[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 150 (Thursday, December 7, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11664-S11674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A TRIBUTE TO SENATOR SLADE GORTON

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, as we all know congressional lame duck 
sessions following an election are a rarity. They usually arise when 
Congress is unable to finish its business in a timely fashion, and that 
is true with this year as well.
  But this session affords me and this Congress an opportunity to 
acknowledge and pay tribute to the service of an esteemed colleague. 
Senator Slade Gorton, the Senior Senator from Washington state, will be 
ending his service here after 18 years in the Senate.
  Washingtonians--regardless of party affiliation--have come up to me 
with high praise and appreciation for Senator Gorton's long service to 
our state, our country and this proud institution.
  I want to share with my colleagues a passage from an editorial this 
week in the Everett Herald. The Herald editorial reads,

       History will rank Gorton with Senator Henry M. ``Scoop'' 
     Jackson and Senator Warren G. Magnuson as an extraordinary 
     leader in D.C. on behalf of the state.
       Throughout his career in the Senate and state government, 
     Gorton has been a leading force in many major efforts to 
     protect the environment.
       He also has been a consistent, passionate advocate for 
     individuals with problems dealing with bureaucracy.
       Within the Senate, Gorton has been a grand force for 
     reasoned bipartisanship, never afraid to take a strong stand 
     but also willing to work graciously and effectively with 
     members of the opposition even at the tensest moments.

  Many of our colleagues are well aware of Slade's history of public 
service. As a young man, Slade Gorton moved to Washington state from 
Chicago almost 50 years ago.
  He wanted to go West in search of new opportunities. And with $300 
and a one-way ticket on a Greyhound bus, Slade Gorton moved to 
Washington State.
  History has shown that this Midwest native fit right into Washington 
State. And like so many immigrants to our great State, Slade Gorton was 
welcomed and given an opportunity to make the most of his talents.
  From the very beginning, Slade Gorton went to work on behalf of 
Washington State. First, he married Sally Clark from Selah, Washington. 
That same year--1958--Slade went into politics and was elected to the 
Washington State House of Representatives where he rose to serve as the 
majority leader.
  In 1968, he was elected attorney general of Washington State. On 
numerous occasions on several historic cases, Slade represented the 
people of Washington before the Supreme Court.
  Chief Justice Warren Burger once said that Slade, ``makes the best 
arguments before the Supreme Court of any Attorney General in 
America.'' He was also recognized with the prestigious Wyman Award 
given to the outstanding attorney general in the United States.
  By this time, Slade had also become a respected leader throughout 
Washington State.
  After three terms as the Washington State Attorney General, Slade 
Gorton ran for an won a seat in the United States Senate. He was 
elected three times to the United States Senate giving him an 
impressive record of winning statewide election six times in 
Washington.
  All of this is offered as a brief history of Slade's many years of 
service. With time, there will certainly be many public tributes to 
Senator Gorton. But

[[Page S11665]]

what I'd like to focus on now is our time together in the United States 
Senate and the work we were able to do together over the last eight 
years.
  I am sure all of my colleagues share my own appreciation for the 
support, guidance, and sacrifices our families make so that we can 
serve in the Senate. Our successes throughout our careers in public 
service are shared with our families. We rely on them in so many ways.
  And that is certainly true for Slade Gorton. Sally and Slade have 
been partners for all of his years of service. From Olympia, Washington 
to Washington, D.C., Sally Gorton has been there each and every day. 
She and Slade have three children and seven grandchildren, who I know 
bring immense pride to the Gorton family.
  So, as we acknowledge and honor Slade Gorton, I want to pay special 
tribute to Sally Gorton and the entire Gorton Family. We've all had to 
endure some tough things in seeking to represent our States in the 
Senate. We accept that politics can sometimes be rough.
  Our families--as our biggest defenders--often take it more personally 
than we do. And, like all political families, the Gorton family has 
been instrumental to all of Slade's many successes. Washington State is 
proud and appreciative of all that Sally Gorton has also done.
  Much has been said in Washington State about the differences between 
Senator Gorton and myself. And while Slade and I have had our 
differences, not enough has been said about our ability to work 
together on behalf of Washington State.
  Slade Gorton was a champion for Washington State. When the interests 
of Washington State were at stake, we were a great team.
  I will miss our ability to work together on a bipartisan basis, 
combining our strengths, to represent our great State.
  As my colleagues know, there is also no greater adversary in the 
United States Senate than Slade Gorton.
  When Senator Gorton took on an issue, everyone knew they had better 
prepare for an energetic and spirited fight. Senators on both sides of 
the aisle know what a challenge it is to take on Senator Gorton.

  Most of you didn't have to take those fights home to your 
constituencies like I did. But those differences between Senator Gorton 
and I were rare. And they were never personal or vindictive. There were 
no political vendettas, and we were always able to move onto the next 
issue of importance to our constituents.
  Ask the Clinton administration and the Justice Department what it is 
like to take on an issue and differ with Slade Gorton. He was a 
champion for Microsoft in its ongoing legal battles with the Department 
of Justice. I respected his work on behalf of Microsoft and was proud 
to work with him on behalf of our constituents. And certainly, all of 
Washington State appreciated his determined efforts to represent one of 
the great symbols of Washington State.
  Ask the Bush administration what it was like to do battle with Slade 
Gorton when he fought his own party to save the National Endowment for 
the Arts.
  Despite Washington, DC's strong desire to label us all, Slade was 
always open. And when he took on a cause, he often surprised people. 
Throughout his career in both Washingtons, Slade defied labels.
  Most recently, Senator Gorton and I worked very closely on the issue 
of pipeline safety. Unfortunately, a tragedy in Bellingham, Washington 
claimed three young lives and scarred forever a community. Slade was 
right there with me from the very beginning, working to raise the 
profile of the issue and eventually pass through the Senate the 
toughest pipeline safety legislation ever adopted by either body of 
Congress. Senator Gorton was instrumental to this effort. Working 
together, we took on some very powerful interests and extracted some 
tough compromises.
  At the Appropriations Committee, Senator Gorton and I teamed up on 
numerous instances each and every year to advance and protect 
Washington's many interests. From agriculture research programs 
benefiting apple growers and wheat farmers to export promotion programs 
to land exchanges.
  Washington was the only State with two appropriators. We were 
fortunate. More so because Slade chaired the Interior Subcommittee 
where Washington has so many interests.
  We worked together to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. We 
were partners in the effort to ease the Puget Sound area's very 
difficult traffic congestion problems at the Transportation 
Subcommittee where we both served.
  Beyond the Appropriations Committee, there are so many other issues 
that we worked well together on behalf of Washington State. Commercial 
fisheries is immensely important to our State and we worked closely on 
the Magnuson-Stevens Act in 1996 and the American Fisheries Act in 
1998. We recently worked together to pay tribute to a Nisei veteran and 
Washington State native William Kenzo Nakamura by naming a courthouse 
after him in Seattle, Washington.
  We did work collaboratively on selecting Federal judges in a time 
when confirming judges was overly partisan. We succeeded in getting our 
judges through this difficult process by working together.
  Time and again, we both worked to help Boeing in its relationships 
with many foreign aircraft customers. Whether working with USTR or a 
foreign government, Slade worked hard for the almost 100,000 Washington 
State families who work at Boeing and rely on aircraft sales.
  Senator Gorton and I also worked closely on health care issues 
important to our constituents. We worked together to boost the growing 
biotech sector in our State and the promising future that companies 
like Immunex and others are building in Washington State. From securing 
research dollars to representing the UW Medical School, Washington 
State's health care needs were well served by the work of Senator 
Gorton. Here, like in so many areas, he had an impact for the 
betterment of our State and our country. He was a champion on autism 
issues and I regularly worked with him to expand health care for 
children.
  Senator Gorton was always known for tremendous staff work both in 
Washington, DC and throughout the State of Washington. He has served as 
a mentor to literally thousands of professionals. The family tree of 
Gorton staffers past and present is a truly impressive list of 
Washingtonians.
  One of Senator Gorton's greatest and lasting contributions to our 
State will be the years of public service his former staffers will give 
to Washington State.
  My staff and I have worked closely with Senator Gorton's staff. That 
working relationship was always interrupted by an annual softball game 
that could be as competitive as any Apple Cup football game between the 
University of Washington and Washington State University. I am proud to 
say the Murray softball team won its share of games. But so did the 
Gorton team. And there were a couple of years where Senator Gorton 
himself contributed to his team's wins. It was a friendly rivalry but I 
am sure Slade will agree, we both really wanted to win that game.
  The Gorton staff is as loyal as any on Capitol Hill. And I am sure 
they will have an opportunity to thank Senator Gorton for all of his 
personal and professional guidance and assistance.
  But I am also sure they would want me to say to Senator Gorton that 
they believed in his work and that they will always be proud to call 
themselves Gorton staffers.
  This is certainly a time of change for the country and for the 
Senate. And while Senator Gorton will leave the Senate, we shouldn't 
expect to see him fade from the public scene. At home, he will continue 
to be a respected leader with perhaps many opportunities ahead to 
further shape and influence our State.
  And, perhaps his service in Washington, DC will continue as well. 
Change may seem uncertain but I am confident--just as he did almost 50 
years ago on the Greyhound bus--that Senator Gorton will make the most 
of the new opportunities to come.
  Senator Gorton, on behalf of all of Washington State, thank you for 
making Washington State your home. We have benefited enormously from 
the decision you made as a young man to settle in Washington State. 
Your service here in the Senate is one proud part of a dedicated and 
accomplished career in public service.

[[Page S11666]]

  I yield the floor to my colleague Senator Gordon Smith from Oregon.
  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. I thank Mrs. Murray, the Senator from 
Washington, for her kind words on behalf of our colleague and friend, 
Senator Slade Gorton.
  I am filled with conflicting emotions this morning. It is easy for me 
to come to the floor of the Senate to sing the praises of Slade Gorton. 
It is hard for me to contemplate this place without him. As Senator 
Murray has detailed his history, I won't repeat it, but I do think it 
is significant that this good man comes from a family from New England 
but, like a delicious Washington apple, he is a product of Washington 
State.
  Slade often tells the story of Lewis and Clark coming down the 
Columbia River. They approached the Pacific on the Washington side. The 
first election that included minorities of African American, Indian 
descent, and female gender, took place on the shores of what we now 
know as Washington State. The decision before the party was whether to 
stay in Washington or whether to move to Oregon on the other side of 
the river. The vote was to move to Oregon. Slade has always used that 
story as an example that the voters are not always right.
  I have never shared the same conclusion with respect to that story, 
and I find it humbling to accede to the will of the majority in 
elections, as I do now, with the defeat of Slade Gorton for another 
term. It is a hard decision, nevertheless, for me.
  Slade was also given to say that mountains divide and rivers unite. 
Truly, the Columbia River is one of many marvelous things that 
Washington and Oregon share together. It is the thing which has made of 
Washingtonians and Oregonians good friends for so many years. It is, 
perhaps, the greatest thing that brought Slade Gorton and me together, 
a common interest in being good neighbors, a common interest in the 
values and uses of the river for both natural and human purposes. 
Oregon has lost a great friend at the end of the service of Slade 
Gorton.
  Time and again, I would appeal to Slade in his powerful position on 
Appropriations to help the people of my State with appropriations that 
mattered to farmers, to fishermen, to foresters. He was always there, 
always anxious to help, always anxious to provide money for salmon 
restoration and for things that make the lives of all in the Pacific 
Northwest better.
  Slade Gorton was the champion of many things, but I think he was the 
greatest champion for rural people. He knew that our prosperity, our 
standard of living, ultimately came from the responsible use of natural 
resources. So he stood by farmers. He stood by fishermen. He stood by 
those who logged. He stood by the miner. He fought for their jobs. He 
fought for them to have a place. But he was not just focused on their 
concerns. As Senator Murray has reminded us, Microsoft knew no greater 
champion on the floor of the Senate than Slade Gorton as he battled for 
this State's great interest in Microsoft's survival and success. So he 
was both high tech and farmer friendly. He was a man for all seasons 
for the Pacific Northwest and for his State of Washington.
  This morning, as I contemplated what I could say about him, a passage 
of scripture from the New Testament came to my mind that seemed to be, 
in my view, the bright way that I see Slade Gorton. After giving the 
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:

       Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill 
     cannot be hid; neither do men light a candle and put it under 
     a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all 
     that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, 
     that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, 
     which is in heaven.

  Slade Gorton's light is very bright. I don't know of a brighter 
person in the Senate, a smarter person. I have referred to him before 
as the E.F. Hutton of the Senate: When he would speak, we would all 
listen. I know that is true in the Republican Conference. In his 
halting way, it was worth stopping whatever you were doing to listen to 
him, because what was said was worth remembering and to be valued and 
followed.
  So Slade's light, in my view, still burns brightly, and cannot be 
hid; it should still be utilized. I cannot predict how this 
Presidential election will turn out, but I do hope that if it should be 
President Bush, he will see that light as brightly as I do and utilize 
Slade in the service of our country still because our country needs him 
and he has so much more yet to give.
  Like Slade, I have known victory and defeat in running for the 
Senate. I had no greater friend when I first ran for the Senate, and by 
a margin nearly the one by which he has now lost, I also lost. I 
remember his letter so vividly because he had worked so hard for me. It 
came a few days after my defeat. He said how no defeat for a Senator's 
race had ever affected him as badly as mine, except the time he had 
lost once before. And it was a hard and bitter thing. But he admonished 
me to get up and to try again, as he had tried again. He admonished me 
to serve and to not hide my light under a bushel because he needed me, 
and the farmers, the fishermen, and the foresters of the Northwest 
needed me. I have the feeling they need me more now than ever with 
Slade's departure.
  He also said--and I will never forget it--he told me it probably 
upset his law partners in Seattle--that the worst day in the Senate is 
far better than the best day in the practice of law, which is another 
reason he labored so hard to come back and to serve. And it is a 
marvelous privilege to be here, to serve the people you love at home.
  Slade was right. I now know how he felt when he wrote that letter 
because I feel a great emptiness inside at the thought of his 
departure. But I know, as he knows, that in democracy you do not always 
get to win, but you always get your say. I hope the day will come, in a 
different forum, perhaps, when Slade Gorton will have his say again.
  Until then, I pray God's choicest blessings for Slade and Sally 
Gorton to sustain them in this difficult transition and to help all of 
us who remain behind to fill his very considerable shoe size as a 
Senator.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed 
in the Record a number of statements regarding Senator Gorton and his 
distinguished service. I want to take particular note of the statement 
by our colleague, Joe Lieberman, who could not be here today. Senator 
Gorton and Senator Lieberman worked on many initiatives over the years. 
I want to read his statement:

       Mr. President, I wish to express my greatest respect and 
     affection for Slade Gorton of Washington with whom I have 
     enjoyed working closely for a number of years. Slade's life 
     is characterized by his commitment to faith, family, service, 
     and law. As he leaves the Senate, I want to reminisce about 
     some of the matters I have been privileged to work with Slade 
     Gorton.
       Over the years, Senator Slade Gorton has been a great 
     leader on educational reform, striving to raise the 
     performance of our nation's elementary and secondary schools 
     and the quality of education so that all children may reach a 
     high level of academic achievement. The senior Senator for 
     Washington and I have worked together on a number of 
     proposals to improve our educational system. His 
     contributions have led the way for better educational 
     accountability and innovation in the years ahead.
       Of great importance to our country are Slade Gorton's 
     continued efforts to preserve and honor American history by 
     calling for stronger history curriculum standards and 
     literacy awareness in our colleges and universities. I truly 
     believe such endeavors help to unite our nation by 
     demonstrating the importance of our shared heritage and civic 
     culture as Americans.
       One of my most memorable experiences with Slade was the 
     work we did together after the House impeached President 
     Clinton. All of us in the Senate knew that how we handled the 
     impeachment trial would test us all--both individually and as 
     an institution. We could either fall into intense 
     partisanship, miring ourselves and the country in lengthy and 
     disruptive proceedings that threatened to leave this 
     institution demeaned and scarred, or we could rise above 
     partisanship and join together in a way that preserved this 
     body's dignity while at the same time ensuring a full airing 
     of the issues before us.
       Slade took the lead in guiding us to a dignified path, 
     formulating a plan that ultimately formed the basis of the 
     process the Senate adopted. Notwithstanding his personal 
     views, his love for his country and this institution led him 
     to put principle above partisanship and to formulate a plan 
     for resolving the impeachment case before it wreaked more 
     havoc on the Senate and the nation. I was delighted to work 
     on that plan with him, and was impressed again by the 
     civilized, thoughtful, and nonpartisan way in

[[Page S11667]]

     which Slade Gorton proceeded. I truly believe that his 
     leadership was instrumental in seeing the Senate through that 
     difficult time with honor.
       Slade Gorton leaves the Senate with much to be proud of, 
     and much to look forward to. For my wife and myself, I send 
     Slade and Sally and their wonderful family love and every 
     good wish for the next great chapter of their lives.

  I also ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record several 
editorials regarding Senator Gorton's long service to our State of 
Washington.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

     Statement by Senator Murray in Tribute to Senator Slade Gorton

       Mr. President, congressional lame duck sessions following 
     an election are a rarity. They usually arise when Congress is 
     unable to finish its business in a timely fashion and that is 
     true with this year as well. But this session affords me and 
     this Congress an opportunity to acknowledge and pay tribute 
     to the service of an esteemed colleague. Senator Slade 
     Gorton, the senior Senator from Washington state, will be 
     ending his service here after 18 years in the Senate.
       Washingtonians regardless of party affiliation have come up 
     to me with high praise and appreciation for Senator Gorton's 
     long service to our state, our country and this proud 
     institution. I want to share with my colleagues a passage 
     from an editorial this week in the Everett Herald. The Herald 
     editorial reads, ``History will rank Gorton with Senator 
     Henry M. `Scoop' Jackson and Senator Warren G. Magnuson as an 
     extraordinary leader in D.C. on behalf of the state. 
     Throughout his career in the Senate and state government, 
     Gorton has been a leading force in many major efforts to 
     protect the environment. He also has been a consistent, 
     passionate advocate for individuals with problems dealing 
     with bureaucracy. Within the Senate, Gorton has been a grand 
     force for reasoned bipartisanship, never afraid to take a 
     strong stand but also willing to work graciously and 
     effectively with members of the opposition even at the 
     tensest moments.''
       Many of our colleagues are well aware of Slade's history of 
     public service. As a young man, Slade Gorton moved to 
     Washington state from Chicago almost 50 years ago. He want to 
     go West in search of new opportunities. And with $300 and a 
     one-way ticket on a Greyhound bus, Slade Gorton moved to 
     Washington state.
       History has shown that this Midwest native fit right into 
     Washington state. Like so many immigrants to our great state, 
     Slade Gorton was welcomed and given an opportunity to make 
     the most of his talents.
       From the very beginning, Slade Gorton went to work on 
     behalf of Washington state. First, he married Sally Clark 
     from Selah, Washington. That same year--1958--Slade went into 
     politics and was elected to the Washington State House of 
     Representatives. In the Washington House, Slade rose to serve 
     as the Majority Leader.
       In 1968, he was elected Attorney General of Washington 
     state. On numerous occasions on several historic cases, Slade 
     represented the people of Washington before the Supreme 
     Court. Chief Justice Warren Burger once said that Slade, 
     ``makes the best arguments before the Supreme Court of any 
     Attorney General in America.'' He was also recognized with 
     the prestigious Wyman Award given to the outstanding Attorney 
     General in the United States.
       By this time, Slade had also become a respected leader 
     throughout Washington state. After three terms as the 
     Washington state Attorney General, Slade Gorton ran for and 
     won a seat in the United States Senate. He was elected three 
     times to the United States Senate--giving him an impressive 
     record of winning statewide election six times in Washington.
       All of this is offered as a brief history of Slade's many 
     years of service. With time, there will certainly be many 
     public tributes to Senator Gorton. But what I'd like to focus 
     on now is our time together in the United States Senate and 
     the work we were able to do together over the last eight 
     years.
       I am sure all of my colleagues share my own appreciation 
     for the support, guidance and sacrifices our families make so 
     that we can serve in the Senate. We rely on them in so many 
     ways. Slade is fortunate to have such a supportive family. 
     Sally and Slade have been partners for all of his years of 
     service. From Olympia, Washington, to Washington, D.C., Sally 
     Gorton has been there each and every day. She and Slade have 
     three children and seven grandchildren, who I know bring 
     immense pride to the Gorton family. So, as we acknowledge and 
     honor Slade Gorton, I want to pay special tribute to Sally 
     Gorton and the entire Gorton family.
       Much has been said in Washington state about the 
     differences between Senator Gorton and myself. While Slade 
     and I have had our differences, not enough has been said 
     about our ability to work together on behalf of Washington 
     state. He was a champion for Washington state. When the 
     interests of Washington state were at stake, we were a great 
     team. I will miss our ability to work on a bipartisan basis, 
     combining our strengths, to represent our great state.
       As my colleagues know, there is also no greater adversary 
     in the United States Senate than Slade Gorton. When Senator 
     Gorton took on an issue, everyone knew they had better 
     prepare for an energetic and spirited fight. Senators on both 
     sides of the aisle know what a challenge it is to take on 
     Senator Gorton.
       Most of you didn't have to take those fights home to your 
     constituencies like I did. But those differences between 
     Senator Gorton and I were rare. And they were never personal 
     or vindictive. There were no political vendettas, and we were 
     always able to move on to the next issue of importance to our 
     constituents.
       Ask the Clinton Administration and the Justice Department 
     what it is like to take on an issue and differ with Slade 
     Gorton. He was a champion for Microsoft in its ongoing legal 
     battles with the Department of Justice. I respected his work 
     on behalf of Microsoft and was proud to work with him on 
     behalf of our constituents. And certainly, all of Washington 
     state appreciated his determined efforts to represent one of 
     the great symbols of Washington state. Ask the Bush 
     Administration what it was like to do battle with Slade 
     Gorton when he fought his own party to save the National 
     Endowment for the Arts.
       Slade Gorton also fought for the United States Senate. When 
     the Congress was struggling through a very partisan 
     impeachment process, it was Slade Gorton who along with our 
     colleague Senator Joe Lieberman stepped forward with a plan 
     for the Senate. Senator Gorton, in this instance as well as 
     in many others, had enormous respect for this institution. 
     That respect for the institution is evident in the respect he 
     enjoys among all Senators.
       Despite Washington D.C.'s strong desire to label us all, 
     Slade was always open. When he took on a cause, he often 
     surprised people. Throughout his career in both Washingtons, 
     Slade defied labels.
       Most recently, Senator Gorton and I worked very closely on 
     the issue of pipeline safety. Unfortunately, a tragedy in 
     Bellingham, Washington, claimed three young lives and scarred 
     a community forever. Slade was right there with me from the 
     very beginning, working to raise the profile of the issue and 
     eventually to pass through the Senate the toughest pipeline 
     safety legislation ever adopted by either body of Congress. 
     Senator Gorton was instrumental to this effort. Working 
     together, we took on some very powerful interests and 
     extracted tough compromises.
       At the Appropriations Committee, Senator Gorton and I 
     teamed up in numerous instances each and every year to 
     advance and protect Washington's many interests from 
     agriculture research programs benefitting apple growers and 
     wheat farmers to export promotion programs and land 
     exchanges.
       Washington was fortunate to be the only state whose two 
     senators both served on the Appropriations Committee. Of 
     course, Slade chaired the Interior Subcommittee where 
     Washington has so many interests. We worked together to clean 
     up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. We were partners in the 
     effort to ease the Puget Sound area's very difficult traffic 
     congestion problems at the Transportation Subcommittee where 
     we both served.
       Beyond the Appropriations Committee, there are so many 
     other issues that we worked well together on behalf of 
     Washington state. Commercial fisheries are immensely 
     important to our state and we worked closely on the Magnuson-
     Stevens Act in 1996 and the American Fisheries Act in 1998. 
     We recently worked together to pay tribute to a Nisei veteran 
     and Washington state native William Kenzo Nakamura by naming 
     a courthouse after him in Seattle, Washington.
       We worked collaboratively on selecting Federal judges in a 
     time when confirming judges was overly partisan. We succeeded 
     in getting our judges through this difficult process by 
     working together.
       Time and again, we both worked to help Boeing in its 
     relationships with many foreign aircraft customers. Whether 
     working with USTR or a foreign government, Slade worked hard 
     for the almost 100,000 Washington state families who work at 
     Boeing and rely on aircraft sales.
       Senator Gorton and I also worked closely on health care 
     issues important to our constituents. We worked together to 
     boost the growing biotech sector in our state and the 
     promising future that companies like Immunex and others are 
     building in Washington state. From securing research dollars 
     to representing the UW Medical School, Washington state's 
     health care needs were well served by the work of Senator 
     Gorton. Here, like in so many areas, he had a significant and 
     positive impact on our state. He was a champion on autism 
     issues, and I regularly worked with him to expand health care 
     for children.
       Effective leaders attract talented people to their offices 
     and Senator Gorton has always had a very effective staff both 
     in Washington, DC, and throughout the State of Washington. He 
     has served as a mentor to literally thousands of 
     professionals. The family tree of Gorton staffers past and 
     present is a truly impressive list of Washingtonians. One of 
     Senator Gorton's greatest and lasting contributions to our 
     state will be the years of public service his former staffers 
     will give to Washington state.
       My staff and I have worked closely with Senator Gorton's 
     staff. That working relationship was always interrupted by an 
     annual softball game that could be as competitive as any 
     Apple Cup football game between

[[Page S11668]]

     the University of Washington and Washington State University. 
     I am proud to say the Murray softball team won its share of 
     games. But so did the Gorton team. And there were a couple of 
     years where Senator Gorton himself contributed to his team's 
     wins. It was a friendly rivalry, but I think Slade will tell 
     you, we both really wanted to win that game.
       The Gorton staff is as loyal as any on Capitol Hill. I am 
     sure they will have an opportunity to thank Senator Gorton 
     for all of his personal and professional guidance and 
     assistance, but I am also sure they would want me to say to 
     Senator Gorton that they believed in his work and that they 
     will always be proud to call themselves Gorton staffers.
       This is certainly a time of change for the country and for 
     the Senate. And while Senator Gorton will leave the Senate, 
     we shouldn't expect to see him fade from the public scene. At 
     home, he will continue to be a respected leader with perhaps 
     many opportunities ahead to further shape and influence our 
     state.
       And perhaps his service in Washington, D.C., will continue 
     as well. I am confident--just as he did almost 50 years ago 
     on the Greyhound bus--that Senator Gorton will make the most 
     of the new opportunities to come.
       Senator Gorton, on behalf of the people of Washington 
     state, thank you for your many years of dedicated service. 
     Thank you for giving your time, your energy, and your wisdom 
     to people of our state and our country. We have benefitted 
     enormously from your work and we are grateful for your 
     service.
                                  ____


                 [From the Seattle Times, Dec. 5, 2000]

                   Gorton's Noteworthy Public Career

       There is no particular joy in bidding farewell to the 
     state's senior senator, Slade Gorton.
       This page endorsed his opponent, Maria Cantwell, and we 
     look forward to the changes in style and policy she can bring 
     to the job.
       But we would be remiss if we failed to pay tribute in this 
     space to Gorton's distinguished public career. He was first 
     elected state legislator, then attorney general and has 
     served three terms as Senator.
       Legacy is not a notion that comes easily to Gorton. Late in 
     the campaign, when asked what was the legacy of his years in 
     public service, he groped for a response. Perhaps that's 
     because Gorton's career was not a straight line toward clear 
     goals or major accomplishments.
       As a legislator he was more pragmatist than ideologue. As 
     his Republican party moved to the right, Gorton feigned just 
     enough moves in that direction to stay in office, moves that 
     prompted criticism on this page and elsewhere.
       A careful look at the sweep of is career reveals Gorton's 
     better impulses. He is credited with helping to save the 
     National Endowment for the Arts and the Forest Legacy 
     Program, a crucial source of funds for the Mountains to Sound 
     Greenway project along I-90.
       Gorton was one of the saner voices in Congress during the 
     impeachment. He teamed with his friend, Democratic Sen. 
     Joseph Lieberman, to broker a middle-ground solution that 
     would short-circuit a trial. They were unsuccessful, but the 
     effort is a revealing example of Gorton at work during a 
     historic time in the nation's Capitol.
       Gorton's name is attached to several major accomplishments 
     from the early years of his career. Lawyer and longtime civic 
     activist Jim Ellis credits Gorton with steering through the 
     state legislature the program known as Forward Thrust, a 
     package of major public works in King County.
       Among his most loyal backers is a small army of women who 
     have worked for Gorton at various stages of his career.
       Many have gone on to their own careers in public life.
       Now, facing forced retirement by the narrowest of voter 
     margins, Gorton, 72, can contemplate a life of ongoing 
     service, possibly in a Bush administration, or better yet, as 
     a senior statesman in Washington State and the Northwest 
     where his talents are still welcome and much needed.
                                  ____


              [From the Tacoma News Tribune, Dec. 5, 2000]

         Hold a Place for Gorton Among State's Political Giants

                          (By Peter Callaghan)

       It's a journalistic must-do.
       When a prominent officeholder is defeated, we roll out the 
     retrospective articles--obituaries for the living.
       We attempt to place our politicians in perspective before 
     we have any.
       It's Slade Gorton's turn now. The 72-year-old U.S. 
     senator's defeat will become official Wednesday.
       But he was pretty sure when the first count of votes was 
     released the day before Thanksgiving when he declared himself 
     ``cautiously pessimistic'' that a recount would make a 
     difference.
       It didn't. Last Friday the county-by-county tally showed 
     that Democrat Maria Cantwell's lead actually grew by a few 
     hundred votes.
       So Gorton walked in front of the cameras and the newsies to 
     make a very short statement. He took no questions.
       That left others to pass judgment on a career in politics 
     that began in 1958. He served 10 years in the state House of 
     Representatives, 12 as attorney general and 18 in the U.S. 
     Senate.
       Longevity is just one of the reasons he should be 
     considered for the same status as Warren Magnuson, Dan Evans, 
     Henry Jackson, Wesley Jones, Julia Butler Hansen and Tom 
     Foley--giants all.
       Impact is another reason. So is presence. So is the breadth 
     of his legacy.
       But there's a much different tone to Gorton's postmortem 
     than for the others. Much of the space is devoted not to what 
     he was but to what he wasn't.
       He wasn't wildly popular. He wasn't able to generate 
     affection among voters. He wasn't one to bring home the bacon 
     in the form of dams and hospitals and military bases.
       In a phrase, he wasn't Scoop and Maggie.
       This presumes, of course, that Gorton could have been just 
     like Scoop and Maggie even had he wanted to be. Times had 
     changed. Gorton was elected in the GOP landslide that ushered 
     in the Reagan era.
       It was a time of lowered expectations of the federal 
     government. It was a time when the ability to win hundreds of 
     millions of federal pork was at an end.
       Heck, Scoop and Maggie wouldn't be Scoop and Maggie in 
     times such as those.
       But Slade Gorton did manage to build his own legacy as a 
     smart, savvy politician who was the go-to guy in the 
     Washington state delegation for much of the last two decades.
       If you want your politicians warm and fuzzy, don't knock on 
     Gorton's door. He was of a generation that didn't believe in 
     public displays of affection--especially the phony kind 
     practiced by some politicians.
       That he never made an emotional connection with voters hurt 
     him in the two close elections that he lost in 1986 and 2000.
       But most other times, Washington voters realized we were 
     electing a U.S. senator, not a host for a children's TV show.
       Gorton did something few other politicians could--he 
     learned from that earlier defeat that he had to listen as 
     well as talk.
       He learned to say thank you. He admitted that some of his 
     votes in his first term were mistakes and he asked voters for 
     a second chance.
       They gave it to him.
       That he lost twice shouldn't be a legacy-killer. We forget 
     how tough it has been for Republicans to win the governor's 
     office or the two U.S. Senate seats in Washington.
       In fact, since 1954 only three Republicans have--Evans, 
     Gorton and John Spellman.
       In that same time period, eight different Democrats have 
     won those offices--five men and three women.
       Gorton overcame that handicap with a strategy that has 
     always drawn criticism--he ran against Seattle and exploited 
     the resentments many have for the state's biggest city. He 
     was accused of using so-called wedge issues that divided the 
     state.
       But that in itself is a Seattle-centric critique. It's OK--
     in fact, preferred--to represent Puget Sound to the detriment 
     of the rest of the state. Doing the opposite, however, is 
     divisive.
       Cantwell won just five of the state's 39 counties. But she 
     is defined as a unifier while Gorton is a divider.
       The campaign is too recent for liberals to view Gorton's 
     service as anything but a disaster.
       But as time passes, perhaps they'll be more willing to give 
     him his due and allow him to take his place in state 
     political history with those other giants.
                                  ____


                   [From the HeraldNet, Dec. 5, 2000]

       Our Views--Maria Cantwell Follows a Great Line of Senators

       With a history of outstanding U.S. senators, Washington 
     state is about to embark on what should be a fine new 
     chapter.
       With time, Maria Cantwell ought to become another fine 
     senator for Washington. Indeed, the likelihood is that the 
     Democrat from Edmonds will become an effective, high-profile 
     member of the Senate early on. It certainly helps Cantwell's 
     visibility that her election appears to have broken the 
     Republican majority and given Democrats a 50-50 tie for the 
     next session.
       The situation undoubtedly influenced two major networks to 
     interview Cantwell on their morning news shows Monday. As 
     Democrats point out, moreover, the election of the former 
     high-tech executive gives the country its first senator from 
     the new economy. Even in a Senate that includes a freshman 
     well enough known to have won election from New York without 
     using her last name, Cantwell's talents should earn her ample 
     notice.
       While Cantwell is making a promising entry into the Senate, 
     Washington state certainly will miss the presence of longtime 
     Sen. Slade Gorton. Although Gorton would be an excellent 
     choice for a post in a possible Bush cabinet, the state has 
     lost the clout he carried as a senator with 18 years 
     seniority.
       History will rank Gorton with Sen. Henry M. ``Scoop'' 
     Jackson and Sen. Warren G. Magnuson as an extraordinary 
     leader in D.C. on behalf of the state. Throughout his career 
     in the Senate and state government, Gorton has been a leading 
     force in many major efforts to protect the environment. He 
     also has been a consistent, passionate advocate for 
     individuals with problems dealing with bureaucracy. Within 
     the Senate, Gorton has been a grand force for reasoned 
     bipartisanship, never afraid to take a strong stand but also 
     willing to work graciously and effectively with members of 
     the opposition even at the tensest moments.
       Gorton's career was certainly marked by tough fights with 
     opponents and a willingness to criticize liberals from the 
     Puget

[[Page S11669]]

     Sound region. That divisiveness, in fact, may have 
     contributed to his defeat by Cantwell. But he helped ensure 
     that the less urban areas of the state weren't forgotten.
       To her credit, Cantwell campaigned to become a senator for 
     the entire state. She has promised, in fact, to visit each of 
     the state's 39 counties every year. That will be a 
     challenging but worthwhile task.
       Cantwell has talked about the need for action on issues 
     that relate directly to people's lives, including 
     prescription drugs and controls on health maintenance 
     organizations. With her incisive understanding for policy 
     issues, demonstrated in both the state Legislature and the 
     U.S. House of Representatives, she could help create answers 
     to such difficult questions.
       Her lack of seniority, though, deprives the state of the 
     significant influence over appropriations that Gorton 
     wielded, especially for environmental projects. The state, 
     and Cantwell, will have to look to Sen. Patty Murray to fill 
     as much of the gap as possible.
       Cantwell returns to politics after making a fortune with a 
     high-tech company in just five years. As the careers of 
     Jackson, Magnuson and Gorton have demonstrated, the length of 
     service is a critical factor in making a great senator. 
     Cantwell should keep that in mind as she makes what is likely 
     to be an impressive entrance into the Senate of the United 
     States.

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I yield such time as he may need to the 
Senator from West Virginia, Mr. Rockefeller.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I rise today on a personal basis to 
reflect a little bit about the Slade Gorton I have known and worked 
with over a number of years now. Even as I welcome Mary Cantwell into 
the Senate, I also am very sorry to see Slade Gorton go--just because 
of the very extraordinary character he brought to this institution.
  I worked with Slade very closely on the Commerce Committee. Our 
jurisdictions, so to speak, overlapped a good deal. Our interests 
overlapped a good deal. One of the pieces of legislation where I 
thought you saw Slade working at his best, when he was so effective in 
the Senate, was the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Agency. 
This was actually a very complicated piece of legislation. It was one 
that was particularly difficult because the Senate as a whole has not 
bothered to engage itself particularly with the whole subject of 
aviation and the enormity of the crisis which is facing us and which 
manifests itself in the summer and tourist season and then is quickly 
forgotten as soon as the tourist season is over and the delays diminish 
somewhat. One can see, as the industry grows, it also runs into more 
severe problems, financially and otherwise.
  Slade Gorton had an innate understanding of aviation, obviously, 
because of the State from which he came. But he was also a master 
craftsman in terms of understanding issues, producing legislation, and 
then forging a compromise that would lead to a result that, in effect, 
reauthorized the Federal Aviation Administration and put forth money on 
an unprecedented basis to do what needed to be done, both for our air 
traffic control system and for the infrastructure which our Congress 
and our Nation just blithely ignore--complaining about 
noise, complaining about delays, and then declining to do anything 
about it. It is not a problem which fixes itself.

  Slade was, in a sense, kind of a pioneer on this issue which in some 
ways is similar to the IT phenomenon, the Internet; it burst upon us. 
But people have been rather quick to learn about the new economy and 
the Internet and rather slow to learn about a problem which is just as 
severe and technical and just as complex as that one. But Slade, 
obviously, as is typical of him, never shirked his duty either to his 
State or to his country.
  He has a work ethic. A ``work ethic'' simply describes itself, but 
the way in which Slade Gorton has carried that out over all the years I 
have worked with him is something which has both given me joy and a 
great sense of admiration. I don't know if there are any cartoons 
anywhere, but there are a lot of stories: One always sees Senator 
Gorton at his desk--reading. The entire Senate can be engulfed in a 
conflagration of some sort, usually about something which means 
absolutely nothing, but Slade Gorton understands that and so he simply 
turns to newspapers, journals, things which--again, with his very 
superior intellect--are increasing his knowledge, increasing his 
perspective and the depth of his ability, therefore, to be helpful to 
his people, to his country, and to the Senate.
  He had a very interesting position, too, in the Senate, in that he 
was a very close adviser, and may remain so, to the majority leader, 
Trent Lott. He did not do that through the power of politics. He did 
not lobby in the way that people often do when they run for offices, go 
around trying to pick up votes in that way. It was simply the power of 
his reasoned, calm intellect, the even temperament of his nature, and 
the compelling force of his logic and the calmness in which all of this 
evolved and presented itself, which I think--my guess would be--drew 
Senator Lott to understand that to rely on Slade Gorton's judgment and 
understanding and advice would be a very wise thing to do.
  Slade Gorton and I did not necessarily have the same voting records, 
but we often had the same approach to issues, not all of which I will 
discuss here, and we have come to differ on some of those issues. But I 
always have had this deep sense of respect for him. He never was a 
typical Senator. He was not a backslapper. Yet when he gave his word, 
you needed to worry no more because that was it. As they say, his word 
was his bond--and it really was.
  He had always an excellent staff about him. Yet you always had the 
feeling that Slade Gorton made all of the decisions and did, really, 
most of the basic thinking himself because of the deeply thoughtful 
nature of his mind and his instinct about not just legislating but the 
way he conducted probably all his life.
  I admire very much the fact that he has been in public life for so 
long, and at the age of 72 sought to continue that public service. He 
has expressed a deep belief in public service. There are many honorable 
professions, but I think public service is one of the hardest and most 
honorable of all of them if it is carried out with serious intent and 
serious purpose. Ambition always accompanies public service, but 
ambition has to be overruled in the final analysis by this concept of 
serving the public and of trying to make a better situation for the 
State one represents and also our Nation.
  Slade is a Senator from the State of Washington but also from the 
United States of America. He understood that and exercised both of 
those responsibilities. He argued, I am told, 14 times before the U.S. 
Supreme Court when he was attorney general of his State. That says to 
me that he did not simply, as is the case sometimes, particularly in 
more recent years, jump for the top office or one of the top offices. 
He worked his way up through the system. I admire that. It shows a 
determined, a very professional, long-term commitment to public service 
at whatever level and also respect for the experience one develops on 
the way up as one serves in one's State and goes on to a more national 
forum.
  He is and always will be a superb legislator. He has been a superb 
friend to me. We have not spent a lot of time engaged in personal 
discussion, but there was a constancy in the way our relationship 
evolved and then maintained itself which always made me believe I could 
trust Slade Gorton and look to Slade Gorton for sound advice and sound 
judgment on virtually any matter.
  He is firm in his views, and I respect that. We differ often on 
views, and yet it is never a personal matter. Again, it is a truly 
brilliant, analytical, ordered mind coming to his conclusions in the 
way he thought best for him and for the people he represents.
  When we talked personally, it was almost always about his 
grandchildren; of course, about Sally, his wife, whom I think he 
married in 1958. He has seven grandchildren, and when there was 
frustration about the Senate dragging on too long, he would talk about 
the joy of being with his grandchildren. He talked at length about 
that. That was another side of Slade Gorton: Slade Gorton the family 
person, the tightly disciplined mind, and yet underneath a very warm 
sense of what, in many ways, is an even larger legacy, and that is, 
what is the nature of one's family, what is the nature of one's 
relationship to the members of one's family.
  I express my respect for him, my affection for him for his constancy 
of purpose and for his superbly honed

[[Page S11670]]

skills. His presence in the Senate is and will be always considered 
unique. He is a unique person, cerebral but effective, highly 
analytical but deeply effective in the internal combat, whether it be 
on the Appropriations Committee, the Budget Committee, the Commerce 
Committee, the Energy Committee, or any of his various committees. He 
knows how to fight. He knows how to achieve what he wants for the 
people of his State.
  As I said at the beginning, I rise to express this respect, to 
express this sense of admiration for the nature of his abilities as a 
Senator and his broad expanse as a human being.
  I thank the Presiding Officer and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Parliamentary inquiry: Is it time for the Senator from 
New Mexico to speak about the departure of Senator Slade Gorton?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time is under the control of the Senator 
from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I am happy to yield to the Senator from 
New Mexico whatever time he needs to speak about Senator Gorton.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I am very sorry to ask for that. I thought Senators on 
our side had control. I am very pleased Senator Murray yielded to me.
  Mr. President, I come this morning to speak about my friend, Slade 
Gorton, who is leaving the Senate shortly. I thought I better do it 
today because, as most things around here, when you can get them done 
you ought to because time flies and all of a sudden we find Senator 
Gorton is out of the Senate and we have to speak before he leaves. 
Today, I want to take a few minutes to share with him and his wife 
Sally, whom I hope will have occasion to read the Record, having served 
with him in each of his 18 years in the Senate, what he has contributed 
and who he is.
  It will not take me a long time to speak about him, although to tell 
the truth, he probably is more noteworthy in my life in terms of being 
a co-Senator on many things that are very big and important to our 
Nation than any other single Senator here.
  Slade Gorton is a quiet man. Even though he appears on the floor 
regularly to discuss things, he is a very thoughtful person and also a 
very hard worker.
  As we sometimes coin phrases, he is certainly a workhorse, not a show 
horse, and he is a very special and unique person because he is also 
extremely thoughtful and shares willingly his wonderful ideas, 
thoughts, and innovations with us, his fellow Senators.
  I think everybody knows that while he shares no official leadership 
role and he works hours on end on a subcommittee called the 
Subcommittee on Appropriations for the Department of Interior, his 
contributions go well beyond that. Wherever he touches things, either 
by committee work or by being called in by our majority leader to 
discuss issues to advise him, he leaves an imprint. It is not that he 
must get his way all the time, but essentially he is rather compelling 
and does succeed most of the time by power of persuasion to leave his 
imprint in the Halls of the Senate, be it in this Chamber, while we 
discuss things seriously and collegially as Republicans or combined 
Republicans and Democrats, or certainly where small groups of Senators 
meet because they must meet in their leadership roles. He is almost 
always among them.
  From my own standpoint, I have had one major commitment, one major 
user of my time in my work, and that is to understand and make sense of 
the U.S. budget. While it is not my only job, it is one of those the 
Senate expects somebody to know a lot about if they are going to come 
down here and talk about it. I have been privileged to work in that 
committee since its origin, believe it or not. It is a rather new 
committee, enforcing a rather new part of the Senate. We used to have 
just authorizing and appropriations, and some 26 years ago we had 
budgeting. He has been on that committee with me through thick and 
thin.
  Everybody should know that we did a lot of innovative things in that 
committee. We rather imaginatively broadened the scope called 
reconciliation where we can insist that things get done without being 
burdened by filibuster and untold amendments. We have done new and 
innovative things to set aside money for only one purpose and it cannot 
be used for anything else. These are all unique and different, along 
with regular routine things.
  It did not take very long, once these issues were put on the table 
and discussed, for Slade Gorton to understand them and to suggest ways 
of improving them. That is the way he is with everything he does.
  He does not have to be the kingpin, but I guarantee you, those who 
are and who are forced to lead, if he is around helping them, you can 
just tell; You can see the imprint, the logic, the strength of argument 
that comes from him being directly involved or indirectly being a 
helper.
  I am not sure in the history of the Senate how we are going to rate 
Senators over time, but I suggest that Slade Gorton will certainly be 
recognized in some very special way for his 18 years because there will 
be few who trace this history who may just look around and say: Who 
were the leaders? Who was the majority leader? Who was the minority 
leader? Who was this or that in terms of a formal job? And then 
attribute to them some direct legacy in this 18-year span that he 
served, being absent 2 years while he sought election again.
  But if it is looked at carefully, Slade Gorton has to come out near 
the top of the list of influential Senators in the conduct of 
occurrences of significance in the Senate. I am not sure how that will 
be picked up because much of it occurs in meetings that are not public 
not private meetings but meetings that are just not known because they 
are in the leader's office or a committee room.
  But what I want to say to him is: You will be missed because while 
you have been here, you have been felt. People have known you were 
here. They knew your presence, your intellectual presence, your 
humanity, your loyalty, and, yes, your skill at knowing when things 
ought to happen. Slade has a real knack for knowing: Well, it is about 
time to spring this. He will be there doing that and, sure enough, it 
will go unnoticed that he was the one who got it done.
  Individually, from my standpoint, he has been at my side every time 
we have had major events on the floor that I have had to manage. There 
have been many, they have been long, and they have been arduous.
  When I had to test them and tried them on for size with Slade Gorton, 
and he said, ``That's the way to do it,'' no one will really know what 
that has meant. Nobody will really understand how influential saying 
``that's the way to do it'' from Slade Gordon really is in terms of 
many of us here.
  He has a wonderful wife Sally and three great, wonderful children. I 
hope whatever happens in the next few years, since he is so 
knowledgeable about the workings of our Government, not just those 
items within bills on which he worked so hard called appropriations, 
but he knows about many things in Government, I close by saying, many 
of us raise our hand and say, yes, we are lawyers, and some of us know 
full well we are not lawyers any longer; we have been away from the 
profession for years. We are not what one would call a lawyer's lawyer. 
But after all these years in public life, Slade Gorton could step into 
the most significant of legal offices in America and be a great, 
participating, achieving modern-day lawyer, even after all these years 
of not being in the legal profession. He must have been a great 
solicitor. He appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of his 
State and made some very interesting law when he was a lawyer for his 
State, either in his attorney general's office or otherwise.
  So I want to say to him, whatever it is you choose now, Senator 
Gorton, and Sally, whatever you choose, I hope you will be around so we 
can continue to share with you, an occasional opportunity to share a 
meal, an occasional social event, or, even better, an opportunity from 
time to time to just listen to you tell us what you think of how it is, 
how you observe it, and, in a way, continue to bless us with all those 
marvelous qualities you bring here.

  You have brought from your State a degree of pride to the Senate that 
is very difficult to replace. Far be it from

[[Page S11671]]

me to judge any other Senator from any other State or even his own 
State, but Senator Slade Gorton will be here a long time in memory 
because many will know what he thought about the Senate and how he 
thought about us.
  It is hard to say he will not be down here at that seat, arguing with 
us on important issues. But he will be here because I cannot imagine 
that people who lived and worked with him all these years--I see one 
here on the floor, the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations 
Committee, who knows about it very well--will ever forget him, and we 
will not let the Senate forget.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Allard). The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. How much time is left under my control?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Three minutes.
  Mrs. MURRAY. How much time does the Senator from New Hampshire need?
  Mr. GREGG. I would like to have about 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator 
from New Hampshire have 5 minutes, the Senator from North Dakota have 3 
minutes, and that any other Senators who wish to bring their statements 
and have them printed in the Record at this point regarding Senator 
Gorton be able to do so.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. STEVENS. I temporarily object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
  Mr. STEVENS. I withdraw my objection.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from New Hampshire is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GREGG. I thank the Senator from Washington for the courtesy of 
recognition.
  Mr. President, I join with my colleagues in praising and expressing 
our appreciation for the opportunity to work with and know as a 
colleague in this body Senator Slade Gorton from Washington. I expect 
to continue to work with and know Senator Slade Gorton for many years. 
But, unfortunately, he will be leaving this body, which is too bad 
because I consider him to be one of the truly extraordinary people I 
have had a chance to get to know.
  I would describe him as delightful and extraordinary--delightful as a 
person, extraordinary as a Senator. He brings to this Senate a 
uniqueness which is special. He has a freshness about him, a way of 
approaching the issues which is always creative and imaginative. He has 
true love for this institution. He especially understands its rules and 
the way it works.
  He is one of the few senior Members on our side of the aisle who will 
sit in the chair for hours and hours in order to officiate over the 
Senate. In fact, I think every year he has been here he has received 
what is known as the Golden Gavel for sitting in the Chair for 100 
hours, something usually received by junior Members of the Senate, but 
because of his interest in and intensity and love for and commitment to 
this body, he has enjoyed the opportunity to preside. And he has 
presided extraordinarily well.
  He, however, as the Senator from New Mexico has mentioned, has been 
probably less visible than many Members of the Senate but has had much 
more impact than most of us. His actions and effectiveness are really 
in the famous back halls and meeting rooms of the Senate. Very few 
pieces of legislation have moved through this body that do not, in some 
part, have the fingerprints of Slade Gorton on them.
  He is truly an effective tactician, but more importantly, he is an 
effective spokesperson for a philosophy. And he knows how to move that 
philosophy forward within our institution.
  As a result, he has had a tremendous impact on the legislative 
activity of this body over the years. I suppose we shouldn't be 
surprised at that though. The truly great Senators in this body--I 
suggest that maybe one of them is Daniel Webster--have come from a 
tradition from which Slade Gorton also comes. He went to school in New 
Hampshire. He went to school at Dartmouth, as did the great Daniel 
Webster. Maybe he learned at Dartmouth some of those characteristics 
which carried both Webster and him forward so well. Clearly, those 
characteristics are unique and special. We take pride in New Hampshire 
in claiming a little bit of Slade Gorton for our own.
  As I think of him, I think of a friend, somebody to whom I could 
always go talk to get ideas. We talked about his family that he so 
loved, Sally and his children, his grandchildren, his nieces, nephews. 
He used to go to hockey league for his niece all the time. She is a 
wonderful hockey player. He is totally committed to his family.
  It was a pleasure to have the chance to sit down and talk with him on 
any subject, but especially when it came to issues of family and what 
everybody was up to and what everybody was doing. That is the priority 
for Slade and Sally. At one point, they took a bike ride across the 
country, which must have been an amazing experience, the whole family 
riding across the country.
  He set an example for those of us who came here after him. As we look 
around this institution, we often refer to people: He reminds me of so-
and-so, he reminds me of some Senator from here or some Senator here at 
some other date. I must say, I can't think of higher praise than if 
someone were to come up to me some day and say: You know, you remind me 
a lot of Slade Gorton and the way he worked as a Senator. That, to me, 
would be the highest praise I could receive because I consider him to 
be one of the finest, if not the finest, Senator I know.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota is recognized 
for 3 minutes.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I saw the Senator from Washington, Mrs. 
Murray, talking about her colleague, Senator Slade Gorton. I wanted to 
come over and say a word about Senator Gorton.
  I know people who perhaps watch the proceedings of the Senate see the 
tug and the pull of debate on public policy and probably think to 
themselves, gee, those people don't get along very well, or maybe those 
people don't like each other very much.
  The fact is, most of us get along well and enjoy each other's 
company. Slade Gorton is one of those Senators, a Republican, someone 
with whom I have severed on the Appropriations and Commerce Committees. 
We get along well, like each other, and he has been extraordinarily 
helpful to me. He is a Senator who always did his homework. There are 
some with whom you visit about the issues, you get kind of a glassy-
eyed stare because you know that this isn't an issue on which they are 
connecting with you or haven't studied very much. I didn't find that 
with Slade Gorton. He was always prepared and had always done his 
homework. And while at times he could be a bit frustrating because he 
took a position on an issue that you might have felt was the wrong 
position, he always had an opportunity to explain it because he had 
done his homework.
  He was a fellow with an independent and stubborn streak, somebody who 
was patient and helpful. I enjoyed the opportunity to serve with him in 
the Senate.
  He actually was elected to the Senate for the first time the same 
year I was elected to the U.S. House in 1980. We had an opportunity to 
be on a panel discussion way back in 1980 and talked about our entry 
into that Congress.
  One of the things Slade Gorton told me was that he had bicycled 
across North Dakota. I was surprised by that, but apparently he and his 
family had bicycled all across America. And in doing so, they had 
bicycled across I-94 or highway 2 through the State of North Dakota. We 
had a chance to talk a little about his acquaintance with North Dakota 
from a bicycle.
  This is not a eulogy. We have a number of Members of the Senate who 
are leaving us, distinguished people who have given immense public 
service to this country. I have deep admiration and respect for all of 
them. Because my colleague from the State of Washington was talking 
about her colleague, Senator Gorton, I wanted to come to say that I 
have enjoyed serving with him. He has been very helpful to me in a 
range of ways on both the Commerce Committee and the Appropriations 
Committee. I wish him well as he leaves his service here in the Senate.
  I will come to the floor at some point to speak about the other 
Senators who

[[Page S11672]]

have contributed so much and who are now leaving the Senate Chamber.
  I thank Senator Murray for doing this. She is a remarkable 
Representative from her State, as was Senator Gorton. We will now be 
joined by another Senator, Ms. Cantwell, from the State of Washington, 
and I look forward to working with her as well.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has used his 3 minutes. Under the 
previous order, the time until 12 noon is under the control of the 
Senator from Wyoming, Mr. Thomas, or his designee.
  The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, my good friend from Wyoming is here and 
has consented that I might take up to 5 minutes of his time at this 
time. I ask unanimous consent I be recognized for that purpose.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I was in a meeting with the joint 
leadership discussing the current problems regarding the last 
appropriations bills and was not able to be here during the time set 
for comments about our good friend and my southern neighbor, Senator 
Gorton.
  It is with deep sadness that I come to join in the comments 
concerning Senator Slade Gorton. I think he has been an exemplary 
Member of our Senate and has provided enormous contributions to the 
well-being of the country in his efforts as a Senator.
  It is and has been a matter of great pride for me to call Slade and 
Sally Gorton personal friends. I have visited with them. We have 
traveled together to other places in the world. It is highly necessary 
for Members of the Senate to travel and try to learn firsthand the 
problems of other continents, such as Antarctica, Australia. I remember 
we went to eastern Russia, and we have traveled many times into the 
NATO countries together. It is on those trips that we really get to 
know one another even better than we do in the Senate in Washington.
  Of course, my friend and I have been able to meet as I have gone 
through his State. Alaskans go through either Utah, Illinois, or 
Washington to get home from Washington, D.C. Quite often, I have spent 
time in Washington State and have visited with Slade Gorton and Sally 
about the problems of our area. He has been a fierce protector of the 
interests of the State of Washington in the Senate. As a westerner, he 
and I have shared many issues and faced the problem of finding 
solutions to some of these difficulties that we face in the Pacific 
Northwest together. We have worked with our friend, Senator Murray, on 
these issues. I think we have had a good working team together.
  We have often, as members of the Pacific Northwest group in the 
Senate, had to go head to head with almost every Member of the Senate 
and the administration to try to protect the interests of the Pacific 
Northwest. We are an area that many people do not understand. It is an 
area that requires an enormous amount of personal contact with our 
constituents in order to make certain we are on the right track.
  Senator Gorton has been to my State quite often, along with me and my 
colleague, Senator Murkowski, to try and make certain we are reflecting 
the concerns of our people as we address the concerns of the people of 
the State of Washington at the same time.
  When I came to the Senate, an elderly Senator told me that there were 
two types of Senators: the workhorses and the show horses. You have to 
decide which one you are going to be.
  It is obvious that an Alaskan has only one choice. We are one-fifth 
the size of the United States. We have more than half the coastline in 
the United States. And we have about the same number of people as the 
smaller States in the lower 48, in terms of geography, that are much 
tinier compared to our State.
  Senator Gorton, with his background, as we heard, coming from the 
east coast originally, very well educated, very well read, and probably 
one of the most well-read younger Senators in the Senate, has had the 
problem of trying to decide what to do. He, too, decided to become a 
Senator and is one whom I would call a workhorse. He has worked 
doggedly on issues pertaining to his State. His staff is probably one 
of the best staffs I have seen work on issues pertaining to the Pacific 
Northwest.
  When we look at the problems of America from the point of view of the 
Senate, we would have to really take into account the people Senators 
represent. The State of Washington has given its Senators great 
flexibility in terms of addressing issues that deal with the Pacific 
Northwest and our Nation. There is no question that in his three terms 
in the Senate, Senator Gorton has been one of the pivotal votes in 
determining the policies of that area.
  I know they will be going back to Washington. And I think we will 
hear a great deal of Slade Gorton and Sally. They have concerns about 
the country and concerns about our area that are unique. I believe they 
are going to continue to contribute to the solutions to the problems 
that I mentioned before.
  I am really here to thank him for his friendship and for the dignity 
he has brought to the office of United States Senator. I really believe 
he showed great compassion as he spent 2 years out of the Senate when 
he was not elected after a second term, and he came back again after 2 
years and became even a greater Senator because of that. He has been a 
strong Senator, a thoughtful Senator, a hard-working Senator, and a 
great personal friend.
  I don't look forward to making statements such as this. I certainly 
don't look forward to losing the partnership I have had with the 
Senator from Washington, Slade Gorton, in dealing with the problems of 
the Pacific Northwest.
  I thank the Senate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana is recognized.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, we find ourselves in a predicament as old 
friends. Of course, we are this morning talking about our friend Slade 
Gorton from the State of Washington. In a way, we were classmates. We 
came here in 1988. Of course, it was not his first time here, since he 
was defeated in 1986 and then came back and won reelection in 1988.
  We had a lot of things in common--not only representing the 
Northwestern part of these 48 contiguous States. We also have great 
friendship and we served on some of the same committees. I took from 
him great lessons about this body and how to represent our 
constituencies. He and Sally have been friends with Phyllis and me for 
all these many years while he has been serving in his second and third 
terms.
  We in Montana have a quality that I think will become more and more 
admired as this country grows and matures. We are brutally honest with 
each other in that part of the world. I spent my time in business--in 
the cattle business and the auction business. People will just tell it 
like it is. If you like it, that is fine. If you don't like it, well, 
that's the way it is. Slade Gorton is that kind of a person. He is 
probably the most pragmatic of all of our Members with whom I have had 
an opportunity to serve in this body, and he is brutally honest.
  I have made speeches before graduating classes and a lot of other 
places, and I am always interested in the way people treat the history 
of our country. We have revisionists who like to gloss over some of the 
warts, the bruises, and the bumps this country has encountered in all 
its history. That is not to say it is not the best country in the 
world, but we have historians who tend to revise things.
  As you know, for those who do not study history and have little or no 
institutional knowledge of our country and the way it was built, one 
has to remember that we make decisions based on history and it affects 
all of us in the future. I have often said those folks who tend to 
revise history also tend to tinker with the compass of our Nation, 
because our decisions are still based on history. Slade, being the 
bright and honest man that he is, understands this body and this 
country so well. He understands our history as it truly is, not as 
revisionists would have us believe. And I hope historians pay him the 
same respect and remember him as the great man and great Senator that 
we know today.
  As you know, many years ago when his family was young and he was a 
little younger, Slade took a bicycle trip from Olympia, WA, to Boston, 
MA. I

[[Page S11673]]

said, ``That is a long trip, Slade.'' He said, ``It was. We spent all 
of it in Montana.'' It is a very long State. In fact, from the Yaak to 
Alzada, MT, it is further than it is from Chicago to Washington, DC, as 
the crow flies.
  But that tells you something about the man, and it also tells you 
something about the family.
  Nobody in this body has fought harder for property rights, the 
cornerstone of a free society; fought harder for States' rights; and 
for what he offered in education to take the money that flows from what 
I call ``17 square miles of logic-free environment'' to the local 
communities to let the local communities decide how to use that money. 
If they need teachers, they could hire teachers. If they need bricks 
and mortar, they could build. But the decisions on how to use those 
dollars at the local level should be made at the local level to fill 
their needs. Nobody fought harder for that.
  The chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Stevens, a while 
ago alluded to the fact that in this body there are show horses and 
workhorses. And all of us know that Slade is a workhorse. I will tell 
you, you couldn't hook him wrong, and he worked from both sides of the 
tongue. There will be some folks who will figure that out and some 
folks who never will. But it is a quality that every Senator should 
have.
  I remember his fight to keep Mariners baseball in Seattle. They could 
have lost that ball team had it not been for his efforts to save 
professional baseball in Seattle, because it was important to him and 
it was important to his people.
  He will be missed here. What he leaves with a lot of us will be used 
for many years to come.
  We don't say goodbye to our friends, we just say so long, because our 
trails will cross later on in our lives. The friendship forged between 
the Gortons and I will never be forgotten. We will miss him, and we 
wish him well. But his influence on this body will be felt for years to 
come.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, I wanted to come over this morning and join 
my colleagues in talking about our dear friend and colleague, Slade 
Gorton. I don't have enough time this morning to list all the things 
this good man has done for America. It is hard to even contemplate 
lifting all of the times he has provided critical leadership for the 
Senate.
  The thing that stands out most about Slade is that he is wise. There 
is a difference between intellect and wisdom. Intellect is, in my 
opinion, often overrated. I see intellect as being like the lens on 
your camera. The better that lens is, the wider your frame can be on 
the picture and the finer the detail can be on that picture. So if you 
are blessed to have good intellect, you are advantaged. What is 
important is the ability to take the information that your lens on the 
world can see and put that into a perspective where it has meaning. 
That is where wisdom comes in.
  Slade Gorton, we would agree by almost acclamation, is one of the 
smartest Members of the Senate. But he is more than that. He is wise. 
He has the ability to recognize when something is important and when it 
should be pushed forward and when it represents a potential consensus; 
but he has the judgment in knowing, in pushing for the things he is 
for. In the end, it is seldom good policy and it seldom makes good 
public policy to run over people.
  I say to our colleagues, Slade Gorton is one of the most 
extraordinary men who has served in the Senate during my tenure in the 
Senate. He will be missed in the Senate. I believe Slade is the kind of 
person that we grew up as children reading about in history books. I 
think even in this age of cynicism about people who serve in public 
office, Slade Gorton stands out as exactly the kind of person the 
founders had in mind when they wrote the Senate into the Constitution. 
I think Slade Gorton in his record would stand up in a comparison to 
anyone who has ever served in this body or anyone who has served in any 
legislative body ever.
  For those who know and love Slade and who have worked with him in 
Washington, it is hard to understand how people back in the other 
Washington, a continent away, could not reelect Slade Gorton to the 
Senate. I think it is important to remember the final judgment 
ultimately comes as people look in perspective at somebody's service.
  In my State, our greatest hero, our most beloved citizen, was 
defeated by the voters of Texas not once, but twice. He was defeated 
the first time after he came close to casting the deciding vote, he was 
on the losing side, on the Kansas-Nebraska Act which he saw as 
producing the Civil War. And it did. And then as Governor, Sam Houston 
refused to sign the bill taking Texas out of the Union. So he was 
rejected by the voters of Texas twice. Yet he is the most honored of 
our citizens.
  For those who serve in public office, it is important to remember 
that it is not personal; that people change their mind; that people 
have their own will; that people have their own perspective. In the 
end, it is good service, it is dedication, and it is effectiveness on 
behalf of the people who elect you that makes a great elected public 
official.
  I join my colleagues this morning in thanking Slade Gorton for 
serving. I am confident in the future when names are listed who belong 
in the Senate, names that will be remembered here, Slade Gorton's name 
will be on the list.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, when I think of my dear friend Slade 
Gorton, I am reminded of how many of our colleagues are frequently 
saying: I wish I were Governor; or, I really ought to be out making 
some money; or, I am really not satisfied being 1 of 100; or, there 
must be something better I could be doing with my life.
  I have heard that from many of our colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle. I once asked Slade Gorton: Slade, did you ever think about 
running for Governor? And he said: Absolutely not. I wouldn't have that 
job. He said: I love the legislative process.
  And no one is better at the legislative process than our good friend 
Slade Gorton.
  I forget which brokerage house it was, but there used to be 
commercials that said, when so and so spoke, everyone listened. Whether 
it was the Republican conference meetings or on those rare occasions 
when all Members met together, Slade Gorton was rarely the first one to 
talk, but when he spoke, everyone listened.
  Slade Gorton is one of the great Senators of the 20th century. He had 
a sense of the history of this body. I had an opportunity to serve with 
him recently on a committee that Senator Lott and Senator Daschle 
appointed to select two Senators to be added to the portraits just 
outside the door. For about 40 years, we have had five that were 
designated as the five greatest Senators back in the early 1960s or in 
the mid-1950s. The thought was that we would add two more Senators to 
the list.
  Slade sort of led our side, which consisted of the majority leader 
and myself and him, in reaching the conclusion that if we were going to 
pick someone of this century it made a lot of sense to pick Arthur 
Vandenberg, who had been chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee 
and had really made the Truman policy of containment in the development 
of NATO a bipartisan matter, since there was, in fact, a Republican 
Congress right after World War II. Slade thoughtfully analyzed all of 
the possibilities and recommended Arthur Vandenberg because he thought 
the single most important thing of the second half of the 20th century 
was the winning of the cold war.
  Out of all the many things that occur here, he was able to sort that 
out and come up concisely with what was, indeed, the biggest challenge 
of the second half of the previous century, the winning of the cold 
war, and applying that to the Senate and coming up with an individual 
on our side of the aisle, which was our charge, who would help make 
that policy bipartisan. And of course, it lasted until the Berlin Wall 
came down in 1989. That is the kind of thinker Slade Gorton is.
  Out of all the maneuvering that occurs here, all of which is 
important, all of which has an impact on the ultimate outcome, Slade 
uniquely could look beyond that and see the big picture and

[[Page S11674]]

sort of bring Members out of our contentious decisions in conference 
about whatever the particular issue was to see a larger picture of what 
was not only in the best interests of our party, but more importantly, 
what was in the best interests of the country.
  He is an extraordinary legislative strategist. I know he is going to 
miss being in the Senate because he didn't think there was a better job 
somewhere else he ought to be doing. Being in the Senate to Slade was 
never his second choice. It was his first choice. Every one of our 
colleagues who has been Governor and come to the Senate says a Senator 
who used to be Governor who tells you they like the Senate better will 
lie to you about other things.
  That, clearly, was not Slade's view. This was not his second choice. 
This was where he wanted to be.
  We are going to miss his friendship. He was one of my best friends in 
the Senate and, I would say even if he were not on the floor, which he 
is, one of the two brightest guys in the Senate, the other one being 
the Senator from Texas from whom we just heard.
  But we are not going to lose contact with Slade, many of us. I know 
there will be a new challenge for him. He is bright and vigorous and 
committed to public service. Someplace, hopefully in the very near 
future, there will be an opportunity for him to continue to make a mark 
on our wonderful country.
  So we say goodbye to you, Slade, in the Senate, but look forward to 
continuing our friendship in the years to come. The Senate will 
certainly be a poorer place without your presence.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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