
             When Senator Bumpers speaks, we know that he speaks from 
             his heart.
               Mr. President, in 1995, the Senate debated an amendment 
             that would require zero tolerance for youth who had any 
             amount of alcohol in their blood. Senator Bumpers revealed 
             his personal story about his parents and their friend who 
             were killed by a drunk driver while returning from their 
             small farm, just across the Arkansas River. Senator 
             Bumpers was in law school at the time, far away in 
             Chicago.
               Dale, more than most, has the power to sway with his 
             words. That amendment was swiftly adopted.
               Mr. President, also 3 years ago, the Senate was 
             considering an amendment to add funds to the National 
             Endowment for the Humanities. Now, the NEH is a small 
             agency that can, and does, often come under the budget 
             knife as an insignificant agency. Not to Senator Bumpers. 
             Senator Bumpers took to the Senate floor, and told all of 
             us about his high school English teacher, Miss Doll Means. 
             He touched us with a personal story that was a turning 
             point in his life. When he was a sophomore, Miss Doll 
             Means told him, after he had read a page of ``Beowulf'' 
             that he had a nice voice and he read beautifully. That one 
             statement, from an English teacher in a town of 1,000 
             people, did more for his self-esteem than anybody, except, 
             he said, his father. Not only does he indeed have a nice 
             voice and he reads beautifully, he is among the best 
             orators this Senate has ever seen.
               Mr. President, earlier this year the Appropriations 
             Committee passed an amendment naming a vaccine center at 
             NIH after Dale and Betty Bumpers. For almost 30 years, the 
             two of them have worked tirelessly on a crusade to 
             vaccinate all children--and because of their efforts and 
             others, we have made great progress toward that goal.
               Mr. President, when the senior Senator from Arkansas 
             leaves this body in a few weeks, there will be a 
             noticeable void. We will lose a tireless champion for the 
             underserved; a champion for the public's interest; a 
             champion for responsible spending, not wasteful spending; 
             and a champion for equal opportunity, for our environment, 
             and for the arts and humanities. Senator Bumpers has our 
             respect, and he has the people's respect. We will miss 
             him.
               Mr. President, I wish my friend and his wife Betty, 
             their children and grandchildren the very best for the 
             future.

               Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, five Senators will move on at 
             the closing of this session of the 105th Congress. And 
             they are Senators that have, with the exception of one, 
             been here ever since I joined this body back in 1989.
               Dirk Kempthorne from Idaho was elected after I was. And 
             now after one term he has elected to go back to his home 
             State of Idaho.
               It seems like it becomes more and more difficult, as 
             time goes by, to attract men and women to public service, 
             and especially to public service when there are elections.
               He brought a certain quality to this Senate. On his work 
             on the Environment and Public Works Committee, he was 
             sensitive to the environment and all the public 
             infrastructure that we enjoy across this country. It just 
             seemed to fit, because he had come here after being the 
             mayor of Boise, ID. And his very first objective was to 
             tackle this business of unfunded mandates. He took that 
             issue on and provided the leadership, and finally we 
             passed a law that unfunded mandates must be adhered to 
             whenever we tell local government, State government that 
             it is going to take some of your money to comply with the 
             laws as passed by the Federal Government.
               He, like me, had come out of local government. He knew 
             the stresses and the pains of city councilmen and mayors 
             and county commissioners every time they struggle with 
             their budget in order to provide the services for their 
             people, when it comes to schools and roads and public 
             safety--all the demands that we enjoy down to our 
             neighborhoods.
               We shall miss him in this body.
               To my friend, John Glenn of Ohio, who has already made 
             his mark in history that shall live forever, he has left 
             his tracks in this body. And not many know--and maybe not 
             even him--but I was a lowly corporal in the U.S. Marine 
             Corps when he was flying in the Marine Corps. So my memory 
             of John Glenn goes back more than 40 years to El Toro 
             Marine Corps Air Station in Santa Anna, CA.
               As he goes into space again at the end of this month, we 
             wish him Godspeed. He gave this country pride as he lifted 
             off and became the first American to orbit the Earth. And 
             he carried with him all of the wishes of the American 
             people.
               To Dan Coats of Indiana, a classmate, we came to this 
             body together in 1989. Our routes were a little different, 
             but yet almost the same--he coming from the House of 
             Representatives and me coming from local government.
               He is a living example of a person dedicated to public 
             service. But it never affected his solid core values. He 
             has not changed one iota since I first met him back in 
             1989.
               The other principal is on the floor today. It is Wendell 
             Ford of Kentucky. I was fortunate to serve on two of the 
             most fascinating and hard-working committees in the U.S. 
             Senate with Senator Ford: The Commerce Committee and the 
             Energy Committee. Those committees, folks, touch every 
             life in America every day.
               We flip on our lights at home or in our businesses. We 
             pick up the telephone, listen to our radio, watch our 
             televisions, move ourselves from point A to point B, no 
             matter what the mode--whether it is auto, train or plane. 
             Yes, all of the great scientific advances this country has 
             made, and research and the improvement of everyday life 
             and, yes, even our venture into space comes under the 
             auspices of the Commerce, Science and Transportation 
             Committee and the Energy Committee. Those two committees 
             play such a major role in the everyday workings of 
             America.
               Wendell Ford was one great champion and one of the true 
             principals in formulating policies that we enjoy today. He 
             played a major role in each and every one of them.
               Again, it was my good fortune to work with Senator 
             Bumpers on two committees: The Small Business Committee 
             and the Energy Committee. There is no one in this body 
             that has been more true to his deeply held beliefs than 
             Senator Bumpers. Our views did not always mesh--and that 
             is true with Senator Ford. It was their wisdom and the way 
             they dealt with their fellow Senators that we worked our 
             way through difficult issues and hard times with a sense 
             of humor. I always say if you come from Arkansas you have 
             to have a pretty good sense of humor. My roots go back to 
             Missouri; I know we had to develop humor very early. 
             Nonetheless, it was the integrity and the honesty that 
             allowed us to settle our differences, even though we were 
             180 degrees off plumb.
               I think I have taken from them much more than I have 
             given back to them. This body has gained more than it can 
             repay. This Nation is a better Nation for all of them 
             serving in the U.S. Senate.
               In our country we don't say goodbye, we just say so 
             long. But we say so long to these Senators from our 
             everyday activities on the floor of the U.S. Senate. I am 
             sure our trails will cross many times in the future. 
             Should they not, I will be the most disappointed of all.

               Mr. KEMPTHORNE. Mr. President, I appreciate you 
             presiding as you do in such a class fashion. I would like 
             to make a few comments here. I have been touched and 
             impressed by the fact of colleagues coming to the floor 
             and paying tribute to those Members who are departing. I 
             have listened because, as one of those Members who are 
             departing, I know personally how much it means to hear 
             those kind comments that are made.
               Senator Ford, who just spoke, is leaving after a very 
             illustrious career. I remember when the Republican Party 
             took over the majority 4 years ago and I was new to the 
             position of Presiding Officer, it was not unusual for 
             Wendell Ford, who knows many of the ropes around here, to 
             come and pull me aside and give me a few of the tips of 
             how I could be effective as a Presiding Officer. I think 
             probably one of the highest tributes you can pay to an 
             individual is the fact that you see their family and the 
             success they have had. I remember when Wendell Ford's 
             grandson, Clay, was a page here. I think Clay is probably 
             one of the greatest tributes paid to a grandfather.
               Dale Bumpers, often mentioned here on the floor about 
             his great sense of humor, is an outstanding gentlemen. He 
             is someone whom I remember before I ever became involved 
             in politics. I watched him as a Governor of Arkansas and 
             thought, there is a man who has great integrity, someone 
             you can look up to. And then to have the opportunity to 
             serve with him has been a great honor.
               John Glenn. Whenever any of the astronauts--the original 
             seven--would blast off into space, my mother would get all 
             the boys up so we could watch them. I remember when John 
             Glenn blasted off into space. Again, the idea that somehow 
             a kid would end up here and would serve with John Glenn is 
             just something I never could dream of at the time. In 
             fact, John Glenn became a partner in our efforts to stop 
             unfunded Federal mandates. You could not ask for a better 
             partner.
               Speaking of partners, he could not have a better partner 
             than Annie. I had the great joy of traveling with them 
             approximately a year ago when we went to Asia. That is 
             when you get to know these people as couples. I remember 
             that we happened to be flying over an ocean when it was 
             the Marine Corps' birthday. On the airplane we had a cake 
             and brought it out, to the surprise of John Glenn. But you 
             could see the emotion in his eyes. I know the Presiding 
             Officer is a former U.S. Marine, so he knows what we are 
             talking about.
               Dan Coats. There is no more genuine a person than Dan--
             not only in the Senate but on the face of the Earth. He is 
             a man of great sincerity, a man who can articulate his 
             position so extremely well. He is a man who, when you look 
             into his eyes, you know he is listening to you and he is 
             going to do right by you and by the people of his State of 
             Indiana, and he has done right by the people of the United 
             States. He is a man who has great faith, a man to whom I 
             think a number of us have looked for guidance.
               When you look at the Senate through the eyes of a 
             camera, you see just one dimension. But on the floor of 
             the Senate we are just people. A lot of times we don't get 
             home to our wives and kids and sometimes to the ball games 
             or back-to-school nights. There are times when some of the 
             issues don't go as we would like, and it gets tough. At 
             these times, we hurt. There are people like Dan Coats to 
             whom you can turn, who has said, ``Buddy, I have been 
             there and I am with you now.'' So, again, he is an 
             outstanding individual.

                                              Monday, October 12, 1998.
               Mr. FORD. Mr. President, as the 105th Congress comes to 
             a close, I want to take a moment to say thank you to my 
             fellow colleagues who, like me, will be retiring this 
             year.
               I came to the Senate in 1974 with Senators Glenn and 
             Bumpers. It was a different time, when campaigns were 
             still won by going door to door, when the Senate itself 
             was much more open to compromise and bipartisanship.
               Despite the changes in the Senate, Senator Bumpers has 
             continued to be a voice for his State, never giving up the 
             fight for something in which he believed. And when the 
             Senate itself began to listen, they began to respond. In 
             fact, after fighting 19 years to reform the National Parks 
             concessions operations, he finally won approval of the 
             legislation on last Thursday.
               And while it's true the Senate long ago lost its 
             reputation as a place of eloquent debate, my colleague 
             from Arkansas has proven time and again the power of words 
             with his skillful oratory, whether the issue was arms 
             control, education or balancing the budget. In all my 
             years here in Washington, I was never so moved as I was by 
             a speech he gave on preserving the Manassas, Virginia, 
             Civil War Battlefield. He not only changed votes, but he 
             reminded his colleagues and the American people that our 
             greatest strength lies in our ability to give voice to our 
             beliefs and to our constituent's concerns.
               Like Mark Twain who came into this world with Halley's 
             comet and left this world with the return, Senator Glenn 
             came into the public eye with his historic orbit around 
             the Earth and he will close out his public career with 
             another historic flight into space. In between, he's 
             demonstrated over and over that he's truly made of the 
             ``right stuff.''
               As the ``Almanac of American Politics'' wrote, he is 
             ``the embodiment of the small town virtues of family, God-
             fearing religion, duty, patriotism and hard work * * *''. 
             And over the years, he has brought the same fight and 
             determination that made him a brilliant fighter pilot to 
             his efforts to expand educational opportunities, increase 
             funding for scientific research, to clean up nuclear waste 
             sites, promote civil rights and to make our government 
             more efficient.
               Despite their long list of contributions in the Senate, 
             perhaps their greatest contributions to this Nation are 
             still to come. Senator Bumpers has talked about going back 
             to Arkansas to teach and Senator Glenn has said once he 
             gets back down to Earth, he'll work to steer young people 
             toward public service. I can't think of a greater honor 
             than to say I've served alongside these two men and shared 
             their vision of a better America.
               I also want to thank my two retiring colleagues on the 
             other side of the aisle. We may not have always agreed on 
             which road to take, but I believe we always shared a deep 
             commitment to our country and its betterment. Whether you 
             agree or not with Senator Coats' position on the issues, 
             everyone in this Chamber will agree he's willing to roll 
             up his sleeves and do the hard work necessary to 
             accomplish his goals. He's brought the same tenacity to 
             the Senate that found him at 3 percent in the polls when 
             he began his first congressional bid and had him winning 
             by 58 percent on election day. He got that win the old-
             fashioned way, organizing block by block and pressing his 
             case one-on-one.
               Senator Kempthorne has only been a part of this 
             institution for just one term, but he has already proven 
             that he can work with his colleagues to pass laws, like 
             the unfunded mandates bill, in a place where it's often 
             easier to move mountains than a piece of legislation. The 
             Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996 was a perfect example of 
             his ability to bring together scientists, activists on 
             both sides of the issue, and public health experts to 
             craft legislation that each one had a stake in seeing 
             succeed. So while he may have spent just a short while in 
             these Halls, he demonstrated that it is only through 
             compromise that we can achieve solutions in the best 
             interest of the Nation.
               So Mr. President, let me tell my fellow retirees what a 
             privilege it has been to serve with you over the years and 
             how grateful I am for your commitment to public service 
             and the American people.

               Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, on Saturday, I had a chance 
             to talk about our good friend, Dale Bumpers. I'd like to 
             take a few minutes to talk about four other friends who 
             will be leaving us at the end of this Congress.
               Shortly after he left the White House, Calvin Coolidge 
             was called on to fill out a standard form. After filling 
             in his name and address, he came to a line marked 
             ``occupation.'' He wrote ``retired.'' When he came to the 
             next line, labeled ``remarks,'' he wrote ``Glad of it.'' I 
             suspect that our colleagues who are retiring at the end of 
             this Congress are also ``glad of it''--at least in some 
             small measure. But, in addition to relief, I hope they 
             also feel a sense of pride--both for what they have 
             accomplished here, and the dignity with which they have 
             served.
               In a short time here, Dirk Kempthorne has made all of 
             our lives a little better. Thanks in large part to him, 
             the Safe Drinking Water Act is now the law. Senator 
             Kempthorne has also reminded us of the importance of State 
             and local involvement in our decisions. We will all miss 
             him.
               I had the good fortune to travel with Senator Kempthorne 
             to the Far East. As most of our colleagues know, as we 
             travel we get to know one another even better. I know him 
             and I admire him and I wish him well in his life after the 
             Senate. I also applaud him for the nature with which he 
             has continued to work with all of us. He has a very 
             conciliatory, very thoughtful, a very civil way with which 
             to deal with colleagues on issues. If we would all follow 
             Dirk Kempthorne's example, in my view, we would be a lot 
             better off in this body. His manner, his leadership, his 
             character, his personality is one that we are going to 
             miss greatly here in the U.S. Senate.
               We will also miss Dan Coats. With his thoughtful 
             approach and uncompromising principles, Senator Coats has 
             followed his heart above all else. And, as a result of his 
             support of the Family and Medical Leave Act, millions of 
             Americans are able to follow their hearts, too, and spend 
             more time with their families when they need them most.
               When Senator Coats announced his retirement in 1996, he 
             said, ``I want to leave (politics) when I am young enough 
             to contribute somewhere else * * * I want to leave when 
             there is still a chance to follow God's leading to 
             something new.'' Wherever Senator Coats and Senator 
             Kempthorne are led, we wish them both the best. I am 
             confident that they will continue to contribute much to 
             their country and to their fellow citizens.
               And we will surely miss our own three departing 
             Senators.
               Dale Bumpers, Wendell Ford and John Glenn are three of 
             the sturdiest pillars in this institution. They have much 
             in common. They came here--all three of them--in 1974. For 
             nearly a quarter-century, they have worked to restore 
             Americans' faith in their government.
               Their names have been called with the roll of every 
             important question of our time. And they have answered 
             that call with integrity and dignity.
               They are sons of small town America who still believe in 
             the values they learned back in Charlestown, AR; 
             Owensboro, KY; and New Concord, OH. They are also modest 
             men.
               Perhaps because they had already accomplished so much 
             before they came to the Senate, they have never worried 
             about grabbing headlines here. Instead, they have been 
             content to work quietly, but diligently--often with 
             colleagues from across the aisle--to solve problems as 
             comprehensively as they can. They have been willing to 
             take on the ``nuts and bolts'' work of the Senate--what 
             John Glenn once called ``the grunt work'' of making the 
             Government run more efficiently.
               They were all elected to the Senate by wide margins, and 
             reelected by even wider margins. And they all would have 
             been reelected this year, I have no doubt, had they chosen 
             to run again.
               What I will remember most about each of them, though, is 
             not how much they are like each other they are, but how 
             unlike anyone else they are. Each of them is an American 
             original.
               As I said, I've already shared my thoughts about Dale 
             Bumpers. No Senator has ever had more courage than Dale 
             Bumpers.
               And no Senate leader has ever had the benefit of a 
             better teacher than Wendell Ford.
               No leader has ever enjoyed such a loyal partnership as I 
             have. No leader has ever had a better friend and 
             counselor.
               For the past 4 years, Senator Ford has been my right 
             hand and much more. He is as skilled a political mind, and 
             as warm a human being, as this Senate has ever known.
               Carved inside the drawer of the desk in which Wendell 
             sits is the name of another Kentucky Senator, ``the Great 
             Compromisor,'' Henry Clay. It is a fitting match.
               Like Henry Clay, Wendell Ford believes that compromise 
             is honorable and necessary in a democracy. But he also 
             understands that compromise is, as Clay said, ``negotiated 
             hurt.''
               I suspect that is why he has always preferred to try to 
             work out disagreements behind the scenes. It allows both 
             sides to bend, and still keep their dignity.
               In 1991, Wendell's quiet, bipartisan style convinced a 
             Senator from across the aisle, Mark Hatfield, to join him 
             in sponsoring the ``Motor Voter'' bill. Working together, 
             they convinced the Senate to pass that legislation. To 
             this day, it remains the most ambitious effort Congress 
             has made since the Voting Rights Act to open up the voting 
             booth to more Americans.
               Wendell Ford has served the Bluegrass State as a State 
             senator, Lieutenant Governor, Governor and U.S. Senator. 
             His love for his fellow Kentuckians is obvious, and it is 
             reciprocated.
               In his 1980 Senate race, Wendell Ford became the first 
             opposed candidate in Kentucky history to carry all 120 
             counties. In 1992, he received the highest number of votes 
             ever cast for any candidate in his State.
               Throughout his years in the Senate, Senator Ford has 
             also been a tenacious fighter for the people of Kentucky. 
             He has also been a leader on aviation issues, a determined 
             foe of government waste and duplication, a champion of 
             campaign finance reform, and--something we are especially 
             grateful for on this side of the aisle--a tireless leader 
             for the Democratic Party.
               He chaired the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee for 
             three Congresses, from 1976 through 1982. And, in 1990, 
             Democratic Senators elected him unanimously to be our 
             party whip, our second-in-command, in the Senate--a 
             position he still holds today.
               We will miss his raspy and unmistakable voice, his good 
             humor and wise counsel.
               Finally, there is John Glenn. What can one say about 
             John Glenn that has not already been said?
               In all these 24 years, as hard as he tried to blend in 
             with the rest of us, as hard as he tried to be just a 
             colleague among colleagues, it never quite worked, did it?
               I used to think that maybe I was the only one here who 
             still felt awed in his presence. Two years ago, on a 
             flight from China with John and a handful of other 
             Senators and our spouses, I learned that wasn't so.
               During the flight, we were able to persuade John to 
             recollect that incredible mission aboard Friendship 7, 
             when he became the first American to orbit the Earth. He 
             told us about losing all radio communication during re-
             entry, about having to guide his spacecraft manually 
             during the most critical point in re-entry, about seeing 
             pieces of his fiberglass heat panel bursting into flames 
             and flying off his space capsule, knowing that at any 
             moment, he could be incinerated.
               We all huddled around him with our eyes wide open. No 
             one moved. No one said a word.
               Listening to him, I felt the same awe I had felt when I 
             was 14 years old, sitting in a classroom in Aberdeen, SD, 
             watching TV accounts of that flight. Then I looked around 
             me, and realized everyone else there was feeling the same 
             thing.
               I saw that same sense of awe in other Senators' faces in 
             June, when we had a dinner for John at the National Air 
             and Space Museum. Before dinner, we were invited to have 
             our photographs taken with John in front of the Friendship 
             7 capsule. I don't think I've ever seen so many Senators 
             waiting so patiently for anything as we did for that one 
             picture.
               A lot of people tend to think of two John Glenns: 
             Colonel John Glenn, the astronaut-hero; and Senator John 
             Glenn. The truth is, there is only John Glenn--the 
             patriot.
               Love for his country is what sent John into space. It's 
             what brought him to Washington, and compelled him to work 
             so diligently all these years in the Senate.
               People who have been there say you see the world 
             differently from space. You see the ``big picture.'' You 
             see how small and interconnected our planet is.
               Perhaps it's because he came to the Senate with that 
             perspective that John has fought so hard against nuclear 
             proliferation and other weapons of mass destruction.
               Maybe because he'd had enough glamour and tickertape 
             parades by the time he came here, John chose to immerse 
             himself in some decidedly unglamorous causes.
               He immersed himself in the scientific and the technical. 
             He looked at government with the eyes of an engineer, and 
             tried to imagine ways it could work better and more 
             efficiently.
               As early as 1978, he called for Congress to live by the 
             same workplace rules it sets for everyone else. More 
             recently, he spearheaded the overhaul of the Federal 
             Government procurement system, enabling the Government to 
             buy products faster, and save money at the same time.
               In 1974, the year he was elected to the Senate, John 
             Glenn carried all 88 counties in Ohio. In 1980, he was 
             reelected with the largest margin in his State's history. 
             The last time he ran, in 1992, he became the first Ohio 
             Senator ever to win four terms.
               As I said, I'm sure he would have been reelected had he 
             chosen to run again. But, as we all know, he has other 
             plans.
               For 36 years, John Glenn has wanted to go back into 
             space. On October 29, he will finally get his chance. At 
             77 years old, he will become the oldest human being ever 
             to orbit the Earth--by 16 years.
               Many of us will be in Houston to see John and his 
             Discovery crew mates blast off. If history is any 
             indication, I suspect we will be wide-eyed once again.
               In closing, let me say, Godspeed, John Glenn and Dale 
             Bumpers, Wendell Ford, Dirk Kempthorne and Dan Coats. You 
             have served this Senate well. You are all ``Senators' 
             Senators,'' and we will miss you dearly.

                                             Tuesday, October 13, 1998.
               Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I have been honored to have 
             the opportunity to hear Senator Bumpers share his 
             perspective on public service and his personal odyssey. 
             His story is the story of the South--depression, hardship, 
             tough economic times, small businesses, and the son of a 
             shopkeeper. I, too, am the son of a storekeeper and can 
             understand and identify the qualities that have shaped 
             Senator Bumpers' life.
               I have had the opportunity to personally observe his 
             service in this body for just 2 years, but in that short 
             time I have been able to appreciate his many excellent 
             qualities. He does indeed reflect the character of the 
             people of Arkansas. He is part of that State; he comes 
             from its people; and, he shares its values. As an attorney 
             who has tried many cases, I have had the pleasure to see 
             him work on the floor of the Senate. He is articulate, 
             able, well prepared, logical, and persuasive. He states 
             his case very effectively. I can just imagine him before a 
             jury in Arkansas as he boils down complex issues to their 
             essence and appeals to their sense of values. I can see 
             just why people refer to him as an outstanding lawyer. 
             Many denigrate that profession, and I have been a strong 
             critic of some of the abuses of the legal profession, but 
             the skills possessed by the Senator from Arkansas are 
             those skills that make a lawyer most valuable. He cuts 
             straight to the heart of the matter in words that are 
             comprehensible by all.
               Again, I am pleased to have served with the 
             distinguished senior Senator from Arkansas and I wish him 
             well in his future service. He has conducted himself with 
             high standards and has not done anything to bring 
             discredit on this body. He has stood courageously, alone 
             if necessary, for the values that he believed in. There is 
             no doubt, I say to the children and grandchildren of the 
             distinguished Senator from Arkansas, that your father and 
             grandfather has been an able and noble practitioner in 
             this great deliberative body of the greatest nation in the 
             history of the world.

                                           Wednesday, October 14, 1998.
               Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I want to take a few minutes 
             to talk in as glowing terms as I can about a great friend, 
             a great Senator, and a person I have admired both as a 
             Senator and as a plain good person for all the years I 
             have been in Washington. And he is leaving us. He is 
             retiring at the end of this session. I am speaking about 
             perhaps the epitome of what I believe to be a good 
             Senator, and that Senator is Dale Bumpers of Arkansas.
               I am really going to miss him, and this country is going 
             to miss him as well. So will this Chamber. He is truly one 
             of the finest Senators to have ever graced this body. He 
             has done so many good things over the years. It is hard to 
             know where to begin.
               I know he started out as someone in the Marine Corps. As 
             a Navy person I will not hold that against him. I can 
             overlook that. But then he came back to Arkansas and 
             practiced law, had a small business, and even raised some 
             cattle. He had good practical experience, and knows the 
             people of Arkansas and he knows the people of this 
             country. The people of Arkansas rewarded that--first as 
             Governor, and now finishing his tenure as a Senator. He 
             was elected by more than 60 percent of the vote in the 
             last two terms.
               Senator Bumpers came to the Senate at the same time I 
             came to the House in 1974. For 24 years he has been here.
               Someone said once about Senators in general that some 
             Senators come here to coin a phrase, or coin a slogan, and 
             think they have solved the problem. But not Dale Bumpers. 
             He has worked very hard to solve the problems of this 
             country.
               He has been a close friend, a person of immense common 
             sense. When it comes to helping farmers, seniors, working 
             people, and children there is no better person to have as 
             an ally than Dale Bumpers. He stuck to what he believed. 
             He had the determination to get the job done with a strong 
             commitment to the people of Arkansas. He is certainly one 
             of the finest orators and debaters this Chamber has ever 
             seen. He has led the fight in the Senate against 
             government waste.
               I loved to listen to his speeches on that $12 billion 
             boondoggle called the superconductor super collider. And 
             he won. Unfortunately, we wasted a lot of money on it. 
             But, the people finally came to their senses and saw it as 
             the boondoggle that it was.
               I wasn't in the Senate at the time. I was in the House 
             working to kill that other boondoggle called the Clinch 
             River breeder reactor. Boy, you would think at that time 
             it was the most important thing to civilization that we 
             built that breeder reactor. But finally people came to 
             their senses, and we stopped it. And we are better and we 
             are stronger because of it. We saved billions of dollars 
             that would have been wasted. Dale led the fight on that in 
             the Senate.
               He has led the fight against other wasteful spending 
             such as star wars and the space station.
               I believe that he has finally brought home to the 
             American conscience the issue of mining interests and the 
             abuse of our public lands and the fact that we need to 
             update our laws.
               Anyway, with a common sense approach he has been a 
             strong ally on the Appropriations Committee where we need 
             that kind of common sense approach.
               On the Agriculture Committee, he placed the needs of 
             America's rural communities at the top of the national 
             debate including rural housing and rural economic 
             development. He has been the strongest fighter for 
             protecting the environment. On the Clean Air Act, and 
             Clean Water Act, Dale Bumpers has been in the forefront of 
             America's fight to keep our country clean.
               As the National Journal put it, Dale Bumpers is the 
             Senator to whom ``other Senators pay attention.''
               In numerous polls of Senate staffers, Dale Bumpers has 
             consistently ranked as one of the best liked Senators.
               So we are going to miss him when we start the 106th 
             Congress in January. We are going to miss Dale and his 
             eloquence, his determination and his stick-to-itness.
               So to the entire Bumpers family, Dale and Betty, their 
             children--Brent, Bill and Brooke--and their five 
             grandchildren, I want to extend my gratitude, and the 
             gratitude of the citizens of my State, that I am so proud 
             to represent, for loaning Dale to us for the past 24 
             years. America is a much better place because of Dale's 
             service in the Senate.
               Mr. President, I want to close on the one note--the one 
             area in which Dale has devoted so much of his time and 
             effort, along with Betty on protecting our children from 
             illnesses and diseases that have ravaged kids since time 
             immemorial.
               No one has fought harder for childhood vaccinations, and 
             to make them universal, affordable, and accessible than 
             Dale and Betty Bumpers.
               So in recognition of their contributions, the 
             Appropriations Committee, on which Dale served, voted 
             unanimously, Republican and Democrats, to name a new 
             vaccine facility at the National Institutes of Health 
             after Senator Bumpers and his wife, Betty. This new 
             facility, now under construction, will be named the ``Dale 
             and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Facility.''
               As I said, Dale has been our resident expert on 
             immunization since early in his Senate career. He has been 
             a tireless advocate for funding to purchase vaccines and 
             provide the public health system with the resources 
             necessary to deliver those vaccines to the children who 
             are most in need. He advocated a grant incentive program 
             in the Senate that the Appropriations Committee has used 
             each year to reward States that have been successful in 
             preventing unnecessary diseases.
               So there have been a lot of tributes that have been paid 
             to Dale. But, the most lasting tribute will be his and 
             Betty Bumpers' name on that research facility at NIH 
             because, that is truly where his heart has been in making 
             sure that kids in places like rural Arkansas and rural 
             Iowa, and all over America--including our inner cities--to 
             make sure they have a healthy start in life by getting 
             immunized. To me that says it all about Dale Bumpers.
               We are going to miss him. I hope that he doesn't go too 
             far away. I for one look forward to his continued advice 
             and counsel as I serve out my career in the U.S. Senate.

               Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, in these last few days of 
             the 105th Congress, when I come to the floor, I often look 
             wistfully to the aisle just to my left here, where Dale 
             Bumpers has trod up and down yanking the microphone cord 
             and dispensing wisdom for just about 24 years now. The 
             other day he gave his last speech here, and it was 
             brilliant--an eloquent and moving reminder of the best 
             purposes of politics. But now I want to look back and pay 
             tribute to my friend Dale Bumpers for what he has done and 
             what he has been for me, for the Senate, for his beloved 
             Arkansas and for our country.
               Dale Bumpers was born in Charleston, AR in 1925, and 
             it's from that little town he first drew the values he has 
             eloquently proclaimed on this floor for two and a half 
             decades. In a small town in western Arkansas during the 
             Depression, young Dale Bumpers learned about human 
             suffering and deprivation, learned to believe that it 
             could be defeated and came to understand, on his father's 
             knee, that the Government could be a force for good in 
             that struggle. He saw typhoid in his hometown and saw a 
             New Deal program put an end to it. He saw rural 
             electrification light the countryside, projects that made 
             the water cleaner, the roads safer, he saw the WPA and he 
             saw the tenacity, and the ingenuity and the sense of 
             community of the American people. One day as a boy he went 
             to the nearby town of Booneville and saw Franklin 
             Roosevelt himself, and he heard his father tell him that 
             politics is an honorable profession--he took all that to 
             heart and we are all the richer for it. He sometimes says, 
             as his father did, ``When we die, we're going to Franklin 
             Roosevelt.''
               In 1943, Dale Bumpers joined the Marines. He shipped out 
             to the Pacific and he expected to be a part of the 
             invasion force that would hit the beaches of Japan. He did 
             not expect to survive it. The invasion never came, but 
             that experience made a profound impression on him. When I 
             hear him speak about the Constitution, our Founding 
             Fathers and the flag on this floor it is plain how that 
             wartime experience helped him comprehend the true stakes 
             of the constitutional debate, how it informed his notions 
             of patriotism and his sense of what America means. When he 
             returned from the service he got a first-rate education at 
             the University of Arkansas and Northwestern University Law 
             School, all paid for, he is quick to point out, by Uncle 
             Sam under the GI bill. He has been returning the favor to 
             the American people ever since.
               Dale Bumpers started his career as a country lawyer in 
             Charleston, a very successful one by all reports, and he 
             got a reputation around Arkansas, even if he was, as he 
             says, ``the entire membership of the South Franklin County 
             Bar Association.'' As time went by, his practice grew, he 
             took over his father's hardware store, he taught Sunday 
             School and sang in the church choir and he and his 
             wonderful wife Betty started a family. But he wasn't 
             feeling complacent.
               There are a lot of great Dale Bumpers stories many 
             people don't know. In the days following the Brown v. 
             Board of Education decision, tension was building in the 
             South as school integration looked more and more 
             inevitable. By 1957, we had the Little Rock Crisis, but 
             there was one town in Arkansas that had already integrated 
             by then, without any great trouble. It was the first in 
             Arkansas, maybe the first in the entire South. It was 
             Charleston, AR, where Dale Bumpers was a young lawyer, 
             representing the school board. He saw what was coming and 
             he knew what was right. He did a little research and he 
             found out how much the district was spending to bus its 
             black students to Fort Smith. He made his case to the 
             school board about the right course, working those numbers 
             into the argument. The board then voted to do what he had 
             advised them to do--integrate the schools. It was not long 
             after that he helped to integrate his church--the pastor 
             of the local black Methodist church approached the all 
             white congregation of his Methodist church, seeking help 
             to repair a leaky roof. Why spend all that money and have 
             two churches, why not just join our two churches together, 
             said Dale Bumpers, and it was done. Those are two quiet 
             little pieces of history that tell us plenty about the 
             principles and the persuasive powers of Dale Bumpers.
               Well, after a while, school board politics were getting 
             to him, so Dale decided he would like to be the Governor 
             of Arkansas. So off he went, eighth out of eight in the 
             early primary polls, to do battle with Orval Faubus and 
             other established politicians. His critics said he had 
             ``nothing but a smile and a shoeshine.'' But then the 
             people of Arkansas heard what he had to say. He beat 
             everybody but Faubus in the primary, beat Faubus in the 
             runoff and then he beat Winthrop Rockefeller. Arkansas had 
             never seen a Governor like Dale Bumpers. He reformed 
             everything from education to heath care and gained the 
             lasting affection of the people while doing it.
               After 4 years as Governor, he decided he wanted to go to 
             the Senate. All that stood in his way was J. William 
             Fulbright, an institution in his own right. But Bumpers 
             won, and he came to the Senate. As we have seen, this 
             Chamber is the place where he always belonged.
               When I came to the Senate, I had heard of Senator 
             Bumpers' intelligence, his quick wit, his impatience with 
             wasteful spending, his vigorous defense of the environment 
             and his role as a relentless guardian of our Constitution. 
             When it comes to amending the Constitution. Dale Bumpers 
             always says, ``I'm a founding member of the `Wait Just a 
             Minute' club.'' That is a great line, but it tells of a 
             Senator who has risked defeat, has felt real contempt from 
             those who disagree, all because he would not stand for the 
             political use of the Constitution. He gave a great speech 
             once called ``The Trivialization of the Constitution'' in 
             which he made the case that we must never casually fiddle 
             with our Constitution for political gain or to deal with 
             transitory policy issues. His work to defend the 
             Constitution and inject sobriety into the constitutional 
             debate, all by itself, qualifies him as a great patriot 
             and Senator. Let the record reflect that I too am a member 
             of the ``Wait Just a Minute'' club.
               Dale Bumpers' leadership in cutting wasteful spending 
             and his fiscal foresight are unsurpassed. In 1981, when 
             Ronald Reagan was calling the shots in the budget debate, 
             Dale Bumpers was one of only three Senators to oppose 
             Reagan's tax cuts and support the spending cuts. If their 
             position had prevailed, the budget would have been 
             balanced in 1984. That was 14 years ago. Now there's a 
             fiscal role model.
               Senator Bumpers went after what we now call ``corporate 
             welfare'' years before the term was coined, and years 
             before others were willing to focus on the problem of 
             government waste. From the international space station to 
             the 1872 Mining Law, Senator Bumpers has been resolute in 
             his pursuit of excesses in the Federal budget. He has gone 
             after sacred cows and hidden pork, and faced strong 
             opposition from both sides of the aisle. But he has 
             continued his work, tirelessly and often thanklessly, 
             because he knows he is doing what is right for the 
             American people. I have often felt great pride standing 
             with Dale Bumpers on an amendment, even when we knew we 
             would lose, because when he made a stand, his allies knew 
             they were doing the right thing.
               His campaign against government waste is matched only by 
             his efforts to protect the environment as chairman and 
             ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources 
             Committee. Senator Bumpers has been an outstanding leader 
             on the committee, and has exhibited a conservation ethic 
             unparalleled in the U.S. Senate. Dale Bumpers was the 
             first Senator to sound the alarm about the ozone layer and 
             the danger of ozone-depleting gases, long before most of 
             us had ever heard of them. And he always remembered his 
             father's hardware store--there never was a more relentless 
             defender of small business in the Senate.
               I have been honored to work with him on a number of 
             conservation efforts, including public land reform and 
             nuclear energy issues, and I know the Senate will miss his 
             leadership in that area. His work to reform the 1872 
             mining law is the issue where his environmental 
             stewardship and his determination to cut wasteful spending 
             have gone hand-in-hand. I have been proud to join him in 
             this fight, because it's a crucially important one, an 
             ``outrage,'' as he calls it, that wouldn't be under 
             scrutiny today if it weren't for the work of Senator 
             Bumpers. And I am confident, Senator Bumpers, that your 
             view will prevail on the mining law soon enough, because 
             you are right and everybody knows you're right.
               Everybody thinks of Dale Bumpers first and foremost as 
             an orator, a story teller, a raconteur and a dispenser of 
             folk wisdom. He is common sense with a silver tongue and a 
             sense of history. So let me finish my remarks with a 
             tribute to his oratorical style. Dale Bumpers often 
             decried the idea that we could eliminate the deficit by 
             cutting taxes and raising spending, he said ``That reminds 
             me of the combination taxidermist/veterinarian in my 
             hometown. His slogan was `Either way you get your dog 
             back.' '' When he saw a flaw in his opponent's argument he 
             jumped on it like a duck on a junebug. He might declare. 
             ``His argument is as thin as spit on a rock!'' Why is he 
             such a masterful debater? Because he can explain the 
             complex in a simple way, and expose the truth in 
             uncomplicated language, without demagoguery or distortion. 
             As he would say, ``You gotta throw the corn where the hogs 
             can get at it.'' He hated deficit spending, and when he 
             saw a budget full of red ink, he said, ``Well, you pass 
             that and you'll create deficits big enough to choke a 
             mule. That's just eating the seed corn!''
               Being in this body, and having the honor of serving with 
             Dale Bumpers, has given me an invaluable chance to get to 
             know a remarkable man, and to understand what his legacy 
             in this body will mean for generations to come. The 
             greatest thing he has taught me is not to fear the tough 
             votes. Time and again, from the Panama Canal to the flag 
             amendment, he has cast the hard votes. Time and again, he 
             has gone home to Arkansas and made his case, explaining 
             his votes to the people. He didn't always persuade them 
             all, but he convinced them that his were votes of 
             principle--and the people's confidence in his integrity 
             has sustained him in the affection of even those Arkansans 
             who disagreed.
               Dale Bumpers has plenty to be proud of, but he has 
             always remembered who he is and where he came from. He 
             mixed it up with the best of them during debate, but never 
             with rancor. He is quick to point out the work of other 
             Senators and his staff when things are accomplished. The 
             other day he stood on this floor and thanked his grade 
             school teacher, Miss Doll, for encouraging him more than 
             60 years ago! He never fails to credit all his success to 
             his remarkable wife Betty, who has achieved so much in 
             promoting peace and the health of children. He speaks 
             always of his family as the wellspring of his values and 
             the source of his priorities.
               So now he leaves the Senate having enriched this country 
             and this institution in a thousand ways. His wisdom and 
             courage and his persistent voice will echo long into the 
             future. To every Member of the Senate, on both sides of 
             the aisle, Dale Bumpers is an admired friend and 
             colleague. To those of us who share his principles and 
             have learned from his leadership, he is nothing less than 
             a hero. He is one of the great ones--and you don't need to 
             be all broke out in brilliance to know that. Thank you 
             Dale Bumpers and good luck!

                                           Wednesday, October 21, 1998.
               Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, in this last day of the 105th 
             Congress, I think it is appropriate that we take a little 
             more time to express our appreciation and our admiration 
             for our retiring Senators. I look down the list: Senator 
             Bumpers of Arkansas; Senator Coats of Indiana; Senator 
             Ford, the Democratic whip, of Kentucky; Senator Glenn, who 
             will soon be taking another historic flight into space; 
             and Senator Kempthorne, who I believe is also going to be 
             taking flight into a new position of leadership and honor. 
             This is a distinguished group of men who have been 
             outstanding Senators, who have left their mark on this 
             institution. I believe you could say in each case they 
             have left the Senate a better place than it was when they 
             came.
               Have we had our disagreements along the way? Sure, 
             within parties and across party aisles. I have to take a 
             moment to express my appreciation to each of these 
             Senators. I especially want to thank Senator Ford for his 
             cooperation in his position as whip. We worked together 
             for a year and a half as the whip on our respective side 
             of the aisle and we always had a very good relationship. 
             Of course, I have already expressed my very close 
             relationship for Senator Coats and for Senator Kempthorne.
               To all of these Senators, I want to extend my fondest 
             farewell.
               As majority leader, I feel a responsibility to speak for 
             all of us in bidding an official farewell to our five 
             colleagues who are retiring this year.
               It was 1974 when Dale Bumpers left the Governorship of 
             Arkansas to take the Senate seat that had long been held 
             by Senator Fulbright. There are several Senators in this 
             Chamber today who, in 1974, were still in high school.
               Four terms in the Senate of the United States can be a 
             very long time--but that span of nearly a quarter-century 
             has not in the least diminished Senator Bumpers' 
             enthusiasm for his issues and energy in advancing them.
               He has been a formidable debater, fighting for his 
             causes with a tenacity and vigor that deserves the title 
             of Razorback.
               It is a memorable experience to be on the receiving end 
             of his opposition--whether the subject was the space 
             station or, year after year, mining on public lands.
               Arkansas and Mississippi are neighbors, sharing many of 
             the same problems. From personal experience, I know how 
             Senator Bumpers has been an assiduous and effective 
             advocate for his State and region.
               No one expects retirement from the Senate to mean 
             inactivity for Senator Bumpers, whose convictions run too 
             deep to be set aside with his formal legislative duties.
               All of us who know the sacrifices an entire family makes 
             when a spouse or parent is in the Congress can rejoice for 
             him, for Betty, and for their family, in the prospect of 
             more time together in a well earned future.
               Senator Dan Coats and I have a bond in common which most 
             Members of the Senate do not share. We both began our 
             careers on Capitol Hill, not as Members, but as staffers.
               I worked for the venerable William Colmer of 
             Mississippi, chairman of the House Rules Committee, who 
             left office in 1972 at the age of 82. Senator Coats worked 
             for Dan Quayle, who came to Congress at the age of 27.
               Despite the differences in our situations back then, we 
             both learned the congressional ropes from the bottom up.
               Which may be why we both have such respect for the 
             twists and turns of the legislative process, not to 
             mention an attentive ear to the views and concerns of our 
             constituents.
               Now and then, a Senator becomes nationally known for his 
             leadership on a major issue. Senator Coats has had several 
             such issues.
               One was the constitutional amendment for a balanced 
             budget. Another was New Jersey's garbage, and whether it 
             would be dumped along the banks of the Wabash.
               The garbage issue is still unresolved, but on other 
             matters, his success has been the Nation's profit.
               He has championed the American family, improved Head 
             Start, kept child care free of government control, and 
             helped prevent a Federal takeover of health care.
               His crusade to give low-income families school choice 
             has made him the most important education reformer since 
             Horace Mann. His passionate defense of children before 
             birth has been, to use an overworked phrase, a profile in 
             courage.
               Senator Coats does have a secret vice. He is a baseball 
             addict. On their honeymoon, he took Marcia to a Cubs game. 
             And when he was a Member of the House, he missed the vote 
             on flag-burning to keep a promise to his son to see the 
             Cubs in the playoffs.
               To Dan, a commitment is a commitment. That is why he is 
             national president of Big Brothers. And why, a few years 
             ago, he kept a very important audience waiting for his 
             arrival at a meeting here on the Hill.
               He had, en route, come across a homeless man, and spent 
             a half-hour urging him to come with him to the Gospel 
             Rescue Mission.
               Here in the Congress, we must always be in a hurry. But 
             Senator Coats and his wife, Marcia, have known what is 
             worth waiting for.
               They have been a blessing to our Senate family, and they 
             will always remain a part of it.
               Senator Wendell Ford stands 12th in seniority in the 
             Senate, with the resignation of his predecessor, Senator 
             Marlow Cook, giving him a 6-day advantage over his 
             departing colleague, Senator Bumpers.
               He came to Washington with a full decade of hands-on 
             governmental experience in his native Kentucky. He had 
             been a State senator, Lieutenant Governor, and Governor. 
             With that background, he needed little time to make his 
             mark in the Senate.
               In that regard, he reminds me of another Kentuckian who 
             make a lasting mark on the Senate.
               Last month, I traveled to Ashland, the home of Henry 
             Clay, to receive a medallion named after the man once 
             known as Harry of the West. Senator Ford was a prior 
             recipient of that award, and appropriately so.
               Henry Clay was a shrewd legislator, a tough bargainer, 
             who did not suffer fools lightly. That description sounds 
             familiar to anyone who has worked with Senator Ford.
               He can be a remarkably effective partisan. I can attest 
             to that. There is a good reason why he has long been his 
             party's second-in-command in the Senate.
               At the same time, he has maintained a personal autonomy 
             that is the mark of a true Senator. He has been outspoken 
             about his wish that his party follow the more moderate 
             path to which he has long adhered.
               Senator Ford's influence has been enormous in areas like 
             energy policy and commerce. Contemporary politics may be 
             dependent upon quotable sound-bites and telegenic 
             posturing, but he has held to an older and, in my opinion, 
             a higher standard.
               One of the least sought-after responsibilities in the 
             Senate is service on the Rules Committee.
               It can be a real headache. But it is crucial to the 
             stature of the Senate. We all owe Senator Ford our 
             personal gratitude for his long years of work on that 
             Committee.
               His decisions there would not always have been my 
             decisions; that is the nature of our system. But his work 
             there has set a standard for meticulousness and gravity.
               All of us who treasure the traditions, the decorum, and 
             the comity of the Senate will miss him.
               We wish him and Jean the happiness of finally being able 
             to set their own hours, enjoy their grandchildren, and 
             never again missing dinner at home because of a late-night 
             session on the Senate floor.
               There are many ways to depart the Senate. Our colleague 
             from Ohio, Senator John Glenn, will be leaving us in a 
             unique fashion, renewing the mission to space which he 
             helped to begin in 1962.
               In the weeks ahead, he will probably be the focus of 
             more publicity, here and around the world, than the entire 
             Senate has been all year long.
               It will be well deserved attention, and I know he 
             accepts it, not for himself, but for America's space 
             program.
               For decades now, he has been, not only its champion, but 
             in a way, its embodiment.
               That is understandable, but to a certain extent, unfair. 
             For his astronaut image tends to overshadow the 
             accomplishments of a long legislative career.
               In particular, his work on the Armed Services Committee, 
             the Commerce Committee, and our Special Committee on Aging 
             has been a more far-reaching achievement than orbiting the 
             Earth.
               With the proper support and training, others might have 
             done that, but Senator Glenn's accomplishments here in the 
             Senate are not so easily replicated.
               This year's hit film, ``Saving Private Ryan,'' has had a 
             tremendous impact on young audiences by bringing home to 
             them the sacrifice and the suffering of those who fought 
             America's wars.
               I think Senator Glenn has another lesson to teach them. 
             For the man who will soon blast off from Cape Canaveral, 
             as part of America's peaceful conquest of space--is the 
             same Marine who, more than a half century ago, saw combat 
             in World War II, and again in Korea.
               His mission may have changed, but courage and idealism 
             endure.
               In a few days, along with Annie and the rest of his 
             family, we will be cheering him again, as he again makes 
             us proud of our country, proud of our space program, and 
             proud to call him our friend and colleague.
               Senator Dirk Kempthorne came to us from Idaho only 6 
             years ago. He now returns amid the nearly universal 
             expectation that he will be his State's next Governor. It 
             will be a wise choice.
               None of us are surprised by his enormous popularity back 
             home. We have come to know him, not just as a consummate 
             politician, but as a thoughtful, decent, and caring man.
               This is a man who took the time to learn the names of 
             the men and women who work here in the Capitol and in the 
             Senate office buildings.
               In fact, his staff allots extra time for him to get to 
             the Senate floor to vote because they know he will stop 
             and talk to people on the way.
               During the memorial ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda for 
             our two officers who lost their lives protecting this 
             building, Senator Kempthorne noticed that the son of one 
             of the officers, overwhelmed by emotion, suddenly left the 
             room.
               Dirk followed him, and spent a half-hour alone with him, 
             away from the cameras. The public doesn't see those 
             things, but that's the kind of concern we expect from him.
               His willingness to share credit gave us our Unfunded 
             Mandates Act and reauthorization of the Safe Drinking 
             Water Law. And his eye for detail and pride in his own 
             home State led to the transformation of that long, sterile 
             corridor between the Capitol and the Dirksen and Hart 
             office buildings.
               Now, as tourists ride the space-age mechanized subway, 
             they enjoy the display of State flags and seals that form 
             a patriotic parade. It delights the eye and lifts the 
             spirit.
               If you've ever visited Idaho, known its people, and seen 
             its scenic wonders, you don't have to wonder why he's 
             leaving us early.
               You wonder, instead, why he ever left.
               Years ago, he explained his future this way: That he 
             would know when it was time to leave the Senate when he 
             stopped asking ``why'' and started saying ``because.''
               We're going to miss him and Patricia, and no one needs 
             to ask ``why.'' Even so, we know the Governor will be a 
             forceful spokesman on the Hill for all the Governors.
               They could not have a better representative. The Senate 
             could not have a better exemplar. We could not have a 
             better friend.

               Mr. DODD. Mr. President, as we approach the end of 
             another Congress, we bid farewell to those Senators who 
             will not be returning in January. Today I wish to say 
             farewell to a good friend and one of the most honorable 
             and respected members of this body--Dale Bumpers.
               Dale Bumpers is the epitome of what a Senator should be. 
             He entered public service because he believed that it was 
             a noble profession, and throughout his political career he 
             has performed his duties with the highest levels of 
             integrity and decency. He has always been guided by his 
             heart and his mind, not by any polls.
               He almost seems like a character from a Frank Capra 
             film. He was a World War II veteran from a small town who 
             attended college and law school on the G.I. Bill. After 
             practicing law for 20 years in his home town, he earned a 
             reputation as a political giant-killer on his way to the 
             Governor's mansion and eventually the Senate. Even his 
             home address seems straight out of Hollywood. Believe it 
             or not, he actually lives on a street named Honesty Way.
               Oftentimes when you're watching Dale Bumpers speak from 
             the Senate floor, you can't help but think of the 
             character made famous by Jimmy Stewart--Senator Jefferson 
             Smith--whose political philosophy was ``the only causes 
             worth fighting for are lost causes,'' and whose most 
             famous line was, ``Either I'm dead right, or I'm crazy.''
               As Senator Bumpers said just the other day on this 
             floor, he's probably fought more losing battles than any 
             other Senator. I can picture Senator Bumpers right now, 
             speaking from the heart on some issue about which he cares 
             very deeply. He knows that he's right, but whatever he 
             says, he can't seem to sway a majority of his colleagues. 
             But no matter what, he won't give up. He won't back down. 
             And in 18 years of serving with Dale Bumpers, I can 
             honestly say that I never saw him waver in his beliefs or 
             back down from a good, honest debate.
               Two years ago, when Dale Bumpers was speaking on the 
             retirement of his former colleague from Arkansas, David 
             Pryor, he said, and I quote, ``I am not a terribly 
             effective legislator because I have a very difficult time 
             compromising. I have strong beliefs, and sometimes 
             compromise is just out of the question for me.''
               Maybe there is some truth to that statement. Maybe Dale 
             Bumpers could have scored a few more political victories 
             if he had been more willing to compromise.
               But I think that my friend from Arkansas is being a 
             little hard on himself in his self-assessment. I think 
             that he is an excellent legislator, and it was his candor 
             and his devotion to his convictions that made him 
             effective. Obviously, compromise is often essential to 
             getting things done around here. But equally essential is 
             having people around here who are passionate about issues 
             and willing to fight for their beliefs in the face of 
             opposition.
               Dale Bumpers is not only thought of highly by his 
             colleagues, but I think that everyone in the entire Senate 
             family thinks fondly of this man. And I know for a fact 
             that many members of my staff share a deep admiration for 
             Senator Bumpers.
               The past few weeks, there has actually been a ``Dale 
             Bumpers watch'' in the L.A. room in my office, much like 
             the Mark McGwire watch that captivated the country during 
             the baseball season. Every time Senator Bumpers has come 
             to the floor, hands have pulled back from keyboards and 
             the volumes on television sets have been turned up, as my 
             staffers have watched and wondered if this would be the 
             last time that Dale Bumpers will speak on the Senate 
             floor. I only hope that they were watching C-SPAN on the 
             afternoon of Saturday, October 10.
               Of course, Dale Bumpers will most likely be remembered 
             for his unsurpassed oratory skills. One thing that made 
             our friend from Arkansas such an effective speaker was 
             that his positions were always based on common sense. 
             Whether or not you agreed with Dale Bumpers, you could 
             always understand the logic behind his argument. But what 
             set him apart was his passion. Not many people can get 
             excited over a 120-year-old mining law, but Dale Bumpers 
             could speak on this issue and convince you that this was 
             the defining issue of the decade.
               I only regret that he was never elected majority leader 
             so that he may 1 day come back to speak as a part of the 
             Leaders' Speaker Series. Maybe we can come up with a 
             waiver provision to let certain colleagues who were never 
             majority leader speak--and call it the ``Bumpers Rule.''
               For Dale Bumpers the final judgment on the merit of his 
             arguments will not be rendered by the yeas and nays of his 
             colleagues. It will rather be rendered by the illuminating 
             perspective of time. And I have little doubt that time 
             will rule in favor of the Senator from Arkansas.
               Just the other day, Senator Bumpers was on the floor 
             talking about a speech he gave about the ozone layer in 
             the mid 1970's. Most of his statements were considered 
             alarmist at the time, but more than a decade later, an 
             exhaustive study by the National Academy of Sciences 
             confirmed that everything he said has in fact been proven 
             true. And I am confident that time will ultimately prove 
             that Dale Bumpers was right far more often than he was 
             wrong.
               I also think that time will reveal that our friend from 
             Arkansas was one of the most capable, intelligent, and 
             principled legislators that this body has ever known. I 
             can honestly say that it has been an honor to serve 
             alongside Dale Bumpers for the past 18 years. I will truly 
             miss his friendship, and I wish him and his wife Betty 
             only the best in all their future endeavors.

               Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I know we are all going to 
             greatly miss our friend Senator Bumpers. He is certainly 
             one of the finest orators this body has enjoyed since 
             Daniel Webster. But I want to take a moment to personally 
             thank Senator Bumpers.
               Senator Bumpers and I came to the Senate as part of the 
             class of 1974. So I had very mixed feelings last year when 
             I heard that my good friend would be leaving this Chamber. 
             He and I have shared many battles over the 24 years that 
             we have spent in these halls and on this floor. And, as my 
             good friend pointed out just a few days ago, I am not even 
             half as entertaining as him, so his shoes will be hard to 
             fill.
               However, as Senator Bumpers has often remarked, he has 
             probably fought more losing battles in this Chamber than 
             any other Member. He is leaving those battles for the rest 
             of us to fight. He has laid down a marker for where our 
             country must go in the next century. His challenge to us 
             who remain in this Chamber is to frame laws that show 
             respect to our country's founders and to our country's 
             future.
               He has fought tirelessly to defend our Bill of Rights 
             and only yesterday warned this Chamber against of the 
             temptation of amending what he has often called ``our 
             sacred document.'' Senator Bumpers has shown great courage 
             over the years in his steadfast protection of our 
             Constitution.
               As he has pointed out many times, he has taken a lot of 
             political heat for voting against popular issues like 
             school prayer, flag burning and the balanced budget 
             amendment. But even though he has voted against all of 
             these things and voted for our Constitution, he is walking 
             out of this Chamber by his own choice. His courage should 
             guide us all in our choices between popular issues of the 
             day and protecting our Constitution.
               His legacy will also be marked by an intense desire to 
             pass on to his grandchildren and to all of our 
             grandchildren a world where you can still find places of 
             solitude and beauty, streams where you can still catch 
             trout and salmon and forests where you can still find 
             trees older than your grandparents.
               That is why it is only fitting that in the last few days 
             of this Congress we are able to honor Senator Bumpers by 
             dedicating wilderness areas within the Ozark and Ouachita 
             National Forests to his long, and often lonely, fight to 
             protect our Nation's most precious natural resources.
               His marker also represents a world where children are 
             free from disease and free from debt. Dale and his wife 
             Betty have not only made a professional commitment to 
             protecting the health of our children, but they have made 
             this a personal commitment.
               Even if Dale was still a Main Street merchant or a 
             jackleg merchant, as he described himself, Betty would 
             still be dragging him into these fights to protect our 
             children's health. Although I know that she has never had 
             to pull very hard, because his commitment comes from the 
             heart.
               Many of us will remember Senator Bumpers not only for a 
             keeper of our national treasures, but also as a chaser of 
             boondoggles. Whether it be reining in government subsidies 
             for mining companies or chemical companies, he is never 
             one to pull punches or mince words.
               In fact, one of the only reasons I can come up with for 
             Congress still not passing mining reform is that we all so 
             love to see Dale take over the aisles of this Chamber and 
             entertain us with his now re-known ``Bumperisms.'' Who 
             else would think to compare the attraction between our 
             mining companies and government subsidies to a ``duck on a 
             June bug.''
               Of course, Dale certainly would not be one to limit his 
             battles to planet Earth. He has also taken on the black 
             holes we've tried to build in outer space. I will not be 
             surprised at all if we start receiving Bumper-Grams from 
             Arkansas each week telling us how many millions we have 
             spent in the last 7 days on the International Space 
             Station. Although this fight is not over, Senator Bumpers 
             can leave here knowing he helped stop the ill-conceived 
             ``Star Wars'' to make our heavens a battlefield.
               Although we will certainly miss Senator Bumpers for all 
             his one-liners, impassioned speeches, and frank critiques, 
             we will also miss his wonderful wife, Betty. As we leave 
             here this week, I will look fondly on Senator Bumpers 
             future--spending his days with Betty, his three children, 
             Brent, Bill, and Brooke and their five grandchildren.
               Finally, Mr. President, let me help send our dear friend 
             by quoting from another highly esteemed Arkansan, Johnny 
             Cash, ``ask that engineer if he will blow his whistle 
             please, `Cause I smell frost on cotton leaves. * * * And I 
             smell that Southern breeze. Hey, Porter! Hey, Porter! 
             Please get my bags for me, I need nobody to tell me now 
             that we're in Tennessee. * * * Hey Porter! Hey Porter! 
             Please open up my door. When they stop this train I'm 
             gonna get off first `Cause I can't wait no more. Tell that 
             engineer I say, ``Thanks a lot. I didn't mind the fare. 
             I'm gonna set my feet on Southern soil. * * * And breathe 
             that Southern air.''
               We all hope that Southern air treats you and Betty well.

               Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I understand that in his last 
             campaign Senator Bumpers used the slogan: ``What a Senator 
             Should Be.'' I couldn't have summed it up better myself.
               Throughout his 24 years in this body, Dale Bumpers has 
             set new standards for the office of Senator. He is sincere 
             and compassionate. He speaks with eloquence and clarity. 
             He is an idealist and a realist. He is courageous and 
             principled. He can stimulate a debate and broker a deal. 
             He has a deep understanding of the issues and a quick wit 
             that amuses us all. He is a true populist whose dedication 
             to improving the lives of Arkansans has benefited our 
             Nation as a whole.
               I am deeply honored to have served with Senator Bumpers 
             for 6 years. I have learned a great deal from him. Because 
             of him I have been fortunate to witness some of the 
             Senate's most animated debates, on such issues as mining 
             law reform, electric utility restructuring, protecting 
             small business, preserving our public lands, arms control 
             and fighting the now infamous space station.
               He has been a voice for our precious environment, 
             champion of consumer rights, and he has always been 
             willing to stand up for the ``little guy'', for the 
             interests of regular folks.
               Senator Bumpers' illustrious career began long before he 
             was elected to the U.S. Senate. As a young lawyer in 
             Charleston, AR, Dale Bumpers played a key role in the 
             first integration of a public school after the Brown vs. 
             Board of Education decision.
               He went on to serve as Governor of Arkansas for 4 years, 
             and was recently voted the ``Greatest Governor'' in the 
             history of Arkansas by the Arkansas Times.
               Fortunately, it was not often that Senator Bumpers and I 
             were on opposite sides of an issue. However, one of my 
             most memorable moments in the Senate was one such 
             occasion. We were debating an important agriculture issue 
             and to emphasize my point, I brought a frozen chicken on 
             the Senate floor and slammed it on a desk. Senator Bumpers 
             and Senator Pryor immediately raised a point of order and 
             I had to remove that chicken from the Senate floor.
               Anyone who has had to face off against Senator Bumpers 
             knows of the passion he feels for the issues he discusses 
             and the people he represents. Even those who may oppose 
             his views can't help but admire his lively speeches and 
             personal stories. I will miss hearing his familiar sayings 
             about pigs squealing under gates and fights with Betty. I 
             will miss his pointer flying as he paces up and down the 
             aisles of the floor. I will miss the passion in his voice. 
             And most of all, I will miss my friend.
               Senator Bumpers is someone on whom I have grown to 
             depend, a man who has always given a kind word, and a 
             person who has been a true role model for us all.
               I thank the senior Senator from Arkansas for all that he 
             has shared with us and all that he has taught us. No doubt 
             there will be Senators who will continue to promote the 
             causes he cared for so deeply. But I assure you, the 
             debates will never have the same enthusiasm, the same 
             passion or the same flare, that Senator Bumpers brought to 
             this august body.
               It is with reverence, awe and deep affection that I pay 
             tribute to the truly distinguished gentleman from 
             Arkansas, Senator Dale Bumpers. I will miss him dearly.
                                            Wednesday, June 18, 1997.  

               Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, with sadness, I rise today 
             to pay tribute to a remarkable member of the U.S. Senate, 
             the senior Senator from Arkansas, Dale Bumpers. Senator 
             Bumpers has announced his retirement after more than 25 
             years in public service, including the last 22 years in 
             the U.S. Senate. When Dale Bumpers leaves the Senate at 
             the end of next year to return to his family and his 
             beloved Arkansas, I will miss his leadership and his 
             friendship tremendously.
               There has rarely been a Senator in this body with the 
             courage of his convictions like Dale Bumpers. During his 
             time here, he has stood up valiantly for the causes he 
             believes in. He has been an advocate for his home State 
             and has fought against a number of Government projects 
             that he felt were wasteful or inefficient. His object has 
             always been to protect the people of Arkansas and the 
             American taxpayer. We have not always agreed with each 
             other on the merits of every project. But I have always 
             been able to count on Senator Bumpers' integrity, his 
             honesty, and his good humor.
               When Senator Bumpers retires, I think my colleagues will 
             agree that the back of the Senate Chamber will never be 
             the same. In an institution known for its orators, Senator 
             Bumpers is among the most accomplished of them. His 
             passion for public debate, and his commitment to justice 
             have been obvious to all Senators when Dale Bumpers takes 
             the floor of the Senate. He speaks with eloquence and with 
             feeling, whether the issue is protecting our environment 
             or cutting corporate welfare.
               Throughout his career in public service, Senator Bumpers 
             has remained true to his constituents by being a strong 
             advocate for his home State of Arkansas. He knows that a 
             Senator's ultimate responsibility is to the people of his 
             State. As a result of his advocacy and his honesty, 
             Arkansas voters have returned him to Washington three 
             times with landslide re-election victories. I have no 
             doubt that the voters of Arkansas would have made it a 
             fourth re-election landslide if he wished.
               Senator Bumpers' insights into the issues and problems 
             we address in the Senate, and in his Environment and 
             Public Works Committee have made him a valuable and 
             trusted Member of this body. Our leadership, the Senate, 
             and most of all the State of Arkansas have greatly 
             benefited from his service.
               I believe that I speak for all of my colleagues when I 
             say that the departure of Senator Bumpers will leave a 
             void in this institution. As he approaches retirement, I 
             want to thank Dale Bumpers for his service to his country 
             and congratulate him for his extraordinary career. I wish 
             him excellent health and happiness in retirement, and I 
             will truly miss him.

                                         ---

                         FAREWELL ADDRESS OF SENATOR BUMPERS

               Mr. BUMPERS. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to 
             speak, for what may be the last time, on the floor of the 
             Senate. It is a very bittersweet time for me, after 24 
             years, most of which have been spent at this very desk. I 
             might say at this moment that I have been blessed by 
             having Senator Kennedy as my seatmate these many years, 
             and before him Senator Gore--both truly outstanding men.
               In order to deliver a speech such as I am about to 
             deliver, Mr. President, I do not think there is anything 
             wrong with listing some of the defining moments in my 
             life, because this speech is really more for the benefit 
             of my children and grandchildren than it is for my 
             colleagues or the people of America.
               First of all, I was blessed by my parents. I remind my 
             brother from time to time that everybody was not so lucky 
             in choosing their parents as he and I were. And that 
             really is the reason that I stand here as one of 1,843 men 
             and women ever to serve in the U.S. Senate. We were taught 
             when we were children that when we died we were ``going to 
             Franklin Roosevelt''. And the reason we were taught that 
             is because we were very poor. Most people do not realize 
             that the South, from 1865 until about the time Franklin 
             Roosevelt became President, was still living almost as a 
             conquered nation. National politicians paid very little 
             attention to the South.
               In our household, we were poor during the Great 
             Depression. And I might say, the Great Depression is 
             certainly one of the most important defining moments of my 
             life. But it was during the Great Depression that Franklin 
             Roosevelt began to provide all kinds of things for people 
             in the South that they had previously thought unthinkable.
               We didn't have indoor plumbing. We didn't have running 
             water. We didn't have paved streets. We didn't have much 
             of anything. The people in our community died of typhoid 
             fever in the summertime because the outhouse was just a 
             few steps away from the well from which we drew our 
             drinking water. Then Franklin Roosevelt began to provide 
             immunizations for children against smallpox and typhoid. 
             It was free. We got those shots at school.
               We had then what we called hoboes or tramps; today we 
             call them homeless people. My mother always saved a few 
             scraps after breakfast knowing that some tramp was going 
             to knock on the back door and ask for food. That was back 
             before welfare came into existence. So we were very poor.
               I remember when I was 12 years old my father heard that 
             Franklin Roosevelt was coming to Arkansas. He was a great 
             believer in America and the political system and public 
             service. He wanted my brother and me to see Franklin 
             Roosevelt. So we drove over a gravel road 20 miles to 
             Booneville, AR, and when the train on the Rock Island line 
             pulled in, Franklin Roosevelt came out on the back 
             platform, obviously being held up by a couple of Secret 
             Service men. I tugged on my father's arm and I said, 
             ``Dad, what's wrong with him?'' He said, ``I will tell you 
             later.'' On the way home, he told us that Franklin 
             Roosevelt had contracted polio when he was 37 years old, 
             he couldn't walk, and he carried 12 pounds of steel braces 
             on his legs.
               Then he told my brother and me that if Franklin 
             Roosevelt could become President and couldn't even walk, 
             there was no reason why my brother and I, with strong 
             minds and bodies, couldn't become President, too. I never 
             took my eye off that goal until many, many years later.
               In the following year, my father was president of the 
             Arkansas Retail Hardware Association. They gave our family 
             $300 to go to Los Angeles to the national convention. I 
             can remember the big party at the Biltmore Hotel in Los 
             Angeles in 1937. I had never stepped on a carpet before in 
             my life, and the Biltmore was filled with thick carpet. We 
             just loved it. We didn't stay at the Biltmore. We were 
             staying at the $2-a-night cabin.
               But the night of the big party, everybody was in tuxedos 
             and long dresses, except my parents. And all the children 
             were dressed in tuxedos, too, even in that Depression year 
             of 1937. But I can remember my brother and I had on long 
             pants and white shirts, no tie, no coat. We were terribly 
             embarrassed. My father sensed that, and so the next day he 
             told us that he knew we were embarrassed but he reminded 
             us that the most important thing was that we were clean, 
             our clothes were clean, our bodies were clean, and the 
             kind of clothes you wore really were not all that 
             important. He made it OK.
               When I was 15 years old, I had a high school English and 
             literature teacher named Miss Doll. Every Member of the 
             U.S. Senate has been influenced by a college professor or 
             high school teacher, maybe a preacher or somebody else. 
             She was my influence.
               I remember my mother, who had a tendency--not to 
             denigrate my mother--to not build our self-esteem. My 
             father was working against that, trying to teach us self-
             esteem, not ego, but esteem.
               We were reading Beowulf in English, a great piece of 
             literature. We would read a paragraph and discuss it. One 
             time it came my time to read. I started reading, and all 
             of a sudden--I read about two pages and Miss Doll still 
             hadn't stopped me--I looked up and she was standing there. 
             She looked at me and she looked at the class and she said, 
             ``Doesn't he read beautifully?'' ``Doesn't he have a nice 
             voice?'' And she said, ``And wouldn't it be tragic if he 
             didn't use that talent.'' At first I thought she was 
             making fun of me, but she did more for my self-esteem in 
             10 seconds than anybody, except my father, ever did. Some 
             of my political detractors think she overdid it.
               And then just out of high school, but only after 6 
             months at the University of Arkansas, I went into the 
             Marine Corps. World War II was raging. It was a terrifying 
             time. I fully expected to be killed in that war. The 
             Marines were taking terrible casualties in the South 
             Pacific. Happily, I survived that. The best part of it was 
             when I got home there was a caring, generous, 
             compassionate Federal Government, waiting with the GI 
             bill.
               While my father would have stolen to make sure we had a 
             good education, my brother went to Harvard Law School and 
             I went to the University of Arkansas and later 
             Northwestern University Law School--both expensive schools 
             my father could never afford. I studied political science 
             and law. The reason I did that is because my father wanted 
             me to go into public service. He wanted me and my brother 
             to be politicians. He may be the last man who ever lived 
             who encouraged his sons to go into politics.
               In my first year in law school, he and my mother were 
             killed in a car wreck. They were tragically killed by a 
             drunken driver. Neither of them had ever had a drink in 
             their life. That is what made it so bizarre. The big 
             disappointment of my life was that my father didn't live 
             to see me Governor or Senator.
               The next defining moment of my life is when our children 
             were born--first Brent, then Bill and then Brooke.
               The next defining moment was when I was practicing law 
             in a little town of 1,200 people and decided to run for 
             Governor. The day I filed, a poll was taken statewide. It 
             was the last day of the filing deadline. I found that of 
             the eight Democrats in the primary, I had 1-percent name 
             recognition. It was probably the most foolhardy thing I 
             had ever done in my life. But I was trying to keep faith 
             with my father, and I believe strongly in our country and 
             I believe in public service.
               The next defining moment in my life was shortly after I 
             was elected Governor I got an invitation to go to Kansas 
             City to speak at a Truman Day dinner. I told them I 
             couldn't go, the legislature was in session. I just 
             assumed those legislators would screw the dome off the 
             capital if I left town. They came back and said, ``If you 
             will agree to do this, we will let you spend an hour with 
             President and Mrs. Truman,'' and that was more than I 
             could resist. So I went and spent that hour with President 
             Truman and he asked me how I liked being Governor. I said, 
             ``I don't like it, it's a real pressure cooker. I am just 
             a country lawyer. This is all new to me and the press is 
             driving me crazy.''
               I was telling him what a terrible job being Governor of 
             Arkansas was, and it suddenly dawned on me I was talking 
             to a man who had to make the decision to drop the atomic 
             bomb that ended World War II. And so I shut up. And then 
             he told me, as I left, ``Son, while you are looking at the 
             ceiling every night in the Governor's mansion, wondering 
             what you are going to do, remember one thing: The people 
             elected you to do what you think is right and that is all 
             they expect out of you. They have busy lives. So, 
             remember, always tell people the truth; they can handle 
             it.''
               That didn't sound like very profound advice to me at the 
             time. But indeed it was. I have thought about it every day 
             of my life since then.
               Second, he said, ``When you are debating in your own 
             mind the issues that you have to confront, you think about 
             this: Get the best advice you can get on both sides of the 
             issue, make up your mind which one is right, and then you 
             do it. That is all the people of the State expect of you--
             to do what you think is right.''
               So when I drove off the mansion grounds 4 years later, 
             coming to the Senate, as I told my Democratic colleagues 
             the other night, most of whom know this, I came here with 
             the full intention of running for President. I had a very 
             successful 4 years as Governor. I thought the world was my 
             oyster and I fully intended, as I say, to run. The reason 
             I didn't run is because after I had been here for a year, 
             I realized that this whole apparatus was much more complex 
             than I thought it was.
               I told my children, if I had three lives to live, at the 
             end of the last one, I would look back prior to 10 years 
             at the end of it and realize how dumb I was. I was so 
             smart when I graduated from high school, I could hardly 
             bear it. When I got out of law school, the problem was 
             compounded. When I drove off the mansion grounds, I was 
             quite sure I was ready to be king of the world.
               The other night I told Senator Sarbanes I really regret 
             that I have not been as effective a legislator as I should 
             have been. He said, ``Everybody feels that way.'' What I 
             was really saying, I suppose, is I wish I had known then 
             what I know now. In my dying breath I will look back and 
             think about, really, how I was not as smart this Saturday 
             afternoon as I thought I was. That is what a living, 
             learning experience is.
               So I chose not to run for President. By the time I felt 
             that I was qualified to be President, I decided that it 
             demanded a price that I was not willing to pay. Not to be 
             purely apocalyptic about our future, because I am not, I 
             must say, in all candor, partisanship has reached a point 
             in this country, and the demands for political money have 
             become so great--two very insidious things--that good men 
             and women are opting out of public service, and not to 
             enter public service. Money is corrupting the political 
             process and it threatens our very democracy.
               Since I announced that I would not run last year, I 
             confess to you, Mr. President and colleagues, that I have 
             voted in ways that I would not have if I were running. I 
             think of the few times when I would have had to worry 
             about what kind of a 30-second spot that vote would 
             generate.
               I have cast my share of courageous votes since I have 
             been here, as Harry Truman admonished me to do. I have 
             always tried to use simple tests as to how I voted; How 
             would my children and grandchildren judge me? Did it make 
             me stronger or the Nation stronger? Did it do any 
             irreversible damage to the environment? Is it fair to the 
             less fortunate among us? Does it comport with the thrust 
             of our Constitution, the greatest document ever conceived 
             by the mind of man? Or does it simply make me stronger 
             politically because it satisfies the political whims of 
             the moment? Or does it simply keep the political money 
             supply flowing?
               Speaking of courageous votes, I voted for the Panama 
             Canal Treaties in 1978 and, in all fairness, in 1980, had 
             I had a strong opponent, I would not be standing here 
             right now. I lucked out. But I can tell you, people were 
             absolutely livid about my vote on the Panama Canal 
             Treaties--a fabricated political issue. I ask the American 
             people and my colleagues, who today has been 
             inconvenienced by the Panama Canal Treaties? Is this 
             country any weaker? The truth is that it is stronger. Our 
             relationship with Panama is much stronger. It was the 
             Quemoy and Matsu issue of 1978.
               Incidentally, Henry Bellmon of Oklahoma voted against 
             the Panama Canal Treaties and made a minute-and-a-half 
             speech in doing it, while the rest of us were 
             pontificating for hours trying to justify our positions. 
             He announced he would not run again because, coming from 
             the conservative State of Oklahoma, he knew he didn't have 
             a prayer of being reelected, so hot was that issue.
               When I voted against Ronald Reagan's prayer in school 
             amendment--the only southern Senator to do so, my opponent 
             tried to take advantage of it. But the American people and 
             the people of my State--once you explained what was 
             involved to them, where the school prayers would be 
             written or adopted by the school board and required saying 
             in the schools--came to understand the perils of the 
             amendment. I always tell youngsters, and college groups 
             particularly, when you think about that, you tell me which 
             country that has an official state religion you want to 
             live in.
               Mr. President, one of the greatest moments of my life 
             was when I was Governor and a man came into my office 
             wanting me to talk to the highway department about a late 
             penalty they were going to assess him for being 60 days 
             late in completing a highway job. To shorten the story, I 
             said, ``If I do this for you, how do I explain to the next 
             guy who walks in the door why I can't do it for him? I 
             don't want to start down that road.'' After a long 
             conversation, when he started to walk out after I told him 
             I could not, under any circumstances, comply with the 
             request, he said, ``Governor, that's the reason I voted 
             for you.''
               This institution is a great place. It is supposed to be 
             the deliberative body. The Founding Fathers intended the 
             lower House, the House of Representatives, to be the House 
             of the people. They expected this place to be the 
             deliberative body. It is a curious thing--and the minority 
             leader here knows this--every amendment, every bill that 
             comes up, we immediately start trying to figure out, how 
             stringently can we limit the debate on this issue? There 
             are times when that is fully justified, and there are 
             times when only if you fully air something do the Senate 
             Members really come here well enough informed to vote on 
             it.
               We are still the oldest democracy on Earth. We are still 
             living under the oldest Constitution on Earth, and without 
             men and women of goodwill being willing to offer 
             themselves for service, there is absolutely no assurance 
             that that will always be. Thomas Jefferson said, ``The 
             price of liberty is eternal vigilance.'' He was not just 
             talking about military vigilance. We are still woefully 
             inadequate in this country in the field of education. If I 
             were the President of the United States and I were looking 
             at a $70 billion surplus, I would make sure the first 
             thing we did was to pass a bill that said no child in this 
             Nation shall be deprived of a college education for lack 
             of money. Look at all the statistics where we rank among 
             the developed nations in education. And look at the state 
             of health care. It is good for those who can afford it. 
             And 45 million who have no health insurance and no health 
             care do the best they can.
               Mr. President, I have been richly blessed in my life, as 
             I said, mostly by devoted parents, and good Methodist 
             Sunday school teaching. My mother wanted me to be a 
             Methodist preacher and my father wanted me to be a 
             politician. Think about growing up with that pressure. I 
             am personally blessed with a great family. If I died 
             tomorrow, the people of Arkansas would take note of it, 
             and there would be headlines in all of the papers in the 
             State. But if Betty died tomorrow the people of our State 
             would grieve. She has founded two organizations.
               When Ronald Reagan announced to this country that we 
             might just fire one across the Soviet Union's bow to get 
             their attention, he terrified her. She and a group of 
             congressional wives met around my kitchen table for about 
             6 months. Finally, I came home one night, and she said, 
             ``We are forming an organization. And we feel so strongly 
             about it that we are going to put `peace' in the name. We 
             are going to call it Peace Links''. Ultimately, she had 
             almost 250 congressional wives conscripted into that 
             organization.
               I told her ``you are going to get your husband beat.'' 
             We are from a conservative State. People in Arkansas 
             believe in a strong defense. People across this Nation 
             believe in a strong defense. She said, ``You men are going 
             to get my children killed.''
               She had already spent all of her public life, from the 
             time I was Governor until this day trying to immunize all 
             of the children in this country. And I am not going to go 
             through all of the successes that she has had, which have 
             been staggering.
               The Western Hemisphere is free of polio. Africa will be 
             free of polio by the year 2002. Asia will be free of polio 
             by the year 2004. And measles is next.
               I tell you, she deserves a lot of credit for the virtual 
             elimination of childhood diseases in this country. She 
             went to see President Carter when he first came to power. 
             She said, ``I tell you something you can do that will have 
             a lasting effect on the health of this Nation, and it will 
             help you a lot when you run again.'' He put Joe Califano 
             at her disposal. And today she and Rosalynn Carter have an 
             organization called ``Every Child By Two.'' She is still 
             going at it--peace and children.
               I have three beautiful children, and six beautiful, 
             healthy grandchildren. I have been blessed with 
             exceptional staff members, most of whom are more than 
             staff members. They are very good friends. I have been 
             blessed with the support of the people of my State in 
             winning almost every election by 60 percent or more of the 
             vote. I was much more liberal than my constituents. I like 
             to believe that they respected me because they knew what I 
             stood for is what I believed instead of what was 
             politically expedient at any given time. But, for whatever 
             reason, I will always be grateful to them.
               Our State does not deserve to have been torn apart for 
             the past 6 years. I know so many innocent people who have 
             been destroyed, financially and mentally, by a criminal 
             justice system gone awry. You would have to go back to the 
             Salem witchcraft trials to find anything comparable.
               I do not, nor does any Senator, condone the President's 
             conduct. Call it whatever you want--reprehensible, 
             indefensible, unconscionable. Call it anything you want. 
             But most of us take pride in President Clinton's 
             Presidency. And the American people are still saying they 
             like him. But completely aside from that, as I say, I weep 
             sometimes for the unfair treatment to my State, and so 
             many innocent people in it.
               I have been blessed by unbelievable friendships of 
             colleagues. Those friendships will probably wane. It is 
             almost impossible to maintain a relationship with a 
             colleague once you leave here. That is really tragic. But 
             I am realistic. And I know that is what it will be. I know 
             we will have a difficult time having the same kind of 
             relationship, if any at all. But I want them to know that 
             I value their friendship. I value my service with them. I 
             have served with some truly great men and women. And, as 
             Senator Byrd likes to say, only 1,843 men and women have 
             ever been so privileged to serve in this body.
               I am already nostalgic about this Chamber--24 years in 
             this Chamber, the Cloakroom, the hearing rooms, the 
             Capitol itself. For 24 years, the first 20 of which I went 
             home almost every weekend and came back on Sunday night, I 
             never failed, as we flew by the Washington Monument, to 
             get goose bumps. And I hope I never do. So, colleagues, I 
             thank you for being my friend. To the people of my State, 
             I thank you for allowing me to serve here.
               I want to teach, in order to teach children that 
             politics is a noble profession. My father said it long 
             before Bobby Kennedy did. It is a noble calling. And the 
             minute it becomes what so many people think it is, who do 
             you think suffers? All of us do. So I want to inspire this 
             oncoming generation, as my father did me, to get involved 
             in the political process and public service. You have a 
             duty and a responsibility.
               So, to the U.S. Senate, to all of my colleagues, God 
             bless and Godspeed.

                                         ---

                  ORDER FOR PRINTING OF INDIVIDUAL SENATE DOCUMENTS

               Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
             there be printed as individual Senate documents a 
             compilation of materials from the Congressional Record in 
             tribute to Senators Dan Coats of Indiana, Dirk Kempthorne 
             of Idaho, Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, Wendell Ford of 
             Kentucky, and John Glenn of Ohio.
               The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Craig). Without objection, it 
             is so ordered.
               Mr. LOTT. These clearly are five great Senators who have 
             served their States and their country so well. And I am 
             sure they will continue to do so, albeit in a different 
             arena. Of course, I have said here, Dan Coats has been one 
             of my closest friends for the past 20 years. I will miss 
             him here but I will be with him in other areas.
               And, of course, John Glenn makes history once again 
             flying off into space. And many Senators and their spouses 
             will be there to see that event.


                              Proceedings in the House

                                             Tuesday, October 20, 1998.

               Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a man who 
             has been a great leader and statesman for the State of 
             Arkansas and for this country, U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers. 
             Senator Bumpers will retire this year after 24 years in 
             the U.S. Senate. A native of Arkansas, Senator Bumpers has 
             been active in community affairs most of his life, serving 
             as city attorney, school board president, and president of 
             the Chamber of Commerce. His service defines the term, 
             public servant.
               Senator Bumpers served the people of Arkansas from 1970 
             to 1974 as our Governor. He trimmed the number of State 
             agencies, doubled the number of State parks, launched an 
             initiative to double the number of doctors trained at 
             Arkansas' only medical school. He helped to build more and 
             better State highways and improved our educational system.
               There are so many good things in the State of Arkansas 
             that would not be there if it were not for Senator Dale 
             Bumpers. The world is a better place because Senator 
             Bumpers has served. Arkansas and America are better 
             places. With Senator Bumpers' retirement comes the loss of 
             one of Arkansas' finest public servants and a good friend 
             to all those who have had the pleasure of working with 
             him. I wish Senator Bumpers and his wife, Betty, much 
             health, happiness and success in the years to come.


                               ARTICLES AND EDITORIALS

                         [From Roll Call, January 26, 1998]
                                   Seniority Bites
             members with collective 437 years of service in the house 
             and senate are leaving political office, taking with them 
              some colorful memories, major legislative achievements, 
                                and political lessons
                             (By Francesca Contiguglia)
               When Representative Lee Hamilton (D-IN) first came to 
             Congress in 1965, septuagenarian House Speaker John 
             McCormack (D-MA) had trouble remembering the freshman's 
             name.
               All that changed on the eve of a Caucus vote for 
             Speaker, when McCormack called for Hamilton's vote. 
             Hamilton said he would not be supporting the Speaker.
               ``From that day on, McCormack remembered my name,'' said 
             Hamilton.
               That's just one of the dozens of lessons learned over 
             the years by Hamilton and the 17 other Members retiring at 
             the end of this year. But even after a collective 390 
             years of service, 437 including resigning Members, some of 
             these Members have regrets about not mastering those 
             lessons sooner.
               ``I only wish I had known in 1975 what I know now,'' 
             said Senator Dale Bumpers (D-AR), who is retiring after 
             four terms in the Senate. ``I would have been a more 
             effective Senator.''
               ``You must live through the battles and develop an 
             institutional memory,'' said Bumpers. He counsels 
             newcomers to remember that ``you only have so many battles 
             in you,'' so pick them carefully.
               Bumpers has picked plenty of battles, having been known 
             as an unabashed liberal who is an adamant supporter of 
             arms control. He once accused Reagan of not wanting ``to 
             spend money on anything that does not explode.'' Bumpers, 
             who is also known as a passionate orator, tells newcomers 
             to remember that the life of a legislator can be 
             frustrating.
               ``My goal from the time I was 12 years old was to come 
             to Congress,'' he said. ``But it's not long till you 
             realize you're just one of the hundred,'' a sobering 
             realization, he said.
               Other Senate retirees include Glenn and Senators Wendell 
             Ford (D-KY) and Dan Coats (R-IN). ``There's never been 
             three finer men serve in the U.S. Senate than those 
             three,'' said Bumpers.
               Although Glenn is a national hero, he has had his share 
             of disappointments. He dropped out of the 1984 
             Presidential race after a surprisingly weak showing. He 
             later was dragged through the mud during the Keating Five 
             affair, even though the Senate Ethics Committee cleared 
             him of any wrongdoing.
               ``One of the greatest miscarriages of justice was Glenn 
             being brought into the Keating Five hearings,'' said 
             Bumpers. ``You couldn't hold a gun on me and make me think 
             John had done anything wrong, ever in his whole life.''
               Glenn's clean-cut image was also scarred a bit by his 
             role as ranking Member in the Senate Governmental Affairs 
             campaign finance investigation last year. Republicans 
             accused Glenn of being a defense attorney for the Clinton 
             Administration and said he muffed a golden opportunity to 
             make a bipartisan case for reform on the eve of his 
             retirement--a charge that Glenn vociferously denied.
               Ford, who came to the Senate in 1974 along with Bumpers 
             and Glenn, has distinguished himself as a fierce defender 
             of the institution both as chairman of the Rules and 
             Administration Committee and as Democratic Whip for 7 
             years.
               Known as a plain-spoken man from Kentucky, Ford has 
             looked out for one of his State's top industries: tobacco. 
             With an ever-present cigarette in his mouth--either during 
             Congressional hearings or in the hallways of power--Ford 
             has made sure that Senate rules allow individuals to smoke 
             on his side of the Capitol.
               Now 73, Ford is not slowing down. He gave a speech in 
             September 1996 for a departing colleague, Senator James 
             Exon (D-NE), and said, ``I hope you live to be 105 and I'm 
             one of your pallbearers.''
               Coats has spent less time in the Senate than his 
             retiring colleagues, but he has made his mark for being 
             upbeat and humorous, making his staff ``more like a 
             family,'' according to his press secretary of 9 years, Tim 
             Goeglein.
               Goeglein recalled Coats's first day in the Senate. The 
             staff was unpacking the office when a squirrel snuck in 
             through an open window and ran about wreaking havoc. Coats 
             ran off a list of puns and jokes about having a small 
             rodent running around a Senate office.
               One of Coats's larger causes was the line-item veto, 
             which passed in the 104th Congress. But he has also been 
             devoted to family causes. Among other things, he supported 
             the Family Leave Act and sponsored a law allowing parents 
             to block dial-a-porn numbers.
               Outside of politics, Coats is an enormous Chicago Cubs 
             fan and has said if he weren't a Senator, he'd want to be 
             the shortstop for the team. His wish almost came true on 
             his 50th birthday, when he was called from the stands at 
             Wrigley Field to throw out the first pitch, a surprise 
             arranged by his staff.
                                         ---
                 [From The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, May 18, 1998]
                 Bumpers Presses on Toward Legacy of Changes on Hill
                                   (By Susan Roth)
               WASHINGTON--It's Senator Dale Bumpers' last chance, and 
             he's making the most of it.
               With his retirement in January, the Arkansas Democrat is 
             taking advantage of his last opportunity to fight the 
             legislative battles he has been waging for 23 years on 
             Capitol Hill.
               Despite the conservative climate and Republican majority 
             in Congress, Bumpers is pushing forward his longtime pet 
             projects, including mining-law reform, electricity 
             deregulation and changes in rules for concessions at 
             national parks. The State's senior Senator also is 
             continuing to rail at the burgeoning cost of the proposed 
             international space station--and gaining some supporters 
             among lawmakers who traditionally have backed the National 
             Aeronautics and Space Administration's plan regardless of 
             cost.
               ``I have never felt more comfortable than I do now with 
             these issues, especially the space station and the mining 
             laws,'' Bumpers, 72, said in a recent interview. ``It 
             makes it more maddening knowing with some degree of 
             certainty that you're going to lose.''
               The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, of 
             which Bumpers is the ranking Democrat, recently held 
             hearings on his mining-related bills, along with a 
             Republican mining-reform measure he calls a ``sham bill.''
               And the committee is scheduled to consider a bill on 
             Wednesday to reform the contracting procedures for 
             national parks concessions, a measure Bumpers has 
             negotiated with Republican leaders.
               The Senator's mining bills are not expected to pass, and 
             his bill on electricity deregulation--which would set 
             Federal guidelines on the coming deregulation of the 
             industry--is considered too complex an issue to make it to 
             a floor vote in this short legislative year.
               But sources on Capitol Hill say the committee and Senate 
             are likely to pass one of Bumpers' measures as a farewell 
             gesture, and it looks like it could be the national-parks 
             concessions reforms.
               Bumpers emerged happy and surprised from a recent 
             meeting with Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY), chairman of the 
             subcommittee handling the parks bill, and Interior 
             Secretary Bruce Babbitt, among other officials.
               ``I'm very pleased about the progress we made,'' Bumpers 
             said. ``I frankly couldn't believe it. I think those 
             people know something ought to be done. It's my 19th year 
             on that issue. I've sat down with them before and got 
             nowhere.''
               His bill, introduced a year ago, would establish an 
             open, competitive process for awarding concessions 
             contracts in the parks. Companies that run the concessions 
             now are virtually assured of renewing their contracts 
             under current law that gives them a ``preferential 
             right,'' regardless of performance or cost, according to 
             Bumpers. Also, the bill would have the contract money go 
             to a special account for the use of the National Park 
             Service, rather than to the general fund as it does now.
               Bumpers, who joined the Senate in 1975, has introduced 
             similar bills in each Congress since 1979. A pair of bills 
             actually passed both the House and the Senate by 
             overwhelming margins in the previous Congress, but a 
             conference committee of both Houses could not agree on the 
             measure and it never became law.
               ``Everybody agrees the existing law ought to be changed, 
             but with the most diligent efforts I can put into it, it 
             has not been changed, simply because the park 
             concessioners have more clout with some Members of the 
             Senate than have I,'' Bumpers said when he introduced the 
             bill. He argued that the country received only a 2.4 
             percent return, or $16 million, in franchise fees on 
             revenues of $676 million for concession contracts in 1995, 
             the last year for which he could get figures.
               ``Any property owner in the United States should ask 
             yourself this question: Would you lease your property out 
             for that kind of return when it was producing that kind of 
             revenue for the lessee? You would not even consider it,'' 
             said Bumpers, a former Arkansas Governor. While he 
             continues to press for his bill, Bumpers has said he is 
             willing to work with committee leaders, who have their own 
             bill, to fashion a measure all can support.
               ``We're working with him,'' Thomas said of Bumpers, 
             adding that he agreed with Bumpers on the preferential 
             right of renewal and other issues. ``Some of the 
             provisions in our bill are not that different from his. We 
             hope he'd like to work with us to get something passed. 
             We'll get something.''
               Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK), and chairman of the 
             Energy and Natural Resources Committee, confirmed that 
             Bumpers would get a few tokens this year but he declined 
             to say what they would be. ``There are some things we've 
             discussed that would be a kind of legacy for him that I 
             feel sure we can accommodate him on, but I can't think of 
             them right now,'' Murkowski said.
               Murkowski indicated that he has serious problems with 
             Bumpers' mining bills. He was uncertain about passage of 
             the Arkansas Senator's parks-concessions measure. And he 
             said he doubted electricity deregulation guidelines could 
             be passed this year. ``But there are some projects he 
             wants very much for his State that I will be able to 
             accommodate him on,'' Murkowski said. Although Bumpers 
             knows the chairman's positions and doubts that his mining 
             bills will pass this year, he remains most passionate 
             about reforming the Nation's mining law. The 1872 measure 
             was designed to lure people to settle out West when the 
             country was young.
               The law, which Bumpers has called ``the most unjustified 
             taxpayer giveaway in the history of the republic,'' allows 
             hardrock-mining companies to take over public land for a 
             tiny fraction of the value of the minerals underground and 
             pay no royalties to the government on the income they 
             receive from the minerals, including gold, silver, copper, 
             platinum and palladium.
               Bumpers cited one case in which a company paid $9,000 
             for 1,800 acres of land while estimating that the land 
             contained $11 billion worth of gold. ``It is a license to 
             steal and a colossal scam,'' Bumpers said. ``To paraphrase 
             the old song, they get the gold and we get the shaft.''
               Oil, gas and coal companies must pay the government a 
             percentage of their income under separate laws for their 
             industries. One of Bumpers' bills would establish a 5 
             percent royalty on minerals and prohibit the issuance of 
             new deeds to mining-claimed public land. The royalties 
             would go to a fund to reclaim land that has been damaged 
             by mining operations. Mining industry representatives say 
             such a royalty on their gross income would put them out of 
             business. The Republican bill would have them pay 
             royalties on their net income instead.
               But Bumpers argues that the GOP bill would allow 
             companies to escape paying by deducting all sorts of 
             expenses before calculating the royalties. And he says the 
             industry never has complained about existing requirements 
             that mining companies pay royalties to private landowners. 
             Bumpers also argued before the committee that the 
             Republican bill would exempt most current mining claims on 
             public land by grandfathering them under the old 
             provisions.
               Another of his bills would eliminate a tax deduction for 
             mineral operations on public lands and those areas taken 
             over by mining companies, and a third bill would impose a 
             fee on the production of minerals on those public lands 
             worked by the industry. These fees also would go to the 
             reclamation fund proposed by Bumpers.
               The Senator said the most important piece of legislation 
             to him is the one requiring royalties from the industry. 
             ``It's pure politics,'' he said of his 9-year battles on 
             the issue. Bumpers said there are about 10 Senators from 
             six Western States who have helped the mining industry to 
             repeatedly block his reform legislation in the past. But 
             he told the committee that the industry would be mistaken 
             to sigh with relief when he leaves the Senate next year. 
             Other Senators will take up the fight, Bumpers promised.
               Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and a freshman Member of 
             the committee, spoke up almost as if on cue. ``When I came 
             here a year ago, I remember Senator Bumpers making one of 
             his excellent, passionate speeches, trying to move us 
             forward on this issue,'' Landrieu said.
               ``I was so moved that I joined him on the floor. I know 
             he is frustrated about leaving without passing mining 
             reform, so I have committed publicly to pick up his 
             banner,'' she said. ``I want to work in a bipartisan 
             manner to bring reform, and I hope I'll be here for many 
             years.''
               After the hearing, Landrieu said she believes ``it's 
             important that taxpayers understand the injustice of the 
             current system. I'm from an oil and gas State where the 
             companies and the public both benefit [from the royalty 
             system]. You can have a system where both benefit instead 
             of just one side.''
               Bumpers was grateful. He said some other Senators, 
             including Jack Reed (R-RI), Slade Gorton (R-WA), and Jim 
             Jeffords (R-VT), have pledged to carry the ball on some of 
             his other favorite issues.
               ``I have profound respect for Senator Landrieu,'' 
             Bumpers said. ``She has acquitted herself very well on an 
             issue she cares about. I suspect it's an issue that will 
             be very much alive after I leave here.''

                                         ---

               [From The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, October 18, 1998]
                      Senators Extol Bumpers' Candor, Constancy
                                   (By Susan Roth)
               WASHINGTON--In the waning days of a congressional 
             session, Senators tend to wax profound on favorite issues, 
             but in the last 2 weeks, many have taken time to reflect 
             on the impending retirement of Arkansas' senior Senator, 
             Dale Bumpers.
               Bumpers, a Democrat who leaves the Senate in January 
             after 24 years in office, inspires strong emotions in most 
             of his colleagues. Some dislike him for his frankness and 
             his unwavering stands on certain issues. Others admire him 
             for the same reasons.
               On October 10, which was intended to be the last day of 
             the 105th Congress, Bumpers, calling it ``a very 
             bittersweet time for me,'' rose for his final speech on 
             the floor of the Senate.
               In the days before and after, several Senators from both 
             sides of the aisle lionized him in floor statements. They 
             hailed Bumpers' personal kindnesses, his skill as an 
             orator, his accomplishments as a marine, World War II 
             veteran and Arkansas Governor and, of course, his record 
             in the Senate on issues like children's health, rural 
             development and the environment.
               Arkansan Tim Hutchinson, the State's junior Senator, 
             started the speeches October 7 by remembering that ``as a 
             high school student, I followed Dale Bumpers' meteoric 
             rise from an unknown country lawyer from Charleston, AR to 
             the Governor of the State and a man who became known in 
             Arkansas politics as the giant-killer, defeating such 
             luminaries of Arkansas politics as Win Rockefeller and 
             J.W. Fulbright.''
               Hutchinson, a Republican who came to the Senate from the 
             House less than 2 years ago, maintained a cordial, though 
             cool, relationship with Bumpers early in his term. The 
             relationship has warmed; now they occasionally duck out 
             for lunch together.
               Hutchinson acknowledged that he has worked for Bumpers' 
             opponents, as he did in 1986, when his brother, Republican 
             Representative Asa Hutchinson, ran and lost. Tim 
             Hutchinson has always opposed Bumpers' political views.
               ``That has always been the way with Dale Bumpers. You 
             either agreed with him passionately or you disagreed 
             vehemently. While Dale has always been as smooth as honey, 
             he has never tried to varnish his views or dilute his 
             positions to make them more palatable to the general 
             public, whether it was the Panama Canal or the space 
             station.''
               But Hutchinson said he saw Bumpers' human side in 1996, 
             when Hutchinson was in a hard-fought battle for the Senate 
             seat he now holds. Bumpers and retiring Senator David 
             Pryor were campaigning for Hutchinson's Democratic 
             opponent, Attorney General Winston Bryant.
               Then Hutchinson's son, Timothy, was critically injured 
             in a car accident. Bumpers called Hutchinson at the 
             hospital ``to assure me of his thoughts and his prayers 
             and to tell me that he and David were suspending 
             campaigning until it was clear that my son was going to be 
             OK,'' Hutchinson recalled.
               ``Dale, we will miss you around this place,'' Hutchinson 
             said in his floor speech. ``I won't miss your votes, but I 
             will miss you. I will miss your stories, and I will miss 
             your humor. I will miss your eloquence, and I will miss 
             your passion. I am grateful that our Senate careers 
             overlapped for these 2 years. Thanks for your advice and 
             counsel, and best wishes on this next phase of your 
             life.'' Senator Strom Thurmond, (R-SC), the oldest and 
             longest-serving Senator at age 95, extolled Bumpers' gift 
             as a orator and storyteller.
               ``While each Member takes his or her duties seriously, I 
             hope that I do not offend anyone when I say that not all 
             are gifted orators,'' Thurmond said October 9. ``One 
             person who definitely can engage in articulate and 
             compelling debate, and is also able to bring a little 
             levity to our proceedings through his wit and ability to 
             tell a story, is the Senator from Arkansas, Dale 
             Bumpers.''
               Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), who has served almost as 
             long as Thurmond and is known along with Bumpers as one of 
             the foremost orators in the Senate, lived up to his 
             reputation with a lengthy speech last Saturday. ``I pay 
             tribute today to an exceptional United States Senator, a 
             man with whom it has been my honor to serve and to have 
             been associated with, a man of unusual conviction, 
             passion, and resolve,'' Byrd said.
               ``He has been called the last Southern liberal, and he 
             is proud of it. He often quotes from To Kill a 
             Mockingbird. He is the commanding foe against the space 
             station. The above discourse clearly references the 
             actions of only one man--Senator Dale Bumpers, Democrat 
             from Arkansas.'' Byrd spoke of many of Bumpers' 
             legislative efforts--against the space station and the 
             superconducting supercollider, in favor of mining-law 
             reform, improvements in children's health care, 
             improvement in the lives of rural farming families.
               ``While many a press story covered his crusades against 
             alleged lost causes, Senator Dale Bumpers is a man that 
             leaves this Senate with a triumphant record for the 
             American people,'' Byrd said, calling Bumpers ``a modern 
             hero to the underdog.'' ``In honor of his service to rural 
             America, I am proud that this Congress, in the fiscal year 
             1999 Agriculture Appropriations bill, is formally paying 
             tribute to his work by designating an Agricultural 
             Research Service facility as the Dale Bumpers National 
             Rice Research Center,'' Byrd said. He also mentioned that 
             the University of Arkansas has designated the Dale Bumpers 
             College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences.
               ``As I say my farewell to Dale Bumpers,'' Byrd 
             concluded, ``I want him to know that when the 106th 
             Congress convenes, I will remember his thoughtful recital 
             of the fictional Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird: 
             `For God's sake, do your duty.' ''
               Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), speaking Wednesday, lauded 
             Bumpers' ``common-sense approach'' to budgeting and 
             appropriations as a senior Member of the Appropriations 
             Committee. He also referred to Bumpers' work with his wife 
             on children's health, saying that ``no one has fought 
             harder for childhood vaccinations, and to make them 
             universal, affordable, and accessible, than Dale and Betty 
             Bumpers.''
               In appreciation, Harkin recalled that the Appropriations 
             Committee recently voted unanimously to name a new vaccine 
             facility at the National Institutes of Health after the 
             Bumperses. The facility, now under construction, will be 
             called the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research 
             Facility.
               Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), who spoke at 
             length after Bumpers finished talking last Saturday, 
             recounted Bumpers' battles, calling him ``a champion for 
             rural America, a consistent advocate for fiscal 
             discipline, a tireless defender of the U.S. Constitution 
             and the separation of powers it guarantees.''
               Before Bumpers' last annual attempt to kill the 
             international space station in July, Daschle noted that 
             Bumpers had ``told a reporter that he expected to lose 
             again but he would try anyway, because he thought it was 
             the right thing to do.'' Then he added, ``I probably lost 
             as many battles as anybody who ever served in the U.S. 
             Senate.''
               ``I want to tell my friend as he prepares to end his 
             Senate career, if you did in fact lose more battles than 
             someone else who may have served here, it is only because 
             you chose tougher and more important battles,'' Daschle 
             said. ``Even more than the outcome of your battles, you 
             have earned your place in history for the dignity and the 
             courage and the eloquence with which you have waged those 
             battles.''
               Both Daschle and Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), poked fun 
             at Bumpers' unconventional way of pacing the floor of the 
             Senate as he addressed the body. ``The normal rules are, 
             you are supposed to stay at your desk,'' Daschle said. 
             ``Not Senator Bumpers. Senator Bumpers has the longest 
             cord in Senate history.'' I joked the other night, when we 
             finally see Senator Bumpers depart, we are going to cut up 
             his cord and give 10 feet to every Senator and save 10 
             more for the next. He goes up and down that aisle.
               ``Since, as we are prone to do in this body, we name 
             things after our colleagues, I am going to start referring 
             to that as the Bumpers corridor. And I am pointing, for 
             the record, to my left. For anybody who has served with 
             Dale, I don't have to point at all. We all know what the 
             Bumpers corridor is.'' Like the others, Daschle also said 
             he would miss Betty Bumpers, who is well-known in 
             Washington for her work on behalf of children's health, 
             but Daschle lauded her as much as the Senator.
               ``There is no question, as we all know, he over-
             married,'' Daschle said. ``There is no question who the 
             real force in the family is. There is no question who the 
             visionary and the giant is. As Senator Bumpers so capably 
             noted, there is no question who is beloved in the State of 
             Arkansas.''
               Daschle, who came to the Senate in 1987, said he has 
             considered Bumpers his model, ``for how he speaks, for 
             what he stands for, for how he interacts with his 
             colleagues, for how he represents his State, for all of 
             the courageous positions he has taken. I don't know how 
             you do better than that.
               ``I don't know who it was who once said, `If we are to 
             see farther into the future, we must stand on the 
             shoulders of giants.' Dale Bumpers is a giant,'' Daschle 
             said.
               ``And it is upon his shoulders that we have stood many, 
             many, many times to see into the future, as I have seen. 
             He persuades us, he cajoles us, he humors us, he always 
             enlightens us. * * * In the eyes of all of us, Dale 
             Bumpers will always stand as the giant we knew, as the 
             respected legislator we trust, and as the friend we 
             love.''

                                         ---

                 [From The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 14, 1997]
                                It's Bumpers' Big Day
                                 (By John Brummett)
               Today is the day. U.S. Senator Bumpers will assemble 
             friends, supporters and reporters at 2 p.m. at the old 
             Lafayette Hotel in downtown Little Rock. The event is 
             described as a news conference and reception. The 
             Senator's staff says it will be ``political in nature.'' I 
             can go a step farther in describing the agenda. Bumpers 
             traditionally makes his formal campaign announcements at 
             the Lafayette. In fact, he will declare this afternoon 
             whether he will seek election to a fourth Senate term.
               ``Yes, I can say that that's the purpose of the event,'' 
             said Martha Perry, Bumpers' indispensable aide in his 
             Little Rock office. ``He's not going to get up and say, 
             `Well, I called you all together here today to discuss 
             mining reform.' ''
               Well, he might. But it would be a laugh line.
               If he runs, he will begin the race as a heavy favorite 
             to preserve a shred of the status quo of Arkansas 
             politics. If he doesn't run, the Arkansas political 
             landscape will resemble a tornado's path. Everyone will 
             ponder running for the seat: Rodney Slater, Jay Dickey, 
             Bill Gwatney, Mike Beebe, Jim Dailey, Winston Bryant, 
             even, yes, Mike Huckabee.
               Republicans will champ at the bit knowing they suddenly 
             stand a reasonable chance to secure Arkansas' other Senate 
             seat. That would give Tim Hutchinson a Republican ally, 
             completing a full turnover in the State's once solidly 
             Democratic delegation in the Nation's leading deliberative 
             body. Democrats will be forced to get their act together 
             to find, unveil and promote a new generation. Or they 
             could run Bryant again.
               Bumpers will begin the morning at the Pink Tomato 
             Festival in Warren. He'll ride in the parade before coming 
             north to Little Rock. David Pryor, maybe Bumpers' best 
             friend, once said of him, ``Dale only needs two things--a 
             podium and a parade.'' So this ought to be a good day. It 
             also might be a signal of his leanings. Non-retired 
             politicians tend to be offered more parades and podiums 
             than retired ones.
               But signals are often over-analyzed at times such as 
             these in regard to the uncertain intentions of lofty 
             politicians. Yes, Bumpers is going to the tomato festival. 
             That doesn't necessarily mean he's anxious to run 
             vigorously for another 6-year term in the Senate.
               Speculation among political insiders has been rampant 
             all week, and all over the map. The most credible 
             information has come from the Senator's intimates, who 
             suspect he has two sets of mental notes, if not two sets 
             of actual notes, and that he has not yet finally and 
             unequivocally decided which to deploy. One set would 
             explain his decision to run again. The other would explain 
             his decision not to run again.
               ``I think that in the broad sense he'd love to remain a 
             U.S. Senator,'' a friend said. ``But I think that in this 
             specific case he's disillusioned with the state of 
             politics.''
               This friend said it wasn't so much the anguish of the 
             debate and vote on so-called partial birth abortion that 
             had put the Senator in a recent state of lament. He said 
             Bumpers' latest regret is that partisanship has reached 
             such dreadful extremes that a simple bill to provide an 
             essential service of government--disaster relief for 
             people left tragically homeless by acts of God--could be 
             held hostage by Republican riders to pre-empt future 
             government shutdowns or change the way we count minorities 
             for the census.
               It is said that one of Bumpers' Democratic colleagues in 
             the Senate took him aside one day recently and pleaded 
             with him to run again, telling him he was the conscience 
             of the Senate. Bumpers is reported to have responded that 
             the Senate didn't seem to listen to any conscience 
             anymore.
               This seems to be the choice: He can run again because he 
             loves being a Senator, doesn't want to risk losing the 
             seat to the opposing party and still believes politics can 
             be a noble profession, or he can decline to run again 
             because he hates the current state of politics, despises 
             the money-raising that will require more time and effort 
             from him than ever before and desperately wishes to avoid 
             the kind of overheated and destructive rhetoric now 
             commonplace in political races.
               Bumpers was complaining 15 years ago that it was harder 
             for him to beg for money than it seemed to be for Bill 
             Clinton or Pryor, and that was when a Senate candidate in 
             Arkansas needed to raise a half-million or three-quarters 
             of a million dollars. Now some stealthy and unaccountable 
             Republican non-profit might spend that much against him in 
             a lone weekend of attack-ad saturation.
               Bumpers would need to budget a couple of million at a 
             bare minimum, and I'm pretty sure he hates the prospect of 
             raising it.
               If somebody forced me right now, late Thursday 
             afternoon, to lay down a $10 bet on what he'll do, I would 
             bet $5 and a penny on his running and $4.99 on his not 
             running.
               You seldom encounter uncertainty anymore in political 
             announcements, so we ought to see a large and excited 
             audience this afternoon. Unless, that is, credible word 
             leaked Friday, which was always possible, assuming Bumpers 
             knew by then.

                                         --

              [From The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN), June 15, 1997]
                     Amid Tears, Bumpers Says He'll Quit in 1998
                                 (By Joan I. Duffy)
               Senator Dale Bumpers (D-AR), will not seek a fifth term, 
             he said Saturday in a choked-up speech expressing 
             frustration with the Republican-controlled Senate and 
             ambivalence about his decision.
               His announcement drew somber moans of ``no'' from the 
             crowd of 200 in the lobby of the Hotel Lafayette in 
             downtown Little Rock, where he began his come-from-nowhere 
             political career 27 years ago.
               ``We can't lose him,'' said Dewey Neely of Osceola. 
             ``This guy has a mind we just can't waste.''
               Bumpers, 71, considered one of the leading 
             constitutional scholars in the Senate, choked on tears as 
             he said his heart told him to run again to protect the 
             Constitution from what he sees as a growing move to 
             undermine it with frivolous amendments.
               ``The Constitution is a sacred document. Some of my 
             colleagues think the Constitution is just a rough draft,'' 
             Bumpers said. ``If (Republicans) ever get 67 votes in the 
             U.S. Senate, I promise you it's going to be a disaster for 
             the Nation.''
               Despite his emotional attachment to his legislative 
             role, Bumpers said his head told him it was time to 
             retire.
               ``I confess to an agonizing ambivalence about the 
             decision and probably will suffer torment for the decision 
             and ambivalence the rest of my life,'' he said as his 
             wife, Betty, reached in a handbag for tissue to wipe her 
             eyes.
               ``(Running again) is definitely what I feel in my heart. 
             But intellectually, I know this is right for me.''
               Called the conscience of the Senate for his oratorical 
             lectures against tinkering with the Constitution, 
             Bumpers's seat was one of three top targets of the 
             Republican Party in its 1998 drive to win a 60-vote 
             majority.
               Bumpers said his desire to keep the Republicans from 
             that goal was a major force urging him to run. But he said 
             the joy in serving in the Senate has gone, due to growing 
             bitterness and partisanship.
               ``My frustration level has increased exponentially since 
             I went to the Senate. It is quite a different place,'' he 
             said. ``Many bills are carefully crafted to achieve 
             maximum political benefit and little else. There's nothing 
             wrong with achieving a political benefit if the net 
             effects to the Nation are great, but too often that is not 
             the case.''
               Bumpers said he broke the news to President Clinton 
             Thursday, but the Senator declined to tell what was said.
               ``We've been friends for so long we can let our hair 
             down with one another. He doesn't quote me and I don't 
             quote him,'' Bumpers said.
               He is the third Democrat to announce his departure this 
             year, joining Senators John Glenn of Ohio and Wendell Ford 
             of Kentucky. Senator Dan Coats (R-IN), also is retiring. 
             Republicans hold a 55-45 majority in the Senate and have 
             16 seats up next year. Democrats are in 18 races.
               Bumpers said he was leaving unaccomplished a list of 
             goals--particularly balancing the budget and securing 
             public funding for Senate campaigns.
               Bumpers was a little-known lawyer and school board 
             president in Charleston, AR, when he announced his 
             campaign for Governor in 1970. He derailed former Governor 
             Orval Faubus's comeback attempt in the primary and ousted 
             incumbent Republican Winthrop Rockefeller to win the 
             office. After two terms, Bumpers took on Clinton's mentor, 
             former Senator J. William Fulbright (D-AR), and defeated 
             him in the primary.

                                         ---

                 [From The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 15, 1997]
                      Bumpers Calls an End to Political Career
                          (By Noel E. Oman and Mark Waller)
               His heart said yes, and his mind said no.
               Senator Dale Bumpers announced Saturday in Little Rock 
             that he went with his mind in deciding to forgo a bid for 
             a fifth 6-year term in the U.S. Senate.
               ``It defies what I feel in my heart, but, 
             intellectually, I believe it is the right decision for 
             me,'' the 71-year-old Arkansas Democrat told about 200 
             supporters and reporters.
               The 11-minute, emotion-laden speech marked the beginning 
             of the end of a political career that began more than 27 
             years ago at the site of Saturday's announcement--the 
             Lafayette Building, once a downtown hotel.
               The decision set off tremors in the major national 
             parties. Democrats were dismayed that Bumpers shunned 
             another run and Republicans were relieved they will be 
             able to target an open seat to increase a 55-45 majority 
             in the Senate.
               Bumpers' decision, reached several days before, was 
             sealed within his family circle until Saturday. But he 
             said he wrestled with the decision for months and could 
             have changed his mind in the moments before he stepped to 
             the podium.
               But his breaking voice and the attempt by his wife, 
             Betty, to hold back her tears moments into the speech 
             betrayed his decision even before he said the words.
               Some onlookers shook their heads. Sam Boyce, Arkansas 
             Representative on the Democratic National Committee, 
             whispered to people around him, ``He's not going to run.''
               Minutes later, Bumpers confirmed it:
               ``I will resist the well-nigh irresistible temptation to 
             reminisce and philosophize with you--rather, simply say at 
             the end of a political career that in 1998 will have 
             spanned 28 years, I will retire from the political 
             arena,'' said Bumpers, a 2-term Governor with a penchant 
             for knocking off incumbents.
               A chorus of groans, gasps and whispered nos quickly 
             followed.
               ``I'm sick,'' said Boyce later. ``It's a sad, sad moment 
             in the history of Arkansas when a man of the high honor of 
             Dale Bumpers chooses not to seek reelection.
               ``It speaks poorly for our system. This is a big, big 
             slam to the Democratic Party,'' Boyce said.
               Bumpers, whose term ends in January 1999, declined to 
             become partisan, but his frustration with Republican 
             control of the Senate was clear.
               ``I must admit that my frustration level has increased 
             exponentially since I went to the Senate,'' he said. 
             ``Many bills are carefully crafted to achieve maximum 
             political benefit and little else.''
               The announcement ends a storied era in Arkansas politics 
             dominated the past three decades by Bumpers and two other 
             former Arkansas Democratic Governors--retired Senator 
             David Pryor and President Clinton, elected Governor five 
             times.
               ``It's the end of the `Big Three,' said Cal Ledbetter, a 
             University of Arkansas at Little Rock political science 
             professor.
               Bumpers and Clinton chatted privately Thursday 
             afternoon.
               ``I have known and admired Dale Bumpers for over 25 
             years,'' Clinton said in a statement issued by the White 
             House on Saturday afternoon. ``He was a great Governor, 
             and he has been a great Senator for the people of our 
             native State and the entire Nation.
               ``We will miss his courage to stand against the tide, 
             his vision and his eloquence. Hillary and I wish him and 
             Betty all the best. We will miss him. So will the Senate. 
             So will America.''
               The announcement will throw open the race to replace 
             him, especially among Democrats.
               Bumpers' exit also reverberated in Washington, where 
             Democrats had hoped he would stand for reelection and thus 
             help their chances to regain control of the Senate in 
             1998. He is the third senior Senate Democrat to announce 
             his retirement this year.
               Bumpers' emergence on the national political scene began 
             in 1970 with a run for Governor. In Charleston, a small 
             Franklin County town in western Arkansas, Bumpers was the 
             local lawyer, school board member and Sunday school 
             teacher at the Methodist church.
               He proceeded to knock off three of the political giants 
             of the era: in the 1970 Democratic primary, he short-
             circuited a comeback by former Governor Orval Faubus. He 
             bested the two-term incumbent, Republican Governor 
             Winthrop Rockefeller, in the general election that fall. 
             In a 1974 Democratic primary, he defeated Senator J. 
             William Fulbright, a 30-year fixture in the Senate who had 
             been the one of the most outspoken critics of the Vietnam 
             War.
               Bumpers' 4 years in the Governor's office were marked by 
             relative prosperity and legislative good will that spurred 
             State income tax reform and increases in education 
             spending.
               ``We ran a very positive campaign, championing positions 
             that resonated well with voters, such as improving primary 
             health care, State funded kindergartens, free textbooks 
             for high school, higher teacher salaries, prison reform, 
             rehabilitation and expansion of the State park system and 
             many other things,'' Bumpers recalled Saturday. ``I know 
             it's ancient history now, but, in truth, we accomplished 
             virtually everyone of those things.''
               In the Senate, Bumpers has voted against anti-busing, 
             school prayer and anti-abortion legislation and for the 
             Panama Canal treaties. He opposed the Reagan tax cuts in 
             1981 and has opposed ardently the ``Star Wars'' missile 
             defense system and other weapons systems he saw as too 
             costly and unnecessary.
               In Saturday's announcement, he defended his politics.
               ``I was taught at a very tender age and have always been 
             acutely aware that not everyone is as lucky as I am,'' 
             said Bumpers, a child of the Depression who served in the 
             U.S. Marines in World War II.
               ``A child born in College Station does not start out 
             even with a child born in Pleasant Valley. Some people 
             need more help than others. The government's the only 
             source for that help. Sometimes that's called liberalism. 
             So be it.''
               Many have labeled him an iconoclast for sometimes 
             opposing the party line. That was on display Saturday when 
             he took time to renew his criticism of the budget 
             agreement reached by the Republican Congress and Clinton.
               Bumpers' popularity has remained unchecked. He 
             considered at times seeking the Presidency, most seriously 
             in 1984. Even in recent times, when Republicans have begun 
             to make inroads into Arkansas politics, Bumpers remained 
             the man to beat.
               In 1986, he defeated former U.S. Attorney Asa Hutchinson 
             with 62 percent of the vote. Hutchinson now is a GOP 
             Member of Congress from the 3d Congressional District.
               In 1992, Bumpers held off a former Baptist minister, 
             Mike Huckabee, with 60 percent of the vote. Huckabee later 
             was elected Lieutenant Governor in a special election and 
             ascended into the Governor's office last year when 
             Governor Jim Guy Tucker resigned after his Whitewater-
             related criminal conviction.
               Bumpers expressed an ambivalence about his decision that 
             he said he fears might stay with him for the rest of his 
             life, principally because he could not serve in a role 
             others admiringly called the Senate's conscience.
               ``I have steadfastly defended the Constitution against 
             often popular but misguided proposals,'' the Senator said. 
             ``I hope and pray that my fears about what could happen to 
             that sacred document in the future will prove to be 
             unfounded.''
               His old colleague, Pryor, has spoken glowingly of the 
             satisfaction he has gleaned from teaching at the 
             University of Arkansas at Fayetteville--in a profession 
             Bumpers said he also may join in retirement.
               Pryor called Bumpers' plans to retire a ``great loss for 
             the State. But I don't think anyone went through as 
             agonizing a process as he did.''
               Pryor said he spoke briefly with Bumpers in Warren on 
             Saturday morning at the annual Pink Tomato Festival 
             parade, but did not ask Bumpers what he decision was 
             because ``I didn't want to bug him.''
               ``I guess I'm not too surprised,'' he added. ``But I 
             think it's a real loss. He's been an exemplary Member of 
             the U.S. Senate and he has been as eloquent a spokesman 
             for this State and its people as any member the State has 
             ever sent to Congress.''
               After Bumpers finished speaking Saturday, Betty Bumpers 
             immediately made her way through the crowd to hug Archie 
             Schaffer III, her sister's son and director of media, 
             public and government affairs for Tyson Foods Inc. in 
             Springdale.
               ``It really doesn't surprise me,'' said Schaffer, who 
             said before the announcement that he did not know what the 
             Senator's decision would be. ``It doesn't particularly 
             please me, either. I just had kind of a gut feeling. I 
             think Uncle Dale has a history of making the right 
             decisions.''
               Schaffer also said he thinks Bumpers has gotten 
             frustrated with the political system.
               ``He didn't want to say this,'' Schaffer said, ``but 
             politics in Washington has gotten so nasty in the last few 
             years. I think that had a lot to do with it.''
               State Representative John Paul Capps, D-Searcy, said as 
             he arrived at the news conference that he had no idea what 
             Bumpers' announcement would be.
               ``He has this uncanny ability to keep things to 
             himself,'' Capps said. ``Judging from his public 
             proclamations for the last few years, I could sense a 
             cynicism about the system in Washington. Raising money, 
             that's the distasteful part that he's never liked. He's 
             never liked to ask people for money.''
               Maurice Mitchell said, ``Of course I wish he would 
             run.'' Mitchell, a longtime Bumpers supporter who served 
             as finance chairman for the Senator's last campaign, 
             called Bumpers ``a great man, a great credit to the State. 
             But at the same time I understand his position.''
               State Senator Jim Argue, D-Little Rock, called Bumpers 
             his ``political hero.''
               ``He just approaches it with so much courage and 
             integrity,'' Argue said. ``Dale Bumpers always had the 
             courage to voice his convictions, even when it was 
             unpopular. I hope the people of Arkansas will take a 
             moment to reflect on the incredible sacrifices and 
             contributions that Dale Bumpers has made, whether they 
             supported him or not.''

                                         ---

                 [From The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 6, 1997]
                                Exodus From Politics
              dale bumpers' assignment: to vent his frustration while 
                                defending the system
                                 (By John Brummett)
               Congress was in recess last week, but U.S. Senator Dale 
             Bumpers, feeling fine at 71 and ``as mentally acute as 
             ever, I'd like to think,'' stayed busy Monday.
               He helped clear poison ivy from the yard of Mary Hope 
             Davis, the chief of staff in his Washington office. Then 
             he went home--which is on Honesty Way in Bethesda, you 
             might be interested to know--to hand-write responses to 
             scores of letters he received about his recently announced 
             decision not to seek reelection next year. And while 
             talking by telephone with a newspaperman from home, he 
             pondered the speech he was to give Thursday at Governor's 
             School in Conway.
               What his staff always said was that the way to keep 
             Bumpers happy was to schedule him to speak to high school 
             students or tour an industrial plant. He loves figuring 
             out how things are made. And he loves the eager faces of 
             bright youngsters. You must be careful what you say to 
             kids, Bumpers said. Then he explained.
               Years ago his daughter, Brooke, told him that a friend 
             with an English degree and no training in business had 
             been hired right out of college by a bank in New York 
             City. He asked why. She said bank officials had told her 
             friend that they could teach anyone banking, but that they 
             couldn't teach anyone to write a sentence. Bumpers began 
             telling the story every year in his traditional closing 
             speech to Governor's School, seeking to impress upon 
             modern-day high school students the eternal importance of 
             basic skills such as applied literacy. He guesses he'd 
             told it 5 or 6 years running when a man came up to him one 
             day in Paragould to report that his son was graduating 
             from college with a degree in English, and that his son 
             had pursued the English degree solely because of a story 
             Bumpers once told at Governor's School about a friend of 
             his daughter.
               The lesson: Be careful what you say to youngsters, for 
             it may affect lives. Bumpers obviously labored over a 
             conflict. He had announced his political retirement 
             because of what he described as an exponential increase in 
             his frustration level with the unproductive and overheated 
             state of modern American politics. ``But I don't want to 
             say anything to discourage or dissuade anyone, especially 
             our brightest and best young people, from entering the 
             business of politics,'' Bumpers said.
               ``Somehow I want to impress on them that politics can be 
             a field of service with as great a reward as any, and that 
             what we need more than anything are people committed to 
             thinking for themselves--that our society and our culture 
             depend on our finest young people thinking for themselves. 
             I want to tell them the importance of being good citizens. 
             I want to stir their curiosities.''
               One couldn't help but recall something Bumpers said in 
             announcing his retirement. It was that his friend and 
             colleague who preceded him in retirement, David Pryor, had 
             told him he believed they could mold young minds more 
             effectively as college teachers than as Members of the 
             U.S. Senate. ``Boy, Dale got me in a little trouble 
             there,'' Pryor said last week. ``Some people accused me of 
             talking him into retiring, but I didn't do it.''
               What had set Bumpers to thinking about what he would say 
             at Governor's School was a newspaperman's request. It was 
             that he compare and contrast politics from the time he 
             entered it in 1970 as a charismatic fresh face saying only 
             positive things--constantly quoting his father's 
             admonition that politics is an honorable profession--to 
             that Saturday afternoon 27 years later when he decried 
             what had become of politics as he announced his 
             frustrated, if not disillusioned, departure from it.
               ``To tell you the truth, I haven't worked through the 
             seeming contradictions of all that,'' Bumpers said. It's 
             important, he believes, to tell the unvarnished truth 
             about the dysfunctional state of politics. But it's just 
             as important, he believes, to defend our political 
             institutions and not turn young people away from them.
               Bumpers would surely be concerned by the words of a 
             would-be protege, former State Representative David 
             Matthews of Lowell, in response to publicity last week 
             that listed Matthews as a leading member of the new 
             generation of Arkansas Democratic politicians. Matthews 
             said: ``Politics is too mean. It's too expensive. And it's 
             too irrelevant to people in what they consider important 
             to their every-day lives.''
               In Bumpers' view, it's important to say that David 
             Matthews' assessment is absolutely correct. But it's also 
             important to convey to young people that we cannot concede 
             to that assessment and let it become a permanent 
             condition.
               Bumpers seemed fairly certain of four things, none 
             remotely sanguine. (1) Politics is worse now than it was 
             when he entered it. (2) Money is to blame. (3) Television 
             also is to blame. (4) None of that is likely to change 
             over the course of a new 6-year Senate term, and a man at 
             71 is not altogether enthralled by the prospect of 6 years 
             spent with unrealized goals.
               One other thing seemed certain: Bumpers retirement will 
             end an era in Arkansas politics spanning almost three 
             decades. It generally began with him and was dominated by 
             charismatic, modestly left-of-center Democrats of 
             acclaimed personal political skills who rose from the 
             backlash against the Old Guard politics of Orval Faubus 
             and thrived until age or personal ambition set in. Now as 
             Bumpers fades out, Arkansas finally signals an interest in 
             joining the Southern move to Republicanism.
               ``Yeah, I guess an era has passed,'' Pryor said. ``It 
             would be hard to ever put back in a bottle all that we 
             went through. Of course, my explanation for why the South 
             is becoming Republican is that all the Democratic programs 
             worked,'' Pryor said. ``People became more prosperous and 
             decided the programs weren't needed anymore.''
               Dale Leon Bumpers was born in Charleston on August 12, 
             1925, in a two-story frame house with a front porch and 
             swing. His father, William R. Bumpers, had come from 
             Alabama to run a hardware store and funeral service. As a 
             youngster, Bumpers worked in the cotton and bean fields 
             and later as a meat cutter in a local grocery store.
               After graduating from Charleston High School, Bumpers 
             went briefly to the University of Arkansas at 
             Fayetteville, but left to join the Marines. He was on a 
             ship carrying marines to the Japanese mainland when the 
             atomic bomb was dropped, and Japan soon surrendered. After 
             the service, he returned to graduate from the University 
             of Arkansas in 1948, then got his law degree in 1951 from 
             Northwestern University at Evanston, IL.
               While he was in law school, both his parents were killed 
             in a car crash. That same year, 1949, he married a high-
             school classmate, Betty Lou Flanagen, from a fourth-
             generation Charleston family of farmers.
               The seed for Bumpers' life in politics was planted by 
             his father, a former State legislator who'd been careful 
             to teach his son that politics needn't be dirty. Brought 
             up by a Democratic father through the Depression and New 
             Deal, the young Bumpers admired FDR and Truman, especially 
             the latter.
               By 1970 Bumpers was a country lawyer in Charleston who 
             was batting .500 in political races. He'd lost a race for 
             his father's seat in the State House of Representatives. 
             He'd handily won election to the Charleston School Board, 
             and was a member in 1954 when it became the first school 
             board in Arkansas to integrate after the Brown vs. Board 
             of Education decision.
               At 44, quite unheard of throughout the State except to 
             respectful colleagues in the Arkansas Bar Association, 
             Bumpers announced in 1970 as a longshot candidate for the 
             Democratic nomination for Governor. He was concerned about 
             the threatened return to power of Orval Faubus, who had 
             left the Governorship 4 years earlier and was succeeded by 
             Winthrop Rockefeller, a Republican reformer from New York 
             who couldn't get along with the Democratic legislature.
               To make a long story short, the voters of Arkansas in 
             1970 were too progressive for Faubus and too impatient for 
             Rockefeller. Bumpers, running campaigns of positive 
             generalities and conveying an image of friendliness, 
             honesty, competence and charisma, drubbed both. He got 
             more than 60 percent of the vote in a runoff with Faubus 
             and a similarly impressive percentage in the general 
             election against Rockefeller.
               Faubus had tried to make an issue of Bumpers' once 
             telling his Methodist Sunday school class that the Red Sea 
             might not literally have parted. Faubus backers spread 
             rumors, all untrue, that Bumpers had been charged with 
             manslaughter as a youth and had engaged in illicit 
             relationships.
               Bumpers didn't waver. He talked about how his daughter, 
             Brooke, was the light of his life; how that everyone who 
             knew him and Betty liked her more; and how his daddy 
             always taught him that politics was an honorable 
             profession even if not all the people in it behaved 
             honorably.
               Faubus ridiculed Bumpers' campaign as ``going from 
             cocktail party to cocktail party.'' Rockefeller belittled 
             Bumpers by saying he was trying to become Governor on ``a 
             smile, a shoeshine and one speech.''
               Whatever, it worked. Bumpers' Governorship was quietly 
             revolutionary, implementing many of the reforms 
             Rockefeller had failed to get enacted. State government 
             was reorganized into a cabinet system. The State income 
             tax was raised, an endeavor that required nine votes in 
             the State Senate to obtain the necessary three-fourths 
             majority. A surplus paid for public kindergarten and free 
             textbooks. Betty led a childhood immunization program.
               In 1974 Bumpers chose to run against the world-famous 
             junior U.S. Senator from Arkansas, J. William Fulbright. 
             Some were surprised that Bumpers would run against such an 
             esteemed Senator of his own party. But Bumpers cited 
             private polls showing that Fulbright, who had been the 
             Senate's chief opponent of the Vietnam War, would lose 
             even to Justice Jim Johnson, a segregationist.
               It was 1970 revisited. Fulbright complained bitterly 
             that he couldn't engage Bumpers in meaningful dialog. 
             Bumpers ran yet another positive campaign. Again he got 
             more than 60 percent of the vote.
               Bumpers encountered early hostility from veteran 
             Senators resentful of what he'd done to Fulbright, but in 
             time he emerged as one the Senate's more widely admired 
             Members. He won praise for iconoclasm, oratory, wit 
             (occasionally acerbic) and for maintaining liberal 
             principles and devotion to constitutional law and 
             liberties in the face of strong countervailing public 
             sentiment. He voted for the Panama Canal treaties, against 
             anti-busing legislation, against school prayer and anti-
             abortion legislation, against the Reagan tax cuts of 1981 
             and against the Strategic Defense Initiative and the MX 
             missile.
               (The issue that irks him most after all these years? 
             It's the Panama Canal. Try talking to Bumpers about his 
             career without having him bring it up. ``My pollster in 
             1992 told me that even then it cost me 3 points in the 
             polls,'' he said last week.)
               Once, in a memorably bitter floor debate in the early 
             1980's, Bumpers referred to Jesse Helms, the conservative 
             icon from North Carolina, as the Senator from South 
             Carolina. When the error was called to his attention, 
             Bumpers said, ``I apologize to the other State.''
               Bumpers was mentioned as a Presidential prospect in 1976 
             and more widely touted in 1984. He considered a 
             Presidential run most seriously for 1988. In the end he 
             chose never to run because he didn't want the lifestyle of 
             a Presidential candidate or a President. He always seemed 
             to make sensible decisions about such things.
               So it was when he announced that he would not seek 
             election to a fifth term in the Senate.
               ``There were three reasons I wanted to run for 
             reelection,'' Bumpers said. ``I wanted to be there for 
             real campaign finance reform. I wanted to be there when we 
             really balanced the budget. And I wanted to be there when 
             we reauthorized the independent counsel, because we're 
             going to have to change the way we select people for 
             independent counsels. But it occurred to me that the first 
             two things, while they must happen someday, are not likely 
             to happen in the next 6 years. And the third--well, I'll 
             just miss that one.''
               Bumpers, you understand, believes the tenuous balanced 
             budget agreement between his friend, Bill Clinton, and the 
             Republican Congress is smoke and mirrors. He does not 
             believe that government can cut taxes and balance its 
             budget. He didn't believe it when Ronald Reagan proposed 
             it, and he does not believe it now.
               ``I would be less than candid if I didn't tell you that 
             the quality of the Senate has deteriorated in the 22\1/2\ 
             years I've been there,'' Bumpers said.
               ``It's because of the money,'' he said. ``And TV. I'm 
             talking about how much time it takes to raise money and 
             about the 30-second spots the money pays for on issues 
             like partial birth abortion or term limits or guns that 
             dominate the political discussion. Those are important 
             issues, but you can't explain them in a single spot. And 
             I'm talking about the way we elect people. Government is 
             literally being sold off to the highest bidder. If you 
             have the kind of money required, then you can take these 
             extrinsic side issues and dominate the discussion in what 
             essentially is a distracting process from the real issues 
             like education or fair taxation or responsible 
             budgeting.''
               Bumpers professes not even to be sure whether C-SPAN's 
             telecasts of Senate sessions is a good thing. ``It takes 
             up a lot of time and it causes a lot of posturing for the 
             camera,'' he said. ``If I had it to do over again, I'm not 
             sure I would vote for it.''
               All that aside, the dominant factor in Bumpers' decision 
             probably was age and a resulting mental, if not physical, 
             fatigue.
               After all, it wasn't the state of politics alone that 
             made him decide not to run again. The quality of Arkansas 
             politics concerned him in 1970, but he ran to do something 
             about it. Nearly every Senator who has quit in recent 
             years has criticized the meanness, the expense and the 
             dysfunction of contemporary politics.
               No, the determining factor for Bumpers was that he'd be 
             79 after another term, and he didn't envision the state of 
             politics improving dramatically by then.
               ``I'm not sure I'm being totally honest with myself,'' 
             he said. ``I know that the frustration level is greater 
             now. But I'm not unmindful of my age. I'd like to think I 
             would have won again. It would have been mean and it would 
             have been dirty. And it's just that after all that, I 
             didn't see much respite from the things that caused my 
             frustration level to rise.''
               Here's how David Pryor put it: ``Dale Bumpers and I came 
             out of a time when we had to chop our way out of a 
             thicket. We were fighting for a clear cause at the time, 
             coming out of the Faubus years. There was a real sense 
             that a spirit of change was sweeping the land. And we were 
             using machetes and dynamite and anything else we could get 
             hold of. And it takes young people to do that sort of 
             thing.''
               Those who would form the new generation today are left 
             to deal with the obscene expense of modern-day 
             campaigning, the more open meanness evident in campaigns 
             and a pervasive apolitical mood that makes it appear that 
             politics and government have less to do with people's day-
             to-day lives than was once the case.
               So it was that Bumpers pondered that speech to 
             youngsters at Governor's School. He wanted to convey that 
             politics is too expensive, too mean, too dysfunctional. 
             But he also wanted to convey that young people can't run 
             from politics because of all that. They must enter it and 
             change it if our constitutional democracy is to survive.
               Bumpers thinks politics must become less like it is in 
             Washington in 1997 and more like it was in Arkansas in 
             1970. In those days people were inclined toward change, 
             and vigorous young politicians, seeing a cause and a shot 
             at winning by championing that cause, were willing to 
             fight their way out of the thicket David Pryor was talking 
             about.
               ``I'm not unhappy with my legacy,'' Bumpers said. ``The 
             legacy--and I hope I can say this without sounding 
             arrogant--is that you can cast unpopular votes and 
             survive. People will understand and accept if they can see 
             that you are guided by principle, even in today's 
             environment. That's what I hope young people will take 
             from my years in the Senate.''

                                         ---

               [From The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), August 23, 
                                        1997]
                         What Dale Bumpers Says, He Believes
                                  (By Mary McGrory)
               WASHINGTON--Sometimes you wonder why the class acts quit 
             the Senate. You would know more if you had been there July 
             22, heard Senator Dale Bumpers' superb speech against the 
             space station, seen who was there--no one--and watched him 
             go down, just as he has for 6 years.
               Arkansas' retiring senior Senator, 72, is a brainy 
             liberal with a pungent sense of humor who Democrats hoped 
             twice would be the first President from his State. From 
             the day he came he has shown a passionate interest in 
             priorities. He favors spending money on education and 
             health rather than on fancy weapons. He is the Senate's 
             best orator, and he was at the top of his form as he tried 
             to topple the space station.
               He was carefully prepared but not tethered to a text. He 
             reeled off facts, figures, digressions, specifics, 
             generalizations; he talked about his wife and her efforts 
             for peace and children, the Russians, the Pentagon, the 
             ways of Washington, science and folly.
               It was his sixth try on the space station, and he 
             predicted he would lose again. He gave compelling reasons 
             why he should not; he cited the opposition of the 
             scientific community, and added, ``Unfortunately, they 
             don't have enough political clout to fill a thimble.'' He 
             quoted the eminent Harvard scientist Dr. Nicolaas 
             Bloembergen who said witheringly that ``microgravity is of 
             micro-importance.''
               Bumpers explained the futility of his effort: ``There is 
             no political price to pay, even if you do not have jobs 
             back home hinging on going forward. * * * There is no 
             political price to be exacted against you for favoring 
             something that people know very little about. * * * We 
             have become so inured to cost overruns, we just simply 
             cannot stop a big project once it is started.''
               He cited a Government Accounting Office report: Since 
             April 1996, the cost overrun for the space station has 
             more than tripled.
               ``Does it not take nerve,'' he asked rhetorically, ``to 
             come here asking us to go forward with a $100 billion 
             project in the light of that?''
               President Clinton requested $2.1 billion for the space 
             station. Since 1974, the government has spent $20 billion 
             on it; the GAO estimates that by 2015, it will be $74 
             billion.
               Bumpers went on in his pleasant baritone for about an 
             hour and 20 minutes talking about the significance of the 
             Russian pullout from the project--the Russians were 
             supposed to save us $1.6 billion--and showing charts that 
             traced the changing goals of the space station. He talked 
             through three presiding officers. No one else was 
             listening.
               Occasionally, Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), NASA's 
             home-state champion, looked in to see if he had concluded. 
             She would shuffle her papers, then wander off, sighing.
               Theoretically, the Senators could be in their offices 
             following his logic on their closed-circuit screens. If 
             they were, they were not moved. The vote against his 
             amendment to close the space station was 69 to 31. He got 
             6 fewer votes than last year.
               The problem is well-summarized by author William Greider 
             in a recent Rolling Stone article: ``Instead of a robust 
             debate over post-cold war priorities or skeptical 
             questioning of these fanciful premises, the political 
             elites in both parties have settled into denial and 
             drift.''
               Bumpers is not going away angry after more than 20 
             years. It's just that he doesn't think that short of an 
             economic crisis, the Senate will change. He sees no light 
             at the end of the tunnel in Senate acquiescence to 
             Pentagon extravaganzas.
               Having a President from his home State has made little 
             difference. Bumpers voted against the welfare bill and the 
             recent tax bill. His father, a country schoolteacher, was 
             a fervently grateful New Dealer, and Bumpers is not a new 
             Democrat. He has often taken the floor to detail the 
             blessings that government rained down on rural Arkansas in 
             the 1930's.
               It isn't that his colleagues do not appreciate Bumpers. 
             He is beset with stricken Democrats who promise him money 
             and support if he will run again. People who have 
             consistently voted against him beg him to reconsider.
               He says he doesn't mind fighting for lost causes or 
             speaking before an empty Chamber. He says he has won over 
             the presiding officer a time or two. One fine night he 
             took a full Senate with him when he argued eloquently for 
             saving the battlefield of Manassas II and the site of 
             ``Marse Robert's'' headquarters from malldom. He 
             prevailed, too, on eliminating the Clinch River breeder 
             reactor and the super collider. He believes that if the 
             country had been tuned in on the space station debate, 
             voters would have been 80-20 on his side.
               ``What does it take?'' he mused the other day. Not 
             knowing the answer, he's going home to teach.

                                         ---

                     [From The Democrat-Gazette, June 14, 1997]
                            Bumpers' Retirement Statement
               Senator Dale Bumpers made the following comments in a 
             statement Saturday as he announced his retirement:
               I confess to an agonizing ambivalence about the decision 
             and will probably suffer the torment of that ambivalence 
             the rest of my life. It defies what I feel in my heart, 
             but intellectually, I believe it is the right decision for 
             me. Thomas Jefferson once said a person should change jobs 
             every 10 years and in 1998 I will be 18 years overdue. I 
             plan to remain active and involved. * * *
               I must admit that my frustration level has increased 
             exponentially since I went to the Senate. Many bills are 
             carefully crafted to achieve maximum political benefit and 
             little else. There is nothing wrong with achieving a 
             political benefit if the net effect benefits the Nation. 
             Too often, that is not the case. * * *
               My ambivalence is caused as much by my devotion to the 
             Constitution as it is to any other single factor. I have 
             steadfastly defended the Constitution, often against very 
             popular, but misguided, proposals. I hope and pray my 
             fears about what could happen to that sacred document in 
             the future will prove to be unfounded. * * *
               Things have gone very well for me politically and 
             personally during (these past) 27 years. I relate to Lou 
             Gehrig, who once said, under different circumstances, ``I 
             consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the 
             earth.'' Lucky in choosing my parents, lucky at living in 
             a great country that cares about the less affluent and 
             that paid for a very fine education for me. Lucky to have 
             been born and reared in our beloved Arkansas, where people 
             honored me time and again and made me one of only 1,843 
             men and women ever to serve in the U.S. Senate. * * *
               Most important, I have been lucky to have a great and 
             close-knit family, (my wife) Betty and three wonderful, 
             stable and common-sensical children, all well-educated, 
             happy and in good health. * * *
               I was taught at a tender age and have always been 
             acutely aware that not everyone has been as lucky as I. I 
             have always believed in the Judeo-Christian principle that 
             we have solemn duties to each other and that while we are 
             all created equal in the sight of God, we are far from 
             equal at birth. * * * Some people need more help than 
             others, and often the government is the only source for 
             such help. * * *
               To the hundreds who have written, called or otherwise 
             offered their total loyalty and support if I would run, my 
             undying gratitude. To the people who have been forgiving 
             when I disappointed them, my sincere respect and 
             gratitude. To the voters of Arkansas, words can never 
             fully express my thanks for your support and forgiveness, 
             which have sustained me in elections since August 25, 
             1970. I have 1\1/2\ years left on this term, and I will 
             work harder than ever to do as much as possible for 
             Arkansas in that short period of time. I will keep with 
             the people to whom I owe everything.
                 
                                     
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