[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 138 (Monday, September 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11964-S11965]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RETIREMENT OF SENATOR NANCY KASSEBAUM

  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. For the past 17 years, the people of Kansas and of 
the United States have had the great honor of being represented by 
Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum. For the past 4 years, I have had the 
privilege of serving with her.
  I am here today because of I admire what she has accomplished in the 
Senate, what she has modeled for women and because I am pleased to be 
able to call her my friend.
  I have disagreed with Senator Kassebaum on some legislative issues, 
but on many occasions there were common ground and agreement. 
Nonetheless, I always knew that she considered issues fully and made 
independent judgements on the merit of a specific piece of legislation. 
I know that she always considered the competing interests and judged 
them against her own beliefs.
  Senator Kassebaum has championed causes that I hold dear, including 
reproductive choice, responsible gun control, and the 1994 crime bill 
that, among other things, sent police back to the neighborhoods to walk 
the beat. But even when I don't agree with her, I respect her 
intellect, her integrity, and her votes, for they are always votes of 
conscience.
  Her leadership of the Labor, Education, and Human Resources Committee 
exemplifies her desire and ability to work across party lines on issues 
such as health insurance portability which is vital to working families 
and to the Nation.
  She is the first woman in the Senate ever to chair a full committee. 
In this, as in all her accomplishments, Senator Kassebaum is a role 
model for women. She showed women active in community issues or serving 
in local and State governments, that they could aspire to more.
  She served from 1978 to 1980 as the only female member of this 
illustrious body. I remember when I got here, elected with three other 
female freshman, and they handed me a spouse's I. D. badge. I know that 
mistakes like this must have been plentiful when Senator Kassebaum 
arrived. From all the women Senators, I thank her for making things 
easier for us, in the little and the big ways.
  I'd like to note that it is not just her colleagues who hold Senator 
Kassebaum in such high esteem. There is a quote in an A.P. story from a 
University of Kansas political science professor that I'd like to share 
because it illustrates the enormous respect and affection felt by 
Kansans for the Senator. ``[Senator] Kassebaum sometimes deferred to 
[Senator] Dole as a leader. But [Senator] Dole knew, every day he went 
to work, that he was the second-most popular politician in Kansas.''

[[Page S11965]]

 Another newspaper quotes a Democratic official as saying that in 
Kansas, ``the only thing more popular than Nancy is wheat.'' Now that's 
saying something.
  The last thing that I would like to say today on the floor is that I 
will miss Senator Kassebaum. I will miss talking with her on the floor. 
I will miss her contributions to legislative debate. And I will miss 
her great and moderate influence on this body as a whole.
  We need more Senators like Nancy Kassebaum in the Senate. I think the 
Senate, the people of Kansas, and Americans all across this country are 
lucky to have had her service in the Senate.

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