[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 35 (Wednesday, March 5, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3116-S3117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO VICTOR BAIRD

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, when I was first elected to the Senate, I 
spent a lot of time trying to figure out the committee structure. It is 
different than it is in the House. But I learned quickly that here, as 
in the House, the work gets done in committees.
  I was fortunate early to be asked to serve on the Appropriations 
Committee and the Public Works Committee. I have served on these 
committees since I have been in the Senate. In these committees, I saw 
that the two ingredients necessary for successful operation of a 
committee were to make sure that there was not extreme partisanship and 
that we and a good, competent staff.
  I have served in the majority and the minority while a Member of the 
Senate. I have been ranking member of a subcommittee, a chairman of a 
subcommittee. I have been chairman of a full committee on two separate 
occasions.
  But regardless of which capacity I have served in, these ingredients 
remain constant.
  Though I enjoyed the benefits of both good staff and bipartisanship 
during my years on these excellent committees, I was uncertain what to 
expect when I was asked to serve on the Committee on Ethics. I soon 
discovered that that committee was no different from any of the others, 
that you need a good staff and nonpartisanship.
  It has been a tremendous pleasure for me to work with Senator Pat 
Roberts of Kansas. We have worked through some very difficult issues 
while we have served as chairman and ranking member of the committee. 
As we all know, Senator Roberts has a great sense of humor. But that 
sense of humor is never, ever in the way of doing the right thing for 
this institution. He is a person who served for many decades in the 
Congress, and his service here in the Senate has been a rewarding one 
for Members of the Senate because he has brought his experience from 
the House and made this place a better institution. I can speak with 
authority in that regard as a result of how he handled himself on the 
Ethics Committee during the time he and I served as chairman and 
ranking member or vice versa.
  It is a disappointment to me that he is no longer chairman of that 
committee, but the rules are such that he could not serve in that 
capacity while serving in the same capacity on another committee. I 
look forward to working with Senator Voinovich, who has replaced him. I 
only hope that he is half as good in that capacity as Senator Roberts. 
If that is the case, the Senate will be well served.
  The Senate Ethics Committee is truly a unique committee. Unlike other 
committees, it is comprised of an even number of Democrats and 
Republicans. It is led by a chair and vice chair. The staff is entirely 
nonpartisan. Most significantly, the committee's obligation is to 
ensure that Members of this body adhere to the high ethical standards 
expected of them as Members of the Senate. This is an obligation that 
transcends partisan political differences.
  I have had the honor of serving on the Ethics Committee for a long 
time. I have had the privilege of being both the chair and the vice 
chair of the committee. Throughout all my time, however, the individual 
responsible for the day-to-day management of this committee has been 
Victor Baird. In fact, Victor has served on the Ethics Committee since 
1987 as the staff director and chief counsel.
  He has guided the committee through some of its most controversial 
cases. Regardless of the case or the controversy, however, Victor Baird 
could be relied on to steer the committee with a degree of 
impartiality, calmness, and firmness that will be a model for his 
successors.
  It is significant to note that Victor Baird is leaving the Ethics 
Committee to enjoy a rich and deserved retirement. His career path is a 
tribute to those who look at public service as a possibility.
  Prior to coming to the Senate, Victor served on the Consumers' 
Utility Council of Georgia, was an administrative law judge in Georgia, 
and served as an assistant attorney general of Georgia.
  He also is another son of Georgia who found his calling in public 
service and is finishing his career serving the greatest deliberative 
body in the world. Like other Georgians in the Senate, Victor enjoyed a 
distinguished career in the U.S. military. He was honorably discharged 
in 1970 from the U.S. Air Force and was a recipient of the Bronze Star. 
During his 3 years in the Air Force, he served as a meteorologist and 
was responsible for predicting tropical storms. I am sure the storms 
that came after he took this job at the Ethics Committee were certainly 
more than any of the storms he saw in the nonpolitical environment. I 
am sure that Victor's ability to forecast stormy weather served him 
well in the Senate.
  Victor Baird's professional career is marked by serving the public. 
That alone deserves our commendation. It is unfortunate today that 
public service is viewed as a short-time venture for some, but I 
believe it is a noble calling. The financial rewards are few and the 
hours can be very long. Those who commit their lives to public service 
retire knowing their work, no matter how great or how small, has 
contributed to the betterment of society. That alone is a reward that 
cannot be quantified in dollars.
  Mr. President, on behalf of the Senate, I wish to thank Victor Baird 
for his 15 years of service on the Select Committee on Ethics. Victor's 
contributions to the betterment of this institution are significant. 
The Senate

[[Page S3117]]

has long recognized that public service is a public trust. Today there 
is greater trust in our Government and in this institution as a result 
of Victor Baird's service on the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.
  I will miss calling Victor at home at night, trying to find out where 
he is because there is a question that has to be answered immediately. 
I am sure in some ways he will miss me. But I certainly wish Victor the 
very best in his retirement. He has been a public servant I will always 
admire.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, first, I wish to sincerely thank my 
distinguished colleague and my dear friend from Nevada--Searchlight, 
NV, by the way--Senator Reid, for his very kind comments.
  It has been a team effort in behalf of Senator Reid and myself as we 
have tried to serve--some people would say sentenced to--the Ethics 
Committee. But we have been very conscientious in fulfilling this duty, 
and I think we have done so with Senator Reid's unique ability to not 
only come up with what is right, according to the ethics manual, but 
what is basically common sense. As a matter of fact, Senator Reid has 
this notion that continually is expressed: Gee, Pat, we ought to sit 
down and really see if we can rewrite the ethics manual to make it 
actually understood by Members of the Senate and reform it, make it 
adhere to a criterion--a yardstick, if you will--of common sense.
  I always tried to dissuade him from that. No. 1, I did not want to 
undertake that mountain to climb, and it would be a big mountain to 
climb, because just as soon as you start that, why, other Members add 
other mountains.
  At any rate, Senator Reid has been a joy to work with. I admire his 
leadership. He is soft spoken and, as I have indicated, has brought a 
lot of common sense and has tried to make the Ethics Committee 
proactive and very helpful to Members. As a matter of fact, with every 
new class of Senators that comes in, we have a briefing, and Harry 
always points out: Ask; ask first before there is any problem. And that 
is certainly good advice.

  I thank Senator Reid for his very kind remarks. I do not know about 
the decades of public service that I have accrued. Gosh, decades sounds 
like a long time. I may be fossilized here before we are through with 
these remarks. I am an old piece of furniture around here, I guess, in 
the House and Senate.
  With that experience comes at least some expertise and some real 
appreciation in behalf of certain staff. We are only as good as our 
staff, I do not care whether you are an individual Member's staff, 
committee staff, select committee staff, whatever. It is a real honor 
for me to offer a few brief remarks for our outgoing Senate Ethics 
staff director, Mr. Victor Baird.
  He has 16 years of service, and he now leaves this to enter 
retirement and, doubtlessly, what will be a new phase of life. His 
retirement is certainly well deserved, but his absence will be a great 
loss to the Senate.
  Sometimes the most important positions are the ones that go 
unacknowledged. This is certainly true with the staff director of the 
Ethics Committee. It is one of the few positions where accolades do not 
really accrue. Only when a storm or controversy presents does the 
spotlight focus on the staff director. When this occurs, the director 
faces intense challenges from all angles, including media scrutiny, 
public outcry, and, yes, even partisan bickering. Yet he endures all 
this for one supreme objective, and this is what Victor did--to 
preserve the integrity of this institution we call the United States 
Senate.
  For almost a decade and a half, why, Victor Baird has assumed this 
thankless but important job. It is a job requiring keen attention to 
detail, mastery of the rules, and a precise level of foresight on how 
ethics rulings affect the Senate, not only in the present but for 
future generations. Just as the Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police 
guard the physical structure of the Senate, Victor Baird guarded the 
reputation of these halls. He accomplished this by insistence that 
Members adhere and remain accountable to high ethical standards.
  During his tenure, he guided the Senate through some very tumultuous 
times that often really threatened the reputation of the Senate. As we 
all know, a compromised reputation will diminish credibility, and 
diminished credibility threatens a mandate to govern. It is that 
important. With this loss, our whole system of checks and balances 
would suffer which is vital to the strength of our democracy. All of 
us, regardless of what side of the aisle we sit on, should understand 
this.
  Thankfully, Victor handled all ethics proceedings, and particularly 
those with intense media focus, judiciously, without staining the 
dignity of the Senate. He safeguarded us. This is not an easy task, and 
all of us should be very grateful.
  The Senate is unlike any other governing body in the world. 
Deliberative by design, it exists to make sure we thoroughly consider 
our actions. In a town fueled by hotly charged emotions that often 
makes decisions for the moment, thankfully Victor was always available 
for advice and counsel.
  My friend and colleague, Senator Reid, and I often sought his well-
reasoned, objective legal opinions. We respected his vast institutional 
knowledge and understanding of how this body should conduct itself. 
When dealing with ethics issues, it is important Members rise above 
partisan politics, which is hard to do sometimes, and examine each 
issue on a case-by-case basis. This is what our Founding Fathers 
intended. Maintaining the Senate's distinguished legacy is a task all 
of us must assume, regardless of politics. Victor knows this; Victor 
knew this, and always kept this premise at the forefront of his 
responsibilities.
  His most important contribution was understanding that the 
committee's ultimate goal was proactive and preventive in nature. He 
made sure that all Members and their staff knew the rules of acceptable 
conduct at the outset. In public office, innocent mistakes can quickly 
break a career. This is why the Ethics Committee, and in particular the 
staff director, is so important. He is the gatekeeper. He is the 
adviser. He is the counselor to us all. Victor Baird certainly filled 
each of these roles with the utmost professionalism and integrity.
  On behalf of the entire Senate, we thank you for your service and 
your dedication, Victor. Your influence has preserved the reputation of 
this governing body for the past 16 years, and we salute you.
  In the U.S. Marine Corps, we always conclude by saying: Semper Fi. 
That means always faithful.
  You have been always faithful, Victor. Semper Fi.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I join my colleagues, the distinguished 
minority floor leader from Nevada, who is a dear friend of the 
distinguished Senator from Kansas, and my dear friend from Kansas, in 
paying tribute to Victor Baird. That is one of the most miserable, 
tough jobs I think in the whole Senate. As both of them have said, 
there is not a lot of thanks for doing it. I personally thank him for 
the efforts he has put forward, and those who worked with him, because 
this is a very difficult job. He has always been straightforward, 
honest, and decent in all of the experiences I know about. I join my 
colleagues in their remarks and ask that I be associated with their 
remarks. I wish him the very best.

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