[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]

 
               TRIBUTE TO MAJORITY LEADER GEORGE MITCHELL

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to our retiring 
colleague, the Majority Leader George Mitchell. His 14-year Senate 
career is about to come to a close, and this institution will sorely 
miss him.
  The role of Senate majority leader is a dual and seemingly 
contradictory one: He is supposed to be both a neutral arbiter of the 
Senate's business and the leader of his party, both a bipartisan 
manager and a partisan advocate. George Mitchell has kept the two roles 
insulated from each other, and as a result, he has succeeded in both 
splendidly.
  As majority leader, he has always been fair, above-board and 
completely honest. I think all of my colleagues from the other side of 
the aisle would agree with that assessment.
  As the leader of the Senate Democrats, he has been highly effective 
and leaves behind him a string of legislative victories as proof. He 
has coaxed and wheeled, cajoled and convinced, pestered and pressured. 
Senator Mitchell is a true leader, in the sense of the word Harry 
Truman used when he said, ``You know what makes leadership? It is the 
ability to get men to do what they don't want to do, and like it.''
  One of Senators Mitchell's principal achievements will undoubtedly be 
the Clean Air Act, which passed during his first year as majority 
leader. He made clean air his top priority when he came to the Senate 
in 1980. It took several years, but he was dogged and got it done.
  Thanks to that legislation, Americans today are breathing cleaner air 
than they would have without it. We are also making strides in our 
efforts to fight acid rain and protect the ozone layer.
  There are countless other monuments to George Mitchell's skill as a 
legislator and compassion of ordinary Americans. Of all the 
achievements of his years as majority leader, I will list just a few.
  The Family and Medical Leave Act, which he and I pushed for year 
after year until it finally became law in 1993.
  The Brady bill and this year's crime bill, both of which will make 
our streets safer.
  An increase in the minimum wage and expansion of the earned income 
tax credit, both of which provided a small boost to millions of working 
Americans.
  The largest deficit reduction bill in our history, which has put us 
back on a course of fiscal responsibility after the drift of the 
1980's.
  The Americans with Disabilities Act, which has opened doors and new 
vistas to millions of physically challenged Americans.
  A national service program, intended to bring help to the 
disadvantaged and a new spirit of service to our next generation.
  Each of these by itself is a major achievement. Taken together, they 
represent a monument record of success.
  We all know that the majority leader had hoped to make health care 
reform the final achievement of his Senate career--not to secure his 
own place in history, but to provide relief to millions and millions of 
Americans in desperate need of it. In fact, Senator Mitchell turned 
down a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court so that he could 
fully devote himself to this cause.
  We fell short on health care this year, and I know that no one 
regrets that more than George Mitchell. But all of our efforts were not 
futile. We made valuable progress, and we laid the foundation for major 
reform next year.
  We will eventually get this job done, and the memory and example of 
George Mitchell will be with us when we do. His inspiration will also 
be with us when we pass campaign finance reform, another of his 
passions.
  As Walter Lippman said, ``The final test of a leader is that he 
leaves behind him in other men the conviction and will to carry on.'' 
George Mitchell will leave all of us with the will to carry on, with 
the conviction to fight the good fight for the American people.

                          ____________________