[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 70 (Monday, May 12, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S6023]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         EULOGY OF RUSSELL LONG

  Mr. BREAUX. Madam President, I rise today to comment on the 
unfortunate and untimely passing this Friday evening of a great 
American, a former colleague of many of us in this body, the former 
distinguished Senator from my State of Louisiana, Senator Russell Long.
  Someone once observed that ``the greatest truths are the simplest, 
and so are the greatest men.'' This, indeed, was Russell Long, a simple 
man who loved his family, his God, his country, and our State of 
Louisiana. He was a man who always answered the call of duty and who, 
to quote Russell, always ``did the best he could as God gave him the 
light to see.''
  Russell Long was my colleague. He was my partner in the Congress, he 
was my teacher, and he was also my friend.
  Russell Long was a Senator in the last century, but his vision, his 
ideas, and his views on how a government should work will last as long 
as history is recorded.
  I do not think it is an insult to say that Russell Long was a simple 
man who achieved greatness by answering the call of duty. Knowing him 
as I did--and many of us did--I believe he would proudly accept that 
description.
  As a boy of only 16, Russell watched as his father died from an 
assassin's bullet and then dutifully accepted the call to fulfill and 
complete his father's unfinished work. Anyone who knew Russell 
understood how much he loved his dad and how much his father's legacy 
meant to him.
  Some might have regarded that legacy as an awesome and unwelcome 
burden. Russell, himself, sometimes strained under the weight of high 
expectations and the harsh reviews that historians and journalists 
wrote about his father. But he never forgot that he was Huey Long's 
son. And, so, he dutifully dedicated his life to the work his father 
had started. The result, as we all know, was the body of law that 
created employee stock ownership plans. Those of us who knew him 
understood that this was Russell's most passionate work and, to him, a 
modern version of Huey's ``Share Our Wealth'' program. Just as his 
father was a champion for the poor and dispossessed, so did Russell 
become one of the most effective advocates of the notion that every 
American has a right to share in the great wealth and opportunity of 
the United States.
  Just as he answered the call of duty when it came to his family 
legacy, Russell also answered the call of duty when it came to serving 
his country. In 1942, during the darkest hours of the Second World War, 
Russell volunteered to serve his Nation in the Navy. During the war, he 
distinguished himself in battle as the commander of a landing craft in 
the Mediterranean Sea during the Allied invasions of North Africa, 
Sicily, Italy and Southern France. Russell Long was truly among our 
greatest generation--a man of courage valor, faith and compassion--a 
patriot and a true American hero.
  Russell answered the call of duty to his country in other ways. In 
1948, when Senator John Overton died, Russell followed his father and 
mother into the U.S. Senate. He was sworn into office alongside other 
men elected that year--giants such as Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, 
Robert Kerr, and Paul Douglas. In a body that had disdained his father, 
Russell--he was only 30 years old at the time--began a remarkable 38-
year career during which he worked tirelessly and effectively on behalf 
of the poor, the elderly, and average Americans who wanted a chance to 
achieve the American dream.
  As there are 100 Senators, there are 100 Russell Long stories, from 
Uncle Earl to his father Huey, to Russell's theory of fair taxation 
summarized in his immortal words, ``Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax 
that fellow behind the tree.''
  Were I to list Russell's legislative achievements, we would be here 
all afternoon. But I don't think it is an overstatement to say that few 
people in our Nation's history have had more of an impact on our 
Nation's laws than Russell Long. Tens of millions of elderly people 
have literally been saved by Medicare--the health care system that 
Russell and Lyndon Johnson crafted and enacted in the Senate in 1965. 
Millions more handicapped people today have a better quality of life 
because Russell Long thought it important to expand the Social Security 
system to include the disabled. That happened in 1956 and it was the 
first major expansion of the Social Security system--and it would not 
have happened if not for Russell's tenacity in seeing it through to 
passage.
  Millions of poor working Americans today have Russell Long to thank 
for the Earned Income Tax Credit, an idea he developed and passed into 
law in the early 1970s. Then and now, the EITC remains the cornerstone 
of our Nation's effort to give the working poor a better chance at a 
decent standard of living.
  Russell also cared deeply about our American system of government 
and, in the wake of the Watergate scandals, worried that Americans 
might lose faith in the system he had fought--literally fought--to 
protect. For that reason, he pushed through legislation to change the 
way that we finance Presidential campaigns and established the tax form 
check-off that has guaranteed the integrity of our Presidential 
elections for more than a quarter century.
  During my 14 years in the House, I had watched Russell closely. I 
admired him, learned from him, and felt privileged to say that I had 
served with him in the Congress. And I remember how excited I was when 
Russell finally realized that I was a congressman and not a young staff 
member.
  But it has been my service on the Senate Finance Committee--the 
committee he chaired for 14 years--that has taught me so much about the 
genius and skill of the man who dominated the Senate for so many years. 
It was because of men such as Russell that the Senate worked so well 
during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
  With Russell, his colleagues were neither Republican nor Democrat. 
They were just Americans who he considered his friends and colleagues 
in the Senate who were elected--as he looked at his life--to make 
Government work for the people we represent.
  On a personal level, Lois and I will always remember Russell Long as 
a kind, decent, generous man who welcomed us into his life and invited 
us to share in a cause greater than ourselves. Carolyn was the love of 
his life, a gracious and charming lady, who became his partner in every 
way and is still known in Washington and Louisiana as one of the best 
and talented partners a public official could ever have. To Carolyn, 
Kay and Pam, I know I speak for Russell's colleagues in the Senate and 
for the people of this State when I say how grateful we are for the 
life of this simple man who dutifully answered the call to greatness.
  So today we gather in sorrow because we have lost a friend, but let 
us all be thankful for having been here when Russell Long was here. May 
the Good Lord take him into his hands and welcome him into the Kingdom 
of Heaven.
  I yield the floor. 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. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Burns). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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