[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 149 (Thursday, December 1, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: December 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                           HOWARD METZENBAUM

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I learned with real regret of Howard 
Metzenbaum's decision last summer to retire from the Senate. His 
retirement is a great loss to the Senate, and to the people of Ohio 
whom he served so well. It is also a great loss to the country, because 
Howard Metzenbaum is a wise and brilliant and dedicated Senator who has 
left an indelible mark on virtually every aspect of the Nation's life 
for the past two decades of his outstanding service.
  If President Kennedy were writing his book today, he would have a 
special chapter on Howard Metzenbaum as a profile in courage for our 
times.
  Day after day on the Senate floor, year in and year out, Howard 
Metzenbaum has taken principled stands for the people of America and 
against the special interests. He has stood up with eloquence and 
insight and wisdom for the working men and women of America, for the 
consumers of America, and for the hard-pressed taxpayers of the 
country. In the years ahead, it will be said of Howard Metzenbaum, as 
it was of Franklin Roosevelt, ``He was loved for the enemies he made.''
  Senator Metzenbaum was often at his best in the closing hours of each 
Congress--insisting that special interest legislation shall not pass. 
He has stood up for countless courageous whistleblowers, and in fact he 
has been a courageous whistleblower himself, insisting that the Senate 
meet its responsibility to the people.
  I could single out a thousand issues and a hundred bills that Howard 
Metzenbaum has left his mark on--and the ``Metzenbaum Mark'' is like 
the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. It means that these issues and 
these laws are in better and fairer shape, because Howard Metzenbaum 
cared enough to roll up his sleeves, get to the bottom of the issue, 
and persuade a Senate committee, the full Senate, and even the entire 
Congress to do the right thing.
  He and I have served together on the Labor Committee and the 
Judiciary Committee for many years, so I feel his loss especially 
deeply and personally. His leadership on those two committees from 
health care and education to the Brady bill and the most arcane issues 
of antitrust policy, has set the highest standard of excellence for us 
all.
  All Senators, when we take the oath of office, solemnly swear to 
support and defend the Constitution. Few, if any, Senators have been 
more committed to that document and to ``We the People.'' Often, in 
battles for civil rights and on Supreme Court nominations, Senator 
Metzenbaum's ability and his passionate commitment to the basic 
principles of the Constitution have carried the day and won the battle. 
He would have made a great Supreme Court Justice too.
  I know the decision to retire was a difficult one for Senator 
Metzenbaum to make. And I suspect that all of us, on both sides of the 
aisle, wish it had come out the other way. It has been both a privilege 
and a constant learning experience for us all to serve with Howard 
Metzenbaum. He will rank as one of the greatest Senators in the long 
and enduring history of this institution. We will miss his leadership 
and his statesmanship--but most of all, we will miss his friendship.

                          ____________________