[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 130 (Thursday, September 11, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5551-S5552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING JAMES M. JEFFORDS
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, earlier this week, the Senate passed a
resolution recognizing the life and career of Senator Jim Jeffords.
This Vermont icon passed away over the August recess, nearly 8 years
after concluding a decades-long career in public service. That career,
marked by historic moments on the national stage, was one in which
Vermont came first. I ask unanimous consent that an article from the
Burlington Free Press, ``Tributes pour in for Vermont GOP giant
Jeffords,'' be printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks.
Jim and I came to Washington together in 1975, he to represent
Vermont as our lone Member in the House of Representatives, and I as
Vermont's first Democratic Senator. But our years working together go
back further, to the days when I was a State's attorney in Chittenden
County, and he the State's attorney general. Our families knew each
other. Marcelle and Liz knew each other well, having both attended
Cathedral High School in Burlington. Both Jim and I would readily
acknowledge that our wives were the hearts and souls of our families.
That longtime relationship served us and Vermont well when Jim came
to the Senate in 1989. Together, we worked to protect Vermont's dairy
farmers, to preserve Vermont's celebrated natural landscape, and to
give Vermont a strong and powerful voice in Washington.
I joined many Vermonters in celebrating Jim's life last month in his
home town of Rutland. Our sympathies are with his children Laura and
Leonard, and his grandchildren.
Jim was a humble man, a Vermonter through and through, and a true
friend. His legacy is that he held Vermont in his heart, and worked to
advance the best interests of his constituents on the national stage.
For that, this Vermonter will join many others in simply saying,
``Thanks, Jim.''
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Burlington Free Press, Aug. 19, 2014]
Tributes Pour In for Vermont GOP Giant Jeffords
(By Sam Hemingway)
The Jim Jeffords For Governor campaign camper was headed up
U.S. 2 toward East Montpelier in the summer of 1972 with the
candidate behind the wheel.
``He almost drove off the road,'' recalled Bruce Post of
Essex, who was aboard the camper as a just-out-of-college
campaign volunteer. ``He was the world's worst driver.''
What Post also remembers from that day is that Jeffords,
Vermont's attorney general at the time, telling him about a
decision Jeffords had made to give no special treatment to a
powerful Republican who had run afoul of Vermont's
environmental laws.
``He told me that day, `It might cost me my political
career, but it's not going to cost me my political
conscience,' `` Post remembered Monday, the day Jeffords
died.
Jeffords did lose the primary, but he went on to serve
seven terms in the U.S. House and three in the Senate. In
2001, his conscience led him to leave the GOP, a stunning
move that shifted control of the chamber to the Democrats.
Monday, Jeffords died shortly after 7 a.m. at Knollwood, a
retirement home for military veterans in Washington, D.C. He
was 80 and the last Republican to hold federal office elected
from Vermont.
``While we are saddened by our father's passing, we take
comfort in the knowledge that he lived a full life, from the
hills of Vermont to the halls of Congress,'' Laura and
Leonard Jeffords, the senator's son and daughter, said in a
statement. ``We will miss his kindness, his good humor, and
his generosity of spirit.''
Jeffords, afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, had been in
declining health and had lived at Knollwood since retiring
from his Senate seat in 2006. Jeffords was a veteran of the
Navy and the Navy Reserve, but never served in combat.
Jeffords' wife, Elizabeth Daley Jeffords, died in 2007.
News of Jeffords' death Monday morning, first reported by
the Burlington Free Press, quickly spread across the state
and the nation.
``Jim never lost the fiercely independent spirit that made
Vermonters, and people across America, trust and respect
him,'' President Barack Obama said in a statement.
``Whatever the issue--whether it was protecting the
environment, supporting Americans with disabilities, or
whether to authorize the war in Iraq--Jim voted his
principles, even if it sometimes meant taking a lonely or
unpopular stance.''
In Vermont, Gov. Peter Shumlin mourned Jeffords' death.
Flags at public buildings across the state were lowered at
half-staff and will remain so through Saturday.
``The passing of Senator Jim Jeffords will be felt
throughout Vermont and our country,'' Shumlin said in a
statement. ``We need more like Senator Jeffords. My heart
goes out to his children and extended family.''
The maverick
Jeffords's maverick political instincts served in him good
stead as he navigated Vermont's shifting political currents
over 40 years, emphasizing his moderate positions as the
state leaned increasingly toward more liberal, Democratic
positions.
As a House member, he was the only Republican to vote
against President Ronald Reagan's tax cuts in 1981. In 1991,
he voted against George H.W. Bush's nomination of Clarence
Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. He supported President Bill
Clinton's health care reform and, in 1999, voted against his
impeachment.
``He was a partner in our work for Vermont, and he was a
friend,'' Sen. Patrick Leahy said of Jeffords in a statement.
``He was a Vermonter through and through, drawn to political
life to make a difference for our state and nation. Part of
his legacy will also stand as an enduring chapter of the
Senate's history.''
Leahy and Jeffords both won their first elections to
federal office in 1974 and were rivals for a time. They grew
closer over the years as they worked on dairy issues and
others important to Vermont.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who won the election to replace
Jeffords in 2006, said Jeffords was a common-sense Vermonter
who accomplished a lot.
Sanders toyed with running against Jeffords in 2000 but
decided against it and said Monday he would have passed on
challenging Jeffords had Jeffords run for re-election in
2006.
``Vermonters admired him because of his low-key and down-
to-earth qualities, and because of his obvious and strong
love of the state and the Vermont way of life,'' Sanders
said. ``He was an effective champion of education, disability
rights, the environment and the arts--and millions of
Americans have benefited from his efforts.''
Rep. Peter Welch, in an interview, spoke of how Jeffords
and his wife helped him during his successful run for the
House in 2006, and then in Welch's early months as a freshman
congressman.
``He spoke softly but got a lot done,'' Welch said of
Jeffords'' career. ``There are colleagues of his in the House
who still remember him with great respect.''
Former Republican Gov. Jim Douglas said Jeffords ``will be
long remembered as a Vermonter who gave his all and his best
in every season of his storied career. As a friend, I will
miss him dearly.''
Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott said he fashioned his career
after the example set by Jeffords. ``He did what he felt was
right, not what he felt would make him popular,'' Scott said.
The switch
Jeffords' decision to become an independent in 2001 rocked
the nation. His move changed the balance of power in the
Senate, which had been 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats.
The move cost his GOP colleagues their committee
chairmanships and, for Jeffords, the loss of several lifelong
friendships.
``I have changed my party label, but I have not changed my
beliefs,'' Jeffords said in his May 24, 2001, speech at a
jam-packed Radisson Hotel in Burlington where he announced
the switch.
``Indeed, my decision is about affirming the principles
that have shaped my career. I hope that the people of Vermont
will understand it. I hope in time that my colleagues will as
well. I am confident that it is the right decision.''
The move catapulted Jeffords to rock-star national
prominence, praised by Democrats and vilified by Republicans.
He wrote later that even members of his family opposed his
decision. Sen. Trent Lott, R-La., and a member of the Singing
Senators quartet along with Jeffords, fumed that Jeffords had
carried out a ``coup of one.''
In the aftermath, Jeffords appeared on the covers of
Newsweek and Time magazines in the same week. He also was the
subject of several death threats, requiring required him to
receive Capital Hill police protection for a time.
Back home, he was treated as a flat-out hero. His decision
to leave the GOP spawned a popular ``Thanks, Jim'' bumper
sticker and a special-edition beer called ``Jeezum Jim,'' a
reference to his modest nature and Vermonty accent.
``I have never been prouder of anything I've done in my
life than being with him at that time, the time preceding the
announcement and the time after that,'' said Eric Smulson,
Jeffords' spokesman for 15 years. ``How he handled himself,
how he stood for his principles. He was a great statesman, a
great Vermonter, but an even better person.''
Others, including close friends and some Vermont Republican
leaders, were distraught about the 2001 decision.
``I was very upset over it,'' said James Johnston of
Montpelier, a former Jeffords campaign adviser and close
personal friend. ``But I know he had good reason to do it at
the time.''
Johnston became emotional describing the loss of his old
friend.
[[Page S5552]]
``I guess I knew this day was coming,'' he said, choking up
as he spoke. ``I'm not so sure I'm ready to deal with it.''
Jeffords later wrote two books reflecting on his
controversial move: a 2001 explanation of his decision titled
``My Declaration of Independence'' and a 2003 memoir, ``An
Independent Man.''
A political life
Jeffords, the son of a Vermont Supreme Court justice, grew
up in Rutland, studied at Yale University, received his law
degree from Harvard University and entered politics in 1966,
winning a race for state Senate from Rutland County.
Two years later, he was elected attorney general, and soon
he became embroiled in a fight with International Paper's
plant in Ticonderoga, N.Y., regarding the discharge of
mercury-laden sludge into Lake Champlain.
Jeffords ran for governor in 1972, but many in the party
resented his liberal positions on the environment and other
matters, and he lost a bitter primary battle to Luther
Hackett, a business-oriented Republican.
``He took it fine,'' said Bruce Post, recalling his time as
a volunteer with the Jeffords for Governor campaign. ``I
don't think he was bitter or anything.''
Hackett lost to Democrat Tom Salmon in the general
election. Two years later, Jeffords won the state's lone U.S.
House seat when incumbent Rep. Richard Mallory ran for U.S.
Senate.
Jeffords initially lived in a camper in Washington after
taking the House seat. He went on to win six House re-
election contests, then won a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1988
when Sen. Robert T. Stafford, R-Vt., another Republican
moderate, retired.
Jeffords was a consistent champion of education, helping to
pass the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as a
freshman House member and becoming so immersed in efforts to
support dairy farmers that he was dubbed ``Mr. Dairy.''
He also worked behind the scenes to help Soviet dissidents
Alexander Solzhenitsyn by secretly arranging Solzhenitzyn's
move to Cavendish, where the author lived for 18 years before
returning Russia. Jefford also aided Soviet dissident
Alexander Ginzburg after he was expelled from Russia in 1979.
During the Reagan years, Jeffords fought the president's
plans to cut back on environmental regulations and lower
taxes. In 1987, he was the only Republican House member to
vote with Democrats to pass a $12 billion tax increase. The
measure passed the House by a single vote.
Surveys of his votes by liberal and conservative groups
determined he leaned slightly toward liberal positions, and
Jeffords continued to irritate GOP leaders.
He supported gay-rights legislation, voted for a gun-
control measure after saying he opposed it and introduced a
bill to force power producers to lower their emissions.
Opinions are divided on what caused him to finally decide
to leave the Republican Party. Shortly before he made the
decision, he voted against President George W. Bush's budget,
saying it was too big on tax cuts and undercut spending on
education, child care, veterans and the environment.
Jeffords also might have been irked that the White House
had not invited him to an event celebrating the Vermont
winner of the teacher of the year, even though Jeffords was
chairman of chairman of the Senate education committee.
``Looking ahead, I can see more and more instances where
I'll disagree with the president on very fundamental issues--
the issues of choice, the direction of the judiciary, tax-
and-spending decisions, missile defense, energy and the
environment, and a host of other issues, large and small,''
Jeffords said in the speech announcing his decision.
Jeffords, who had just been re-elected to the Senate in
2000, vowed to run for re-election in 2006 and repeated that
assertion until 2005, when he abruptly scheduled a news
conference at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in
South Burlington to announce he would leave the Senate at the
end of 2006.
``I am feeling the aches and pains that come when you reach
70,'' he said in his speech. ``My memory fails me on
occasion, but Liz would probably argue that this has been
going on the last 50 years.''
Uncharacteristically, he took no questions at the news
conference, and appeared tired and unsteady on his feet.
Jeffords' funeral is set for 11 a.m. Friday at Grace
Congregational United Church of Christ in Rutland.
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