[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 164 (Wednesday, December 19, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8155-S8157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTES TO DEPARTING SENATORS


                              Kent Conrad

  Mr. REID. Madam President, it is often said a man is only as good as 
his word. In this new world we live in, the same applies to women. This 
is a world we live in where men and women, as much as we can, are 
treated equally. A good man is somebody who has his word that is good. 
A good woman is a person who has their word that is good. I believe 
that is true.
  If that fact is true, then Mr. Kent Conrad, the Senior Senator from 
North Dakota, is a good man, indeed.
  When he was running for the Senate the first time, he promised the 
people of North Dakota he would not run for reelection if the Nation's 
budget deficit was higher at the end of his term than at the beginning 
of it.
  We came to the Senate together. I can remember 27 years ago in the 
LBJ Room where I first met Kent Conrad--we were running for the 
Senate--this studious man, very intense. I can still remember that. We 
have been friends now for all those many years. But think what he did. 
He could have been reelected so easily and he probably could have 
figured out some way around it: It was my intention to reduce the debt, 
but we weren't able to do it.

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  But he didn't follow that path. He said: I am not running for 
reelection, and he didn't. It is amazing what he did. He takes the 
national debt personally. He takes it very seriously. Kent announced he 
wouldn't seek reelection. I was stunned. Kent, how could you do that? 
He said: I gave my word. But fate, as we know--and we are feeling it 
today with these flowers here behind me--fate is rarely anticipated. 
After his first term was set to expire and he had announced he wasn't 
running for reelection, Quentin Burdick, with whom I had the pleasure 
of serving, died, and so he ran for his seat and was elected. So he has 
held both Senate seats in North Dakota. He ran in that special election 
to replace Senator Burdick and won. The Senate, the people of North 
Dakota, and every American who cares about controlling the Federal debt 
have benefited from his faithful service.
  Every time we have done something dealing with the debt in the last 
26 years, Kent Conrad has been at the forefront. ObamaCare, he was on 
top of that. He was one of the Gang of 6, it was called at the time, 
and took months and months. He came up, of course, with the magnificent 
idea, he and Judd Gregg--two people who know the finances of this 
country as well as any other two men in the world--they were going to 
do something about it, and they introduced legislation. It was 
patterned after the base closing commissions. They would do their 
work--the Commission--come back to the Senate, no filibusters, no 
amendments. That was Kent Conrad and Judd Gregg's idea. As we know, the 
problem was the Republicans who supported the legislation, cosponsored 
it, wouldn't let us get it on the floor; six or seven of them voted 
against that. The Bowles-Simpson Commission; the Obama-Boehner talks, 
two rounds of those; Biden-Cantor, he was involved in every one of 
those; the Gang of 6, the Gang of 8. Even though he wasn't personally 
one of the three people on the supercommittee, Chairperson Murray was 
leaning on him all the time for information.
  He has been terrific. As chairman of the Budget Committee, no one 
could do more than he did. I can remember he managed the bills we had 
on getting budgets. He was here, my seat was there, and he wanted me to 
help him. Why? Because he didn't have time to deal with procedure. He 
was dealing with substance. I still joke with him about this. He was so 
intense; we could see that mind of his working. So he was happy I was 
here working with him to get the budgets through.
  He has been a powerful voice against runaway deficits but always 
being totally reasonable, recognizing that we are in a time of economic 
slowdown and we have to do something about the debt. But he also 
believes that during any of these periods of time, we need stimulation 
of the economy; they go together.
  As I have indicated, no one cares more about addressing the national 
debt than Senator Conrad. But he also understands the balance between 
fiscal responsibility and funding our national priorities.
  Kent Conrad has been bipartisan. Sometimes some criticize him for 
being so bipartisan. He has never been afraid to reach across the aisle 
to keep our country on a responsible path. He is a person who is not an 
ideologue. I could be wrong, but I think he was the first person to 
endorse Obama. Obama was a Senator who gave indication he wanted to run 
for President. I think Senator Conrad was the first to endorse him. We 
know Senator Obama didn't sell very well in North Dakota, but that 
didn't stop Kent Conrad. He thought he was the best person to be 
President of the United States.
  The proposal I mentioned with Senators Conrad and Gregg was a 
blueprint for what the Bowles-Simpson Commission then came up with. As 
I have indicated, every bipartisan deficit reduction since then--and 
some partisan efforts--anytime there was involvement with the debt, he 
was there.
  Although we have yet to reach a solution or a conclusion to the very 
serious fiscal challenges this country faces, I credit Kent Conrad for 
the progress we have made to this point. He will continue to be a voice 
for reason and moderation even in his retirement. See, Kent has always 
had a brilliant mind for numbers. He is a step above an accountant's 
mind. I truly like accountants. My daughter-in-law is an accountant, 
but he is a step above that. He is of the mathematician's caliber; he 
is so very smart.
  After graduating from college, he worked for the North Dakota State 
Tax Commission. The person who ran that tax commission was Byron 
Dorgan, who later joined him in the Senate. In 1980, Kent succeeded 
Byron as the commissioner of taxes in North Dakota. They are the best 
of friends. He served as tax commissioner for 6 years.
  He is a fifth-generation North Dakotan, born in Bismarck. Kent Conrad 
was raised by his grandparents. When he was 5 years old, his parents 
were killed by a drunk driver and so he was raised by his wonderful 
grandparents and he has told me so many times about how good they were 
to him.
  He was always interested in politics. At his retirement party, he 
talked about coming to Washington, DC, and he went back to his room or 
wherever he went that evening and wrote on a piece of paper that he was 
going to be a Senator. He was just a boy, a little kid. He was a 
teenager, but at least in my view of a 16-year-old today he was still a 
little kid. He said he wanted to be a Senator to himself. ``It so 
inspired me that I thought someday I'd like to be down on that floor 
and I'd like to debate the great issues of the day.''
  He has done it. He has done it for 24 years.
  Today Kent doesn't just debate the great issues of the day, he also 
is famous for making sure people understand what he is talking about. 
He has visual aids--we call them charts--that explain all his numbers 
and make them understandable. In 2001, the Rules Committee gave him his 
own printer since he was producing more charts than all the rest of the 
Senators combined--and that is the truth. He is famous for his charts.
  He is renowned for his dog. He loves that little dog named Dakota. It 
is a fluffy white dog, a bijon frise. Everywhere Kent goes, Dakota is 
with him. They love that dog like only people can love animals. I often 
question how--I used to question; I don't anymore. I have a daughter. 
My oldest child is a daughter. She is allergic to cats. Her husband, 
trying to be nice to her, bought her a cat that had no hair. Frankly, 
it was kind of an ugly little animal, but my daughter loves that cat. 
They named the cat Olivia. The cat got out at night--they live in a 
suburb here--and a racoon attacked the cat so the cat was never the 
same after that. But my daughter spent lots of money on this cat.
  I finally said: Lana, why are you spending money on the cat?
  She said: Dad, I love that animal.
  So that was the beginning; I don't question it anymore. If my 
daughter feels that strongly about a cat, I am going to stop 
criticizing people who spend money on animals.
  I am reminded of my daughter every day I see him with Dakota because 
she loved Olivia like he loves Dakota. He and his lovely wife Lucy have 
spent lots of money on that little dog. They love that dog. He calls 
him Little Guy; that Little Guy.
  I am going to miss Kent a lot. He is my friend, my pal. I wish him 
and his family well. He has a lovely family. His wife Lucy was the 
long-time chief of staff for Byron Dorgan--two Senators, both 
representing the same State, one Senator's wife is the chief of staff 
for his colleague. She went out in the private sector fairly recently 
and has done a great job. She has been involved in Major League 
Baseball. She and Kent love baseball. Kent always talks about he talked 
to Pete Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles; that he is looking 
forward to his retirement because Angelos promised him a tryout. He is 
going to try to play professional baseball. He loves baseball. They go 
to spring training when they can. I hope they will still have a 
presence in Washington. I think so much of both of them. They are 
wonderful people.
  They have two children, a daughter who wrote a book about politics, 
and one grandson. Kent always boasts about how smart his daughter is. I 
went to the book signing. I am sure she is smart because she has such a 
brilliant father.
  I value both Kent's friendship and leadership. While he will be 
missed in the Senate, he should rest assured that his legacy will 
remain long after he leaves.

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