[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 169 (Saturday, December 18, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10686-S10687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTES TO RETIRING SENATORS


                              Byron Dorgan

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, with the close of the 111th Congress, the 
Senate will lose one of its most popular, articulate, and outspoken 
Members. I will lose a kindred spirit and a fellow progressive 
populist, Byron Dorgan, who has spent his entire four decades in 
elected office fighting on behalf of family farmers and ranchers, 
struggling small businesses, ordinary working Americans, and anyone who 
has been run roughshod over by big business, big banks, or big 
government.
  Both Senator Dorgan and I are proud of our roots in the rural upper 
midwest. I was raised in Cumming, IA, population 162. He was raised in 
Regent, ND, population 211. Byron always liked to joke that he 
graduated in the top 10 of his class of 9 students.
  Senators on both sides of the aisle have come to respect and admire 
Senator Dorgan's distinctive voice here in the Senate, a voice that 
mixes keen intelligence with a great sense of humor, plus a gift for 
making his arguments with colorful, compelling stories and language. 
Throughout his more than four decades in public service, he has used 
that voice to speak out powerfully for farm country in rural America. 
He has fought hard for policies at the national level to give rural 
families a better chance at success. He has been a strong supporter of 
the farm bill's safety net provisions, including countercyclical 
support for farmers to get them through hard times, and he has been 
equally outspoken in championing strict limits on Federal farm payments 
to ensure that the lion's share goes to small family farms, not big 
agribusiness and absentee farm owners.

  As a senior member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and 
chair of the Appropriations Committee's Energy and Water Development 
Subcommittee, Senator Dorgan has always been an outspoken champion of 
clean, renewable, homegrown energy, including wind and solar and 
biofuels.

[[Page S10687]]

He likes to boast that North Dakota is ``the Saudi Arabia of wind.'' 
Well, my folks in Iowa might dispute that claim, but we get the point. 
Byron and I have both been strong advocates of building a nationwide 
distribution grid for wind- and solar-generated energy.
  I wish to make just one more point about Senator Dorgan. I guess I 
can say this now since he is retiring and a political opponent won't be 
able to use it against him. Byron Dorgan is an intellectual. He has a 
passion for ideas and knowledge. He even writes books--actually, really 
good books, the kind that show up on the New York Times bestseller 
list. I am a great fan of his 2007 book entitled ``Take This Job and 
Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out 
America.'' If you want a blistering and I think dead-on account of the 
causes of the crash of 2008, read Byron's other book entitled 
``Reckless! How Debt, Deregulation, and Dark Money Nearly Bankrupted 
America.''
  I consider Byron Dorgan a great friend, a great Senator, and a great 
advocate for all working people in this country. He has accomplished 
many things in his three terms here in the Senate, but I can think of 
no greater accolade than to say simply that he is a good and decent and 
honest person with a passion for social justice and a determination to 
make life better for ordinary Americans.
  When the 111th Congress comes to a close, of course, my friendship 
with Byron will continue, but I will miss his day-to-day counsel and 
good humor. I join with the entire Senate family in wishing Byron and 
Kim the best in the years ahead.


                                Kit Bond

  Mr. President, with the retirement of Senator Kit Bond at the close 
of this Congress, the Senate will lose one of its most respected 
veteran Members, and a truly distinguished individual with a 
distinguished career in public service will come to an end. Of course, 
we would expect big things from a young man who graduated with honors 
from Princeton and first in his class at the University of Virginia Law 
School, and Kit Bond did not disappoint.
  At age 30, he became assistant attorney general of Missouri, serving 
under former Senator John Danforth. At age 33, he was elected Governor 
of the State of Missouri, serving two terms. In 1986, he was elected to 
the Senate, where he has now served for nearly a quarter of a century.
  Over the years, Kit Bond has been a great friend and a frequent 
collaborator, especially on the Appropriations Committee. For example, 
in 1993, when the Midwest was devastated by historic floods, Senator 
Bond was the senior appropriator in the minority party from the nine 
impacted States, and I was the senior appropriator in the majority 
party. We took the lead in the Senate, working together very 
effectively to rally Federal assistance to victims all across the 
stricken Midwest.
  Over the years, we have worked together to improve the locks and dams 
along the Upper Mississippi. I can say I think we are both proud of our 
work in the early part of this decade, forging an agreement to 
authorize the modernization of five of the critical locks so that our 
goods can move more efficiently up and down the river. We worked very 
hard for about 4 years to bring together a remarkable coalition of 
industry and agriculture and the environmental community to make this 
project possible.
  Senator Bond and I are members of a breed of Senators affectionately 
known around here as ``pavers.'' We both believe very strongly that it 
is a cardinal responsibility of the Federal Government to invest 
generously in a first-class national transportation infrastructure--the 
roads, the bridges, the locks, the dams, and so on--what we call the 
arteries and the veins of commerce.
  Senator Bond and I have also collaborated frequently to boost the 
rural economy and improve the quality of life of the people who live in 
our rural communities. In particular, we have used funding through the 
Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee of Appropriations to approve 
housing for people of modest means, with a particular focus on rural 
areas. On this score, I would note Senator Bond was a ``compassionate 
conservative'' long before that term came into fashion. He cares deeply 
about the well-being of the less fortunate in our society, giving them 
both a helping hand and a hand up. In the mid-1990s, I was proud to 
work with Senator Bond on the first bipartisan welfare reform bill, 
modeled, I might say, on the very successful welfare-to-work program we 
had in Iowa.
  Over the years, Senator Bond has recruited and retained an 
exceptionally talented staff.
  In particular, I will cite Jon Kamarck, his outstanding lead staffer 
for many years on the Appropriations Committee, with whom I have had 
the pleasure of working on many occasions. I know Senator Bond also 
places great store by his long-time staffer and current chief of staff, 
Brian Klippenstein--who, by the way, had the good sense to marry a 
Democrat from the State of Iowa.
  Mr. President, the Senate has been fortunate to have a Senator of Kit 
Bond's high caliber and character for the last 24 years. In so many 
ways, he represents the very best in this body--a passion for public 
service, a willingness to reach across the aisle to get important 
things done, and an insistence on the highest ethical standards. He has 
always been determined to do the right thing for the people of Missouri 
and the entire United States.
  For me, it has been a great honor to be his friend and colleague for 
the last 24 years. Our friendship, of course, will continue. And I wish 
Kit and Linda the very best in the years ahead.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island is recognized.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at the 
conclusion of my remarks, Senator Harkin be recognized again, followed 
by Senator Carper, and then Senator Brown.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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