[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 4 (Monday, January 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S611-S616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
announcement of retirement of bennett johnston
Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, on occasions of this kind, we are prone
to look back and think historically as well as to absorb the magnitude
of the statement of the moment given by my good friend, Senator Bennett
Johnston, from Louisiana. [[Page S612]]
When I came to the Senate, I had the privilege of serving with Allen
Ellender and Senator Russell Long, who represented the State of
Louisiana at that particular time in 1967.
Mr. President, I must say that the strength of those two leaders at
that time certainly has been carried on in the tradition of Louisiana
voters and the subsequent Senators, including Senator Bennett Johnston
and his colleague today who serves with him from Louisiana, John
Breaux.
Mr. President, I have had the privilege of serving with Senator
Johnston on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee now for all the
years that he has been in the Senate. It was then called the Interior
Committee of the Senate and Insular Affairs, and then its name was
changed and, of course, all that time he has been chairman of that
committee.
In addition to that, both Senator Johnston and I serve on the
Appropriations Committee, and we begin this year the 18th year we have
served in partnership either as chairman or the ranking member, as
Senator Johnston has occupied that seat, or as I now occupy that seat
as chairman of that subcommittee and he the ranking member, as I say,
for 18 years.
I think on both the authorizing committee and the appropriating
committee, we get a very, very intimate relationship of the total
legislative process. I want to say it has not only been an honor and a
personal pleasure, but I have marveled at the way Senator Johnston has
carried his duties and responsibilities in both of those committees,
demonstrating competence, demonstrating brilliance of understanding of
the issues. He gets up and starts talking about the nuclear power
facilities, and so forth and so on, and I am always happy to defer to
him, whether I am chairman or ranking member, any time that subject
comes up because there is no one on this floor that has greater
intimate knowledge of that complexity of nuclear energy than Senator
Johnston.
I also want to say that Senator Johnston's Christmas cards, when he
first came here, showed this beautiful family--beautiful Mary, his
wife, and his children. I watched that Christmas card expand over the
years. I think it is very significant that sitting next to him on the
floor of the Senate today is a very distinguished congressman from the
State of Indiana, who happens to be his son-in-law, Tim Roemer. I am
very, very pleased to know that he is leaving more than just a legacy
of record. He is leaving in the Congress of the United States a legacy
of leadership that will continue.
Mr. President, there are so many things that come to my mind. I am
flooded with memories of the thousands of miles that he and I have
traveled with our spouses and other members of the committee from
China, Thailand, Indonesia, throughout the whole Pacific region.
I want to say even though he is noted as perhaps the expert here of
energy, among his other expertise, whenever he has chaired a Codel and
is called upon to respond to the head of state, to the prime minister
or the president or the foreign minister--whoever might be hosting us
at the moment--on any foreign policy, he can respond with grace and
with, again, a manner in which we all take pride of being Americans and
being his associate and colleague on these Codels.
So he is a Renaissance man with great capacity for many, many
subjects. He does everything with fairness and with objectivity. I
often say some of his problems on the committees have been that he has
supported Republican causes that have not always been supported by the
majority of his own Democratic Party on that committee. He has been
that kind of broad-based, Renaissance person.
This is a decision he has to make. I have regrets in hearing this
decision. They are selfish and personal because I have 2 years yet as
well and it also causes me to have to reflect on what my future is. But
if I should run for reelection and get reelected, I would be very, very
much lesser a person because I would miss the expertise and counsel of
Bennett Johnston.
But, Bennett, being very informal at this moment on the floor, I want
to say, as a long-time fan and supporter of yours and personal friend,
I greet this news with great mixed emotions. I am happy for you and
your family in many ways, yet I am regretful for what you are going to
deny the Senate as far as the future.
Several Senators addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
A Lot of Miles Yet to Go
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am sorry to say to the Senator from
Georgia, I left a meeting and I will take about 30 seconds here with my
friend.
This is not the time to say goodbye to Senator Johnston. We are
saddened to hear the statement of the senior Senator from Louisiana. I
think that Senator Johnston spent enough time in my State to be
qualified to vote, and I spent almost the same amount of time in his
State for other reasons, I might add.
But I am saddened to hear the announcement of my good friend. I
understand his reasons, and I really seriously marvel at his capacity
to make such a judgment, but I do think that we have a lot of things
left undone. We have a lot of miles to go yet, and I will say my
farewells when the time comes. Meanwhile, I say to my good friend, we
have one big battle, and that is the battle of wetlands. I hope he will
be there with us until the end.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
Tribute to Senator Bennett Johnston
Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I, too, want to say a few words about this
man we all think so much of, the Senator from Louisiana, Senator
Johnston.
Until a time I can reflect on it at length and really go over some of
the historical accomplishments he has been so involved in, I remember
very well when he got elected to the U.S. Senate because I got elected
the same time.
With one exception, we have seen eye to eye on virtually everything
since we have been here, and that one exception was the first day he
arrived, he had a news conference saying he was the senior Member of
the class of 1972. That was not only erroneous but it was to the
detriment of the Senator from Georgia. The next day we had a chance to
meet personally. The first thing I informed him was he had to retract
that statement because it was not correct. He did that graciously when
he found out the accuracy of my remark. Ever since then, he has been on
target.
I must say, my colleagues have already enumerated some of his
accomplishments. He has been an expert in his own field of energy. He
has been an expert in the field of environment. He has also been an
expert in the field of foreign policy and national security. He has
traveled all over the globe. He knows people all over the globe. He is
respected all over the globe. He has a following all over, not only in
this country but throughout the world.
On the Appropriations Committee, he has been a stalwart in that area.
He has been one of few people, few of us who have been willing to take
on the tough subject of entitlements over the years, and if some of
those votes he and I and some others made together back in the eighties
and even before had passed at that time, we would not have some of the
entitlement problems we have today.
So he has had an outstanding legislative record. I will enumerate
that at a later date. But the most important thing he has done is what
so many people have difficulty doing here in Washington, and that is,
while he has done all of this for his State and for his constituents
and for the people of this Nation, he has held his family together.
That is the toughy. Anyone who works 60, 70 hours a week, travels on
weekends, and makes speeches all over is always under pressure, that
can maintain the love and relationship with his wonderful wife, Mary,
the children, Sally, Mary, Bennett, Hunter, and all of his family, that
is truly the exception rather than the rule in this very busy,
stressful place.
So he has a family that loves him. He has a wonderful set of children
that are doing their own things in their own professions, and he has a
son-in-law, as we have already heard, from Indiana who is here on the
floor with him as a Member of Congress.
So I list, Bennett, your accomplishments as keeping your family
together and raising a wonderful group of children with, of course, the
tremendous help of Mary who is as outstanding as [[Page S613]] any
individual I know, and also maintaining a wonderful relationship with
your staff. You can tell a lot about a Senator by his staff. Bennett
Johnston has an outstanding staff. Some of them are here today. I
worked with many of them over a period of time, and I know others of
them on the floor have worked with them. You can tell an awful lot.
So I say to my friend, for his own future, I am sure he has reflected
long and hard on this decision and, from that point of view, I
congratulate him. From the point of view of the Senate, I am
remorseful. I think we are going to be a lesser body when he leaves
here in 2 years, although for the next 2 years, he will be, I am sure,
as energetic, productive, and effective as he has ever been.
But I do understand the decision. I understand it. All of us have to
go through this kind of thought process. He made the decision quicker
than I thought he would. If I had predicted 2 weeks ago, I would have
predicted the other way around. But I know he made it after a great
deal of thought, a great deal of prayerful consideration with his
family and his staff.
So it is not an announcement that I take lightly, or with any kind of
feeling of celebration, because I understand the deficit that is going
to be left when this outstanding U.S. Senator does retire in 2 years.
So I congratulate him on his service. I do not congratulate him,
necessarily, on the decision because I do want to talk to him a little
bit about it. But I do commend him on his splendid record of service
for the State of Louisiana and the Nation.
I thank the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
Bennett Johnston, The Master Of The Close
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I heard about 2:15 this afternoon that
Senator Johnston was going to take the floor, so I picked up the phone
and tried to reach him and missed him. I wanted to just say a few
words.
I listened, back in my office, to what he had to say. I was thinking,
back when this mayor from San Francisco in the mid-1980's came back to
see the head of the Energy Committee. I had an opportunity and I walked
into his office. I saw the pelicans. I did not even know if he would
really listen to me. I found a human being who was open, who was
gentle, who was kind, who was listening, and who was interested. Then,
of course, in 1992 I came to this Senate and I found a man who was a
leader of the U.S. Senate--certainly a leader on the Democratic side
and I believe a leader in the Senate--who had worked for 22 years, who
had established a reputation in this body.
I might say, many of the Members on our side, when we were discussing
the California Desert Protection Act, said toward the close of the
session, ``Don't worry. Watch Bennett. He is a master of the close.''
And as the months went on, the debate and the discussion on this
bill, I saw indeed that Bennett Johnston was not only a master of the
close, but was a master of strategy. I saw he is a man who is bright.
He is a man who is articulate. But he is also somebody who is always a
gentleman, always receptive, always able to say what he thinks in a way
that brings the best from everyone around him.
So, Bennett Johnston, I want to say to you: In the few days we have
been back, this is the worst news I have heard. Even worse than the
Contract With America, in many respects. I am just so sorry that this
is going to happen. But there is one thing I do know: Even if you have
made up your mind there are still 2 years, so we will be hearing much
more from Bennett Johnston, the master of the close.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
Senator Bennett Johnston, Statesman
Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, it is a sad day for the Senate, a sad day
for the Nation, when we find out we will be losing a Member of the U.S.
Senate who has contributed so much to this body as an institution and
to this Nation as a whole.
We do not use the word ``statesman'' very often. I grew up hearing it
much more frequently than I hear it today. I think we look at certain
areas of expertise and accomplishment and we realize that there are
statesmen in those fields, as well as from a generalist viewpoint. I
look back over the career of Bennett Johnston and I remember when I
came to the Senate, this Nation was in an energy crisis. We were
talking about shortages and what had to be done. I remember President
Carter's speech with his sweater.
But Bennett Johnston stood out in those days as a voice of reason,
calling for an energy policy that was really very detailed, but was
accompanied by great reasoning. His energy policy prevailed over the
years, and we weathered that crisis. As we have gone through the
changes relative to energy policy and the relationship of nuclear
energy, Bennett Johnston has always come forward with expertise, with
reason, and with a view toward the future and has accomplished
tremendous feats in regard to the energy field. He had the unique
position of serving as chairman of the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources and the subcommittee dealing with energy and water
development of the Appropriations Committee. It is very unusual for a
person to occupy those two positions simultaneously, but because of his
expertise and seniority and his choice, he selected those. And I think
the Nation has been the beneficiary as a result of it.
His State of Louisiana has greatly benefited from his service. I
consider Bennett a conservative, a progressive conservative. He is a
southerner. We have pretty well agreed on most issues, as Sam Nunn
mentioned a while ago. And he has really taken on a great deal in his
political life, in taking on certain tasks that other people would
attempt to evade and to avoid.
He has had to fight bigots. He has had to fight those who were
intolerant. He has moved forward in the South toward having improved
race relations and has been a great voice of reason in pursuing that
particular task. And the South today has many benefits that really
resulted from his leadership.
He has been a wonderful family man. I think Sam spoke about that, the
fact that he has a delightful, wonderful, charming wife, Mary, and four
children: Bennett, Hunter, Sally and Mary. They are great examples of a
family and to the fact that there are such close ties among them. He
has been one of those who have advocated, as we all agree that we
should, an improved quality of life in the Senate in order that we
spend more time with our families. He and David Pryor have been voices
that have sounded forth many times on the improvement of the quality of
life in the Senate. Hopefully, our new minority leader will agree and
hopefully he can influence our majority leader a little bit toward
following the advice that Bennett Johnston has given in the past
relative to this.
He loves this institution and he has really done a great deal. I stop
and think of all he has done. Sometimes you do not belong to the
respective committees, but he has been a tremendous spokesman for
southern agriculture. I look back upon many of the battles we have had
relative to agriculture and know that his voice has been the voice of a
champion, pertaining to those issues. Then, in foreign affairs, he
would come back from his trips--I can remember him many times talking
about the Pacific rim and its great future and the fact that we needed
to develop better relationships with the Pacific rim nations because
much of the future would lie there, and the progress that has taken
place in recent years pertaining to this.
(Mr. SANTORUM assumed the chair.)
So we with great sadness see the announcement of the departure some 2
years from now of a statesman in the field of energy, a statesman in
the field of race relations, a statesman who has done much for this
Nation. We will have lost a great Senator. We are now losing a great
chairman, but nevertheless he will continue as a spokesman in his
particular fields. But he has also served in so many other different
ways on the budget, in the field of aging, and in the field of
intelligence, having served in committees in that capacity.
We salute Bennett. I think maybe the real reason behind this is that
he is feeling that he is getting a little older, that he is not as
accomplished a tennis player as he used to be, and that his colleague,
John Breaux, is now beating him more often than he used to. Perhaps
that might have affected his decision relative to this matter.
[[Page S614]]
But we look forward to his, as he leaves and when he leaves the
Senate, continuing to give us advice, counsel, and we know he will
continue to be a friend.
I say to him, my friend, that this is a sad day for America and for
the Senate. But we respect his decision.
Mr. SIMPSON addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I inquire of my colleague, Senator Pryor.
He was waiting to speak before I came in and he requested time to do
so.
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I respond to my friend from Wyoming by
saying that I have been here for some time and I am enjoying all these
speeches so much. I have no preference as to when I speak.
So I would love to listen to the Senator from Wyoming, to hear him
talk about our friend, Bennett Johnston.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, if I said that my remarks would not
exceed 5 minutes, there would be an audible gasp. However, I want you
to observe the clock and you will find that they shall not exceed the
period of 5 minutes. I, too, will say a lot more later.
I thank my friend from Arkansas, who came here when I did, Senator
Pryor, and Senator Heflin, also. We have a special bond in our class
which is very strong that crosses party lines. In fact, the other
evening we met, the survivors of the class of 1978, and talked about
how we might try to make this place work better with bipartisanship.
That is an effort that we will pursue with people of the caliber of
Senator Pryor and Senator Heflin.
But let me just say a word about my friend. Bennett Johnston is a
special man, a man of remarkable brightness, energy, and a wonderful
sense of humor, and a person who could come to this floor in the midst
of a debate on nuclear fission and without a note suddenly be totally
in the fray or who could come here on issues of energy, Btu's or public
lands and without a note debate for an hour or two taking questions,
fielding questions thoroughly engaged.
So what I learned from him is a remarkable intellect blended with a
wonderful mind and an ability to deal with complex issues, and when
everyone else, like in the words of Rudyard Kipling, was ``losing their
heads,'' blaming it on you, Bennett would be right there with that
wonderful whimsical smile which is difficult to identify sometimes. You
never know quite what is being concocted there with that smile. But I
have seen it many times, and it is always with a gentleness.
So I thank him for what he taught me on nuclear issues as I chaired
the nuclear regulations subcommittee as a freshman, and how he helped
me on all energy issues when I was again chairing that committee. On
public lands issues, I watched my colleague from Wyoming, Malcolm
Wallop, work with him and watched Bennett and Malcolm, even though they
disagreed strongly, work so well together. They gave us finally an
energy bill that was unattainable for decades. I thank him for that.
He is dogged, determined, with a persistence and steadiness which is
enviable.
So I thank him. I have been privileged to travel with him. Whatever
they have said about Mary is not enough. That is a special woman, and
it has been a great honor and privilege to travel with him. Whether it
was in Vietnam or China or around the world, dealing with nuclear
issues, any time Bennett rose to give the greetings or receive the
acknowledgment from another head of state, we just all sat back and
knew it would be done with wonderful compassion, skill, and a
completely tactful presentation. He was our spokesman, and whatever
side of the aisle you were on, you never even questioned that.
So a gentle, congenial man of very steady demeanor will be greatly
missed. It is not easy to find people who will do this kind of work and
take what goes with it. We are thin-skinned sometimes. I know I am. But
he just smiles and takes it, and can dish it right back in beautiful
fashion and always with a gentler, much gentler, recipe than it has
been dished out to him.
So to Bennett and to Mary, and their dear family, and to the son-in-
law who will serve us in Congress on the other side of the aisle, I
wish them all well.
It has been a rich personal privilege for Ann and for me to come to
know Bennett and Mary Johnston, and we love them. We wish them well in
whatever they may wish to do in the future.
Mr. PRYOR addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, this is indeed a sad day. It is a sad day
for the U.S. Senate. It is indeed a sad day for the State of Arkansas
to be losing one of our colleagues from this Senate, but of equal
importance to be losing, Mr. President, one of our neighbors, the
Honorable Bennett Johnston as our colleague and friend from our
neighboring State of Louisiana.
We have often said, Dale Bumpers and I--and I am sure he will
eloquently address this momentarily--Senator Bumpers and I have often
said in our State that we have three Senators, that we are very
fortunate, and that the third Senator is the Senator from Louisiana,
who on every project, Mr. President, on every issue has stood shoulder
to shoulder not only with Senator Bumpers and myself and our
predecessors in this body but also with our State and its people in the
projects that we pursued on many occasions.
Senator Johnston in his eloquent, and I must say brief, remarks,
talked about two principles, one of honor, that the people had honored
him. And all of us know Senator Johnston well. I know that honor was
bestowed upon Senator Johnston and that he treated that honor basically
as holding that honor in trust for the people of his State and the
people of this country. The other characteristic that he addressed was
power, that the people of Louisiana had bestowed upon him as a U.S.
Senator a great power.
Mr. President, I can say without reservation that of the some 20
years that I have known this fine gentleman, I have never seen nor have
I ever heard of this fine man ever once abusing that power or of taking
that power for granted.
Mr. President, Bennett Johnston will go down in the annals of this
great U.S. Senate as one of the great doers and one of the great
builders that this body has ever produced. The Senate has been a better
place because of him. His life and his example and his family all mean
so much to all of us.
Mr. President, I notice that the distinguished Presiding Officer, the
new Senator from Pennsylvania, is seated today presiding over the U.S.
Senate. I know that he faces a middle aisle that some say divides the
Republicans from the Democrats. I have a feeling, Mr. President, that
Senator Bennett Johnston, our friend and neighbor from Louisiana, has
never seen that middle aisle as a line of demarcation, nor as a line of
division, but merely as a line of invitation to join hands and join
parties, whether Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, on
those issues that face this country and those issues that must make us
a better people.
Bennett Johnston, in my opinion, has been able to bridge that gap and
to cross that aisle in friendship, in principle, in camaraderie and
comity, as well as any Member that I have ever seen in the U.S. Senate.
He is a wise and a good man. It has been my extreme pleasure and honor
to serve in this body with Bennett Johnston, my friend and colleague
from the great State of Louisiana.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader is recognized.
Tribute To Senator Bennett Johnston
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I rise to associate myself with the
remarks made by so many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in
tribute to our friend and colleague, Bennett Johnston.
A couple of days ago, I read some words written by George Bernard
Shaw that I think probably as closely epitomized how I view Bennett
Johnston as any I have read in my time in the Senate. I would like to
begin what I hope to be very brief remarks, keeping to the approach
used by our distinguished colleague from Wyoming in being brief this
afternoon.
George Bernard Shaw wrote:
This is the true joy in life: Being used for a purpose
recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of
nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments
and grievances, complaining that the world will
[[Page S615]] not devote itself to making you happy. I am of
the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and
as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I
want to be thoroughly used up when I finish, for the harder I
work, the more I love. I rejoice in life for its own sake.
Life is no brief candle for me. It is a sort of splendid
torch which I have got ahold of for the moment. I want to
make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to
future generations.
Mr. President, that describes our friend, Bennett Johnston. For 22
years, the people of Louisiana and the people of the United States have
been blessed with the leadership of this outstanding U.S. Senator.
Bennett Johnston epitomizes the best in public service through his
thoughtfulness, his fairness, his determination, his sense of humor,
and his belief in love for his family. In this period of cynicism and
ugliness in politics, Bennett Johnston has stood as a pillar of
integrity, of hard work, of dedication, of devotion to public service.
I have had the good fortune to know him now for over 8 years. I am
proud to call him my friend. I am proud that I will have the ability to
work closely with him for at least 2 more years. I respect his decision
and know how deeply he feels about his family and his time spent on
those occasions walking with his wife, Mary. There will be other days,
as others have said, to talk about the many accomplishments of Senator
Bennett Johnston, but today let me join with others in wishing him a
future of good health and much happiness, recognizing that we do enjoy
his company, his work, his partnership, and the future that we hold
with him together.
I yield the floor.
Mr. CRAIG addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho [Mr. Craig] is
recognized.
Tribute to Senator Bennett Johnston
Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, a few moments ago, my staff came into the
office and said, ``Quick, turn on the television. Senator Bennett
Johnston is announcing that he will retire after this term.'' I did,
and I caught the remaining words that the Senator spoke.
I came immediately to the floor to express, on the part of the Idaho
Senators who are serving and who have previously served in this body,
the respect we have for Senator Bennett Johnston of Louisiana. Other
than you, Mr. President, I am, at this moment in time, as I scan the
floor, one of the more junior Senators serving, although I am
privileged to be the senior Senator from Idaho. I say that in context
to having arrived here 4 years ago, and to have asked the advice of the
then retiring senior Senator from Idaho, Jim McClure, ``From whom might
I seek counsel as it relates to certain issues that are near and dear
to our State of Idaho and to the Nation?'' --I served on the Energy and
Natural Resources Committee that Bennett Johnston was chairing at that
time and continued to chair through the 103d session of Congress--and
without ever thinking of anything else, Jim McClure said, ``Chairman
Bennett Johnston.''
I had just served 10 years in the House, and I was used to the
dynamics of the House. I thought to myself immediately: But he is a
Democrat; therefore, he is partisan. That was quite typical of the
style of the House. There was not the comity nor the bipartisan nature
of the Senate existing at that time in the House. I remember at that
time Senator McClure said, ``On the issues that you will be dealing
with, Larry, Bennett Johnston should always be your counsel. And when
he cannot be bipartisan--and there were times when he could not be--he
will be very straightforward because you will always know where he
is.'' For those 4 years, following that advice, Bennett Johnston was
true to the description of Jim McClure.
Let me also speak briefly for Steve Symms, recently retired from the
U.S. Senate who, again, spoke similar words. My exposure in working
with Chairman Johnston over the last 4 years has certainly paid honor
to both of those gentlemen and their respect for Bennett Johnston of
Louisiana.
Bennett, personally, I will miss you. I will miss you because of your
talent and your energy and your willingness to be bipartisan and
cooperative in the name of good public policy. And I oftentimes, Mr.
President, marveled at the sharpness of mind and the detail with which
Bennett Johnston engaged the issues of energy. Whether it was
electrical energy generated by nuclear or hydro or coal power, he knew
the details. He knew the phenomenal maze of law that is bound around
all of that, whether it was with the utility companies, or whether it
was with the Federal regulatory agencies. I was always amazed because I
suggest that never in my service in the U.S. Senate would I expect to
command that kind of knowledge or understanding as does Chairman
Johnston.
I will miss you, Bennett Johnston, because of these things and
because you have become a friend, and I appreciate that. At the same
time, let me say how much I respect your willingness to recognize that
there was a time to say, ``I will do something different.'' I think
that is important for all of us, because I have the privilege of
serving in the U.S. Senate because a senior Senator, at the peak of his
senatorial ability, announced his retirement, choosing to do something
in the private sector of our country.
So I do respect those kinds of decisions, recognizing that there is
life after the Senate, and that expertise and talent and service can go
on to serve in other ways and in other capacities.
But for the coming 2 years, Bennett, you will remain a valuable and
contributive member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and
the Appropriation Committees on which you serve. While you now serve in
the minority, that will never stop me from seeking your counsel and
your advice because, while the title has changed, the respect has not.
In 2 years time, I will miss you, as will in body.
I yield back the remainder of my time.
Several Senators addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I defer to the Senator from Arkansas,
who I overlooked, who has been waiting for some time. I would like to
be recognized following his remarks in tribute to Bennett Johnston.
Mr. BUMPERS. I thank the Senator from Alaska very much.
TRIBUTE TO SENATOR BENNETT JOHNSTON
Mr. BUMPERS. Mr. President, this is indeed a sad day for me
personally and, though Americans may not realize it, it is a sad day
for them, too.
The other morning, I read where former Secretary Cheney said he was
not going to run for President and, in a spate of candor customary to
Dick Cheney, said the price was ``too high.'' I toyed with a
Presidential race one time and came to the same conclusion. I never did
say it, though.
But the truth of the matter is, public service, which I was taught by
my father was the noblest of all callings, has come to demand an almost
impossible price.
I have no idea what went into Senator Johnston's thinking in arriving
at the decision not to seek reelection. I know he is a family man. He
is one of the few people I would defer to, maybe slightly, in his
devotion to his family over me. So maybe that was it. But I am not here
to wonder aloud what all went into his decision.
The first time I heard of Bennett Johnston was when he ran for
Governor of Louisiana and he was using the same media consultant I had
used a year earlier in running for Governor of Arkansas, Deloss Walker.
And while Bennett barely lost that election, he was elected handily for
the U.S. Senate 2 years later.
I might say to the Senator that that was probably the most fortuitous
thing that ever happened to him. As a former Governor and Senator, I
can tell you it was the most fortuitous thing that ever happened.
But Deloss Walker had told me what a good candidate Senator Johnston
was. And so he came to the Senate 2 years before I did. I was put on
the Energy Committee, which was a widely sought committee assignment at
that time because the Arab oil embargo of 1973 had everybody frightened
to death. We were going to become energy independent. We were going to
develop alternative fuels, and you name it.
Senator Johnston had the seat just in front of me, and later of
course became chairman of the committee. I forget the year. But I
became ranking Democrat on that committee. [[Page S616]]
There are perhaps people in the Senate who have been closer to
Senator Johnston than I have been, though I do not see how. I have
traveled with him abroad. I have sat at his right hand in that
committee, all these years. I have found him to be an ardent opponent
on occasion. It took me forever to kill the super collider because he
was on the other side. And I did not really kill it. The House of
Representatives deserve the credit for killing the super collider. But
I can tell you, as long as Senator Johnston was in the Senate, it was
not going to happen over here.
But in good times and bad, in battles together and battles against
each other, I found him always to be brilliant and tenacious, but
eminently fair. Last year, he took on another battle on the side of the
angels that I had been fighting sort of a lonely battle for about 5
years, and that was reform of the mining laws of this country. Senator
Johnston got involved in that debate last year. He was tenacious. But I
promise you some of his most ardent opponents, including the Senator
from Alaska and the Senator from Idaho, will tell you they always found
him to be eminently fair. He held hearing after hearing, private
hearings with them to see if there was any accommodation that could be
made that would satisfy them.
And on the California desert bill, another battle that I had been
involved in for 6 years here, he took that battle on last year and won
it and we passed the California desert bill. Some day the people of
America will look back and say we owe Bennett Johnston a big one for
that.
His announcement today follows the same announcement by two other
fine men in this body, Hank Brown and Paul Simon. And my guess is there
are going to be others.
We could sit here and I guess make partisan speeches or philosophical
speeches about whether or not the price of public service has become
too high, and that would serve absolutely no useful purpose at this
point.
Bennett will have another career and he will have more time in that
career. I do not know what it will be, but I promise you whatever he
takes up, whether he decides to become a professor in some law school
or maybe teach political science or some contemporary course on
politics at LSU or someplace else, I do not care what it is, he will
have more time for his family than he has had in the past 22 years.
So, Mr. President, today is a sad time for me. It is going to be a
personal loss to me for Bennett to leave the Senate, but more
importantly it is a loss for America.
I have never favored term limits. It is not easy to go before an
audience when you know 70 to 75 percent of that audience favors term
limits, and say you do not favor it, but I do not; never have. One
reason is because it would arbitrarily cause us to lose good men and
women with good minds, but, above all, a wealth of experience which we
cherish in every single profession in America except here in politics.
Well, Mr. President, I will probably be here to say this a few more
times over the next 2 years for good friends of mine who decide not to
run, but I can tell you I will not say with any more fervor or
conviction at any point in the next 2 years, no matter who leaves here,
that this is truly a great loss to this Nation and especially to the
State of Louisiana.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
Mr. MURKOWSKI addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
Mr. MURKOWSKI. I thank the Chair.
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