[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 30 (Tuesday, March 11, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2109-S2111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENT

  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, when the 94th Congress convened in January 
1975, I was 93d in Senate seniority. When the 105th Congress convened 
this past January, I was 12th. What a difference 22 years make.
  My 22 years of service to the people of Kentucky, as their U.S. 
Senator, has been during a remarkable period in history. We have 
witnessed the end of the cold war and the fall of the Berlin Wall. We 
have witnessed a technological boom that was unthinkable 22 years ago 
and we've witnessed the growth of democracy in practically every 
underdeveloped nation in the world.
  We have also seen the cost of a college education skyrocket. We have 
seen the cost of medical care skyrocket. And last but not least, we've 
seen the cost of a political campaign skyrocket.
  The average cost of a U.S. Senate race in 1974, the first year I ran, 
was less than $450,000. In fact, $437,482. The average cost of a Senate 
race last year was approximately $4.5 million. There is no job, 
especially the job of public servant, that is worth or deserves the 
effort necessary to raise and spend that much money.
  The job of being a U.S. Senator today has unfortunately become a job 
of raising money to be reelected instead of a job doing the people's 
business. Traveling to New York, California, Texas, or basically any 
State in the country, weekend after weekend, for the next 2 years is 
what candidates must do if they hope to raise the money necessary to 
compete in a senatorial election.
  Democracy as we know it will be lost if we continue to allow 
government to become one bought by the highest bidder, for the highest 
bidder. Candidates will simply become bit players and pawns in a 
campaign managed and manipulated by paid consultants and hired guns.
  Because of the political money chase, Washington, DC is fast becoming 
the center of our lives, not our people back home. The money chase has 
got to stop. We must reform the system so that ordinary, everyday 
people, who want to run for political office and make our country a 
better place are able to do so.
  I have spent a good part of my Senate career and political life 
working to nudge and, occasionally shove our party back toward the 
center of the political road. I came to Washington as a moderate 
Democrat, believing then as I still do, that the will of the people 
comes first. I've tried to be a moderate voice and will continue to do 
so. I love our country too much to let the extremists ram their agenda 
down our throats.
  There are many challenges facing the Senate and our party as we march 
into the next millennium. More than ever, I want to be involved in 
addressing some of them.
  I am not in the business to get my name in lights or to appear on the 
national TV talk shows or make headlines in the national newspapers. My 
philosophy has always been and will continue to be keep a low profile, 
work behind the scenes with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, 
and come up with a solution that benefits everyone. Compromise is not a 
dirty word. I plan on working this way in the months ahead.
  Now of a more immediate and personal concern. Do I run again for 
another term in 1998? My health is good, my mind is sharp, and I enjoy 
what I do as much as life itself. However, because my mind is sharp, it 
is quick to remind me that I am 72 years old and I will be 74 in 
November of 1998. The good Lord has a plan for every one of us, even 
me. My heart says that my love affair with the people of Kentucky is 
not over. My head says it has been a long ride and a good ride but now 
it is time to pass the reins on to a younger generation.
  Today I will lead with my head and not my heart. So the time has come 
for me to announce that I will not be a candidate for reelection in 
1998.
  As you try to understand my decision, let me ask you to do something 
for me, if you will. Don't say that I'm ready to go because I'm not 
and, frankly, I never will be. I still get goose bumps every time I 
look up at the Capitol dome on my way to and from work.
  You can say that my reelection campaign would be my most expensive 
race

[[Page S2110]]

ever. I do not relish--in fact, I detest--the idea of having to raise 
$5 million for a job that pays $133,000 a year. To reach that mark, I 
would have to raise $100,000 a week, starting today, for the next year.
  Please don't say that my time has passed and I should be put out to 
pasture, because I don't believe that it has. The political philosophy 
that I embrace is just as relevant today as it was when I first entered 
public life 30 years ago. It is a philosophy centered on the fact that 
most Kentuckians cherish personal freedom more than either a liberal 
agenda or a competing conservative agenda that just uses Government in 
a different way to promote its goals.
  I thank the people of Kentucky from the bottom of my heart for giving 
me the chance to be their voice for these four-plus terms here in the 
U.S. Senate. I have been blessed with good friends and dedicated 
supporters all around my State, who have been there time and time again 
when I have called for their help.
  No one serves the people alone. He or she must have a good, bright, 
hard-working staff for support. I have been blessed with an abundance 
of such a staff. They have proven themselves more than capable of 
handling any situation thrown at them. Their unequaled loyalty and 
total devotion to their work, especially in handling constituent 
services, both in my district offices and here in Washington, is proven 
time and time again. My staff is simply the best, as the thousands of 
constituents who have used them will attest.
  In announcing last month that he would not run again, my good friend 
and colleague, John Glenn, put it in perspective when he said, ``There 
still is no cure for the common birthday.'' I believe that 100 percent, 
and I want to leave here knowing that I have a lot more birthdays to 
celebrate with my family.
  Now, speaking of family, no one--and I repeat, no one--could ask for 
a more supportive and loving family than mine. My wife, Jean, has been 
my anchor for over 50 years. My children, Shirley and Steve, have had 
to grow up with an absentee father a lot of the time. But they know in 
their hearts how much I love them. I plan on helping them in the years 
to come the way they have been there for me all these many years. As 
for my grandchildren, I can't wait to spend more time with them and, 
hopefully, learn a thing or two from them. I'll finally have the time 
to dote on them and spoil them the way a grandfather is supposed to do.
  Mr. President, let me close by reading the last paragraph from a poem 
entitled ``A Year,'' which I have carried with me for many, many years. 
My son had it right when he wrote this back during his sophomore year 
at Frankfort High School. He is now married and has three lovely sons 
and, still, he had it right much earlier than I thought he did. This is 
the last of four paragraphs, referring to the seasons:

       Another year has passed,
       the days not slow or fast,
       Burned deep within our brain,
       its memories will ever remain,
       And although you look back and stood,
       wishing there had been more good,
       No one can change the seasons,
       'cept God, and he's had no reason.

  I thank the Chair for giving me this time. I yield the floor.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed for 
about 4 minutes in reference to the speech we just heard.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kempthorne). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I have listened to my good friend from 
Kentucky, who has been my good friend from the time we first met as 
newly elected Members of the class of 1974. We came here together, and 
I can honestly say, Mr. President, that I have looked to Senator Ford 
for guidance on every issue since then. I came from a small county 
office, and he came from being Governor of a State much larger than 
Vermont ever has been or ever will be.
  I remember debates we had when we were in the majority and in the 
minority, and back to the majority and then back to the minority. 
Wendell Ford's was one of the voices we would listen to as we tried to 
find the answers that made sense for the country and for each other.
  Wendell Ford also had a quality that was very much the quality of all 
Senators, Republican and Democrat, when he first came here--a quality 
that, perhaps, some today should remind themselves of, because it 
existed universally then, and that is the quality of when a Senator 
gives his word, his word is gold. There is not one single person who 
has served here in the 22 years that Wendell Ford has been here who has 
ever questioned his word. There is not one single Senator here who 
found him to be someone who did not keep totally to his commitments.
  What I have enjoyed in our personal relationship is that he is a man 
I have been able to go to for counsel and guidance and know that I 
could discuss anything with him without it ever being given out, if I 
told him it was in confidence.
  Marcelle and I have been privileged to be here with Jean and Wendell 
Ford. They are the kind of people that future generations of the Senate 
should look to for the best, not just for Kentucky, but for the 
country. Ultimately, what is most important in this body is not whether 
you are liberal, moderate, or conservative, but whether you serve with 
integrity for the best interests of the country. I have served with 
many, many people who fit that description, but I have been fortunate 
that, for 22 years, I have served here with a man who epitomizes that--
Wendell Ford of Kentucky.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. BENNETT addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, when I came here as a freshman, I 
remember the first parliamentary situation I got snarled up in, and the 
man who stepped up to help me unsnarl it and begin to understand the 
way the Senate worked was the senior Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Ford]. 
He sits on the other side of the center aisle from the side I sit on. 
We have not cast very many votes in the same way. But he has been an 
unfailing source of good humor and good fellowship, and he has become a 
close friend.
  I remember, as I contemplate this occasion, one night when I was 
called upon for late service in the Chair. As things happened that 
night, the two leaders, for one reason or another, could not seem to 
get together, and the hour went on and on and on, and they could not 
call anybody to relieve me in the Chair. I was there until almost 
midnight. Absolutely nothing was happening on the floor; indeed, nobody 
was on the floor--except the Senator from Kentucky, who had duty 
himself that night on behalf of his party. I remember asking him, as a 
freshman seeking wisdom, as I was looking up in the gallery, ``Why are 
they here at 11 o'clock at night or 11:30 at night, with nothing going 
on?'' They sat there patiently in the gallery. Senator Ford said, 
``Because the zoo is closed.''
  He has been a delight to be around. I serve now on a task force with 
him, and I appreciate his candor, his directness, his clear honesty, 
and his great respect for this institution. This is the kind of Senator 
we need in terms of this respect.
  There are many who come here who do not recognize the great honor it 
is to be here and sometimes bring a degree of dishonor to this body and 
the work it does on behalf of the people. Senator Ford is not in that 
category. He is in the other category of those who will be missed on 
both sides of the aisle, a good friend whom we shall look forward to 
seeing for many years to come even after his service here has ended 
because we find him such good company and such a fine, fine friend.
  Mr. WARNER addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia is recognized.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I join those in expressing our good wishes 
to both the senior Senator from Kentucky and, indeed, his wife and 
family for their next chapter.
  Yesterday afternoon, I say to my good friend from Kentucky, I 
interrupted the proceedings in relation to the underlying amendment to 
speak briefly on behalf of our good friend and colleague, who at that 
time was necessarily detained in that State he loves most, Kentucky. 
But I have been privileged now to serve as chairman of the Rules 
Committee with my distinguished colleague as the ranking member, and I 
have been a member of this

[[Page S2111]]

committee for many, many years. We have all come to know and respect 
Wendell Ford. And I think within the institution of the Senate, 
certainly as it relates to all the employees, no matter whether they 
are in the cafeteria, no matter whether they are here on the dais, 
wherever they are, he feels a very keen sense of responsibility for 
their welfare and their safety and for their ability to achieve their 
goals and care for themselves and their families.
  He has done a remarkable job on the Rules Committee over these years, 
and I look forward to working with him the balance of this 
distinguished Senator's term. The Rules Committee is often thought of 
as housekeeping. Fine, call it housekeeping if you wish. We saw an 
example today where it occasionally is a little more than housekeeping. 
But whether it is the complicated issue like today or caring for any 
employees in this institution of the Senate and working with the House 
on the overall protection of the Capitol of the United States, where 
the two bodies share joint jurisdiction, Senator Ford is always there, 
keeping in mind what is in the best interests of the Congress and of 
the Senate and of those people who serve the Senate. I salute my good 
friend and wish him well.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GRAMS. I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed to address the 
Senate as if in morning business for up to 12 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GRAMS. I thank the Chair.

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