[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 4, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S5]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SERVING IN THE SENATE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, let me welcome everyone here and everyone 
watching at home to the Chamber of the U.S. Senate and to this historic 
first day of the 109th Congress.
  When the Senate family gathers, it is always a special occasion. But 
this is a day when the entire Senate family comes together and 
celebrates this unique institution that indeed binds us as one.
  So, for being here, I thank the distinguished Members of the Senate--
past, present, and near future--Senate friends and our beloved 
families, and our loyal and hardworking Senate staff.
  My colleagues, our roots as representatives of the people are not 
recent. They are ancient. They reach beyond the founding of our 
Republic, to our earliest days as colonies. The first legislative 
assembly in the New World gathered during the scorching summer months 
of 1619 on Jamestown Island, Virginia. Twenty-two burgesses, a governor 
and his council, a clerk, and a sergeant of arms met to propose and 
pass ``just laws for the happy guiding and governing of the people . . 
.''
  If you visit Jamestown today, you can still see the stone foundation 
of the church where that first assembly conducted its business. It is 
on those rocks that this House in which we stand today was built.
  Over the course of nearly four centuries, the seeds of American 
democracy have swept across oceans and over mountains and through 
jungles and deserts, taking root in land barren of the supposed 
``prerequisites'' for self- government. These seeds have grown into 
what President Reagan boldly called at the height of our war against 
Soviet totalitarianism ``a not-at-all-fragile flower.''

  As U.S. Senators, we, with our colleagues in the House and our 
respected President, are the stewards of this ancient and yet still 
living and thriving tradition. And this, my friends, is no small burden 
to bear.
  The American people--and indeed the people of the world--look upon 
this Capitol and those of us who serve here for inspiration and 
leadership and unwavering devotion to our common cause.
  So what is expected of us over the course of the next 2 years? What 
is our duty as the 100 Members of the world's greatest deliberative 
body, the U.S. Senate?
  We all take the same oath to support and defend the same sacred 
document. So, first and foremost, we are obligated--as individuals, as 
equals and, above all, as a body--to discharge our Constitutional 
duties.
  We also have, as Senator Mike Mansfield once said, ``a primary 
responsibility to the people whom [we] represent to face the 
legislative issues of the nation.''
  And I would add not just the issues of today, but the issues of 
tomorrow. This Senate must lead today on tomorrow's challenges.
  Lastly, we have what our longest serving Member, Robert C. Byrd, 
calls ``the duty beyond our duties.'' It is, as he so eloquently and 
accurately once stated: ``The duty to endeavor to inspire others and to 
demonstrate, through personal example, that public service of all types 
ought to be an honorable calling.''
  Senator Byrd, I too believe public service is an honorable calling. 
And, my fellow Senators, you are all honorable men and women. It is a 
privilege both to serve with you and to serve you as majority leader. 
God bless you, our proceedings, the country we love, and the people we 
all aspire to faithfully represent.

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