[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 194 (Wednesday, December 14, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7172-S7174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Farewell to the Senate

  Mr. SHELBY. Madam President, today I come to the Senate floor for 
what will probably be one of my last times--perhaps not my last time 
but close. I want to start off by thanking the people of Alabama, my 
home State. They have put their trust in me for more than 50 years. It 
is more than I could ever wish for, and this has been truly been an 
experience of a lifetime--something I could have never dreamed.
  I came to the House 44 years ago and served 8 years as a Democrat 
coming from the State of Alabama. I had a good run in the U.S. House, 
and I appreciate that. I am grateful for that. However, I always wanted 
to come over here to the U.S. Senate.
  In 1986, I ran for the Senate against the incumbent, Jeremiah 
Denton--a prominent war hero, a great man--and I won that race by 6,854 
votes. It was razor, razor thin, as you can imagine.
  In 1994, after years of being told to join the Republican Party and 
that I should be there, from President Reagan and all the way down, I 
decided to switch parties. I joined the Republican Party. Some people 
would say that I was in the vanguard of the realignment of the 
Republican Party in the South. That is for history to decide.
  During my time in the Senate, I have been given the great opportunity 
of chairing four committees--four committees--something I couldn't have 
believed. In these positions of leadership, I have tried to influence 
legislation that will have a lasting impact, creating conditions to 
improve our country.
  On the Select Committee on Intelligence, I served there for 8 years 
and was chairman of the full committee.
  On the Banking Committee, where I am grateful to still serve after 36 
years, I was chairman for three Congresses and was ranking member for 
three Congresses. On that committee, I worked with various Senators.
  I had the opportunity, as some of you have had, to chair the Rules 
Committee, which is important to the running of the Senate. We worked 
together and instituted some very serious legislation.
  But, finally, after many years of work, I chaired the Appropriations 
Committee. Working across the aisle in a bipartisan way, we passed and 
enacted the most on-time spending bills in 2018 for the first time in 
22 years. We did that, I believe, by working together.
  As I look back on the Senate, I think of some of the people who were 
here who are not with us anymore, but they have had a lasting impact on 
this body--the Senate.
  I think of Senator Bob Dole--Presidential candidate, Vice 
Presidential candidate, majority leader, minority leader, friend, 
mentor--I thought had a lasting impact.
  I think of Senator Byrd--Democrat of West Virginia, former majority 
leader, later chairman of the Appropriations Committee. He had strong 
views and was a man of the Senate.
  We also had Senator Mark Hatfield--a Republican, former Governor of 
Oregon, distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee--whom I 
had the opportunity and privilege to serve with here in the Senate.
  We had Senator Ted Stevens--Republican of Alaska, well known, strong 
views, Appropriations chairman, and a good role model for me on the 
committee. He spent 40 years in the Senate.

[[Page S7173]]

  We had Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii--a Democrat, a war hero. He 
was a great Senator and chairman of the Appropriations Committee and 
powerful chairman of the Defense Subcommittee of Appropriations for 
years.
  We had here in the Senate--who we called the lion of the Senate--
Senator Ted Kennedy, a Democrat. He was involved in a lot of stuff. A 
lot of it I voted against; some of it I didn't. But he would reach out. 
One thing about Senator Kennedy--if he told you something, he kept his 
word. That is so important, not just in the Senate, but everywhere.
  I remember my good friend Bob Kerrey--a war hero, Congressional Medal 
of Honor winner, former Governor of Nebraska, Senator. We served 
together on the Intel Committee and the Appropriations Committee.
  On the Banking Committee was Paul Sarbanes of Maryland--a stalwart 
here, a Democrat. We had our differences, philosophically. I was 
ranking and then chairman of the Banking Committee, and he was ranking, 
and he was chairman. But we made things work because we worked together 
toward that end.
  Senator Harry Reid was here--former majority leader, right here, an 
old friend of mine from our House days, a personal friend. People knew 
that. People knew. They would see us talking and say: Why are you all 
speaking today?
  And I would say: Well, we are talking about everything. It may be 
personal; it may not be. We may be trying to get something done.
  We had Senator Cochran from Mississippi--a nice man, a real 
gentleman, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, who served here 40 
years.
  And my friend from Maryland, Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat--what a 
fighter--chairman of the Appropriations Committee. We worked together, 
when I was ranking on the Appropriations Committee, to get things done, 
and we did.
  I would like to touch on some of my colleagues whom I served with 
from my State of Alabama. First I want to mention that today is the 
203rd birthday of my State of Alabama. Today, they became a State 203 
years ago. I was not there then.
  As for some of my colleagues from Alabama--Senator Howell Heflin, who 
some of you will remember, was bigger than life and larger than life. 
He served 18 years here in the Senate.
  Jeff Sessions--a lot of you remember Jeff--he served 20 years in the 
Senate.
  Luther Strange, who is here on the floor now--his tenure was short, 
but we remember him well. He is a dear friend.
  Doug Jones served here for 3 years in the Senate. He was a Democrat 
from Alabama, and we had a good relationship. We did a lot of things 
together in a bipartisan way.
  My current colleague, Tommy Tuberville--he is doing well. He is 
ending his second year in the Senate. He was a great coach--too great a 
coach when he played Alabama. He beat the dickens out of us a few 
times. So I said: Let's keep him in the Senate.
  I want to mention my friend Pat Leahy--chairman of the Appropriations 
Committee, President pro tempore of the Senate, long-term serving 
member of the Appropriations Committee. When I was chairman, he was 
ranking. We worked together on the committee, and we got things done.
  I told him that I would rather be chairman, but if a Democrat is 
going to be chairman, it had to be him because he was the only one in 
the room when I said that.
  Pat and I have worked together to get some things done. We have got 
work to do before this year is out, and we, hopefully, are on the right 
track.
  Mitch McConnell is sitting right here--friend, accomplished leader, 
the longest serving Senate Republican Leader, majority leader, minority 
leader now, a long-term friend with deep roots in Alabama, but from 
Kentucky.
  Mitch, I have said to other people that I have seen a lot of people 
work, but you know how to work the Senate and you know how to make it 
work. I consider you a friend, and I have enjoyed my time with you.
  During my time in the Senate, I have had the great privilege to serve 
with eight Presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter; Ronald 
Reagan; George H. W. Bush; Bill Clinton; George W. Bush; Barack Obama, 
who was a former colleague of ours; Donald Trump; and Joe Biden now, 
former colleague and Senator. That is a great honor.
  I want to speak just a few minutes here to what I think is important 
here in the Senate. We are in the Senate, but we are the Senate. I want 
to speak about why bipartisanship is important. It is important because 
it is good for the country. It is important because it brings people 
together. It is important because we all have our differences in 
philosophy, but the country, I believe, should be first, the Nation 
should be first. It is important, I also believe, because of the oath 
we take--all of us--when we are sworn into the Senate.
  And I want to share this with you. You have done it, you have taken 
it--all of us do--you take that oath and you swear:

       I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the 
     Constitution of the United States against all enemies, 
     foreign and domestic--

  That is a lot--

     That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that 
     I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation 
     or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully 
     discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to 
     enter. So help me God.

  That covers a lot of ground. Everybody here knows that. As I look 
back on my years here this afternoon, a lot of it was at a time when we 
did things together here. We ate together. We socialized together. We 
worked together. But today I think we have become too polarized, and 
there are a lot of reasons for that. We understand.
  But I can say that we need to get back to the basics and put the 
country first. We must not put ourselves or our party first. We must 
put America first. We have to. And many of us--a lot of you--have tried 
to do this at times. We all have, in our own way. Senator Leahy and I 
have worked toward that end.
  I have always believed--and this goes back--that we should strive for 
Plato's instruction to all of us--to strive to work for the ideal. I 
know that he means the utopia. That is probably never going to happen, 
but that is the goal.
  In the Senate, having taken that oath of office, I have always 
thought that the security of the Nation is the No. 1 obligation of the 
Senate and the House, the Congress, and the President of the United 
States. My parents taught me this, and I believe this, and it is 
referenced in the oath of office that I just shared with you.
  It is important to have, I believe, priorities. I have done my best 
to focus on things that will have a big impact on America and also my 
home State of Alabama. I always look at it that--being in the U.S. 
Senate, I am a Senator from Alabama, but I am also a United States 
Senator--for America. We all are.
  Some of my priorities have been national security. As you well know, 
I have chaired the Intel Committee. I have worked and I was on the 
Armed Services Committee with Senators Nunn and Warner.
  Education is a high priority for all of us, on both sides of the 
aisle. It has to be. Creating manufacturing and workforce development--
that is education and training. You have to have it.
  Infrastructure is so important. It covers everything from 
communications to roads.
  Outstanding Federal judges that we vote on here are very important.
  Also, as my days are ticking away, I want to mention my successor 
that is coming, Senator-elect Katie Britt. She is here today. She will 
be coming into office. I think she will serve the Nation and all of us 
well. She has a lot of promise.
  Lastly, toward the end, I also want to thank my family for their 
enduring support. I want to thank my wife Annette, who is here, my wife 
of 62 years. My service here would not have been possible without her. 
I am also immensely grateful for her dedication to my career, and her 
ambition and ability to break her own glass ceiling in academia along 
the way.
  I want to thank my two sons, Richard and Claude. I want to thank them 
for their support and perseverance while growing up in political times 
and in a political family. It was tough on them.
  I also want to thank my two grandchildren. One of them, Anna Shelby, 
is here, and my grandson William--he better be in the library studying.
  I want to thank my parents for everything--I mean, everything.

[[Page S7174]]

  I also want to say thank you to my staff over the years. Many of them 
are here today, and there have been many of them. They are outstanding 
people. I couldn't have done anything without them.
  I don't know where I would start calling the staff roll, but I do 
want to thank Anne Caldwell. A lot of you know Anne. She has been with 
me 44 years. Wow. I thank her for her loyalty, her perseverance, and 
for getting me to meetings on time.
  Anne, thank you, very much. Thank you.
  Also, lastly, I have had a lot of chiefs of staff. I have had good 
ones--many good ones. But I have a young man working for me now, and he 
took a leave of absence from a big job with a big pay to work the last 
2 years up here, Watson Donald. Thank you, Watson.
  I want to thank my friends back home in Alabama for their support 
over the years, as well as my friends here in the Senate.
  And, importantly, I want to thank the people of Alabama for electing 
me 12 times to public office. It has been the honor of my lifetime.
  I yield the floor.
  (Applause.)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Vermont.