[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 145 (Friday, October 7, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       HONORING SENATOR MITCHELL

  Mr. DURENBERGER. Madam President, like myself, the majority leader is 
retiring at the end of this session. I want to take this opportunity to 
offer a few comments about his tenure as a Senator, and as leader of 
his party.
  George Mitchell came to the Senate a year and a half after I did, so 
I feel pretty well qualified to give an assessment of his 14\1/2\ years 
as a U.S. Senator.
  Our years in the Senate were a time of rising partisanship. So it 
should come as no surprise that Senator Mitchell and I disagreed more 
often than we agreed on controversial issues of the day.
  In spite of Senator Mitchell's reputation as an absolutely ferocious 
partisan--I have never seen him obstruct the work of the Senate purely 
for partisan advantage.
  In fact, I have been privileged to work with him in a very bipartisan 
manner on a number of important issues. This year, we worked together 
in the Finance Committee to put together mainstream health reform 
legislation. And that was just the culmination of long years of 
cooperation on health issues like Medicare catastrophic, long term 
care, and the AHCPR.
  On the Environment and Public Works Committee, we were able to work 
together in a bipartisan way on the Clean Air Act and other major 
environmental issues.
  So it would be wrong to depict Senator Mitchell's career as one of 
unrelieved partisanship. Indeed, every single act of this Senator--even 
in his years as leader of his party--has been dedicated to a vision of 
the good of our country. Often, I will disagree with the particulars. 
But I cannot doubt the sincerity and the passion with Senator Mitchell 
for that vision.
  Too often, people play games in the Senate with a view to winning 
elections. Senator Mitchell does the exact opposite. He fights 
elections because he wants to do things in the Senate.
  I remember the great electoral battle of 1986, in which Senator 
Mitchell was a major player in recapturing the Senate for the 
Democrats. I will not soon forget the great passion with which he led 
that fight--and the passion he brought to his next caucus role as 
Senate floor leader.
  I am not alone in believing that George Mitchell's background has a 
lot to do with that passion. I think that people whose roots are still 
close to foreign lands appreciate the greatness and the promise of our 
country a heck of a lot more than some whose ancestors have been here 
for hundreds of years.
  When I see the majority leader forging ahead relentlessly on some 
controversial issue--beating back opponents like some inexorable force 
of parliamentary nature--I think of an orphan whose parents were Irish 
immigrants. I think of a Lebanese immigrant working the night shift in 
a factory for decades.
  And as I think of these two Americans, I believe that I can 
understand their son, George Mitchell. George Mitchell understands that 
the future of America is in the hands of Americans. We have it in our 
power to create the kind of country we want it to be.
  What a breathtaking power. What an awesome responsibility. And what a 
tribute to George and Mary Mitchell that their son, the leader of the 
majority in the U.S. Senate, will spare no effort to build the country 
that lived in their dreams. To the extent that America enjoys greatness 
today, it is because of people with the spirit and character and 
perseverance of George Mitchell. We need more people like him.

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