[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 142 (Saturday, October 10, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S12302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO FIVE SENATORS LEAVING THE SENATE: SENATORS DIRK KEMPTHORNE, 
         JOHN GLENN, DAN COATS, WENDELL FORD, AND DALE BUMPERS

  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, five Senators will move on at the closing 
of this session of the 105th Congress. And they are Senators that have, 
with the exception of one, been here ever since I joined this body back 
in 1989.
  Dirk Kempthorne from Idaho was elected after I was. And now after one 
term he has elected to go back to his home State of Idaho.
  It seems like it becomes more and more difficult, as time goes by, to 
attract men and women to public service, and especially to public 
service when there are elections.
  He brought a certain quality to this Senate. On his work on the 
Environment and Public Works Committee, he was sensitive to the 
environment and all the public infrastructure that we enjoy across this 
country. It just seemed to fit, because he had come here after being 
the mayor of Boise, ID. And his very first objective was to tackle this 
business of unfunded mandates. He took that issue on and provided the 
leadership, and finally we passed a law that unfunded mandates must be 
adhered to whenever we tell local government, State government that it 
is going to take some of your money to comply with the laws as passed 
by the Federal Government.
  He, like me, had come out of local government. He knew the stresses 
and the pains of city councilmen and mayors and county commissioners 
every time they struggle with their budget in order to provide the 
services for their people, when it comes to schools and roads and 
public safety--all the demands that we enjoy down to our neighborhoods.
  We shall miss him in this body.
  To my friend, John Glenn of Ohio, who has already made his mark in 
history that shall live forever, he has left his tracks in this body. 
And not many know--and maybe not even him--but I was a lowly corporal 
in the U.S. Marine Corps when he was flying in the Marine Corps. So my 
memory of John Glenn goes back more than 40 years to El Toro Marine 
Corps Air Station in Santa Anna, CA.
  As he goes into space again at the end of this month, we wish him 
Godspeed. He gave this country pride as he lifted off and became the 
first American to orbit the Earth. And he carried with him all of the 
wishes of the American people.
  To Dan Coats of Indiana, a classmate, we came to this body together 
in 1989. Our routes were a little different, but yet almost the same--
he coming from the House of Representatives and me coming from local 
government.
  He is a living example of a person dedicated to public service. But 
it never affected his solid core values. He has not changed one iota 
since I first met him back in 1989.

  The other principal is on the floor today. It is Wendell Ford of 
Kentucky. I was fortunate to serve on two of the most fascinating and 
hard-working committees in the U.S. Senate with Senator Ford: The 
Commerce Committee and the Energy Committee. Those committees, folks, 
touch every life in America every day.
  We flip on our lights at home or in our businesses. We pick up the 
telephone, listen to our radio, watch our televisions, move ourselves 
from point A to point B, no matter what the mode --whether it is auto, 
train or plane. Yes, all of the great scientific advances this country 
has made, and research and the improvement of everyday life and, yes, 
even our venture into space comes under the auspices of the Commerce, 
Science and Transportation Committee and the Energy Committee. Those 
two committees play such a major role in the everyday workings of 
America.
  Wendell Ford was one great champion and one of the true principals in 
formulating policies that we enjoy today. He played a major role in 
each and every one of them.
  Again, it was my good fortune to work with Senator Bumpers on two 
committees: The Small Business Committee and the Energy Committee. 
There is no one in this body that has been more true to his deeply held 
beliefs than Senator Bumpers. Our views did not always mesh--and that 
is true with Senator Ford. It was their wisdom and the way they dealt 
with their fellow Senators that we worked our way through difficult 
issues and hard times with a sense of humor. I always say if you come 
from Arkansas you have to have a pretty good sense of humor. My roots 
go back to Missouri; I know we had to develop humor very early. 
Nonetheless, it was the integrity and the honesty that allowed us to 
settle our differences, even though we were 180 degrees off plumb.
  I think I have taken from them much more than I have given back to 
them. This body has gained more than it can repay. This Nation is a 
better Nation for all of them serving in the U.S. Senate.
  In our country we don't say goodbye, we just say so long. But we say 
so long to these Senators from our everyday activities on the floor of 
the U.S. Senate. I am sure our trails will cross many times in the 
future. Should they not, I will be the most disappointed of all.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, let me thank my distinguished friend from 
Montana for his kind remarks. I understand Montana a little bit. My 
mother's brother married a lady from Montana and she persuaded him to 
move there. So I have been to Montana on many occasions and have 
enjoyed the friendship, the rugged mountains, the pristine areas and 
the big blue sky. I have enjoyed it very much--and the trout are not 
bad when you catch them and have a shore dinner. I understand Montana 
and I can understand why you love it. I can understand why anything we 
might copy from you would make our State a little bit better.
  I say to my friend from Montana, I thank him for his kind remarks. I 
thank him for his friendship. I thank him for his ability to sit down 
and talk things through where we might move forward and help the 
country and talk about those things we couldn't agree upon at a later 
date. I thank him for his friendship.

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