[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 149 (Thursday, October 28, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S13488]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN HONOR OF JOHN CHAFEE

  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I was in New York on Monday to hold a 
hearing of the Y2K Committee when Senator Moynihan, a member of that 
committee, joined me. I greeted him with the normal good humor that we 
greet one of our colleagues, but he did not respond in good humor. 
Instead, he said to me: I have very sad news. I was a little surprised 
at that and asked him what was so significant as to cause him to be so 
downcast. He said: John Chafee died. That was very sad news, indeed.
  I was stunned, along with my colleague from New York, and had to 
reflect on how recently I had seen John Chafee, spoken with him, found 
him in good spirits, if not in good health. Indeed, I thought he was in 
good health.
  On Friday of last week, I was addressing a group of students from the 
State of Utah answering their questions about the Senate and Senate 
procedure and Senate life and was interested when I got a question that 
I often get from people outside of the political arena. It was: Tell us 
about life as a Senator. And specifically this question was: Tell us 
about the Senators. Then the questioner said: Tell us who your friends 
are.
  That is always an interesting question. You want to be careful about 
the answer because you do not want to offend anyone by leaving them 
out. But I said to that group on Friday: I have many friends in the 
Senate, but one of my closest friends is John Chafee.
  I put those two incidents over the weekend together. On Friday, I am 
citing the name of John Chafee as one of my closest friends, and on 
Monday, one of my other friends in this body tells me of John's 
passing.
  I have waited until now to take the floor to pay tribute to John 
Chafee, partly because of the press of business and partly because I 
was afraid I could not keep my composure. Those who know me well know 
my emotions sometimes run very close to the surface. I get dewy-eyed at 
the dedication of a parking lot. For that reason, an occasion such as 
this one can be a difficult one. At the same time, however, I want to 
look at the death of John Chafee from a slightly different perspective.

  We mourn his passing. We become emotional at the thought of his loss. 
But we should recognize in many ways this is a time for rejoicing.
  I have had the experience, along with many others, of dealing with 
aging parents. My father was 95, my mother 96, when they passed away--
neither one of them in good health.
  My mother dealt with an aging parent in her lifetime, a father who 
had a stroke and then lingered for a number of years thereafter. Mother 
used to say to us: If I'm killed in an automobile accident, rejoice. I 
don't look forward to going through old age.
  When people retire, very often they go downhill rapidly. John showed 
no signs of that, but his health was failing. He had been in the 
hospital for a back problem. He was not an old man by my standards. 
Seventy-seven seems increasingly younger as I get closer to it myself. 
But I think of the possibility of John Chafee running downhill in old 
age. I think we might rejoice that he was spared that.
  John Chafee left at the top of his game, at the top of his form. He 
was a Senator's Senator. He was involved in everything. We did not vote 
together very often, but when we did, he was always grateful; and when 
we did not, he was always understanding. I never had an occasion where 
John Chafee was disapproving.
  We stood together on one issue where we were two of four 
Republicans--one of the occasions where we crossed the line; John did 
that more often than I--to join with a group of Democrats. That was the 
flag amendment. John and I both had great reverence for the flag of the 
United States, but we felt our reverence for the Constitution 
outweighed that and that the Constitution should not be amended to deal 
with a nonexistent problem because flag burning is no longer going on 
in the United States, except by those who want to goad us into 
attempting to amend the Constitution. At least that is the way I saw it 
and that is the way John saw it. He was always friendly and supportive 
when we had those kinds of problems.
  The thing I will remember the most about John Chafee, as a Senator's 
Senator, was the way he would go after problems and not people, the way 
he would tackle challenges and not the challengers, the way he would 
maintain a constant good humor, even in the face of difficulties within 
his own party or difficulties from across the aisle.
  It is a time for rejoicing, rejoicing because we had the privilege of 
dealing with this man, right up to the end of his life, and then seeing 
him spared the long good-bye that we are seeing in others--Ronald 
Reagan, for example. I think if John Chafee were given the choice, he 
would take the choice the Good Lord has given him rather than lingering 
on in some crippled fashion. He had a weak heart, weaker than any of us 
knew. The possibility of that kind of situation was perhaps there, but 
I am following the advice of my mother, who, looking at the possibility 
of an old age, said: If I'm taken suddenly, don't mourn. Rejoice.
  There is very little I think we can add to the accomplishments of 
John Chafee's life. We can rejoice that we knew him, served with him, 
and we were with him right up to the moment where he left, as I say, at 
the top of his game.
  I extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to his family. I have 
met both his wife and his son. I know what fine people they are. I know 
how desperately they feel this loss.

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