[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 6 (Monday, January 12, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S279-S280]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO MITCH McCONNELL

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, those who have been listening and 
watching for the last few minutes got one good lesson on why Senator 
McConnell has been here for over 24 years. This is a day to honor him, 
but he spent virtually all of his time honoring someone else.
  It is a remarkable and rare event that Senator McConnell could serve 
longer than Wendell Ford, the man he just honored, longer than Henry 
Clay, longer than John Sherman Cooper, and longer than Alben Barkley. 
But all of us know longevity by itself is not a transcending virtue, 
but it is an indication of one of the most transcending virtues; and 
that is, the people of Kentucky for the last 24 years have seen 
something special in Mitch McConnell, something that is good for 
Kentucky, in the opinion of Kentuckians, and something that is good for 
our country. I have seen that, too, but for a longer period of time 
than 24 years; 40 years, to be exact.
  I remember when Mitch McConnell came to Washington, not the time he 
was an intern but as the legislative director for Senator Marlow Cook. 
Legislative director is a little bit of a puffed-up title for the job 
at that time, because in the office of Senator Baker of Tennessee, 
where I had been the year before, there was only one legislative 
assistant. So we were legislative directors of usually one or two 
people at a time, which may seem pretty hard for staff members in this 
Senate to understand.
  I remember that by 1969, I moved over to work for Bryce Harlow in the 
Nixon White House. Howard Baker, who had been a good friend of Marlow 
Cook, the new Senator from Kentucky, came to me and said: Marlow Cook 
has a bright young man working for him; you ought to get to know him.
  So I did, 40 years ago.
  We both stayed in Washington for a while. We both went home after a 
few years, and in 1978, 30 years ago, we both were elected to an 
executive position in our home States--I as Governor of Tennessee, and 
Mitch McConnell as the county executive of Jefferson County, which is 
Louisville, the big county there.
  Then, in 1984, as the record shows and we all know, he was elected to 
the U.S. Senate, the only Republican in the country that year, I 
believe, who was able to defeat an incumbent Democrat.
  When Senator McConnell and I were young staff assistants in the 
Senate, the leaders of the Senate were Senators Dirksen and Mansfield. 
There have been many great leaders of the Senate since that period of 
time. All of those leaders who were good--and most of them were--knew 
this body, knew the Senate. They knew human nature instinctively, but 
they had one other quality, and this is another quality

[[Page S280]]

Senator McConnell has. They had great respect for our country.
  Last July, I brought onto the Senate floor a group of teachers of 
U.S. history. They were selected, one from each State, under a program 
that is called Presidential Academies for Teachers of United States 
History. Since a Senator may bring onto the floor before it convenes 
anybody he chooses, there were 50 of us here. I showed them Daniel 
Webster's desk, which is right next to me. I talked with them about 
Henry Clay, and I showed them Jefferson Davis's desk in the back.
  As you can imagine, these outstanding teachers were awestruck being 
on the floor of the Senate. They were the only ones here. After about a 
30-minute visit, one of them--I think it was the teacher from Oregon--
said to me: Senator Alexander, what would you like for us to take back 
to our students about this visit?
  I found myself saying: I hope you will tell them that I get up every 
morning--and I think most of us here do--and come to work hoping that 
by the end of the day, we can make this country a little better place. 
I am not sure what it looks like on television. I am not sure what it 
looks like on the front pages of the newspapers. But that is my motive, 
and that is the motive of most of us here.
  That has been the motive of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Yes, 
beginning his 25th year in the Senate is a rare distinction, especially 
because he is from a State that has produced so many outstanding 
Senators and a State that even today and through most of the last 24 
years has been a very competitive State with Democrats and Republicans 
both having a chance to be elected. Mitch McConnell gets up every day, 
comes into work--and it is usually very early--thinking about how to 
make this country a little better before the end of the day--and that 
is usually very late. That quality is even more important than his more 
than 24 years of service.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is 
recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I thank my dear friend from Tennessee 
for being on the Senate floor today and for his overly kind comments 
about my tenure. We have indeed been friends for 40 years.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, it is a privilege today, and really a 
joy, to rise to join in the celebration of Senator Mitch McConnell and 
his many terrific years of service to this country and to the people of 
the State of Kentucky. For those folks who watch from the gallery or 
watch at home, I will tell you what you see is what you get. He is 
kind, he is thoughtful, he is calm, he is patient, but I will also tell 
you he is persistent. You could not have a better friend in the Senate 
or in this life than Mitch McConnell or his wonderful wife Elaine.
  We have heard a bit about the history of Kentucky, we have heard a 
bit about Wendell Ford, but when you put this into historical 
perspective and you do the searches and you see who the top names are 
in Kentucky when it comes to politics, the names that come up are Henry 
Clay, Abraham Lincoln--because he was born in Kentucky--and Mitch 
McConnell.
  Now, Henry Clay was the greatest of the Old Senate Chamber. People 
who watched the swearing in of the Senators earlier this month saw 
Senators taking their oath in this Chamber but also going back for a 
reenactment in the Old Senate Chamber. In that Old Senate Chamber the 
names were Clay, Calhoun, and Webster. When one of them would rise to 
speak--and people would come from all around--they would say: Clay is 
up, Calhoun is up, Webster is up, and people would run. Well, today, 
the running occurs when people say: Mitch is on the phone; Mitch is 
calling. You want to know: How can I help? What are his ideas? You know 
they are good for the country. Henry Clay was called the great 
compromiser. He was called the great pacifier. Those names were given 
to him because of his ability to bring others to agreement. The exact 
same thing can be said of Mitch McConnell in this, the new Senate 
Chamber.
  Now, Mr. President, we left that Old Senate Chamber in 1859 and moved 
to this beautiful Chamber, and this marks the 150th year of that move. 
There is actually a little booklet, the ``United States Senate Chamber 
1859-2009,'' and it talks about when we left and made the procession. 
We have heard about some previous Kentucky Senators, but the Senator 
who gave the speech when we left that Senate Chamber in 1859 was also 
from Kentucky. It was Senator John Crittenden, and some of his comments 
are in this booklet.
  Well, I will tell you, in the new Senate Chamber, since 1859--now 150 
years--Mitch McConnell truly and clearly is the man of the Senate. Just 
like Henry Clay, he came from humble beginnings. We talk about humble 
beginnings, but few people know that Mitch McConnell, at the age of 2, 
had polio. He was nursed back to health by his mother, who helped teach 
him how to walk and then how to run. It is through her hard work and 
his dedication and his persistence that he has become the man we know 
today.
  In early November of this past year, George Will wrote an article 
praising Senator McConnell, but he quoted Abraham Lincoln, when he 
wrote:

       I hope to have God on my side but I must have Kentucky.

  I will tell you, Mr. President, for those of us on this side of the 
aisle, we must have Mitch McConnell. The Senate would just not be the 
Senate. We have been blessed time after time after time that the people 
of Kentucky have seen fit to send Mitch McConnell back to the Senate.
  In his speech when the Senate moved from the Old Senate Chamber to 
the new Senate Chamber, Senator Crittenden said:
  Senators are the representatives of the States of this mighty union. 
No matter under what sky we may sit; no matter what dome may cover us; 
the great patriotic spirit of the Senate of the United States will be 
there and I have an abiding confidence that it will never fail in the 
performance of its duty.
  Well, Mr. President, this applies to Senator McConnell because his 
great patriotic spirit will always be here, and those who know him have 
an abiding confidence that he will never fail in the performance of his 
duty.
  Mr. President, Senator McConnell is a champion. He is a champion for 
Kentucky and he is a champion for America; for a stronger America, a 
better America, a safer America, and an America where any boy or girl 
can, through hard work and persistence, grow up to be a leader of this 
great Nation.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is 
recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I would like to express my deep 
appreciation to the Senator from Wyoming for his overly kind and very 
generous comments about my work here, and also say, Mr. President, to 
the people of Wyoming, how fortunate they are to have Senator Barrasso 
representing them.
  I have seen a lot of new Senators come into this body over these 25 
years. I have never seen one make a mark quicker. So I know the people 
of Wyoming deeply appreciate their junior Senator. They demonstrated 
that a couple of months ago in the election, and they really could not 
have made a wiser choice. I value my colleague from Wyoming, and I 
thank him so much for his very kind and generous remarks.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask I be recognized as in morning 
business for such time as I shall consume.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered. The Senator from Oklahoma is recognized.

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