[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 131 (Monday, August 7, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11731-S11732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   IN RECOGNITION OF THOSE WHO SERVE

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, in Chapter 9 of the Book of Ecclesiastes, we 
find the following portrait in verses 14 and 15: ``There was a little 
city, and few men within it; and there came a great King against it, 
and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now there was 
found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; 
yet, no man remembered that same poor man.''
  This is a lesson that is often repeated, and, in fact, it is 
constantly being played and replayed all about us, if we but pause to 
observe it.
  As a former welder in the shipyards on the east and gulf coasts, and 
as a Senator who has witnessed the christening of great oceangoing 
vessels, I have attended the splendorous pageantry that accompanies the 
launching of a ship, as have many of my colleagues. The scene is one in 
which great crowds gather, bands fill the air with their martial music, 
the trumpets blare, the banners fly, dignitaries are assembled, orators 
declaim, the champagne sparkles and flows, and shouts and cheers ring 
out as the ship slowly glides into the channel. The program ends, ``the 
tumult and the shouting dies, the Captains and the Kings depart'', and 
in the pause that lingers in the human contemplation, one may perhaps 
reflect upon the hours of toil that were spent by the welders, the 
riveters, the pipefitters, the mechanics, the ironworkers, and the 
scores of other crafts that went into the building of the ship. The men 
who operated huge cranes, the carpenters who drove the nails, the 
workers who pulled the cables and lifted huge burdens and swept the 
decks--the sweat and labor of thousands of men and women, working with 
their hands and minds through long days and nights--all these made it 
possible. Yet, in the glittering pageantry of the launch, who 
remembered these unsung workers whose work made the dream become a 
reality?
  As a politician, I have attended many banquets, many church suppers, 
many enjoyable evening repasts, as I am sure all of my colleagues have 
done. Often, I have reflected upon the words of Ecclesiastes on my way 
home after such a delightful event. Long after the program has ended, 
and the echoes of the speaker's voice have faded away, and the 
handshakes and the goodbyes have been overtaken by the darkness that 
falls from the sable-vested wings of night, there are those who are 
still working in the grimy kitchen, cleaning the silverware and the 
dishes and the pots and the pans, and putting away the linens, mopping 
the floors and disposing of the garbage so that the kitchen and the 
meeting hall will be polished and clean and ready for the next church 
supper. It was an enjoyable feast, the laughter and the pleasant 
conversations will long be recalled, but who will remember the 
calloused hands of toil that prepared the delectable dishes, that 
cooked the food, that washed and dried the dinnerware? Who will 
remember those men and women who gave up the pleasant hours of rest 
following the epicurean delights? Who will remember those who stayed 
and turned out the lights and locked the doors and saw to it that 
everything was in order before returning to the humble cottage and a 
bed of hard-earned rest from the difficult chores?
  Mr. President, these are the kinds of people who go about daily and 
do the hard work that makes the world go around. They are unobtrusive, 
they are unassuming, they quietly do their duty and earn, in the sweat 
of their brow, their daily bread. The farmer at the plow, the fisherman 
on the stormy deep, the miner toiling in the bowels of the Earth, the 
sweating ironworker at the blast furnace, the herdsman on the hills and 
plains, the lowly private at his station, the helmsman of the ship on 
the rolling waves, the policeman on his lonely beat, the mother who 
spends a sleepless night by the side of her fevered child, the 
housewife who mends and sews and keeps the home fires burning--these 
are the unsung heroes who make the world go around. They are not often 
remembered, but too often forgotten.
  Many times, Mr. President, in my 43 years of working in this Capitol 
building, after a long day at the office, upon leaving the Capitol,

     I heard the trailing garments of the Night,
       sweep through her marble halls,
     I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light,
     from the celestial walls.

  Yet, in our meditations seldom, perhaps, do we reflect upon those who 
sweat and toil to make these walls and halls beautiful--the charwomen, 
the janitors, the people who mop and wax and polish the floors of 
Minton tile. I have seen them in the wee hours of the morning polishing 
the brass rails that go up and down the marbled stairs. I have seen 
them dusting the artistic works of the great Brumidi. I have seen them 
carting the desks, moving the chairs, and carrying the dishes of food 
as dinners and luncheons are served. They make and keep these elegant 
surroundings clean and attractive for the tourists and for those of us 
who work here. Yet, how often do we remember them? How often do we 
pause to thank them, to give them a pat on the back, and to express 
words of appreciation for the services they perform? The contributions 
of these dedicated workers allow the essential work of this body and 
much of America to proceed. We are in their debt. I take these few 
moments to salute them here today.
  Likewise, we seldom talk to acknowledge and appreciate the essential 
labor of the excellent staffers who serve us here in the Senate. During 
the course of my, as I say, nearly 43 years in this building, I have 
come to appreciate and respect the contributions and dedication that 
our staff bring to this institution. Behind much of the work that is 
conducted in committee hearings and on this floor there are many staff 
people who have toiled for hours and days and weeks to make it all 
possible. While we, as the elected officials, carry the ultimate 
responsibility for the legislation and policy that are set by the 
Senate, the input from our staffs is considerable and valuable. 

[[Page S 11732]]

  I have been disturbed by the recent articles in the press which have 
focused on the reputation of certain Senate staff and of one staff 
person in particular. It appears that there are those individuals in 
the political arena who have determined that, in order to promote their 
particular agendas, it is necessary to excoriate and vilify any person 
who represents a different point of view. The criticisms leveled have 
been vicious and unrelenting. Theirs is a take-no-prisoner, scorched-
earth attitude, with little concern for the individuals who are wounded 
as part of this guerilla-style rhetoric.
  Mr. President, Sheila Burke has worked for the Senate since 1977. 
Since joining the staff of Senator Dole, Sheila has proved to be a 
superb employee. She has represented the interests of Senator Dole and 
those of the Republican Conference in a way that they all can be proud. 
I have always found Sheila to be fair and even-handed. When I was the 
leader of my party in the Senate, I had the occasion from time to time 
to talk with Sheila Burke. I never came to know her well, but I did 
come to admire her greatly. Her abilities have benefited both sides of 
the aisle.
  The Senate can only operate in an atmosphere of compromise and 
conciliation. There is no place for the slings and arrows of fortune 
that have been directed at Mrs. Burke. Frankly, many of her critics 
seem to be more concerned with the operations of the White House in 
1997 than of the Senate of 1995. My feeling is that we ought to be more 
concerned with the difficult issues that face us here and now. The 
massive problems facing this nation demand all of our attention. We 
ought to be working together to address these concerns instead of 
worrying about who may occupy the position of White House Chief of 
Staff in some future administration.
  Sheila Burke is a most capable individual. She has a family. She is a 
mother. She has three children. She has a husband who commutes back and 
forth to Connecticut. Yet, she finds time to be a good mother, a good 
wife, and to be a good chief of staff of a Senator--in this case, the 
majority leader. She is a registered nurse. She is a very disciplined, 
professional woman. That is my perception of Sheila Burke.
  She has to be tough. She has to be tough. She represents her boss and 
she does it well. I have a chief of staff. I have loyal members on my 
staff, many of whom have been with me for years. I know that a chief of 
staff has to be dedicated, has to be very capable, and has to represent 
the viewpoints of the Senator who employs her.
  It must be very difficult to do the job and do it well, and 
especially if one is criticized in the public press for doing that job 
and doing it well.
  I consider Sheila a loyal and trusted employee of the Senate. I think 
it is time for the cowards who would hide behind the uncalled for 
criticism of a Senate staffer to direct their venom- enhanced energy 
toward becoming constructive players of the legislative process. As a 
staff person, she cannot very well defend herself in the press. It must 
be pretty hard for her, with the stresses that are upon her as a chief 
of staff, to bear up under such unfair and unwarranted criticism.
  I admire her courage.
  Plutarch tells us, of Aristides, who was one of the 10 Athenian 
generals at the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. Aristides was also at 
the Battle of Salamis in 480, B.C.
  And as one of the archons, Aristides conducted himself in such a way 
and with such a high sense of justice and with such great virtue that 
he was given the surname, Plutarch tells us, ``the Just,'' ``Aristides 
the Just.'' Themistocles sought to undermine Aristides' standing with 
the people, and spread the word that Aristides was assuming to himself 
the work of the adjudicator and making the decisions himself, and so 
stirred up the people.
  Plutarch tells us that the Ostracism was a process by which those 
individuals who excited envy in the minds of others might be banished. 
It was not a punishment for a crime or misdemeanor but just a way of 
lessening and humiliating, making more humble those who were achievers.
  The process worked something like this, according to Plutarch. The 
citizens throughout Attica came to Athens and they took earthen shells, 
or pieces of pots and other earthenware, and wrote the name of an 
individual on those shells--an individual they wished to see banished. 
They took the shells to the marketplace where there was an enclosure 
behind a wooden rail, and the magistrates, then, would count the 
shells. And if there were less than 6,000 shells with names, the 
Ostracism failed. But if there were 6,000 or more of these shells, then 
the individual whose name appeared on most of the 6,000 shells would be 
banished.
  So, upon this occasion as Aristides was walking about the 
marketplace, witnessing the goings on, a certain illiterate rustic 
approached him, Aristides, and asked Aristides to write on the shell 
the name ``Aristides.'' Aristides was somewhat surprised and curious, 
and he asked the individual if Aristides had ever done him, the 
individual, a wrong?
  The rustic replied, ``No, nor do I even know him; but it vexes me to 
everywhere hear him called the Just.''
  I wonder sometimes if this is not what we see all too often, by those 
who envy the achievers.
  The scriptures say, ``Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but 
who is able to stand before envy?''
  Mr. President, it is the same story with anyone who accomplishes 
things and in some way establishes a good name for himself. There will 
always be those who will criticize the achievers among us. The world 
will always be divided into two classes: those who go ahead and do 
things, and those who sit on the sidelines and say, ``Why was it not 
done the other way?''
  Alexander the Great bore the censures of his critics with great 
moderation and used to say, ``There was something noble in hearing 
himself ill spoken of while he was doing well.''
  And Voltaire says somewhere that it is a noble thing to make 
ingrates.
  I think it best to heed Polonius' advice to Laertes, as given to us 
in Hamlet,

     Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment
     . . . this, above all: to thine ownself be true,
     and it must follow, as the night the day,
     thou canst not be false to any man.

  So, if I may close with a few words of comfort and encouragement to 
Sheila, they would be these: You have shown that you ``can keep your 
head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.'' 
Continue on this path of duty.
  I say to Senators, I think we err if we do not encourage those who 
achieve. So I want to add my words of encouragement to Sheila Burke.
  Continue on the path of duty. Do not be turned aside by the skeptics, 
the doubters, the cynics. Satisfaction will come in the serenity of a 
clear conscience and the knowledge that:

     Tired of the Senate's barren brawl,
     An hour with silence we prefer,
     Where statelier rise the woods than all
     Yon towers of talk at Westminster.
     Let this man prate and that man plot,
     On fame or place or title bent:
     The votes of veering crowds are not
     The things that are more excellent.

  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  

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