[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 6 (Monday, January 12, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S275-S276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO SENATOR MITCH McCONNELL
Mr. REID. Mr. President, for more than 25 years, the State of
Kentucky was represented in the Senate of the United States by a
terrific man and a great legislator, Wendell Ford.
Senator Ford was known by all as a moderate, deeply respected by both
sides of the aisle for putting progress ahead of politics. Senator
Ford, some said, was not flashy. He did not seek the limelight. He was
quietly effective and calmly deliberative.
In 1991, Senator Ford was elected by his colleagues to serve as
Democratic whip, the No. 2 position in the caucus. For 8 years, he
struck the perfect balance as an advocate for Kentuckians and also a
national Democratic leader.
When Senator Ford retired from the Senate in 1998, I had the honor of
replacing him as the Democratic whip.
Wendell Ford is not only a genuine Kentucky legend, he is a wonderful
man, and I continue to enjoy his visits back to Washington, DC.
Until this week, Senator Ford was the longest serving Senator in the
history of the State of Kentucky. We have had some outstanding Senators
from the State of Kentucky.
Now that honor belongs to my friend, the Republican leader, Mitch
McConnell.
Senator McConnell came to the Senate 2 years after I came to
Congress. In 1984, he was elected to the Senate in a historic election
still famous for its advertising--the most memorable of the spots
featuring some real bloodhounds, always in search of the opponent of
Mitch McConnell, the incumbent Senator from Kentucky. Today, if you go
to a seminar on politics, almost always they will show that ad as being
one of
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the classic political ads in the history of our country.
Senator McConnell won that first race by a razor-thin margin, but he
quickly became a leader among his Republican colleagues in the Senate
in general.
Senator McConnell chaired the Republican Senatorial Campaign
Committee during the 1998 and 2000 election cycles, served as
Republican whip following the 2002 midterm elections, and now has
served as the Republican leader since 2006.
I became the Democratic whip in 1998 and have been the Democratic
leader since 2004. Our careers in the Senate have been very similar.
During this period of time I was majority whip; he was. Back and forth,
there was a lot of changing going on. So I have had a lot of
interaction with Senator McConnell because of our respective jobs.
It is well known that in our positions as minority and majority
leaders--both as whips and as the leaders--he and I have had
disagreements at various times. Behind the scenes, though, it is a
different situation. In places where the cameras do not record our
discussions, in private conversations, as we have to have, we are not
only friends but determined partners in the legislative process. We get
a lot of work done very quickly.
We just completed a meeting that took about 20 minutes, where I think
the record will ultimately reflect that 20 minutes was truly well spent
working out some of the problems of this Senate.
So I say, we are not only friends but determined partners in the
legislative process of the Senate. That does not mean we always see eye
to eye. Everyone knows that is not the case. But in the words of
President-elect Obama, we are able to disagree without being
disagreeable.
We respect each other's commitment to making our country stronger,
and I think we have a special understanding of the unique challenges of
keeping our respective caucuses together and striving toward the same
goals.
At the University of Louisville, Mitch McConnell has worked with
faculty to create a center for public service, to educate and prepare a
new generation to answer the call of public service.
A little more than a year ago, Senator McConnell invited me to be a
guest at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville. After a
terrific program with young and aspiring academics, he presented me
with a real Louisville Slugger baseball bat, with my name inscribed on
the ``sweet spot.'' That is where these great hitters have used these
bats for generations to hit the ball as far as they can and as sharply
as they can.
On that day at the McConnell Center, Senator McConnell and I spoke
frankly and openly about the joys and difficulties of our jobs to these
faculty members and these students. I, in fact, told the students an
old story about President Lincoln that has been told many times, but it
is always important because he sets the standard for what politics is
all about as far as getting along with people, as finely written about
in some detail in the ``Team of Rivals,'' this best-selling book. What
President Lincoln said, when he was being criticized for being
solicitous of members of the Confederacy, was: ``Am I not destroying my
enemies by making friends of them?''
Well, Senator McConnell and I both understand that through friendship
and mutual respect we can find common ground to achieve common goals
and to reach for the common good of the American people--common ground,
common goals, common good.
My wife Landra and I are pleased to call him and his lovely wife--and
that, certainly, is an understatement--Elaine Chao our friends. Elaine,
of course, is a national leader in her own right, having served for 8
years as our Nation's Labor Secretary and also formerly as the Director
of the Peace Corps. I have such great respect for Peace Corpsmen and
especially someone who is able to lead that very elite group. So I have
only high regard for Mitch and Elaine. They are a wonderful couple and
do so many good things for our country.
So I congratulate the Republican leader, a Kentuckian whose love of
his State and its university athletic programs is well known and who
now adds the distinction of being the longest serving Senator from the
State of Kentucky to his long and impressive career.
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