[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 57 (Wednesday, May 11, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
              A TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT RICHARD MILHOUS NIXON

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I would like to pay tribute to a great 
President, a great man, and a dear friend, Richard Milhous Nixon.
  April 22, 1994, marked a great loss to America and the world, when 
President Nixon died at the age of 81. Congressman, Senator, Vice 
President, and President; writer, commentator, elder statesman to the 
world: President Nixon stands tall as a giant of our age.
  President Nixon is worthy of high praise, because he was willing to 
put all he had on the line in service to his country. He believed in 
the country's system of government, this country's ideals, and this 
country's bright destiny.
  All of us who had the great honor to talk with President Nixon 
realized that we were engaging a fertile mind. The pomp of power and 
the sweep of history were his fascinations. He had a global vision, 
with America as its fulcrum. This global vision was sought after even 
after President Nixon left office. His long reign as elder statesman is 
a testament to his genius. He was an American Solomon, a wise man who 
helped build the peace of the world.
  I, along with many other mourners, was in Yorba Linda last month for 
President Nixon's funeral. At this type of ending, you begin thinking 
about beginnings. I remember when I was a young congressional staff 
member in 1969 when I first met President Nixon. As administrative 
assistant to then-chairman of the House of Representatives' Rules 
Committee Bill Colmer, I had helped to arrange his annual House 
leadership seafood luncheon. President Nixon attended the luncheon 
because of his very warm relationship with Chairman Colmer. I had a 
chance to listen to the President's remarks and visit with him 
personally. I was inspired by him.
  Then in August 1969, after Hurricane Camille, President Nixon came to 
Gulfport, MS, and promised that his administrtion would come to our aid 
after that devastating storm. He kept that promise.
  When Chairman Colmer retired in 1972, with President Nixon's support, 
I first ran for Congress as a Republican. By that time, there was more 
than party that binded us together, but a long friendship which I 
remember and will always cherish.
  At President Nixon's funeral in Yorba Linda, in front of the crowd of 
Congressmen, former Presidents, and foreign delegations, was the simple 
white house that President Nixon grew up in. I realized a truth looking 
at that small house. In America, the great can come from the simple. 
Many of our great leaders came from humble beginnings. That is why I 
have faith in the American people. From our minds have come great 
ideals, and from our midst have come men like Nixon.
  Even as he tried to settle disputes in the family of nations, 
President Nixon had a wonderful and supportive family of his own. His 
wife Pat, who passed away last year, had under her radiance and grace a 
fierce devotion to her husband. President Nixon's daughters, Julie 
Nixon Eisenhower and Tricia Nixon Cox, have inherited the best of their 
father and mother, and I pray that they remain strong in their time of 
mourning.
  The Reverend Billy Graham said of Nixon that a tree is best measured 
when it is laid down. President Nixon's legacy, from his humble roots 
to his passing, has yet to be fully measured. History has and will 
measure his efforts and his genius, and they have not--and will not--be 
found wanting.

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