[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 139 (Wednesday, October 7, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11643-S11644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO SENATOR DALE BUMPERS

  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to my 
retiring colleague from Arkansas, Senator Dale Bumpers. Arkansas is a 
State with a small population, and it is a State where politicians of 
even opposing political parties and philosophies find their lives and 
careers intersecting and intertwining.
  As a high school student, I followed Dale Bumpers' meteoric rise from 
an unknown country lawyer from Charleston, AR, to the Governor of the 
State and a man who became known in Arkansas politics as the giant 
killer, defeating such luminaries of Arkansas politics as Win 
Rockefeller and J.W. Fulbright.
  I worked for Dale's opponent in 1980, not because I was enamored by 
his opponent, but because I was upset with some of Dale's votes. That 
has always been the way with Dale Bumpers; you either agreed with him 
passionately or you disagreed vehemently.
  While Dale has always been as smooth as honey, he has never tried to 
varnish his views or dilute his positions to make them more palatable 
to the general public, whether it was the Panama Canal or the space 
station.
  Mr. President, I mentioned that in Arkansas, political lives and 
careers intersect frequently. In 1986, my brother Asa, then a U.S. 
attorney and now serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, ran 
against Senator Bumpers in his second reelection campaign.
  I worked in Asa's campaign, and I encountered and experienced 
firsthand the high esteem in which the people of Arkansas hold Dale 
Bumpers. After Senator Bumpers won that race resoundingly, delivering a 
good old country thumping to the Hutchinsons, I returned to my service 
in the Arkansas legislature and Asa became the State GOP chairman. We 
continued to follow Senator Bumpers' career from afar, occasionally 
bumping into him at events in the State.
  In 1990, Asa ran for attorney general of Arkansas. It was a 
politically tough, mean, even nasty race. It was hard fought and a very 
close race. I remember one day as I was working in Asa's headquarters 
in Little Rock, Dale Bumpers walked in off the street unannounced. He 
came by, he said, to wish us well and to say that he always respected 
us and thought well of us. I saw a side of Dale Bumpers that those who 
know him well see all the time. He knows well that there is life beyond 
the political arena and that politicians are, first and foremost, human 
beings.

[[Page S11644]]

  I saw this again in 1996 when I was running for the U.S. Senate. It 
was the closing days of a very close race. Dale and my predecessor, 
Senator David Pryor, were campaigning for my opponent in a fly-around 
of the State. I suppose Dale was returning the favor from a decade 
before when I was campaigning for his opponent.
  In the closing days, my son Timothy was involved in a tragic and 
terrible automobile accident. Timothy was seriously injured, and I was 
in the hospital room, not sure whether he was going to make it or not. 
The phone rang, and it was Dale Bumpers. He called to assure me of his 
thoughts and his prayers and to tell me that he and David were 
suspending campaigning until it was clear that my son was going to be 
OK.
  Dale, we will miss you around this place. I won't miss your votes, 
but I will miss you. I will miss your stories, and I will miss your 
humor. I will miss your eloquence, and I will miss your passion. I am 
grateful that our Senate careers overlapped for these 2 years. Thanks 
for your advice and counsel, and best wishes on this next phase of your 
life.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. ROBERTS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Allard). The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. ROBERTS. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Roberts pertaining to the introduction of S. 2563 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. ROBERTS. I thank the Presiding Officer and yield the floor.
  Mr. DOMENICI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Parliamentary inquiry.
  Under the order, how much time does each Senator have in morning 
business?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Five minutes.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I ask I be given the 5 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.

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