[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 66 (Thursday, May 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5345]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA SCHOOL OF LAW AND GEORGIA GOV. 
                              CARL SANDERS

  Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize The University 
of Georgia School of Law's many years of accomplishments and 
achievements, and to honor former Governor of Georgia Carl Sanders, who 
graduated from UGA's Law School 50 years ago.
  I would like to applaud the commitment and hard work of the entire 
law school community: the faculty, staff, students, and alumni. The 
reputation of the school continues to grow and prosper each year.
  Over the years UGA has produced thousands of successful lawyers, 
including many leaders and policy makers. Since opening its doors in 
1785, the law school has graduated five U.S. Senators, 30 Members of 
Congress, nine governors, including Gov. Carl Sanders, eight Speakers 
of the Georgia House of Representatives and 54 Appellate Judges.
  I recently had the opportunity to deliver the commencement speech to 
the 1998 graduating class of The University of Georgia School of Law 
and was reminded of the impact and value of the law.
  In order for the law to be respected, and for us to be respected as 
authorities on the law--whether as lawyers, law enforcement or 
lawmakers--there must be a sense of morality behind the law. It is a 
basic historical fact that people will not obey unjust law.
  As I look around Washington I see many reminders of the importance of 
the law. The inscription on the Supreme Court building is: ``Equal 
justice under law.'' There is an inscription over the 10th Street 
entrance of the U.S. Department of Justice Building in Washington which 
reads: ``Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only 
as first it resides in the hearts and souls of its citizens.'' Justice 
comes before the law. All of us who touch the law are bound by this 
justice and honor.
  With justice and morality behind the law, we strengthen it. Without 
it, the law is weakened. If all of us who touch the law do not abide by 
these terms, the law loses its credibility. Ultimately, those of us who 
touch the law have a responsibility to lead others to respect it.
  The men and women who have graduated from The University of Georgia 
with law degrees over the past two hundred years have and will continue 
to strengthen and uphold the law of this nation. I ask my colleagues in 
the Senate today to join me in saluting and congratulating The 
University of Georgia School of Law for instructing and graduating men 
and women who have shaped our nation's history during the last two 
centuries, including Gov. Carl Sanders and other Georgia lawmakers.

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