[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 18, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10741-S10742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            HOWARD O. GREENE

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a true 
professional, a loyal public servant, a staff member and Senate 
official who has served the Senate with allegiance and honor during his 
28 years of working for this body, in this body, and with this body--
Howard O. Greene.

     It isn't enough that we say in our hearts
     That we like a man for his ways;
     And it isn't enough that we fill our minds
     With psalms of silent praise;
     Nor is it enough that we honor a man
     As our confidence upward mounts;
     It's going right up to the man himself
     And telling him so that counts.
     Then when a man does a deed that you really admire,
     Don't leave a kind word unsaid,
     For fear to do so might make him vain
     Or cause him to lose his head;
     But reach out your hand and tell him, ``Well done'',
     And see how his gratitude swells;
     It isn't the flowers we strew on the grave,
     It's the word to the living that tells.

  Yesterday, a goodly number of Senators on both sides of the aisle 
expressed their word to the living. Howard Greene served the Senate 
since 1968 as a door messenger, a Cloakroom assistant, the Assistant 
Secretary for the Minority, Secretary for the Majority, Secretary for 
the Minority, and most recently as Senate Sergeant at Arms.
  Now, these are the bare facts about Howard Greene's Senate career. 
But there is much more than one could say about Howard Greene's work. 
Over the years, I found him to be an individual of unfailing courtesy 
and cooperativeness, one who was always respectful of the Senators on 
this side of the aisle as well as those on the other side. His word was 
always his bond, and that counts a great deal in this day and time. He 
was a man of strict principle in this Chamber, and absolute dedication 
to duty, dedication to his party, dedication to the Senate.
  He carried out his many responsibilities in the various Senate 
offices which he held with distinction and uncommon integrity. He 
unfailingly presented his views in an objective and straightforward 
manner.
  During my years in the majority as leader of my party, and during my 
years in the minority as leader of my party in the Senate, I always 
found Howard Greene to be trustworthy, forthright, straightforward, 
honest. It was not just a job for Howard Greene; it was a calling. He 
literally devoted his life to this institution. And so today, he richly 
deserves all of the accolades of yesterday, when a resolution 
commending him for his outstanding service and an outstanding career 
was adopted by the full Senate.
  He will be missed on both sides of the aisle. I will miss him, and he 
will be missed on a personal and on a professional basis. I wish him 
all the best in his future endeavors, and I hope that he will come 
around and see his old friends.
  I consider him to be my friend. Friendship crosses the aisle, 
friendship crosses party lines. ``He that hath friends must show 
himself friendly.''
  I say to my true and dear friend, John Chafee, a Republican Senator 
from the State of Rhode Island, who is my friend, has been my friend, 
and will always be my friend, that we should treasure friendships. I 
treasure a friend and a friendship like that of Howard Greene.

     I shot an arrow into the air,
     It fell to earth, I knew not where;
     For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
     Could not follow it in its flight.

     I breathed a song into the air,
     It fell to earth, I knew not where;
     For who has sight so keen and strong,
     That it can follow the flight of song?

     Long, long afterward, in an oak
     I found the arrow, still unbroke;
     And the song, from beginning to end,
     I found again in the heart of a friend----

  Howard Greene.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. CHAFEE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished senior Senator 
from West Virginia for the very kind comments that he made about the 
friendship that we have had. I am here now in my 20th year, and as I 
look back on the individuals I have known here and the friends I have 
had and the respect I have for them, there is none that stands higher 
than the distinguished senior Senator from West Virginia, who I feel 
lucky to have known. We have worked together on issues. Sometimes we 
have been in opposition on issues, I will confess to that, but never 
with rancor and always with friendship and always with, certainly from 
my point of view, respect, and I would like to believe the respect was 
mutual.
  I am absolutely confident that there is no tribute that Howard Greene 
has received on this floor that will mean more to him than the one he 
has received from the distinguished senior Senator from West Virginia, 
because he has, as do all the Members on this side and all the Members 
of the Senate, tremendous respect and affection for the gentleman who 
once upon a time was majority leader, and he has been minority leader. 
He has had every post in

[[Page S10742]]

the Senate. And Howard Greene, I know, will be very, very pleased to 
receive the accolades that came from the distinguished senior Senator 
from West Virginia.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Rhode 
Island for his kind remarks. He is a gentleman, and his high dedication 
to purpose is worthy of adulation and emulation. I shall always 
treasure our associations over the years, and I look forward to the 
future years of service with my friend, John Chafee.
  Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, again, I thank the Senator and say how 
flattered I am by the kind comments that the Senator from West Virginia 
made about me.

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