[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 138 (Monday, September 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11957]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SENATOR J. BENNETT JOHNSTON

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, let me also today pay tribute to a great 
Senator and a close and dear friend from the State of Louisiana, J. 
Bennett Johnston.
  Bennett Johnston has served his beloved State of Louisiana for the 
past 32 years. He began his life in politics in the Louisiana House of 
Representatives in 1964, and went on to the Louisiana Senate in 1968, 
and in 1972 he became a Member of the U.S. Senate, where he has served 
with great distinction and honor for the past 24 years.
  As much as any man or woman in this body, Bennett Johnston truly 
understands the critical importance of compromise, bipartisanship, and 
working across party lines. He always embraced the opportunity to 
engage an opponent rather than tear them down, and by doing so he has 
made the Senate a more civil place in which to serve.
  I think the words of our former colleague, Russell Long, best 
described Bennett Johnston's tenure. Russell Long said, ``No other 
Member of the Senate has accomplished more for the people he 
represents. No State in the Union has had a more faithful servant nor a 
more powerful advocate than Louisiana has had in Bennett Johnston.''
  Bennett Johnston was always looking out for the people and the best 
interests of the people of Louisiana. He became an expert on issues 
that make many Senators' eyes glaze over with the mere mention of the 
subject matter. But they were vitally critical to his State's future: 
wetlands issues, national defense, and energy policy.
  For his home State of Louisiana, Bennett Johnston worked to improve 
educational opportunities and helped to provide funds for new research 
facilities, better interstate highways, new ports, levies, and three 
national parks.
  His knowledge of the minutia of energy issues, his skill at crafting 
coalitions, and his tireless efforts shepherded one of the most 
comprehensive energy-related measures through the U.S. Senate in 1992. 
That bill remains one of the most important achievements of the 102d 
Congress, and it is a fitting legacy to Bennett Johnston's tenure in 
the U.S. Senate.
  When he announced his retirement from this body, he didn't use it as 
an opportunity to attack the Senate or to decry his service here, but 
instead to reaffirm his commitment to the principles and values of this 
institution, and of public service.
  I would like to quote from his own statement on the day he announced 
his retirement. He said, ``Politics and public service are synonymous 
with the pursuit of public office. It is a high calling in our society. 
It is the best opportunity for helping your State, your country, and 
your fellow man. The Senate, with its faults and criticisms, remains 
the bulwark of our democracy, and a hallowed institution. I will stand 
up for it, will not bash it, and will defend it against those who do.''
  Those words, I think, Mr. President, stand in sharp contrast to the 
voices of cynicism that we often hear not only in this town but also, 
frankly, too often in this Chamber. They are the words of a man who 
loves the U.S. Senate and who treasures the opportunity to serve his 
State and his country.
  To Bennett Johnston and his wife, Mary, and their family, I wish them 
Godspeed and the best wishes in their future endeavors.

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