[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 24756-24757]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



           FAREWELL REFLECTIONS OF THE HON. RICHARD H. BRYAN

  Mr. BRYAN. Mr. President, within the next few days, I will cast my 
last vote as a U.S. Senator, and by the end of this year, I will 
conclude 36 years of public experience.
  Permit me to reflect for a moment on this experience and share with 
you some observations.
  The last decade of the 20th century has witnessed more change than 
any decade in human history. When I began my Senate service in January 
of 1989, the world was a very different place than it is today. The 
Soviet Union and the United States faced off in a cold war, a cold war 
that dominated global politics from the end of World War II. The 
ancient capitals of Eastern Europe were satellite appendages of the 
Soviet Union. There were two Germanys and a wall divided Berlin. The 
economic pundits were telling us that the Japanese economic model 
represented the wave of the future, and it was feared that America was 
in decline.
  All of that has changed. The Soviet Union has imploded. It no longer 
exists. Eastern Europe is no longer a series of satellite states of the 
Soviet Union, but nascent democracies are developing in most of eastern 
Europe. The Berlin Wall has come down. Germany is reunited. And once 
again, Berlin is the capital of that country. The

[[Page 24757]]

Japanese economy for the past decade has remained largely stagnant. And 
here at home, America enjoys the longest economic expansion in the 
Nation's history.
  The way in which we live our day-to-day lives has experienced 
dramatic change as well, from the omnipresent cellular telephone to the 
advent of the Internet and the world of e-commerce.
  What about the Senate, this place where we spend our working hours. 
It has seen much change as well: The great debate that proceeded a 
resolution of support for operation Desert Storm was in the finest 
traditions of Webster and Calhoun--many have said that this was our 
finest bipartisan hour--the unpleasant duty of sitting in judgment of a 
fellow colleague and ultimately rendering the appropriate judgment; and 
the awesome responsibility of determining the fate of an American 
President, only the second Congress in our Nation's history to be so 
charged.
  There have been moments of inspiration as well. None of us will ever 
forget listening in those joint sessions of Congress to Lech Walesa, 
Vaclav Havel share with us their struggle to achieve democracies in 
their own countries. The democratic spirit may be suppressed but never 
extinguished.
  In the history of the Senate, there have been 1,581 men and women who 
have served, only 23 of them from Nevada. It has been a great honor and 
privilege for me to be one of those and to represent the State of 
Nevada. How effectively I have discharged that responsibility awaits 
the verdict of history.
  As a youngster, I dreamed of serving as Governor of my own State. It 
was my life goal. Serving in the Senate of the United States is like 
adding a little frosting to that cake.
  I have thought often of my parents during these past 12 years. My 
father, like so many Nevadans of his generation, came from a poor 
family. His dream was to become a lawyer. But America was gripped in a 
great depression. This city and the patronage of Nevada's Congressman 
James Scrugham made it possible for him to achieve his goal. While 
attending law school in the Nation's Capital, he met my mother, a 
native Virginian. The following year, I was born in this city. So in a 
sense, I have been here before.
  I spoke about change a moment ago. The Senate today is a very 
different institution than it was a decade ago; I fear in many respects 
a diminished institution. Those of us who seek election to the Senate 
today frequently denigrate it and seek public favor by demeaning it. 
This has taken a toll on the public esteem in which we are all held. A 
media that is appropriately critical of our shortcomings is not always 
able to find its voice in telling the American public of its successes. 
We are more partisan, more polarized than we were a decade ago. And for 
some, compromise has become a nasty word, forgetting our own heritage, 
because the Senate itself is a product of the great compromise of our 
Constitution--a Senate with equal representation for each State, and a 
House of Representatives based on population.
  The role of money: Yes, it is fair to say that it has always been a 
factor in American politics, but today it has become too much of a 
dominant force. It consumes more of our time. It drives our schedule. 
It is a corrosive force that threatens to undermine public confidence 
in our institutions of government.
  I believe there is a direct correlation between the decline of 
citizen participation in government and voting, to the public 
perception that politics is all about money. Most Americans feel they 
are excluded from this process.
  Perhaps less visible to the public, the rules which have served this 
institution so well for decades and which govern the way in which we 
process legislation have broken down.
  There is much that I will miss: My colleagues, who represent a broad 
spectrum of political views, who bring their varied experience to the 
Senate, dedicated men and women who labor mightily on behalf of the 
constituents they represent, most especially my senior colleague with 
whom I have worked in this body, as well as the State legislature, and 
on issues affecting the State of Nevada for the last 37 years.
  My personal staff, both here in Washington and at home--I have simply 
loved our working relationship. It has been a joy for me to come to 
work each morning. I have appreciated their hard work, the long hours, 
the personal sacrifice. Nevadans have been well served by their 
dedication. Without their support, any success I might have had would 
not have been possible.
  The people who make our hectic lives a little more manageable--the 
elevator operators, the Capitol Police, the food servers, those who 
staff the Cloakrooms, our floor staff and many, many others.
  This building in which we work, so rich with the history of our 
country--there has not been a single day in the past 12 years that I 
have not felt a sense of awe when coming to work.
  And this city, with its magnificent cathedrals of governance that 
serve as the guardians of the American dream--I will miss that as well.
  My wife joins me this morning in the gallery of this great Chamber. 
Nothing I have been able to do, nothing I have been able to achieve, 
would have been possible without her support, her personal sacrifice, 
and those of our three children, Richard, Leslie, and Blair, who have 
all been a part of my life and a part of public service in my life. 
Whatever I have become, whatever I am, is largely because of their 
support of my efforts to pursue my own dreams and goals.
  I leave the Senate with a great sense of respect for this 
institution, which has been so much a part of my life for the past 12 
years. It is troubled in many ways, as I have said. However, none of 
those problems is insurmountable. If we can resist the temptation to 
seek momentary partisan advantage, if we can restore civility in our 
public discourse as we debate the great issues and policy differences 
of our time, if we can apply the rules that govern the process by which 
we conduct the Senate's business fairly to all, and if we can work 
together for the common good, I am confident that the future of the 
Senate can be as bright as the past.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor for the last time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada, Mr. Reid, is 
recognized.

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