[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 137 (Saturday, September 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11713-S11715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          A CAREER IN POLITICS

  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I will speak a bit about the fact that 
this will be my last opportunity to be on this floor. Indeed, it has 
been a rich and wonderful experience.
  There are several corollaries that I could share with those who come 
after me with regard to legislating. One is that legislating is very 
dry work, if done properly. It is not about sound bites. It is not 
about press conferences. It is called hard work--doing your homework, 
doing the hearings, sitting at the hearings, getting involved in the 
floor debate, the conference committee, and the all-night sessions. 
That is what it is. And there are many who do it well.
  The occupant of the Chair is a classic example of a legislator--a 
true legislator; a right down-in-the-trench legislator, and he knows 
the rules of the game to help get the work done. And no one is more 
skilled than that.
  There is another one as skilled--perhaps more. And I think the 
Senator in the chair would admit that it is Senator Robert Byrd of West 
Virginia who has become a very delightful friend. I wish that all here 
could get to know Robert Byrd as I have come to know him--a most 
extraordinary Renaissance type of legislator; a soaring and 
extraordinary person who knows his craft. And all of us would admit 
that without any possible exception.
  So to Robert Byrd, my thanks because he ``trained me up.'' He taught 
me so much. And when I was a rambunctious, new assistant majority 
leader, he took me under his wing. One night I remember he was on the 
other side of a rather wrenching all-night session. And I was hunting 
for ways out. I said, ``Robert, how do I get out of this?'' He said, 
``Now, sit down, Alan.''
  I shall relate to you some things that later will be discerned where 
they may have come from where you will be unable to identify the 
source.
  Then he told me how to extricate myself. I did it in a way which, 
obviously, was deferential and pleasing to him, and certainly to me it 
``saved my bacon,'' would be the phrase.
  I have not forgotten that. I would never forget those things.
  So it has been a great joy to serve with him.
  Then, of course, my dear colleague, Craig Thomas. We didn't come here 
together but we grew up together. We

[[Page S11714]]

were boyhood chums in Cody, WY. Imagine the pleasure of serving in a 
legislature with someone you knew from the fifth year of life; watch 
him come here, and serve with him. He is a wonderful man; a great, 
great friend; and his wife, Susan.
  They will now take the role of senior Senator from Wyoming.
  So that is a part of the swan song. Those other corollaries of 
legislating--I see there is stirring here. Whenever you are ready to 
proceed, why, just let me know, and I will, of course, defer to the 
process, having done that kind of work.
  Several corollaries, the best of them. There was a great one. That is 
this: Everything here hangs by a thread. Do not forget that one. We all 
learn that one.
  Another one is: Nothing ever dies. If it is not here this year, it 
will come back, like Lazarus from the dead, next year with a new 
shroud, a little tattered with more dirt clods on it but literally will 
rise from the dead. Legislation never dies. Staff assures that. Staff 
is eternal. Legislating and legislators move on.
  Another one is: Get a crumb when you can't get a loaf. If you have 
not learned that--you either learn to compromise or learn to cry 
yourself to sleep at night. That is the way that works. And then 
remember something, too, at least for Republicans, and that is 
Democrats do good work, too. I know that is a sick idea to some, but 
nevertheless it is true. And to my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle, I say Republicans do good work, too.
  I think the occupant of the chair will agree; I have never seen in my 
entire 31 years of legislating what I think is a very bad precedent, 
and that is a conference committee conferencing without the other side 
present. That cannot be done. And the sooner that stops, the better off 
this place will be. You cannot have a conference committee when you 
just have one party in the room. I have had it done to me, and I did 
not like it at all. I will not name the chairman involved, but I will 
never forget it; we just met and the hammer went down and said, ``There 
is the report. You do not have to sign the conference committee 
report.''
  I said, ``We haven't even talked about it. We don't know what it 
is.''
  ``Well, we are in the majority. School's out.''
  So then we came back and we did that ourselves, and that is very 
unfortunate. I hope that does not happen again. It is not worthy of the 
legislative body. And maybe I was raised by the masters, but I have 
conferenced with people like Mo Udall, and John Dingell, and Peter 
Rodino, and Ron Mazzoli, who are wonderful people. You learn from them 
and you learn in a conference that the Democrats have ideas, too. They 
are often well worth hearing.
  I note the presence of the assistant leader, and I believe there is 
some papers to move. I will defer if the Senator wishes to move those 
or take another 5 minutes and conclude.
  Mr. NICKLES. Go ahead.
  Mr. SIMPSON. Having, as I said, done that work also.
  So I would say that it has been a great run for me to have served 
with Malcolm Wallop, a wonderful man, who was our defense expert in 
this body. Dick Cheney, how can you say any more about that man? A 
great old friend who served Wyoming with great distinction. Craig 
Thomas, Barbara Cubin in the House. There have been some great honors, 
great friends, great adventures.
  Ten years of serving with Bob Dole was a remarkable honor and 
privilege. What a great man he is. There isn't a person in this body 
who has ever worked with him who would not know that. And then, of 
course, the special class of 1978, many of them still here and soon to 
go. Ones who are still here: Bill Bradley, Thad Cochran, Bill Cohen, 
Jim Exon, Howell Heflin, Nancy Kassebaum, Carl Levin, Larry Pressler, 
Dave Pryor, John Warner. We all came here together. Many of us will 
leave together. And they have been the dearest of friends, very special 
people.

  I have been blessed with a wonderful staff: Don Hardy, my chief of 
staff, whom I have known since he was 14 years old. He was a spirited 
man then, spirited boy; a spirited colt makes the best horse. I saw 
great potential in him, and he met every bit of it; Joe Ratliff, my 
first campaign manager, my first AA; Chuck Blahous, who will go on now 
to serve with Senator Craig, who is just everything. There is not a 
thing he can't do--anything, marvelous; Tad Segal, my able press 
person; Tote Turner and Brad Westby, who sit at the front office and 
take all the abuse that some rugged old people can give like ``Where is 
that big, skinny rascal? I want to tack him up on the wall.''
  ``Yes, sir. How are you today? And I hear you.''
  And Evora Williams and Carroll Wood and Margaret Carroll who were 
here with Cliff Hansen, Senator Cliff Hansen for nearly 12 years and 
with me for 18, so they have invested 30 years of their lives in 
representing Wyoming people; and Laurie Rosen, my scheduler who 
controls my life in a gentle, bright way; and Don Hardy, the Veterans' 
Affairs Committee, more than a chief counsel, a lovely friend; Dick 
Day. I related I brought him here to do immigration work: ``Come on out 
here; I need somebody who cares about me. I'm going into the tank where 
I will be called everything.''
  Well, that was true. I was called everything. And Dick Day met every 
test--every test, every friendship demand; Scott Northrop, his patience 
in ferrying me around from place to place and also very able 
legislative assistant in his own right.
  I could go on. And you are thinking, ``He is going to.'' Diane 
Rodekohr, my coordinator in Wyoming, there is nothing like her--
absolutely splendid, efficient, tactical, and so precise, so good; 
Robin Bailey from the beginning almost, 14 years, handles all my 
Academy appoints, does the grunt work and tough stuff; Lyn Shanaghy in 
Jackson and her husband, Joe, very wonderful people; Karen McCreery in 
Cody. I hope I will see much more of her, and I will, because in my 
other life to come she will be right there at my side. And she has been 
at my side all these years.
  I could go on. Cherie Burd, Olivia Haag. I ask unanimous consent to 
have printed in the Record the list of the people who served with me. I 
will enter that into the Record without any further information other 
than that because I cannot take much more time of the body.
  There being no objection, the list was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

       Robin Bailey, David Balland, Chuck Blahous, Cherie Burd, 
     Paul Burgess, Chad Calvert, Margaret Carroll, Dick Day, 
     Dennis G. Doherty, Rosalie L. Ducosin, Demerie Edington, Kate 
     Edmands, Tammy Farmer, Jodi Geis, Olivia Haag, Don Hardy, Tom 
     Harvey, Ron Hindle, Becket Hinckley, Allison Johnston, and 
     John Knepper.
       Karin Leishman, Karin L. McCarthy, Karin McCreery, Scott 
     Northrop, Ron Niesing, Jim Nyberg, Linda H. Reamy, Diane 
     (Dee) Rodekohr, Laurie Rosen, Tad Segal, Trudy Settles, Lyn 
     Shanaghy, Elizabeth Shaw, Chris Spear, Vivian Stokes, Sandra 
     Green Swirski, Stephanie Sword, Dawn Taylor, Dat P. Tran, 
     William F. Tuerk, Tote Turner, Mark VanKoevering, Brad 
     Westby, Evora Williams, Carroll Wood, Chip Wood, and Charles 
     ``Chris'' Yoder.

  Mr. SIMPSON. And a supportive spouse. Anyone in this line of work 
that does not have a supportive spouse is in for anguish. I have had a 
most remarkable woman at my side for 42 years. And as she said to me 
one day in a spirit of the campaign, she said, ``Wait a minute. Don't 
give me that. I'm a volunteer in this outfit.'' I remember that very 
well.
  But let me tell you, this is a consuming exercise and the sooner we 
learn that we are not partisans, we are not Democrat and Republican; we 
are colleagues in the U.S. Senate, the better. I learned it fast 
because I was the ranking junior Republican to Ted Kennedy, Al Cranston 
and Gary Hart when I came, and all three of them were running for 
President. I said, ``You run for President and I won't embarrass you, 
but let's not have any of this stuff,'' and never did. It was a 
tremendous experience.
  So I will now be going on to Harvard to teach. Yes, I know that is 
shocking to some but quite stimulating to others. Some even fell out of 
the gallery on that. Going to Harvard to teach. I will be at the 
Kennedy School of Government, to be a visiting professor there, the 
Lombard chair, after preparing my syllabus, whatever that is. And I 
shall teach, and the teaching will be the course called ``Creative 
Legislation, Congress and the Press.'' So you might imagine I will have 
a delightful experience in that.

[[Page S11715]]

  And then, of course, a book has been finished. That has a unique 
title. The title of that book is ``In the Old Gazoo: Observations From 
a Lifetime of Scrapping with the Press.'' And that book, of course, 
will be a remarkable document and certainly I will at least sell 50 
copies because I shall assign it to my class. And so that will be at 
least--now, let us see, the royalty on that.
  Well, there is no question about where we are headed here. So enough. 
The legacy that I have with Social Security is going to go on to Judd 
Gregg, wonderful, picking it right up where I left off. The legacy of 
immigration will go on to John Kyl and Dianne Feinstein, and that is 
spirited and I am pleased. The legacy of the Veterans' Affairs 
Committee will go to Arlen Specter and Jay Rockefeller, and they are 
both dedicated, passionate people about veterans. In fact, almost too 
much so. That is why we will have some further discussions together on 
that.
  But, I intend to work with young people. I intend to get involved 
with the Third Millennium. These are not antisenior people. These are 
young people. If people between 18 and 45 cannot figure out what is 
going to happen to them when they are 65, they will be picking grit 
with the chickens. We are going to work with them, we are going to talk 
about the entitlements and Social Security and Medicare.
  I commend the leaders I have worked with, Senator Nickles, Ted 
Stevens, Howard Baker, Robert Byrd, Al Cranston, Wendell Ford, George 
Mitchell, Tom Daschle, Trent Lott--doing a tremendous job. I am very 
proud of him.
  And particularly to the Wyoming people who allowed me to do this in 
my own way for 18 years--in my own unique way, however that is defined. 
But, to me it has been a true honor to represent this proud people of 
Wyoming, my native land, who are opinionated, thoughtful, articulate, 
and well read; who really let you know how they feel and don't mince 
words, and that is the way we do it out in the land of high altitude 
and low multitude.
  Someone asked me, what would be the epitaph you would like at the end 
of public life? It did not take me long to think of the answer. The 
answer is, ``You would have wanted him on your side.'' It has been a 
great run.
  God bless you all.
  Mr. President, it is very important that I relate the great pride I 
have in the fact that my father served in this U.S. Senate and what a 
sheer privilege and honor it has been to come here after him. He served 
here from 1962 to 1966 and retired because of arthritis and Parkinson's 
disease, and he lived to be 95. So I want to say that to carry on his 
legacy has been a moving thing. And as the passing parade of life goes 
on, in 18 years here, I want to recognize Bill, Colin, Susan, who are 
wonderful, dear, splendid people, all Ann's friends and my friends--our 
children. Since I came here, Bill has married Debbie, and we could not 
have found one like that for him. They have given us two grandchildren 
in the passing years, Beth and Eric--just dazzlers, both of them. And 
then Susan is married to a wonderful man named John Gallagher. Again, 
if you could go shopping for those in-laws, sons-in-laws and daughters-
in-law, those are two you would pick--Debbie and John. Colin is not 
linked up with anyone as yet. But he has had a great deal of hot 
pursuit over the years, in my time here. He is a wonderful, splendid 
man, the middle son.
  So my parents are, too, joined now and gone since I came here. I 
close with three things my parents taught me that I leave with you.
  No. 1, my mother said, ``Humor is the universal solvent against the 
abrasive elements of life.'' It is, and you need it here.
  No. 2 is our line of work, and Edmund Burke said it best. Listen to 
it:

       Those who would carry the great public schemes must be 
     proof against the most fatiguing delays, the most mortifying 
     disappointments, the most shocking insults, and the worse of 
     all--the presumptious judgment of the ignorant beyond their 
     design.

  That is our work. That is what we do. But in the combat of the day, 
the best one of all, if you are doing anything, you are making enemies. 
If you are doing nothing, or just want to be loved, get into another 
line of work, because here it is, all in this little couplet:

       You have no enemies, you say? My friend, your boast is 
     poor. For anyone who has entered the fray of duty, where the 
     brave endure, must have made foes. If he has none, small is 
     the work that he has done; he has never cast a cup from 
     perjured lips, he has never struck a trailer on the hip, 
     never turned a wrong to right, or beat a coward in a fight.

  I have lived that one. I commend it to you. Finally, on my wall in 
leather--appropriately, because leather is supple and tough--is this 
phrase:

       Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of 
     persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than 
     unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded 
     genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is 
     full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination 
     alone are omnipotent.

  I commend that to my colleagues. I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I wish to congratulate the very 
distinguished senior Senator from Wyoming. I will say, for one who has 
been in combat with my colleague from Wyoming, I would always say that 
I want him on my side. I look forward to reading his books.
  You might note, you will have at least 51 copies I know you will be 
enriched by the royalties of. We have all been enriched by your humor 
and participation in this body, one of the most colorful Members, one 
of the most humorous Members, one of the most dedicated Members, I 
think, to serve in the Senate--and with courage too, taking on little 
issues, tough issues, like entitlements and Social Security and so on.
  I just compliment my colleague from Wyoming, and I can speak on 
behalf of all my colleagues, we certainly value his contributions to 
this body and to our country. We wish you and your lovely bride, Ann, 
all the best in the future.
  Mr. SIMPSON. That is very nice. Thank you.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, I want to join the tribute to Al 
Simpson, the Senator from Wyoming. I came here with him and there is 
almost nobody I admire more than Al Simpson. I enjoyed that speech very 
much. I wish I could be in your class at Harvard. I think that would be 
fun. But stay within the subject matter.
  Mr. SIMPSON. Buy the book.

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