[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 71 (Thursday, June 4, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF BARRY GOLDWATER

  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the eulogy I 
delivered at the funeral for the former U.S. Senator from Arizona, 
Barry Goldwater, in Tempe, Arizona on June 3, 1998, be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the eulogy was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                      In Memory of Barry Goldwater

    (Remarks of Jon Kyl, Tempe, Arizona, As Delivered June 3, 1998)

       We honor Barry Goldwater today by reflecting on why he has 
     made such a mark on our state, our nation, and the world.
       All of us probably remember the first time we met Barry. In 
     my case, it was in May 1961 when I was a student at the 
     University of Arizona. After working with him in the 
     political arena for most of the ensuing years, and after 
     visiting with him often during his retirement, I think I know 
     why he has had the influence he has had. I have come to 
     believe it is because of his very unique perspective--about 
     nature, including human nature.
       It is why he could do without all of the political folderol 
     that preoccupies so many in public life. It is why he could 
     shrug off his defeat in the presidential election of 1964--
     not because he didn't care, but because he knew, in the end, 
     the most important thing was to tell the truth as he saw it, 
     and to build a foundation for the future.
       It is why he cared about and understood people so well, and 
     could shape a political philosophy which works precisely 
     because it is predicated upon the true nature of man.
       That sense of perspective, of what truly mattered, was 
     rooted in his early experiences traveling this state, rafting 
     down the Grand Canyon, photographing Arizona's landscapes and 
     getting to know a lot of common people. He was very much a 
     part of the land, the desert, the mountains, and the people 
     and places of Arizona.
       One reason I think he liked common people is because, like 
     Abraham Lincoln, he saw himself as a common man. My dad is 
     the same way. They understood early on, that every person has 
     a unique and individual worth, and that that is why freedom 
     is indispensable to assure man's proper place in nature.
       As a young man, Barry Goldwater helped run his family's 
     trading post on the Navajo reservation. He knew the Hopi and 
     the Navajo people and appreciated their way of life. He 
     captured on film the character and dignity of Native 
     Americans and other people. He saw their qualities as 
     individuals, and learned from them and respected them.
       Others wanted to remake human nature. Barry Goldwater 
     appreciated it, as it is. In that respect, he grasped the 
     truth of the Founding Fathers, that freedom is indispensable 
     for the fulfillment of God's purposes for those He created in 
     His image.
       This homegrown insight is what led him to be so alarmed by 
     the growth and power of government since the New Deal. ``A 
     government that is big enough to give you all you want is big 
     enough to take it all away,'' he said, reaffirming the belief 
     in limited government upon which America was established, and 
     upon which he and Ronald Reagan and others constructed a 
     conservatism for our time.
       It was necessary to have someone of his courage and plain 
     speaking to persuade others of this nature-driven view of 
     liberty and smaller government, at a time when it was not 
     considered a very respectable view.
       But, as Matthew Arnold said, ``The freethinking of one age 
     is the common sense of the next.'' There is no doubt that 
     Barry Goldwater--as the pathbreaker for today's common-sense 
     conservatism--is the most influential Arizonan in our 
     lifetime, indeed, in the lifetime of Arizona as a state.
       Summarizing his own life, in 1988 he wrote:
       ``Freedom has been the watchword of my political life. I 
     rose from a dusty little frontier town and preached freedom 
     across the land all my days. It is democracy's ultimate power 
     and assures its eventual triumph over communism. I believe in 
     faith, hope, and charity. But none of these is possible 
     without freedom.''
       It was a privilege to know someone who was as obvious in 
     his virtues as he was in his opinions. When I visited with 
     him in the last few years, he seemed reluctant to offer the 
     specific political advice that I occasionally sought from 
     him. He wanted instead to talk about the people he had known, 
     about his early formative experiences in Arizona, and about 
     history.
       There are too few people who give you the feeling that they 
     have the long view in mind. Barry Goldwater did. There are 
     too few who show us what it is like for a man to guide his 
     life by true principles. Barry Goldwater showed us. The 
     Senator from Arizona was not only a great patriot, he was, as 
     he wished to be remembered, an honest man who tried.

                          ____________________