[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 186 (Thursday, December 1, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6922-S6923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Tribute to Patrick J. Leahy

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on another matter, we begin to reach

[[Page S6923]]

the period every 2 years when the Senate begins our process of honoring 
and bidding farewell to our distinguished colleagues who are soon 
leaving our ranks. Seeing friends off is hardly a task to look forward 
to, but it is made more tolerable when I get to boast about and 
embarrass our talented colleagues one last time before they head for 
the exits.
  I will begin today with one of only two current Senators who were 
around when I arrived as a freshman in 1985. By then, of course, Pat 
Leahy had already made history.
  When Pat was first elected in 1974, he was the first non-Republican 
to represent Vermont in the Senate since 1856. And now, after eight 
terms, he will depart having made history all over again as his State's 
longest serving Senator by a comfortable margin.
  Of course, it is the dash in between the dates that matters the most, 
and to say that Pat Leahy has made the most of his time in Washington 
would be truly an understatement.
  Pat first developed his habit for lifelong learning growing up around 
the printing press of his family's newspaper in Montpelier. But I 
suspect our friend never hit the books as hard as he did after he found 
out that the girl for whom he had fallen head over heels, Marcelle, 
spoke not English but French at home. The way Pat tells it, he ``wanted 
to know what [Marcelle's] parents were saying about [him].'' So the 
studies began.
  Here in the Senate, that same energy and curiosity led Pat to collect 
enough policy passions for an entire congressional delegation--from 
dairy farming to privacy, to landmine mitigation.
  Pat and I got a chance to work closely together during our long 
tenures switching off and on as chairmen and ranking members of the 
State and Foreign Ops Subcommittee on Appropriations. As often as the 
majority changed hands during our time, Pat and I made a point of 
working as partners. He always knew the right time to break up tense 
negotiations with a stemwinder of an old Irish joke.
  We rolled up our sleeves and bonded over our shared commitment to 
extending American influence and promoting our interests using soft 
power, everywhere from East Asia to the former Soviet Union.
  And like good appropriators, we also bonded over a firm mutual 
conviction that our true opponent was never each other. It was the 
House.
  Our time leading the subcommittee together saw a major landmine 
removal effort deservedly come to bear the name of its champion: the 
Leahy War Victims Fund. And Pat lent equal support to one of my passion 
projects: our work on behalf of the pro-democracy movement in Burma.
  All of this work was accompanied by great humor. One time, after an 
election that turned out well for my side, Pat showed up at our next 
hearing having found a unique way to show grace in defeat. Here is what 
happened. He showed up with a yard sign from a campaign of some local 
candidate where he lived that read, ``McConnell for Chairman,'' and 
remarked that, apparently, the voters of his neighborhood had gotten 
their wish.
  Even just measuring by local votes cast, Pat's colossal Senate legacy 
put the name ``Leahy'' right up there with fellow titans like Kennedy, 
Stevens, and Inouye. But Pat's legendary service to the people of 
Vermont has been more than a vote tally. Over eight terms, he has made 
a point of becoming not just a familiar name but a friendly face and a 
committed servant to his neighbors.
  And it certainly didn't come easy. The way I have heard the story, 
Pat's first Senate victory came after he wisely dispatched his darling 
French-speaking emissary, Marcelle, into the Francophone enclaves of 
Vermont's ``northeast kingdom.''
  Of course, we know Marcelle is much more than a natural campaigner. 
She is an accomplished nurse and a treasured member of the Senate's 
family in her own right.
  So I know I speak for so many colleagues, past and present, in saying 
the Senate will miss our distinguished President pro tempore. But we 
know that Pat and Marcelle have more than earned some extra free time 
to spend in their beautiful home State, with their kids--Kevin, Alicia, 
and Mark--and their five grandkids, and with the many neighbors who are 
grateful--so grateful--for a lifetime of outstanding service.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, while the distinguish leader is still on 
the floor, let me thank him for those remarks. And I know Marcelle will 
thank him too. Of course, our spouses have spent a lot of time 
together, and we know who the real leaders are in the house.
  I think of what the leader has said, and he speaks of the time when 
we worked together. And I appreciate very much--I have told him 
privately, but I will say it publicly: I have appreciated the 
friendship and the work together.
  We did go back and forth over a period of years. Part of the time he 
was chair, and part of the time I was chair, but in a very, very 
important subcommittee.
  In Foreign Ops we had everything from foreign aid to a lot of the 
things we did around the world. But that bill would pass on the floor, 
oftentimes on a Friday afternoon, when everybody would say: Bring it 
up; we have got to get out of here.
  And it passed, virtually, unanimously. We would work out a couple of 
differences. First, we talked about them, and then they were gone, and 
off we went.
  I remember speaking at a symposium put together by the distinguished 
leader, and I was given and presented with a Louisville Slugger with my 
name on it. Now, throughout the course of any Senator's career, and 
certainly one of 48 years, you get presented with a lot of things, 
which you thank people for, and you put them in the closet or the 
attic. This, I would tell the distinguished Senator, has stayed in 
public view in my office ever since I came home with it. And I loved 
showing it off at a time when we have to be back together on more 
things. But we have on that. You talked about the landmine legislation 
and the war victims legislation, and I appreciate your work on that, 
Mr. Leader.
  And it reflected such good in this Senate but also the people who 
were helped by it. There are no eradicating landmines, there is no 
victim of landmines that is going to come in and say: Well, we can 
support your next campaign.

  No, they don't even know who we are. They know we helped them.
  When the leader talked to me about Burma, I finally got educated on 
Burma. And I was an easy sell--I think he would agree on that--because 
of the case he made but also because of the history he gave me.
  I don't want to hold up the Senate. I will speak longer about these 
things on the day I leave, which will be soon.
  I look forward to leaving because Marcelle and I can be back home all 
the time, but I will miss so many friends I have made--the well over 
400 Senators I have served with. And I think the distinguished leader 
has served with hundreds also. Some were here for a long time. Some 
were here for, sometimes, I think, in a couple of instances, a matter 
of a month or two. I prefer a long time to a month or two. It is easier 
to get to know each other.
  I will speak further about this. But I was honored to be on the floor 
when this happened.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I walked onto the floor just as Senator 
Leahy was closing his remarks, and I want to tell you that we were 
together in the Judiciary Committee this morning, where I joined the 
chorus of praise for his career and his service in the Senate. And it 
seems like at every room he steps into, there is another tribute, and 
well-deserved. I thank him for being such a steadfast Member of the 
Senate and, particularly, of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will 
forever be benefitted by his contribution.