[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 144 (Monday, October 12, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12363-S12364]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RETIREMENT OF SENATE COLLEAGUES

  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, as the 105th Congress comes to a close, I 
want to take a moment to say thank you to my fellow colleagues who, 
like me, will be retiring this year.
  I came to the Senate in 1974 with Senators Glenn and Bumpers. It was 
a different time, when campaigns were still won by going door to door, 
when the Senate itself was much more open to compromise and 
bipartisanship.
  Despite the changes in the Senate, Senator Bumpers has continued to 
be a voice for his State, never giving up the fight for something in 
which he believed. And when the Senate itself began to listen, they 
began to respond. In fact, after fighting 19 years to reform the 
National Parks concessions operations, he finally won approval of the 
legislation on last Thursday.
  And while it's true the Senate long ago lost its reputation as a 
place of eloquent debate, my colleague from Arkansas has proven time 
and again the power of words with his skillful oratory, whether the 
issue was arms control, education or balancing the budget. In all my 
years here in Washington, I was never so moved as I was by a speech he 
gave on preserving the Manassas, Virginia, Civil War Battlefield. He 
not only changed votes, but he reminded his colleagues and the American 
people that our greatest strength lies in our ability to give voice to 
our beliefs and to our constituent's concerns.
  Like Mark Twain who came into this world with Halley's comet and left 
this world with the return, Senator Glenn came into the public eye with 
his historic orbit around the earth and he will close out his public 
career with another historic flight into space. In between, he's 
demonstrated over and over that he's truly made of the ``right stuff.''
  As the ``Almanac of American Politics'' wrote, he is ``the embodiment 
of the small town virtues of family, God-fearing religion, duty, 
patriotism and hard work . . .''. And over the years, he has brought 
the same fight and determination that made him a brilliant fighter 
pilot to his efforts to expand educational opportunities, increase 
funding for scientific research, to clean up nuclear waste sites, 
promote civil rights and to make our government more efficient.

[[Page S12364]]

  Despite their long list of contributions in the Senate, perhaps their 
greatest contributions to this nation are still to come. Senator 
Bumpers has talked about going back to Arkansas to teach and Senator 
Glenn has said once he gets back down to earth, he'll work to steer 
young people toward public service. I can't think of a greater honor 
than to say I've served alongside these two men and shared their vision 
of a better America.
  I also want to thank my two retiring colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle. We may not have always agreed on which road to take, but I 
believe we always shared a deep commitment to our country and its 
betterment. Whether you agree or not with Senator Coats' position on 
the issues, everyone in this chamber will agree he's willing to roll up 
his sleeves and do the hard work necessary to accomplish his goals. 
He's brought the same tenacity to the Senate that found him at three 
percent in the polls when he began his first congressional bid and had 
him winning by 58 percent on election day. He got that win the old-
fashioned way, organizing block by block and pressing his case one-on-
one.
  Senator Kempthorne has only been a part of this institution for just 
one term, but he has already proven that he can work with his 
colleagues to pass laws, like the unfunded mandates bill, in a place 
where it's often easier to move mountains than a piece of legislation. 
The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996 was a perfect example of his 
ability to bring together scientists, activists on both sides of the 
issue, and public health experts to craft legislation that each one had 
a stake in seeing succeed. So while he may have spent just a short 
while in these Halls, he demonstrated that it is only through 
compromise that we can achieve solutions in the best interest of the 
nation.
  So Mr. President, let me tell my fellow retirees what a privilege it 
has been to serve with you over the years and how grateful I am for 
your commitment to public service and the American people.

                          ____________________