[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 140 (Wednesday, October 2, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12177-S12178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO RETIRING SENATORS


                        Senator Bennett Johnston

  Mr. DOMENICI. I have not had occasion to speak on the floor with 
reference to some of my close friends, retiring Senators, other than 
some remarks I made with reference to Bennett Johnston. We came to the 
Senate together, and I addressed my thoughts on Bennett Johnston. He is 
my ranking member and I have been his.
  Now I will take a few minutes to talk about a number of Members. I do 
not know that I will be able to comment on all my fellow colleagues 
that are leaving, but I will briefly state my remarks, and I hope 
brevity is not taken by any of the departing Senators as an indication 
of my heartfelt feelings. In a few minutes I will cover a lot of them 
with some observation that I remember most specifically about each 
Senator.


                           Senator Paul Simon

  I start with a Democrat Senator, Senator Paul Simon from the State of 
Illinois. I perceive, as I look at Senator Simon, that he was a quiet 
man, who acquired a great deal of respect in this Chamber and became 
very effective because he has been very forthright in the manner that 
he does business and carries out his initiatives and efforts.
  He has always put all his cards on the table, even in cases where not 
all the cards were on his side. I think his reputation for integrity 
and honesty, along with his articulate manner of presenting things in a 
low-key manner, have gained him a significant reward in this 
institution by way of his accomplishments. We will miss him.
  Obviously, he has done work in mental illness parity, the Genetic 
Privacy Act, the balanced budget amendment for which he will be known, 
line-item veto, some work on homelessness, problems of violence on 
television, and the programming that he has deemed indecent and not 
worthy of presentation. I commend him for his time in the Senate and 
wish him and his wonderful wife the very best.


                           Senator Hank Brown

  Second, I take a few moments to talk about Senator Brown from the 
State of Colorado. I wanted to say right up front, I have been in this 
Chamber now for 24 years, 4 terms. I have not seen a Senator make as 
much of an impact in 6 short years as has the distinguished Senator, 
Senator Brown, from the State of Colorado. He is a man with great 
talent, a marvelous wit, and a great knack for making the complicated 
simple. He has helped us present very complex issues in ways that the 
American people understand, and he has done that wherever he chose in 
whatever committee work or here on the Senate floor.
  No one was more effective in defeating the 19 billion dollars' worth 
of so-called stimulus package proposed by President Clinton which would 
have been $19 billion more added to the deficit. Senator Brown provided 
clear, powerful examples and straightforward and practical reasons as 
to why we should not do that. His ideas were contagious, and I believe 
among the many things he can take credit for, it is this example of 
clarity that he gave to all of us which permitted an issue that 
clearly, clearly, should not have gone the way the President asked. 
Because of him, it did not.


                            Senator Jim Exon

  Let me take just a moment to talk about another Senator. First of 
all, I wish I had more time to talk about my cohort on the Budget 
Committee, Senator Exon, of the State of Nebraska. But as I indicated, 
I do not have enough time to say all that I would like, and I don't 
believe I will find enough time; but here are the three things I recall 
most vividly about the Senator. First and foremost--and only people who 
work with the budget will appreciate this--I think Senator Exon should 
be commended because, as he took over the Budget Committee, he was 
fully aware that you can't do that work without the very best staff. He 
retained and added to the fine staff, and, as a consequence, the work 
and combat of budgeting was done in a professional manner, in a manner 
clearly calculated to present the facts and the truth.

  Obviously, he has been a leader in budget matters, a strong Senator 
in

[[Page S12178]]

favor of fiscal control. While we may differ, there is no question that 
in my chairmanship and his ranking membership of that committee, we 
clearly set the tone for the country that a balanced budget was 
absolutely necessary for the future of our children and our country. He 
has gained expertise, obviously, in some special areas of armed 
services, for which I commend him. Those who are in agriculture and 
farming in his State know how hard he worked to maintain the right 
things, as he saw them, for that part of America's marketplace mix. 
Much of that was directed at his State, but it helped many farmers 
everywhere.


                         Senator Howell Heflin

  Mr. President, I have just a few remarks about the distinguished 
Senator, Senator Heflin. I think we all know this Senator came here as 
a renowned judicial reformist from his State, where he presided in a 
masterful way over reorganizing the judicial system and putting honesty 
and integrity back front and center in that system in Alabama. He 
brought to us his very sharp mind on legal matters, and he has been 
consistently well-prepared on a wide diversity of issues, for which he 
will be remembered as much for the clarity of purpose and the clarity 
of expression as for the issues themselves.
  He also deserves our accolades, because anybody who chairs the Ethics 
Committee of the U.S. Senate for any sustained period of time deserves 
our highest esteem. Not only did he do that, but he did it during the 
most difficult of modern times in terms of that Ethics Committee. I 
believe the matters before him took a long time because of their 
complexity and personal nature, but things came out fairly well. I 
believe he is entitled to a great deal of respect for that.


                          Senator David Pryor

  Mr. President, I want to say a few words about a Senator on the other 
side of the aisle, Senator Pryor. Let me just say that this Senator, as 
I view it, has been a marvelous, quiet, strong advocate for the issues 
that concern him. Whether it was the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, which he 
proposed, or whether it was his advocacy for small business, he 
obviously did it with a kind of calm and calmness that many of us wish 
we could have every day we come to the floor of the Senate.
  I also want to commend him, because it fell to him--and I assume it 
was with relish on his part--to be the principal defender in many 
instances of the current occupant of the White House, President Bill 
Clinton. They are from the same State. Senator Pryor had been Governor, 
as had Senator Bumpers, of that State. I think his efforts to support 
the President and fellow Arkansas resident was done eloquently and 
articulately. But I also believe that he had the ability to do that, 
which puts him in an extremely partisan mode, without ruffling the 
feathers of those of us on this side of the aisle because of the way he 
did it. It seems to me that he added some great character to his 
personality, because he did it in a way that was not intended to offend 
us on this side of the aisle, and he did it in great, good spirit. I 
commend him for that. He had a heart attack and came close to death in 
that episode. He brought a great deal of calmness to all of us, as he 
shared going through the rigors of that incident. I thank him for the 
personal way he has affected all of us in a positive manner.


                          Senator Alan Simpson

  Mr. President, I would like to say a few words about Senator Simpson. 
I don't know what we can say to label him. We all, in a very strange 
way, sort of smile when we think of Senator Simpson. I guess it is fair 
to say that he is our cowboy philosopher. He has educated and delighted 
the Members of this Chamber with his unmatched sense of humor and his 
sharp wit, with his fine mind and his broad knowledge.
  He has helped lead the charge in so many areas that are so 
desperately in need of reform. While he didn't yet accomplish his goal 
of reforming the entitlement programs of this country, it is clear that 
he never backed away from calling things exactly as he saw them, 
whether or not that would lead to his adulation or to, as he has 
indicated to many of us, clamor by many, or to being chastised by many 
groups because of the way he presented issues, which was in the 
forthright manner that he believed in.
  He took a lead in such matters as immigration reform. I think it is 
fair to say we would not have major immigration reform signed into law 
by this President but for this Senator. He was courageous in that 
regard, and he will be very much missed.
  There will be a few Senators whom I will mention before we adjourn. I 
will try to find time without burdening the Senate. At a time when 
perhaps there is nothing else to do, I will try to find another 15 or 
20 minutes to comment on a few other Members. Those I have commented on 
and talked about will be missed. I trust that we will all get to see 
each other again, and frequently. But I understand that may not be the 
case, for as you leave the Senate, sometimes you don't see each other 
for years. We will miss them dearly.
  I yield the floor.

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