[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 50 (Friday, April 22, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S4149]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ``GENTLEMAN'' JIM JEFFORDS

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to our friend 
and colleague from Vermont, Jim Jeffords, who announced on Wednesday 
that he will not seek re-election to a fourth term in the Senate in 
2006.
  If anyone has earned the right to retire from politics, it is Jim 
Jeffords. Jim began his public service in 1956, when he was just 22. He 
joined the Navy and served on active duty until 1959, when he entered 
Harvard Law School. He was elected to the Vermont State Senate in 1966, 
nearly 40 years ago. Two years later, he was elected State attorney 
general, and he served in that capacity until 1973.
  He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1974. 
I think that was a testament to the respect and affection that 
Vermonters have for Jim. As my colleagues may recall, 1974 was a pretty 
tough year for Republicans to get elected.
  Jim served in the House for 14 years, distinguishing himself on the 
Agriculture Committee and the Education and Labor Committee. He showed 
his fiercely independent streak in 1981 when he was the lone House 
Republican to vote against President Reagan's tax cuts that caused 
budget deficits to explode.
  In 1988, Jim was elected to the Senate, replacing another esteemed 
Vermont Republican, former Senator Robert Stafford. In three terms in 
the Senate, Jim has chaired the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions 
Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee.
  It is customary for Members of Congress to focus on a few issues 
during their career. Jim is unusual because he has significant 
accomplishments in so many areas.
  Over the course of his 30-year career in Congress, Jim has had an 
enormous impact on every education and job training bill, including the 
elementary and secondary education and the higher education 
reauthorization bills and the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Act, IDEA; every farm bill; the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact; and 
every environmental protection bill, including the landmark 1990 Clean 
Air Act amendments that established the ``cap and trade'' program for 
sulfur dioxide that has done so much to reduce acid rain in our part of 
the country. Jim has also been one of the staunchest and most effective 
advocates for the arts, humanities, libraries, and museums. And he has 
been a tireless champion of the women, infants and children, WIC, 
nutrition program.
  Back home in his beloved Vermont, he is known as ``Gentleman Jim.'' 
And he is a gentleman, one of the most decent and thoughtful Members 
ever to have served in the Senate.
  Because he is so soft-spoken and moderate, people underestimate him. 
Or at least they did, until he decided that President Bush and the 
Republican majorities in Congress were taking our country in the wrong 
direction.
  I know that leaving the Republican Party and becoming an Independent 
was one of the toughest decisions Jim has ever made. But he believed it 
was the right thing to do, so he did it, with his characteristic 
humility and without any rancor.
  The Senate will be a poorer place without Jim Jeffords' expertise and 
civility. But as I said a moment ago, if anyone has earned the right to 
retire, it is Jim Jeffords.
  I know he wants to get back to Vermont and help his wife Liz battle 
cancer. Liz lost her sister recently, and their son-in-law will be 
deployed to Iraq soon. So Jim and Liz and their family are especially 
in our thoughts and prayers right now.
  We will miss Jim Jeffords, but history will mark his heroism and his 
enormous contribution to life in America. For that, we are eternally 
grateful.

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