[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 21252]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                           MAUREEN MANSFIELD

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, on Wednesday, September 20, the Senate lost 
one of its own family members. Not a member with a capital ``M,'' 
elected by the people, but an unpaid, unsung, but O so important member 
of the Senate family. On Wednesday, Maureen Mansfield, the beloved wife 
of former majority leader Mike Mansfield, passed away.
  It is safe to say that without the efforts, energy, dedication, and 
love of Maureen Mansfield, the Senate and the people of Montana might 
never have benefited from the extraordinary talents of Mike Mansfield. 
Like myself, Mike was raised by an aunt and uncle after the death of 
his mother when he was just 3 years old. During the First World War, 
Mike Mansfield dropped out of school and joined the Navy, and he also 
served with the Army and the Marine Corps.
  Upon his return to Montana, he worked as a mucker in the copper mines 
and did not resume the schooling he had left in the eighth grade.
  Maureen, a high school teacher when her younger sister introduced her 
to Mike, encouraged him to return to school. She helped him to apply to 
Montana State University and helped him complete his high school 
equivalency courses before completing college. She cashed in her life 
insurance and worked as a social worker in order to support her husband 
in school. Then both of them went on to earn Master's degrees. Maureen 
Mansfield did not believe, and disproved, the old saw that you cannot 
change a man and that all efforts to do so are futile.
  Mike Mansfield's congressional career also benefitted from Maureen 
Mansfield's support. Maureen would campaign for Mike in Montana, 
sometimes on her own when Mike could not get away from Washington. Mike 
Mansfield served five terms in the House before his first election to 
the Senate. In the Senate, Lyndon Johnson picked Mike for party whip.
  In those days, it was different from what it is now because a leader 
would not pick another Member for the office of party whip. That is a 
matter that the Members will resolve.
  Mike went on to serve as Majority Leader himself for sixteen years, 
longer than any other Senator. I served as his party whip. I continued 
to hold Mike Mansfield in the highest respect. Mike and Maureen have 
always been good friends to me and Erma, and we will both miss their 
companionship and the very deep affection and esteem with which they 
treated each other, and which sustained them through 68 years of 
marriage.
  Erma and I have 5 more years to go before we can say we have been 
married 68 years. But Mike and Maureen set an example as an exemplary 
creative family in that regard.
  Mike Mansfield never lost his appreciation for his wife's support. He 
always readily gave Maureen the credit that he felt she was due and 
which I, having enjoyed the same kind of love and support from my wife, 
readily endorse. These talented, organized, gracious women, such as 
Maureen Mansfield and Erma Byrd, could have commanded armies. They 
could have run universities or won Senate seats in their own right. But 
they chose instead to hitch their stars to the wagons of their 
husbands. And Mike Mansfield and I are definitely the better for it. I 
believe, too, that the nation is better off as result as well.
  The demands of the Senate, particularly the demands placed upon 
Majority Leaders, are stressful, time-consuming, and exhausting. It is 
even more than a two-person job. I could concentrate on Senate matters 
knowing that Erma was there at home to support me and to give the love, 
affection, and attention to our two daughters that they so much 
deserved. I am here to say that one old adage is certainly true, and we 
have all heard it many times. That is, behind any great man is an even 
greater woman. To the extent that I ever wanted to be great, I have 
been denied that. But I can say that I have Erma to thank for whatever 
I have been able to accomplish. I know Mike Mansfield would say the 
same about Maureen.
  Now that Maureen has found new life in the shelter of God's hand, I 
hope that Mike, his daughter Anne, and his granddaughter might 
sympathize with the words of ``The Beyond,'' penned by Ella Wheeler 
Wilcox (1855-1919):

     It seemeth such a little way to me,
     Across to that strange country, the Beyond;
     And yet, not strange, for it has grown to be
     The home of those of whom I am so fond;
     They make it seem familiar and most dear,
     As journeying friends bring distant countries near.

     And so for me there is no sting to death,
     And so the grave has lost its victory;
     It is but crossing with bated breath
     And white, set face, a little strip of sea,
     To find the loved ones waiting on the shore,
     More beautiful, more precious than before.

  We miss her here, but she surely waits for Mike.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico is recognized.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, first, I want to congratulate Senator 
Byrd on his comments with regard to the very distinguished Mike 
Mansfield, and what happened to him recently with the passing of his 
beautiful and wonderful wife. I, too, in reading about him--I didn't 
experience as much of him as the Senator from West Virginia did--but he 
did things in a rather sensational and unique way.
  Even though I didn't know him as long as the Senator from West 
Virginia, and didn't feel his presence as much, he is a very wonderful 
American.
  Can you imagine in his early life what he did, how he became educated 
and found himself majority leader of the Senate? He did that for a long 
time, and is still the recordholder.
  Mr. BYRD. He is. He was majority leader longer than any other 
Senator.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Frankly, from what I understand, he did it with a very 
cool hand. Maybe it was different in those days. It was less 
confrontational than today, as I understand it--with no criticism and 
no inferences; just that it was different when he was leading.
  Mr. BYRD. We were in very different times, and we were dealing with 
different personalities. He was a remarkable man, however.


  I thank the very distinguished senior Senator from New Mexico for his 
words.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Senator.

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