[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]

 
                      FAREWELL TO A GREAT AMERICAN

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I was officially sworn in as a Member of the 
United States Senate in 1959, January--more than 35 years ago.
  During these almost 36 years of service in this institution, I have 
been privileged to know, and to count as personal friends, many men and 
women who tread the pages of American history--brilliant Senators, 
dedicated Senators, patriotic Senators, prophetic Senators, and many 
Senators who might rank among some of the outstanding legislators of 
this or any country.
  With some still serving here today, I can rightly say that I have 
suffered sincerely from the departures and retirements of many of those 
Senators from our past, and as long as I live, I shall never forget my 
personal association with the long parade of Senators who have served 
with me here and who have gone into retirement and some who have gone 
to await their summons to the Eternal Roll Call.
  I was the 1,579th Senator to be sworn in. From the beginning in 1789 
to the present, there have been 1,814 men and women, who have graced 
the Senate Chamber and who have answered the rollcalls of this body.
  Having said that, Mr. President, I cannot recall the departure from 
the Senate of anyone whose departure I regret more than the impending 
departure of Senator George Mitchell from Maine, our Majority Leader 
and a man whom I admire deeply and sincerely, both as a colleague and a 
friend.
  As I contemplate Senator Mitchell's retirement from our midst, my 
unstudied initial reaction is, ``Say it is not so!''
  Like so many of our colleagues, I have benefited by the brilliance of 
Senator Mitchell's mind, and from Senator Mitchell's leadership and 
comradeship here in our parliamentary struggles.
  Indeed, when the 104th Congress assembles next year, no matter who 
among us is no longer here, the vacuum left by George Mitchell will be 
difficult to fill.
  The basic outlines of Senator Mitchell's career are a matter of 
public record. I shall not revisit that record here.
  But I do remind our colleagues that Senator Mitchell is the son of an 
immigrant mother who worked in a textile factory and of a father who 
was the orphaned son of Irish immigrants and who worked as a laborer 
and a janitor.
  I recount those realities in order to underline the higher reality of 
George Mitchell's life and career.
  Contemporaneously, some cynics find amusement in ridiculing the 
Horatio Alger story--in asserting that the classic ``American Dream'' 
is a fantasy fit only for the gullible and weak-minded--a fantasy with 
no foundation in life and no realization in human experience.
  To such cynics, I say, ``look at George Mitchell!''
  Both Senator Mitchell and I rose from less than auspicious origins to 
find our places in the life of a nation that rewards hard work and real 
effort.
  Senator Mitchell and I have lived out biographies as dramatic, 
perhaps, as one could ever find--lives of Americans not born to 
privilege, but lives presented with opportunities and rewards undreamt 
of by most Americans and impossible to the people of most other lands 
around the world.
  As I stand before you, Mr. President, in the recesses of my 
imagination, I entertain a genuine fantasy--a fantasy of the Founding 
Fathers--Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and others--beaming down on us 
from on high, as this Congress moves toward adjournment and as Senator 
Mitchell steps down from his Majority Leadership position.
  And in my imagination I can see those Founding Fathers congratulating 
one another and saying to one another, ``See! It works! That is what 
we intended when we made merit and ability the keystones to our 
American system of Self-Government, instead of artificial pedigrees, 
titles, and rigid class origins!''

  Mr. President, I commend Senator Mitchell for the reasoned passion 
that he brought to his responsibilities as Senate Majority Leader. I 
commend him further for his infinite patience in helping to guide this 
mighty institution through the stormy straits of partisanship and 
wrangling for, lo, these several years. If he has a fault, it is the 
fault of being too accommodating. I have said that before to him 
personally, and I have stated it on the floor.
  I commend Senator Mitchell for the incomparable dignity that he has 
brought to his duties and the grace with which he has carried us so 
often through the legislative rapids. I commend him further for his 
keen and incisive and discerning intellect and the logic of his 
thinking--attributes at which I more than once have marveled as I have 
watched him pilot the Senate so often.
  This past Wednesday evening, Senator Mitchell delivered a speech at a 
fundraiser for the George J. Mitchell Scholarship Fund--an endeavor by 
Senator Mitchell to encourage and undergird scholastic achievement and 
education--causes in which both Senator Mitchell and I have matching 
concerns.
  Senator Mitchell's remarks on that occasion on this past Wednesday 
evening, are far more revealing than the comments on his life and 
career that another might make, even in the sincerest effort to 
capsulize the values of Senator George Mitchell.
  For the benefit of all of our colleagues, and for the benefit of 
posterity, those who will read the Congressional Record 100 years from 
now, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Mitchell's remarks at his 
scholarship fund dinner be printed in the Record.
  And to Senator Mitchell, I say, fare thee well, colleague and friend. 
Depart if you must, but never forget your friends here in the Senate, 
and take with you into the years ahead and into Eternity the assurance 
that you have made a difference in our work together and the life of 
this country which we both love so dearly.
  There being no objection, the remarks were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

Statement of Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell--October 5, 1994


               george j. mitchell scholarship fund dinner

       I'm grateful to President Clinton, to my colleagues from 
     the Congress, and to all of you for your support for this 
     scholarship fund. This is as important to me as anything I've 
     done since I entered public service.
       Before I entered the Senate, I had the privilege of serving 
     as a Federal judge. In that position, I had great power. The 
     one I most enjoyed exercising was when I presided over what 
     are called naturalization ceremonies. They're citizenship 
     ceremonies. A group of people gathered before me in a federal 
     courtroom. They'd come from every part of the world. They'd 
     gone through the required procedures.
       Now in the final act, I administered to them the oath of 
     allegiance to the United States. And then I made them 
     Americans.
       It was always emotional for me because my mother was an 
     immigrant, my father the orphan son of immigrants. They had 
     no education and they lived hard lives. But because of their 
     efforts, and more importantly, because of the openness of 
     American society, I, their son, am today the Majority Leader 
     of the United States Senate.
       After every ceremony I spoke personally with each of the 
     new Americans. I asked where they came from, how they came, 
     why they came. Their stories were as different as their 
     countries of origin, but all were infused with a tangible and 
     inspiring love for this, the country of their choice.
       The answers of the new Americans to my question of why they 
     came were different. But a common theme ran through them. It 
     was best expressed by a young Asian man who replied, in slow, 
     broken English: ``I came because here in America everyone has 
     a chance.''
       A young man who'd been an American for five minutes summed 
     up the meaning of America in a single sentence. Here, 
     everyone has a chance.
       But in the twenty-first century, and the third century of 
     American history, everyone will not have a chance to succeed 
     unless they first have a chance to learn. The competition 
     will be fierce and unforgiving. Those who lack knowledge and 
     skill will not succeed.
       I consider myself to be especially fortunate. I had a 
     chance. I got an education.
       My mother spent her entire working life on the night shift 
     in textile mills. She was a woman of strength and substance, 
     the most influential person in my life. My father was a 
     laborer and a janitor. Like many in their generation, they 
     devoted their lives to providing for their children the 
     education they never had. They had a profound, perhaps even 
     exaggerated sense of the value of formal education. Although 
     they died without property of prominence, my parents had rich 
     and fulfilling lives by their standards--and mine.
       I experienced early in life the value of learning. In my 
     junior year at High School, I met an English teacher named 
     Elvira Whitten.
       I was fifteen years old, naive, totally lacking in self 
     awareness or self-confidence. I had never read a book, other 
     than what was required to move from one grade in school to 
     the next.
       She was elderly, intelligent and kind. One day she asked me 
     to come back to class after school. I did, not knowing what 
     to expect. She talked for a few minutes, then she asked me 
     what and how much I read. I told her. She picked a book up 
     off her desk and handed it to me, and said she thought I 
     would find it interesting.
       She made it clear I didn't have to read it, but she asked 
     if I would, for her, and, if I did, to come back and tell her 
     what I though of it. I agreed to read the book because I 
     respected her and knew that it would please her. That night, 
     I got into bed, opened the book and began reading.
       It was ``The Moon is Down,'' a short novel by John 
     Steinbeck about a wartime military occupation--presumably the 
     Nazi occupation of Norway. I stayed up most of the night 
     reading it, and could hardly wait to tell Mrs. Whitten about 
     it. She smiled, handed me another book and said, ``I thought 
     you'd like it. Here's another one you might like.''
       It went that way for a few months, and then she gently 
     suggested that I start picking out my own books. I did so, 
     and felt the first stirring of self-worth. It was my exposure 
     to the world of books, to the excitement of knowledge, and it 
     was my first step to adulthood.
       I've often wondered what would have become of me if I had 
     not met Mrs. Whitten, or if she had not taken an interest in 
     me. I will always regret that before her death I never went 
     back to tell her what a difference she made in my life. This 
     is my way of doing so, and through her, all of the other 
     teachers who hold the wondrous power to open young minds and 
     inspire young lives.
       Earlier this year, when I announced that I would not seek 
     reelection, I received hundreds of requests from groups who 
     wanted to honor me in some way.
       I asked that all such offers be concentrated into this one 
     effort. The money raised tonight will be combined with the 
     remainder of my campaign fund to set up a scholarship 
     foundation to help needy and deserving students get a college 
     education.
       Nothing is more important to success in American life than 
     a good education. I believe that, because of my own 
     experience and because of what I expect to be the rising 
     demands of the next century.
       I once needed help and got it.
       Now, fate has provided me the opportunity to help others. 
     I'm grateful for that opportunity. And I'm grateful to you 
     for helping to make it possible.
       I've been proud to serve the people of Maine in the United 
     States Senate. It's a great honor, the greatest of my life. 
     But when the 104th Congress convenes in January, I will not 
     be there to take the oath of office as a United States 
     Senator.
       My decision not to seek reelection was based solely on my 
     personal concept of public service. I will miss the Senate. I 
     will miss my colleagues. Most of all, I will miss public 
     service.
       I've been in the private sector and then in the public 
     sector, and I'm now returning to the private sector. I take 
     nothing away from private life when I say that nothing can 
     ever give the deep and meaningful satisfaction that comes 
     from public service.
       Public service gives work a value and meaning greater than 
     mere personal ambition and private goals.
       Public service must be and is its own reward, for it does 
     not guarantee wealth, popularity, or respect.
       It's often frustrating. But when you do something that will 
     change the lives of people for the better, then it's worth 
     all the frustrations.
       We are the most fortunate people ever to have lived, to be 
     Americans, citizens of the most free, the most open, the most 
     just society in human history. Ours is virtually the only 
     government in history dedicated to opening doors, not closing 
     them.
       In America today, I believe anyone can go as far and reach 
     as high as work, talent, and education allow. We can't 
     equalize effort or talent and we shouldn't. But we can 
     provide equal opportunity--the promise to everyone of a fair 
     chance to succeed.
       It's because of the promise of America that I was able to 
     become the Majority Leader of the United States Senate.
       Whatever new problems arise, whatever unforeseeable 
     challenges come, if we can keep that promise alive for our 
     children and theirs, America will never lose her way. For me, 
     that's the purpose of public service, its inspiration and 
     finally, its reward.
       Thank you for your support, your trust, and your 
     friendship.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, how many minutes do I have remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 2 minutes.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I may proceed 
for perhaps 3 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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