[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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