[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 21877-21878]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         SERVING IN THE SENATE

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, what a wonderful coincidence it is 
that I came to the floor to hear my good friend, Senator Byrd, make 
such exaggerated remarks about my accomplishments but never about our 
friendship.
  Around here, our seats are based on seniority. You kind of move to 
the middle or to the front as your seniority improves. But it is not 
where you sit that counts; it is where you stand.
  Senator Byrd has stood for the right things for this country for more 
years than any of the people in this room will remember because it has 
been such a long history. It is not newly emplaced.
  There is a commercial around that is often seen on television and 
radio that says--I think it is for PaineWebber --when PaineWebber 
speaks, everybody listens. That is an adaptation because when Senator 
Byrd speaks, everybody listens. And everybody can read Senator Byrd's 
books on the history of the Senate to learn what it really takes to be 
a Senator.
  It takes more than just getting a slice of the largess that we call 
funds; it takes more than the incredible loyalty, as profound as it is, 
such as Senator Byrd has to this State--it transcends those things--
that, frankly, has made a difference in the world in which we live. 
Whenever there is a question, whenever Senator Byrd speaks--and my 
experience is principally on our side of the aisle because we have our 
weekly meetings and occasional get-togethers--people listen because he 
is the historian of the Senate. He is, in many ways, the conscience of 
the Senate. He is a spokesman for the Senate, not just because he is an 
eloquent speaker but because of his knowledge and character.
  I thank the distinguished senior Senator from West Virginia, my 
friend, Robert C. Byrd, for his comments. There is always a degree of 
eloquence and recall when he speaks. And if you have some spare time, 
if you ever want to hear about the history of battles that took place 
in Roman times or the list of Kings and Queens of the UK from a time 
earlier than William the Conqueror to the present date, how

[[Page 21878]]

they died and what they stood for or what counts in terms of the 
Constitution of this country, Senator Byrd has that knowledge. Senator 
Byrd walks around with the Constitution in his pocket just as people 
walk around with phone numbers, and it is used and remembered.
  It was a happy day for me when I was able to get on the 
Appropriations Committee and join Senator Byrd on so many issues for 
which we have fought. He reminds us that there is kind of a cultural 
aspect in the United States that so many of us want to give something 
back. I learned to give back by watching my parents as they struggled 
to raise a family in very tough times, with very modest wages and 
opportunities. I understood it in the Army when my father was on his 
deathbed, my mother was 36 years old, and my sister was 12. That was 
our family. My father was 42. I did it because it was my duty. At that 
time, I saw what happened to a family that was without health 
insurance, without any Social Security, without any kind of a benefit 
that would really help a widow with a small family.
  Not only did my father die and leave the grief that followed, but his 
sickness, which lingered for a year, took any and all resources the 
family had. As a matter of fact, debts piled up as my father 
disintegrated. So I saw what happens to people who don't have a way of 
taking care of these needs. I saw what happens when a family is bereft 
of the opportunity to recover from that kind of a challenge.
  I was lucky in some ways because as we lost a great man in our 
household, I was the beneficiary of an opportunity to help my family 
later on. The GI bill allowed me to go to a university that otherwise 
would have been out of my reach, no matter how far we stretched. We 
didn't have student loans and the kind of scholarships that exist now. 
I was a soldier and I had the GI bill. It armed me with an avenue to 
the future not simply because, as I have said here before, of the 
subjects I studied but because of the horizons that were opened to me 
about what could be, not that to which I was accustomed.
  My experiences taught me about giving back. It is an honor and a 
privilege to be able to give back, whether it is to help create an 
industry--Senator Byrd referred to our business success. Two colleagues 
and I started a business, as they say, without a dime. Today, that 
company employs not 16,000, as it did when I came to the Senate in 
1983, but 33,000 people. It is a business that was begun by three kids, 
literally, who came from the wrong side of town--the right side of the 
street but the wrong side of town. On our side of the street there were 
hard-working people. Most of them were immigrants, I would say. They 
knew they had to work with their hands to make a living. They weren't 
the scientists, the doctors, and the professionals we see today coming 
out of colleges. They didn't even have a chance, for the most part, to 
get to high school. So we created an industry, not just a company. What 
good fortune there was in our lives. The fact is that we are all 
healthy and we have terrific grandchildren. I have eight of them and 
the oldest is only 6, and they are more satisfied to see and talk to 
Senator Byrd than anything else in life.
  The next great honor to me, after fatherhood, was to come to the 
Senate and to be able to be in this body--even with all of its 
defects--which reflects the structure of man and the structure of 
community. But if you look beyond the defects, you can see how many 
great people have come through this place and how many great people 
have yet to be recognized who are now Members of this great 
institution.
  Mr. President, I leave with considerable misgivings. I am not happy 
about the decision I have made to leave. I do know this: Just as we 
came at different times in our lives, others will follow us who will 
also make contributions, who also will do the right thing for the 
people of our country. This country is in good hands. Every moment may 
not be a great moment, but this country's fundamentals are in place to 
make sure society will continue to grow and progress and harmonize in 
the years ahead. When we look at the defects, we see problems here and 
there and everywhere. But look beyond that. Look at the number of great 
people we have in our country who are fair-minded people. Look at what 
is happening now in the Presidential race, where one fellow is an 
Orthodox Jew who has been accepted and embraced across the country 
because the country is so fair. They are looking at this person as an 
individual and judging him on his ability to serve. That is what tells 
us about the character of our people. When you look at places in 
Government, you see people who, though listed as minorities, are great 
achievers, whether in administrative posts or law or science. That is 
what we are looking at as we look ahead into this 21st century.
  I thank all of my colleagues--Republicans and Democrats. I believe 
that I am considered at times an argumentative fellow by some of my 
colleagues on the other side. That doesn't mean there is no affection.
  One of the things that Senator Byrd portrays is character--a very 
special kind of character.
  It is amazing to me how much respect and admiration one can have for 
people with whom one can have enormous differences and yet have 
incredible affection for them because they are respected for their 
beliefs, even though those beliefs may differ at times with the ones 
you hold. Whether it is the most ardent progressive or liberal or the 
most ardent conservative, they are done honestly. They are expressed 
honestly with respect for people.
  That should be our mission--not to try to overturn or lecture people 
at various stages, but when someone comes here, having been selected by 
his or her State to serve, that is their entrance to the debate; their 
entrance to legislate; their entrance to decisionmaking and how this 
country is going to function.
  I don't want to leave here with a tear in my eye. I may feel that 
way, perhaps, but I am so proud that I was able to serve my country and 
to be a part of the Senate.
  Senator Byrd could give you the statistics immediately. I round it 
off. I think it is about 1,820 people--1,853. I knew Senator Byrd would 
be precise--1,853 have had the privilege of serving here since the 
founding of this country.
  Think about it. Millions of people have lived and passed through 
society, and, in all those 200 years, 1,853 have been granted the honor 
and the privilege of serving here.
  When it comes time to pack up the bags and leave, I will not do it 
necessarily willingly, but I will do it gratefully, knowing that I have 
had a chance to be here to witness history in the making, which occurs 
almost daily, and to know that someday one of my grandchildren--the 
oldest is six; he has some way to go before he goes to college--will be 
able to look in the database from his home, from his school, and say: 
There was my grandfather. He was the one who stopped smoking on 
airplanes. He was the one who raised the drinking age to 21--saving 
thousands of families from having to mourn the loss of a child. But he 
was the one who did other things to help this country that will last 
way beyond his service in the Senate.
  I say to Senator Byrd that when he gives testimonial, it has meaning 
and credibility. It is special, and I truly appreciate it.
  Mr. President, I ask whether the Senate is going to remain open for a 
while or do we have an order that would have us be closing down soon?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is no such order.

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