[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 206 (Thursday, December 21, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S19078-S19080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING SENATOR DOLE'S SERVICE AS REPUBLICAN FLOOR LEADER

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the Senator for his characteristic 
courtesy. I will be brief.
  Mr. President, today Senator Robert Dole equals the record set by 
Charles McNary, of Oregon, as the longest serving Republican floor 
leader. Senator McNary served as floor leader for 10 years, 11 months, 
and 18 days, until his death on February 25, 1944.
  Senator Dole, who began his service as leader on January 3, 1985, 
will have served 10 years, 11 months, and 18 days, as of the close of 
business today. That is quite a record. Tomorrow, the Lord willing, 
Senator Dole will break the all-time record for the longest serving 
Republican floor leader.
  I have been majority leader, minority leader, and majority leader 
again. I know something about the burdens that a leader carries. It is 
a thankless task. All of his colleagues think that they can do a better 
job than he can do as leader, or at least I kind of had that feeling 
when I was leader. And it is a heavy responsibility.
  Senator Dole has served his country on the far-flung battlefields, he 
has sacrificed for his country on foreign battlefields, and he has 
served his country on the legislative battlefield. I salute him and 
commend him.
  He broke Everett Dirksen's record as second longest serving 
Republican floor 

[[Page S19079]]
leader on September 4 of this year. I served here when the late Everett 
Dirksen graced this Chamber, serving at that desk where Senator Dole 
now serves as majority leader. And I also served with Howard Baker, who 
was Everett Dirksen's son-in-law. Dirksen served 10 years and 8 months, 
extending from January 7, 1959, to September 7, 1969.
  So, I salute Bob Dole and I wish him many, many happy returns on this 
day. It is not his birthday, but he equals the record of the longest 
serving Republican leader. I look forward to tomorrow, when he will 
break that record.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a list of all the 
Republican floor leaders with their dates and length of service be 
printed in the Record at this point.
  There being no objection, the list was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                        REPUBLICAN FLOOR LEADERS                        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Length of service                Name          Service as leader
------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 years, 11 mos., 18 days......  Charles L. McNary   Mar. 7, 1933-Feb. 
                                   (OR).               25, 1944         
10 years, 8 mos.................  Everett M. Dirksen  Jan. 7, 1959-Sept.
                                   (IL).               7, 1969          
10 years. 5 mos. [to June 1995].  Bob Dole (KS).....  Jan. 3, 1985-     
                                                       present          
8 years.........................  Howard H. Baker,    Jan. 4, 1977-Jan. 
                                   Jr. (TN).           3, 1985          
7 years, 4 mos..................  Hugh D. Scott, Jr.  Sept. 24, 1969-   
                                   (PA).               Jan. 3, 1977     
5 years, 5 mos..................  William F.          Aug. 4, 1953-Jan. 
                                   Knowland (CA).      3, 1959          
4 years, 4 mos..................  Charles Curtis      Nov. 28, 1924-Mar.
                                   (KS).               3, 1929          
4 years.........................  James E. Watson     Mar. 5, 1929-Mar. 
                                   (IN).               3, 1933          
4 years.........................  Wallace H. White,   Jan. 4, 1945-Jan. 
                                   Jr. (ME).           3, 1949          
2 years, 11 mos.................  Kenneth S. Wherry   Jan. 3, 1947-Nov. 
                                   (NE).               29, 1951         
1 year..........................  Styles Bridges      Jan. 8, 1952-Jan. 
                                   (NH).               2, 1953          
7 mos...........................  Robert A. Taft      Jan. 2, 1953-July 
                                   (OH).               31, 1953         
------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Mr. BYRD. I thank my friend from Nevada, Senator Reid, for his 
kindness and courtesy in yielding.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, before my friend, the distinguished senior 
Senator from West Virginia leaves the floor, I join in commending the 
majority leader for his service.
  But I was thinking, as the distinguished Senator was speaking, that 
Robert Dole has been Republican floor leader longer than I have been in 
the Senate, a year longer than I have been in the Senate. If there were 
ever an illustration of why the term limit argument is so worthless, we 
need only look at the distinguished services rendered by Senator Robert 
Dole.
  Those people who are still beating the drums--the unconstitutional 
drums, I might add--of term limits are people who do not recognize that 
being a great leader does not come overnight. Even though I do not 
always agree with the majority leader I have always found him to be 
fair, deliberate, and really statesmanlike in the things that he does 
in the Senate. That did not come by accident. He, as has been outlined 
by the Senator from West Virginia, has served not only in the military 
but in this body for many years. And the only thing term limits would 
do is increase the power of bureaucrats, those nameless, faceless 
people that do not answer phones, who we continually hear complaints 
about. It would also greatly increase the power of the lobbyists who 
fill these hallways of the U.S. Senate, and, of course, it would also 
increase the power of congressional staff and weaken the ability of the 
American public to be served well.
  So, I commend and applaud the Senator from West Virginia for 
recognizing the great services of the Senator from Kansas, service that 
will go down in the history books. And also my editorial comment, that 
term limits are a bad idea today, tomorrow, and any other time.
  Mr. DORGAN. Will the Senator yield for just a moment?
  Mr. REID. I am happy to yield.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, if I might just make an observation, I was 
struck by the comments offered by the Senator from West Virginia and by 
the Senator from Nevada. I have had exactly the same thoughts, 
especially in recent days when we have seen, sometimes, behavior that 
seems intemperate and behavior that does not always do this institution 
proud, to recall there are people who have served many, many years in 
this institution, whose knowledge, whose understanding, and whose 
wisdom serves this country well.
  With respect to Senator Dole, I have said before on the Senate floor 
and I will say again today, while I do not always agree with him--in 
fact, sometimes we have very vigorous debate about policy--I have 
enormous respect for his capabilities, and I have enormous respect for 
his service to this country as a U.S. Senator.
  It seems to me that this country has been well served for many, many 
decades by service from people with names like Webster and Calhoun and 
Clay, and so many others, and in this century, Goldwater and Humphrey, 
and so many others, including Senator Robert C. Byrd. And it especially 
includes Senator Robert Dole.
  I think almost all of us in this Chamber, no matter where we come 
from or what our political philosophy is, respect the leadership and 
the service offered this country by the distinguished majority leader.
  I appreciate very much hearing the comments, the generous and 
appropriate comments offered today about Senator Dole, by the Senator 
from West Virginia. And I appreciate the Senator from Nevada yielding 
to me.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Will the Senator from Nevada yield as well?
  Mr. REID. I am happy to yield to the Democratic leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I appreciate, again, the Senator yielding 
the time. I know the Senator from Nevada did not come to the floor to 
talk specifically about this issue, but I want to commend the 
distinguished Senator from West Virginia for calling to the attention 
of the Senate this important day. I think it is obvious, from many of 
the comments made by Members on this side of the aisle, the respect and 
the extraordinary degree of real friendship that we have for the 
majority leader. As many have also indicated, there are many, many 
occasions when we find ourselves in disagreement, but never, hopefully, 
to be disagreeable.
  Our view is that we have been led well by this majority leader and, 
obviously, in the tradition of the majority leadership of the Senator 
from West Virginia, Senator Dole has served us very ably. He is a 
person who wants to get things done. He is a person who recognizes the 
philosophical differences, the partisan differences that we hold. But 
he is also a person I have found to be immensely helpful and supportive 
in my new role as the Democratic leader.
  I have had the good fortune to work with many people on both sides of 
the aisle since coming to the Senate, but I know of no one on the 
Republican side of the aisle with whom I have enjoyed working more and 
for whom I have greater respect. So it is important that on this 
special day we call attention to his service and to the great affection 
in which he is held by so many Members on this side of the aisle.
  I share my congratulations with the Senator from West Virginia, the 
Senator from North Dakota, and the Senator from Nevada, in expressing 
our best wishes to him as we mark this special occasion.
  I yield the floor, and I thank the Senator for yielding.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from 
North Dakota is recognized.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I believe that order should be that the 
Senator from Nevada had the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator yielded 2 minutes under a previous 
order.
  So I recognize the Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. My understanding is that the Senator from North Dakota 
wished the floor. I would be happy to yield the floor for whatever time 
the Senator may take and I still maintain my right to the floor.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Nevada for his 
very generous willingness to give me some time.
  First, on the matter of the majority leader, I want to join my 
colleagues in recognizing his service as a leader in the U.S. Senate. 
His period of time as leader, I understand, has extended over 10 years. 
That is longer than I have served in the U.S. Senate. I, too, admire 
the Senator from Kansas. I have found that he is somebody who commands 
respect. He does his homework. He leads his side of the aisle in a very 
vigorous and determined way. While there are many times that we 
disagree on a policy issue, I have never thought that he is someone who 
commands anything other than full respect. And I want to add my voice 
to the voices of others. 

[[Page S19080]]

  Frankly, I think we could use a good bit more of that around here, 
recognizing the worth of people on both sides, because I have found 
that colleagues on both sides of the aisle in this Chamber are some of 
the finest people I have ever known. Just because we have differences 
and we debate vigorously does not diminish the value nor the humanity 
of anyone on either side. Maybe that is a word that needs to go out 
from this Chamber more; that people who serve here are worthy, and they 
are good people.
  In fact, I think my constituents sometimes are surprised when I tell 
them that I find, on both sides of the aisle, the people that I serve 
with are some of the finest people I have ever known, the people who 
are in the U.S. Senate.

                          ____________________