[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 68 (Monday, June 1, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5525]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO BARRY GOLDWATER

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I know I speak for the entire Senate in 
expressing to the family of Senator Barry Goldwater our sympathy for 
their loss and for our country's loss as well. On Wednesday, many of us 
in the Senate will attend his funeral in his beloved Arizona. The 
Senate Sergeant at Arms is making arrangements for those who wish to 
join in this last tribute to our former colleague. All Senate offices 
will be informed about those details soon. In fact, I believe that 
information has gone out and we do expect a large number of Senators to 
join in going to the funeral services in Arizona.
  The Senate will not be in session on Wednesday in honor of this great 
Senator and leader from Arizona.
  If Barry were here with us today, I think he would tell us in his 
characteristically blunt manner not to be too solemn about this 
occasion. After all, he was an extremely fortunate man and he felt that 
way and said so himself many times. He was blessed with length of days 
and devotion of family and friends. In fact, as I looked over the 
details of the services, I noted that he will be carried by his 
grandsons as poll bearers. I know that would have been really special 
to him. He loved his work. He loved the people he represented. He spoke 
his mind. In many ways, he owed nobody, but he loved everybody. He was 
a winner, not just in the sense of winning elections--with one rather 
major exception--but in the most important sense of having his ideas 
vindicated by the course of history.
  In his one losing election, the Presidential race of 1964, he was 
subject to more falsehoods, in my opinion, than any candidate should 
ever have to bear.
  In losing with honor, he did more than encourage others to stand up 
for their beliefs. I was one of those young people that was fresh out 
of college and working for my alma mater, the University of 
Mississippi, and casting my first vote ever in a Presidential election 
for Barry Goldwater in my hometown of Pascagoula, MS, and watching the 
election returns that night from Pensacola, FL. I remember how I had 
been inspired by what he had to say. I think that was the moment I 
decided I would spend a good portion of my life involved in trying to 
be a representative of the people in Government.
  Along with then-Governor Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater energized the 
grassroots of American politics, fostered the growth of modern 
conservatism, and thereby transformed the Republican Party and the 
Nation.
  His statement of political faith--a slight book called ``The 
Conscience of a Conservative''--continues to challenge and inspire 
readers. I have my little paperback version of ``The Conscience of a 
Conservative'' that I keep in a small library in my hometown. There are 
many Members of Congress today who treasure their well-worn copies of 
that volume, as well they might, for it remains an eloquent manifesto 
of the cause of liberty.
  The conservative movement has had many heroes, but Barry Goldwater 
remains preeminent, even though he came to disagree with conservatives 
on some issue. That disagreement has belatedly won him some new 
admirers, even some liberals who fail to see the difference between his 
reasoning and theirs.
  The difference is that they tend to downplay personal responsibility. 
Senator Barry Goldwater, on the other hand, demanded it. He expected 
individuals to live with the consequences of their decisions. It was 
his sense of responsibility that brought Barry Goldwater into 
Government and empowered his fight against big Government.
  It was personal responsibility that he preached to his fellow 
Americans. In 1964 many were unwilling to listen. Today, three decades 
later, his message is heard and echoed from think tanks to pulpits, 
from classrooms to the Congress.
  He gave so much to the country he loved so much. So many years of 
service in government, so strong a voice for national security against 
the threat of communism, and so passionate a confidence in the ability 
of average men and women to do extraordinary things.
  But surely his greatest gift was preparing the way for a rebirth of 
the conservative ideas and values which make freedom possible.
  That long ago won him an honored place in the hearts of his fellow 
believers, and it now ensures for him an honored place in the history 
of America.

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