[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 136 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11484]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       FAREWELL TO ``THE JUDGE''

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, the time has come that, I daresay, every 
Member in this Chamber, Republican as well as Democrat, hoped would 
never come. With the end of the 104th Congress, we must say goodbye to 
``The Judge''--Senator Howell Heflin.
  Since he was first elected to the Senate in 1978, the senior Senator 
from Alabama has always shown himself to be a southern gentleman of the 
first order. His word is his bond; his integrity and dedication to 
public service is without question; and his love of country and 
devotion for the U.S. Senate is apparent to all who know him.
  During his 18 years in the Senate, Senator Heflin has been 
respectfully called the ``spokesman for Southern agriculture'' for his 
efforts to improve the life and work of America's farmers and to 
preserve his State's valuable agricultural heritage.
  He is also commonly and warmly referred to as ``The Judge,'' not only 
for his years of service as the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme 
Court, but for his efforts in State court reform, his extraordinary 
leadership in fighting crime and drug abuse, and his service on both 
the Senate Judiciary and Ethics Committees. Dozens of times I have 
observed my colleagues seek his advice on how to vote on legal issues.
  Mr. President, I would like to add another characterization of ``The 
Judge''--I think of Senator Heflin as ``Mr. Alabama.'' No Senator has 
more cherished or more ably respesented his or her State than the 
senior senator from Alabama. He has magnificently and skillfully 
combined the national interest with the interest of his State through 
his support of Federal agricultural programs, America's space program, 
and the maintenance of a first-rate defense. Only in 1 year during his 
18 years in the Senate did he fail to visit each of the 67 counties in 
his State in order to do what he says he likes best--``talk to the home 
folks.''
  The people of Alabama, obviously, appreciated his work and his 
service. Never once did he poll less than 61 percent of the vote in any 
election.
  I will always remember ``The Judge.'' I will always remember him as a 
``public servant who served with dignity, integrity and diligence, 
worthy of the confidence and trust that Alabamians placed'' in him.
  And I miss him. I will miss his folksy, southern humor. His stories 
of ``Sockless Sam.'' His depictions of friends and foes alike--in his 
1990 campaign, he did not run against a mere Republican, he ran against 
a ``Gucci-shoed, Mercedes-driving, Jacuzzi-soaking, Perrier-drinking, 
Grey Poupon Republican.''
  Now the time has come. I say thank you and congratulations to Senator 
Heflin on a remarkable career in the Senate. I wish him all the best, 
and to his wonderful wife, ``Mike,'' as they embark on the next phase 
of their lives--their return to Tuscumbia, which, ``Mr. Alabama'' has 
called ``a wonderful little town to be from and best little town in 
America to go him to.''
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. DeWine). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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