[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 28, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S772-S773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               BURT BARR

 Mr. McCain. Mr. President, when a good man dies, heaven 
profits at humanity's expense. My friend, Burt Barr, was a good man 
whose loss we can scarce afford lest our society further succumbs to 
the cynicism and distrust that cheapens our times. He was a man whose 
virtues were so exemplary and so apparent that he won the admiration 
and affection of all he encountered. He was the kind of man whom 
fathers hope their sons will become.
  He grew to manhood in a time when Americans believed to sacrifice for 
your country was an ennobling experience. He took up arms in his 
country's defense, risked death and grave harm, endured enormous 
deprivation for a cause he knew was greater than his own life. He 
marched across Europe to liberate the peoples of that continent from 
tyranny; to protect America's freedoms, and to keep alive in this world 
the prospect that our freedoms and prosperity might someday flourish in 
all societies.
  Burt's service in the Second World War, as it was for most of his 
generation, was the defining event of his life. The experience of 
shared hardship, of complete faith in and devotion to the men who 
fought beside you engendered in him an enduring love and respect for 
the men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States. But 
his experiences in war affected more than his regard for the military. 
They inspired in him an abiding love for and desire to remain of 
service to his country, and to distinguish his public service with an 
unflagging belief that we are all part of a cause more noble than self-
interest, and that, as such, we deserve each other's respect and 
admiration.
  No one who worked with Burt Barr ever suspected his purposes or 
doubted his decency. Republican and Democrat alike knew that in Burt 
the State of Arizona had found a model public servant whose sole public 
ambition was to work with any willing partner to help Arizona grow and 
prosper.
  As is obvious by the presence here of so many Arizonans of different 
political affiliations, Burt was a man who kept his priorities 
straight. He never set the price of partisan advantage so high that it 
cheapened his regard for personal friendships. He knew by instinct, by 
instruction and by experience that political success is such an 
inconsequential thing when weighed against the love and trust of your 
neighbors and friends. When our days begin to run out there will be 
little solace found in the prideful recollection that we advanced our 
professional ambitions at the expense of others. That solace abides 
only in our family's love, God's grace, and the satisfaction of a life 
well-lived in the service of others, and not to the detriment of 
anyone.
  As Bruce Babbitt and Art Hamilton can attest, as anyone who worked 
with Burt in the service of our beautiful State can attest, Burt won 
his share of political contests, but never at the cost of a friend. He 
presided as majority leader in the Arizona House for many years, and 
worked with many Governors. He did not exult in the perquisites of 
power, but only in the opportunity to be of use to his community. Under 
his patient, inclusive leadership, the legislature never functioned 
more smoothly or productively. He considered Bruce and Art and everyone 
who labored with him on behalf of Arizona to be comrades-in-arms, not 
enemies. War had taught him that such relationships were to be 
cherished as indispensable to a good life.
  Burt's good life, his decency to others was of inestimable value to 
Arizona. Together with former Governor Babbitt, with Art, with all his 
Republican and Democratic colleagues, Burt helped to make this State 
the wonderful place to live it remains today. Arizona's extraordinary 
growth was not just coincident with, but was, in large part, a 
consequence of his public service, and the comity and trust that 
distinguished his relationships with his colleagues.
  Burt was the first person whose advice I sought when I first 
considered a political career. I placed a high value on his counsel 
then and in all the following years of our friendship. That I continue 
my public career in a time of growing incivility and cynicism, in a 
time when partisan opponents seek to criminalize our political 
differences is a source of deep disappointment to me,

[[Page S773]]

as I'm sure it was to Burt, although he was always too kind to say so.
  I am part of a system that has grown too coarse and venal, and I bear 
my share of responsibility for that decline. The memory of Burt Barr 
shames me, as it should shame all of us when we reduce public service 
to anything other than a noble calling to make our times a moment of 
hope and opportunity, of decency and unity. All the blessings of his 
friendship, all the wisdom of his counsel--though I cherish them 
greatly--will not make of me as good a man as Burt Barr. Only the shame 
that his memory will visit on me when I stray from his example gives me 
hope that when my days are near an end, I might know--as Burt knew--the 
great solace of a life well-lived in the service of something greater 
than self-interest.
  Life will be less pleasant absent the company of this good man. His 
cheerful nature, his enormous generosity to me, his patience and 
kindness as he tried to help me become the kind of public servant that 
not just he, but that I could be proud of, make his loss indescribably 
profound. But he goes to a reward he so surely deserves, and we cannot 
begrudge him that.
  He will rest now in the field where America buries her heroes. He 
well-earned his place there, and the place in God's presence we are all 
promised should we love our fellow man as well as Burt Barr loved us.
  Louise, Stephanie, Michael, and Suzanne, there are no words to dull 
the pain of a loss felt so keenly as you feel that loss of Burt. But I 
know he wanted for you all the happiness that life affords. He would 
want you now to live happy and fulfilling lives until the time when by 
the grace of a loving God you will see him again.

                          ____________________