[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 141 (Thursday, October 3, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S12273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO BILL BRADLEY

  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, I want to take a moment to pay tribute 
to one of my colleagues and Senate classmates who is leaving the Senate 
very soon--my friend from New Jersey, Senator Bill Bradley.
  Senator Bradley entered the Senate the same year I did--1979. The 
roads Bill and I traveled to get to the Senate had some similarities, 
but mainly vast differences. My journey to the Senate weaved through my 
hometown of Humboldt to Oxford to Harvard Yard and, ultimately, to the 
House of Representatives. Bill Bradley's began in Crystal City, MO, 
where his father was a banker. Bill Bradley also was a Rhodes Scholar, 
but before that, he went to Princeton University, where he re-wrote 
both the NCAA and the Ivy League recordbooks as a basketball player. 
Bill Bradley's exploits on the hardwood at Princeton are the stuff of 
sports legend. I remember well his senior season, when he led the 
Princeton Tigers to the NCAA Final Four. Though the Tigers came up 
short, he set a tournament scoring record and was named the 
tournament's most valuable player.
  Of course, Bill Bradley continued to be a standout basketball player 
on a professional level for 10 years with the New York Knicks. He 
helped the New York Knicks win the NBA world championship. Not long 
after he retired from professional basketball, Senator Bradley sought 
to be a standout in the political world. Yet again, he succeeded.
  Senator Bradley must be feeling a strange sense of deja vous to hear 
many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle calling for a simpler 
tax code. In 1982, our friend from New Jersey put forward his ``Fair 
Tax'' plan. He continued to advocate a restructuring of the tax code, 
and in 1986, his tenacious efforts paid off. The 1986 tax plan 
represented the most radical restructuring of the tax code in more than 
a generation. It is safe to say that this would not have occurred 
without Senator Bradley's legislative and leadership skills. It was 
Senator Bradley that who as the bridge between the competing House and 
Senate tax proposals, with the final plan bearing a great deal of 
similarity to Senator Bradley's 1982 plan.
  The 1986 tax reform plan demonstrated that when Senator Bradley takes 
on an issue, he does so with firm determination. My friend from New 
Jersey and I have worked together on a number of issues and we have 
been on opposite sides on many others. He has taken strong stands on 
the environment, civil rights, and health care. When Bill Bradley 
speaks on any issue, whether I agree or disagree with him, his words 
are well thought and his arguments are well formulated. There is no 
question that he is a man of ideas, a man committed to examining the 
major problems of our Nation, proposing solutions, and working to get 
them accomplished. That is the stuff of leadership.
  Senator Bradley has become a key player in our Nation's political 
dialogue. Indeed, he is a person to whom many of us in the Senate like 
to go to for his thoughts and his perspectives on any issue, ranging 
from the tax code to the NBA playoffs. That is why we should all be 
pleased that, although Bill Bradley may leave the Senate, he has made 
clear he intends to remain on the public stage.
  I have enjoyed serving in the Senate with my friend from New Jersey. 
I particularly enjoyed serving with him these past two years on the 
Finance Committee. I will miss him. I certainly hope he takes advantage 
of the privileges afforded to former members and visits the Senate as 
often as possible. I wish him nothing but the very best as he embarks 
on the next chapter of what is already a legendary life and career. One 
can call Senator Bradley many things--basketball player, Rhodes 
scholar, tax reformer, and United States Senator. I am proud to call 
Bill Bradley my friend.

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