[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 138 (Monday, September 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11836-S11837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RETIRING SENATE COLLEAGUES

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, first, I thank my friend and colleague from 
Oklahoma for his usual courtesy.
  Mr. President, I had spoken before about various Members of this body 
who are retiring. But last week, as I was sitting at my home in 
Vermont, looking back down through the list of those retiring Senators 
of both parties--many of whom, incidentally, visited Vermont at one 
time or another--I was struck by a common thread. Let me tell you, 
first, of the Senators who are retiring, and then I will speak of that 
thread.
  Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon, the distinguished chairman of the 
Senate Appropriations Committee; Senator Pell of Rhode Island, the 
former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and one of the most 
senior Members of this body--in fact, I believe the most senior one 
retiring this year; Senator Sam Nunn, former chairman of the Armed 
Services Committee and Senator Bennett Johnston, former chairman of the 
Energy Committee, both of whom came here a couple of years ahead of me; 
Senators David Pryor of Arkansas and Paul Simon of Illinois, and Alan 
Simpson of Wyoming; William Cohen of Maine. Senators Nancy Kassebaum of 
Kansas,

[[Page S11837]]

Howell Heflin of Alabama, Jim Exon of Nebraska, Bill Bradley of New 
Jersey, and Hank Brown of Colorado.
  All of these people served with distinction, each for different 
reasons, each for their own area of expertise. But when you look down 
through this list, if you are one of the people who handicaps political 
races, you would have to say, whether you were Republican or Democrat, 
the thing they each have in common is that each one of these Senators 
would have been reelected. The Democrats in this list would have easily 
been reelected. The Republicans in this list would have been easily 
reelected. A couple have literally run without opposition in the past.
  Maybe it says something about this body. To me, it says two things. 
One is that we have fallen, both here and in the other body, fallen 
into the habit of allowing things to become too partisan, too personal, 
and, in many instances, mean. There is too much aiming for the special 
interest groups of the ultraright or the ultraleft, too often looking 
for legislation that is designed to be a slogan, rather than to be of 
substance for this country.
  But the people I have mentioned here are the ones who have tried to 
stay away from that, who have tried to bring us back to the middle, 
back to the center, realizing at some point Republicans and Democrats 
have to come together.
  I think of Mark Hatfield and what he has done, both as chairman and 
as ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, where if 
there is ever a committee where individual interests sometimes go way 
over any question of ideology, it is in that committee. How many times 
he has brought us all together so we could come out for the good of the 
country.
  Senator Kassebaum, who in her work, her quiet work but her steady and 
honest and complete work for this country and for this body, both as 
chair of her committee and as representative of her State, earned the 
complete applause of every Member of this body. There is not a Member 
here who is happy to see her retire. We all wish she would stay. That 
is obviously the way the people of Kansas feel.
  Senator Sam Nunn, who is recognized by Republicans and Democrats 
alike as one of the foremost voices in this body on defense matters, 
someone to whom both Republican and Democratic Presidents have gone, as 
have the leaders of both parties in here, time and time again, for 
advice and help and support--again, one who brought Republicans and 
Democrats together.
  Bennett Johnston, who is probably as able a legislator as I have ever 
served with, again, as both chairman and ranking member, taking 
legislation through this body that would have stymied anybody else.
  Alan Simpson, a person with whom I share a great friendship, as well 
as, I might say, the same barber. He has an ability and a very candid, 
some would say earthy style of bringing us together. He is also a 
person who has always kept his word to both sides of the aisle.

  Bill Cohen is a man who brings a legislator's expertise but a poet's 
soul to this body. He has worked so often with me and with others on 
this side of the aisle to craft bipartisan solutions to some of the 
most difficult issues in this body, ranging from the use of our 
intelligence agencies to our worldwide power.
  Howell Heflin, with whom I sat in both the Agriculture and Judiciary 
Committees, the wise judge who, when we are unable to reach a solution, 
somehow seems to come up with one--again, that brings us together.
  Claiborne Pell, one of the most distinguished Members of this body, 
and most loved Members, a quiet man who, again, always seems to do what 
is right.
  Paul Simon, historian, at the time when this body is losing so much 
of its sense of history, again, he will bring us back, over and over 
again, not only to what is right but also what is historically right.
  You see Hank Brown, Bill Bradley, Jim Exon, people with whom I have 
either served on committees or committees of conference with them or as 
cosponsors of their legislation, again, understanding that at some 
point we have to come together.
  I believe I mentioned all in this list, except for Senator David 
Pryor. It is no overstatement to say David Pryor is the friend of all 
of us. We all understand David's motivation in leaving, both for his 
health, and for his family--primarily for family. David Pryor would not 
have been contested this year. He would have won virtually by 
acclamation in Arkansas.
  There is hardly a Member in this body who has not gone to David at 
some point and said, ``How do we get out of this impasse? How do we 
work it through?'' I must say, President Clinton, in good days and in 
bad days, has been fortunate to have David Pryor here, as one he could 
speak to and from whom he could get an honest assessment, and also one 
we could speak to, whether we had good news or bad news for the 
President.
  All of these people will be missed, but I don't think we can 
overstate that what we have lost by these Senators leaving. They leave 
behind a body that grows increasingly polarized, and the country 
suffers, the Senate suffers. I have said so many times--it is a mantra 
almost to me--this body should be the conscience of the Nation. The 
conscience is one where we come together collectively and speak to the 
best instincts in the greatest democracy history has ever known. This 
requires men and women of good will in both parties to recognize the 
differences in each other's region of the country, in each other's 
philosophy, sometimes in each other's goals * * * but, through all 
that, to understand ultimately it is the United States' goals that must 
be met. It is this country's goals that must be met, but it is also the 
history and the integrity of this body that must be preserved.
  We are making decisions for our children and for our grandchildren. 
They are going to live most of their lives in the next century. Our 
decisions should be for that next century, not just for this week's 
partisan gain or this election's partisan gain or this evening's news.
  So I hope when we come back into session in January--and I will be 
one who will be here--that all of us, Democrats and Republicans alike, 
will pledge to follow the examples of so many of these Senators I have 
talked about, and work to come together, not to further polarize, both 
this body and the other body. In the end, neither party gains or loses 
an advantage by that polarization, but the country does lose--it loses 
badly.
  Every one of us will say goodbye with fondness and affection to these 
Members of the Senate. Each one of us will miss these Members of the 
Senate, no matter which party we belong to. But I might add, if we want 
to honor their distinguished service in this body, let's do it by 
pledging, as we come into the 105th Congress, that we do it with more a 
sense of comity, of accommodation, of bipartisanship and upholding the 
Nation's interests and the responsibilities and respect and proud 
history of the U.S. Senate.

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