[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 133 (Thursday, November 18, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11470-S11472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                FAREWELL

  Mr. BREAUX. Mr. President and colleagues, the last time anyone does 
anything in their career or in their life, I think it is a time for a 
certain degree of sadness and a certain degree of nostalgic remembrance 
of the times past. This evening will probably be my last opportunity to 
address this body as a Member, as a Member of the Senate, representing 
my great and wonderful State of Louisiana.
  While some would say, well, it has to be a very difficult time to 
speak for the last time on the floor of the Senate, looking back at all 
the great memories, I look back with nothing but great pleasure over 
the many years I have spent in the Senate as well as in the House of 
Representatives.
  I have been very honored to serve and be elected seven times to the 
other body, serving 14 years as a Member of the House, representing 
southwest Louisiana--it was a great and wonderful time--and then moving 
on to the Senate 18 years ago, representing the entire State of 
Louisiana.
  So when you look back over those years, I think a lot of people would 
say: Well, it is your last speech, and it must be a very nostalgic 
time, and you really are sad. I am not. I am pleased. I am happy. I am 
overwhelmed with the opportunity that was presented to me for those 32 
years in the Congress to serve the people of Louisiana in one capacity 
or another, both in the House, as well as in this Chamber.
  Thirty-five years ago, I, with my wife, came to Washington for the 
very first time as a young staff person, legislative assistant, having 
just gotten out of law school. I worked in the Seventh Congressional 
District office for then-Congressman Edwin Edwards. It was a great 
learning period for me.
  Shortly after serving as a staff person, there was a vacancy that was 
created, and I ran for that vacancy as a young 28-year-old member of 
the Bar Association in my State. I ran for Congress and had a slogan I 
remember back then, when I was 28, when I was running for Congress for 
the first time. My slogan was: ``Experience makes the difference.''
  Most of the people I was running against were old enough to be my 
grandfather or grandparent, certainly old enough to be my parent. Yet I 
had the audacity to print the slogan on a bumper sticker that 
``Experience makes the difference.''

[[Page S11471]]

  Of course, it aggravated the heck out of all the people I was running 
against because they said: How dare someone 28 years old talk about 
experience making the difference; He has none.
  Well, I was the only person running who ever worked in a 
congressional office in Washington. I was the only person who had ever 
run a congressional office in the district. And I was the only lawyer 
who was running. I told the people in that first race that we were 
electing someone to go to Washington and make laws, and I was the only 
lawyer running. Therefore, they should vote for me.
  That went over fairly well for a period of time until all of my 
opponents realized 98 percent of the people were not lawyers, and about 
100 percent of them hated lawyers. So as soon as they started 
articulating that different viewpoint on the function of lawyers, I 
started going down in the polls, and thank goodness the election was 
only a couple weeks later.

  To make a long story short, we were elected back in 1972 and came to 
Washington. I came with my wife Lois and two very small children, John, 
Jr., and Bill Breaux. I remember we had to rent a U-Haul truck to come 
to Washington. I had never had an opportunity to be up here. We came 
up, and I will always remember this: When we left Louisiana, my two 
sons did not want to go. My youngest son, the night before we left, 
when he was saying his prayers, said: Goodbye, God. We are moving to 
Washington.
  My oldest son, who was about 4 or 5 at the time, ran away to a 
neighbor's house and crawled under the house. In Louisiana, the houses 
are built off the ground. He ran under the house and would not come 
out. And we had my mom Katie, my dad Ezra, my father-in-law Lloyd, and 
my mother-in-law Doris who were all there watching us get into the U-
Haul to go to Washington, and I had to crawl under the house and 
literally drag John, Jr., out from under the house and make him get 
into the U-Haul truck so we could move to Washington. I finally got him 
here.
  We came to Washington. I will always remember we came here on a 
Saturday. I wanted to go to see the Capitol because I knew it was going 
to be such an impressive place. I remember that night the Marine Corps 
Band was playing, how they do in the springtime. They have concerts. 
They used to do that on the front steps. And they were having a 
concert. I thought they were playing the concert for me.
  We were so delighted as a family to be able to see our first 
impressions of the U.S. Capitol, with the playing of the band on a 
wonderful evening. It was a great memory then, and it is still a great 
memory 35 years later.
  In those days when I was in the House, we had an arrangement, if you 
will. In those days when I arrived here, Carl Albert was Speaker of the 
House. And then Tip O'Neill became the Democratic leader and Speaker of 
the House, and Bob Michel was the Republican leader. And Tip O'Neill 
and Bob Michel probably differed as much as any two people you could 
possibly know in terms of philosophy in how Government should work. Tip 
O'Neill was an FDR liberal Democrat from Massachusetts, and Bob Michel 
was from Peoria, IL, a middle America Republican. They did not agree on 
how Government should work necessarily from a philosophical standpoint, 
but they knew how to make Government work.
  They spoke more in one day back then than some of the leaders later 
on spoke in a year because the House changed to a position where now 
many times leaders do not speak to each other. I would suggest that 
government was not any worse off when you had a Tip O'Neill and a Bob 
Michel traveling together, playing golf together, drinking in the 
evening and having a cocktail together, playing golf together, betting 
on sporting events together, which I know they did because they had a 
relationship that allowed them to find out, What do we have to do to 
accomplish what we both realize is best for this country? They were 
able to do that in a way that I thought was incredibly effective.
  Hale Boggs swore me in to the House of Representatives, a truly great 
majority leader. I learned a great deal from him and had a great deal 
of respect for everything he taught me and taught so many.
  That was back then. My two sons, who were crawling and saying their 
prayers before bed, are both 38 years of age. My oldest daughter, Beth, 
is 34 and is married to a wonderful person named Jeff Shepardson; and 
now we have three beautiful grandchildren, Anna Kate, Campbell, and 
C.J. Shepardson, age 2. Also, my youngest daughter, Julie, is now 28.
  So after you have been here a while, you wake up one day and say 
where has all the time gone and how fast it went. I think about that 
often, but I also think about all of the wonderful things I have been 
privileged to witness, watch, and participate in, in those 32 years in 
Congress. It has been a real privilege and pleasure. I have had the 
honor of serving with three great Senators, including Russell Long, 
when he was the senior Senator from Louisiana and I was a House Member. 
I remember coming over to see Russell when I first got into the House 
of Representatives. I wanted to come and pay my respects. I had been in 
Congress about a week. So I came over to the Senate and walked up in 
the Senate office building to see Russell Long. I remember getting on 
the elevator and it went up to the second floor. The door opened and 
Senator Jim Eastland from Mississippi got on. He looked at me--and I 
was on the Members elevator, which shows you the audacity I had even 
then. He looked at me and said, ``Hey, boy, what are you doing here?'' 
I said, ``I am a Congressman and I am going to see Russell Long.'' He 
said, ``You're not a Congressman.'' I said, ``Yes, sir, I am.'' He 
looked at me and walked off the elevator. Those Members are so 
wonderful to look back on, and it is interesting to see how things have 
developed.
  I learned a great deal from Russell Long. He taught me how to work 
with people. He could get more done in the evening over a bottle of 
bourbon than we can get done by having months and months of hearings 
and hours of debate because he knew how to bring people together. He 
had an incredibly great personality and sense of history of where he 
came from. And he learned from his father who also served in this body.
  I also served with Bennett Johnston, a great person who could work 
both sides of the aisle. He became chairman of the Energy Committee and 
senior member of the Appropriations Committee. Bennett was outstanding. 
It was interesting because we never had a cross word politically. A lot 
of Members, I think, have natural competition between Members of the 
same State, particularly if they are in different parties. I have had 
the fortune to serve only with members of the Democratic Party in the 
Senate. Bennett and I had a wonderful working relationship. He would 
take the lead on some things, and I would try to take the lead on 
others. It was a wonderful relationship.
  In the last several years, it has been Mary Landrieu, who I have seen 
develop into one of the greatest politicians and greatest leaders of 
our State. She comes from a great tradition, a long tradition of 
outstanding public servants in the State of Louisiana, particularly in 
the city of New Orleans. She learned from the masters, and the masters 
were her parents, brothers and sisters. They were all involved and they 
do a wonderful job in representing our State in so many different 
capacities.
  So I have had a wonderful opportunity to serve with people from my 
State who have been friends and outstanding colleagues, along with all 
of the other folks that we have had the opportunity to serve with. I 
have looked at meeting people in Congress not just as colleagues who 
were elected to public office, but I looked at each one of them as a 
potential friend. I learned a long time ago that you have to understand 
where people come from to appreciate what they are all about. I think 
many times we take a position automatically that we don't like someone 
because of where they are from or what party they are in, without 
delving into their backgrounds, why they say what they say, and who 
helps develop those ideas.

  I remember when I was in the House, I served on the Public Works 
Committee with Bella Abzug, who many thought was the most liberal 
person in the Congress. I remember Bella Abzug telling me, you know, 
where I come from, in my congressional district, they think I am too 
conservative. She

[[Page S11472]]

had the type of district that encouraged her and helped her and pushed 
her to represent the people as they wanted to be represented in the 
Congress of the United States. So if you understand where people come 
from and understand their background and who they represent, I think it 
helps you understand how people of different positions can be friends, 
because they are truly trying to represent their States the best they 
can. It is not just because of their politics but because of where they 
are from.
  Let me say one other thing that I think we need to pay attention to 
in this body, the Senate. That is, we should not let outside forces 
dictate to us how we treat each other and how we work together. Many 
times, when Democrats have a caucus lunch on Tuesday right outside this 
Chamber, Republicans are having theirs separate from us at the same 
time. Many times, we hear people call in from the outside who are in 
public relations, PR men and women and pollsters, who spend an 
inordinate amount of time telling us how we can take actions that will 
show how the other side is wrong and we are right. Right across the 
hall, the Republicans are hearing some of the same type of public 
relation firms arguing to them how they can posture themselves to be 
able to blame the Democrats for failure.
  Back in the old days, we used to do all this together. People would 
stand up and give their position, and the other side would give theirs 
and find out we are trying to accomplish the same thing, coming at it 
from slightly different venues and in a slightly different direction. I 
always feel that if you only listen to yourself, you are only going to 
hear an echo and you are never going to disagree. That is why it is so 
important to hear the other side, listen to what the other side has to 
say, understand what they say. You don't have to agree with them, but I 
think you are a better person if you understand and your position 
becomes stronger if you know what the other side is going to argue. It 
makes your position better and stronger.
  But you also must realize that neither party has a monopoly on the 
truth. Both sides have good ideas. The real answer to this body and the 
House, and for democracies everywhere, is trying to take the best of 
what both sides can offer and blend them in a package that simply makes 
Government work for all of us. People back home are not so much 
concerned about who wins and loses as they are about whether we are 
getting the job done. Congress does not have to be like a Super Bowl. 
In the Super Bowl, you have to have one team that is going to win and 
one that will lose. If there is a tie, they have a playoff and go into 
overtime until one team wins and one team loses. There is nothing wrong 
with the Congress trying to find ways to reach agreement and blending 
the best from both sides and coming up with something so that everybody 
wins. Then we can argue and fight over which team won. That way, I can 
go back to Louisiana and tell them look what I did, and somebody from 
Texas or Illinois can go back to their State and say look what I did. 
And that is fine, because we can argue about success and not debate 
over failure and whose fault it was. The American people would be 
better served if the debate here could be a debate about how we 
accomplish something as opposed to why we didn't get anything done.

  I leave with a great deal of appreciation for everybody who helped 
me, including my staff, many of whom are in the gallery. They helped me 
every day over and above the call of duty. I also thank the people on 
the floor with me, including Diana Bostic and so many of the friends we 
have worked with, like Lula, who was with Senator Long before, and all 
of the other people. This has been a joint venture, to say the least. I 
leave with a great deal of optimism.
  I am not leaving because I am unhappy or because I am mad. I have 
enjoyed every single minute of it. I have to admit that some minutes I 
have enjoyed more than others, but by and large it has been a great and 
wonderful experience. I give nothing but the very best to my colleagues 
and wish them nothing but the very best in the future.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.

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