[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 14811]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             SALLY GOFFINET

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, Sally Goffinet is an unsung hero. Like many 
thousands of Senate staffers, her name is not widely known. There are 
no news accounts of her 31 years of service to her country. Her quiet 
professionalism will never be the subject of wide acclaim. But she is a 
star of the Senate family. Sally is one of the thousands of people 
stretching back over the history of our Republic to whom the Senate 
owes a very great debt.
  Sally Goffinet was hired in 1972 by one of the greatest 
Parliamentarians ever to serve the Senate, the late Dr. Floyd Riddick. 
Sally was the first woman ever to be assigned to that office. She 
continued to serve the Parliamentarian's office until the spring of 
this year, at which time she retired. Sally has worked for every 
Parliamentarian since the office was established, except for the very 
first Senate Parliamentarian, Mr. Charles Watkins. Charles Watkins was 
the Parliamentarian when I came to the Senate 45 years ago.
  Sally graduated from college with a BA in history. So her interest in 
the Senate came naturally.
  Can you imagine the institutional knowledge and the institutional 
memory she possesses? She possesses something there.
  When I say that, I mean an institutional memory. And not every 
Senator has that, an institutional memory. It is acquired after one is 
here a great while, normally. But it is not normally that every Senator 
acquires an institutional memory.
  Why is that? One has to be interested. A Senator must be interested 
in the Senate as an institution, its history, its customs, its 
folklore, its rules, and its precedents. Then one will have an 
institutional memory.
  The institution means something. The institution is always at the 
center of a Senator's public life, if he or she has an institutional 
memory.
  Can you imagine the institutional memory that Sally possesses? When 
one works alongside so many Parliamentarians, one acquires a deep, deep 
exposure to Senate rules and precedents. Senate rules and precedents--
how important are they?
  Thomas Jefferson in his manual, ``Jefferson's Manual,'' spoke of 
Speaker Onslow.
  I watched television when it was good. There is a good show on most 
Saturday nights. I get it on Channel 22 in McLean, or I get it on 26 
over in McLean. On some evenings, this particular picture, or show, 
will be on both--possibly on 22 at a given time and a half hour later 
on Channel 26. This picture is British. Ah, what actors they are. We 
have few Americans, in my judgment, who are real, honest-to-goodness 
actors. They are conscious of the fact that they are acting in that 
show. It comes out at you when you watch it, but not with the British. 
They just act in a very natural way, and speak--what great English, 
what grammar. The British have it all over us, for the most part.
  On Saturday nights, my wife Erma and I watch ``Keeping Up 
Appearances.'' It is good, clean comedy. So tune in on ``Keeping Up 
Appearances.''
  As I talk about Sally, she has seen Members come and go. She has 
acquired an institutional memory. And such long service in such a 
position imparts almost a sixth sense about the Senate and about its 
unique role in our constitutional system.
  And as I was about to say, Thomas Jefferson spoke of the Speaker of 
the British Parliament when he spoke of Mr. Onslow. The reason I got 
off on this other part about the Saturday evening TV is because there 
is a person in this comedy show whose name is Onslow. When Jefferson 
spoke of Onslow, he was speaking of a different Onslow. He was talking 
of the Speaker of the House of Commons, who said--and Jefferson said it 
also--that it is more important that there be a rule than what the 
actual rule says. And he makes a very good point in saying that it is 
more important that there be a rule than what the rule actually says. 
Because if there is a rule, there will be order, and a minority will be 
heard. If there is a rule, there will be order.
  And so we are talking now about the Parliamentarians. The Senate has 
not always had a Parliamentarians. But Charlie Watkins was the 
Parliamentarian when I came. That is a long time ago as we measure 
service in the Senate.
  So Sally acquired that deep exposure, that I referred to, to the 
Senate rules and precedents. And one who is in such a position 
naturally witnesses the Senate's dynamic change as events occur. 
History progresses and Members come and go. Such long service in such a 
position imparts, as I say, almost a sixth sense about the Senate and 
about its unique role in our constitutional system. Such an individual 
really can never be replaced.
  Today, when so many Members and staffers in our Senate family do not 
stay very long, I often wonder how we will fare in keeping that sense 
of the institution alive in future years, that institutional pride, 
pride in being a Member, an individual who has been selected by the 
constituents of that particular State, who have gone to the voting 
booths and cast their votes for a particular individual to serve in 
this great institution. We must find a way because, year by year, an 
understanding of the Senate's ultimate role and purpose is slipping 
away.
  We have these pages on the Republican side and the Democratic side, 
and they are wholesome, fine young people. I talk with every new class 
that comes in. I get acquainted with them. I talk with them. I tell 
them stories. I tell them, for example, the story written by that great 
author, Tolstoy, ``How Much Land Does a Man Need?''
  I have not talked to this new group yet, but probably the first story 
I will tell them will be ``How Much Land Does a Man Need'' by Tolstoy. 
Then I may tell them that story that great Chataquan speaker told 5,000 
times. Russel Conwell, that great Chataquan speaker, told the story 
``Acres of Diamonds.'' He said he had told that story 5,000 times. 
Well, I am going to tell that story to the pages also.
  These are great stories, and I look forward to talking with them. In 
this way, I help to preserve an understanding of what the Senate is all 
about. We talk about that. We talk about politics and about the Senate 
so that these young people, when they leave here, will go out and they 
will spread the word also.
  Individuals like Sally Goffinet have helped to keep us true to our 
course. And, today, I thank Sally for her long years of service, her 
pleasant and professional demeanor, which I will miss, and her wisdom, 
born of long experience and deep appreciation for the special place 
which is the United States Senate.
  I send my best to her husband of 31 years, Joe Goffinet, and to her 
daughter, Sarah. Joe is a special education teacher. Sarah is a 
graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine, and she is presently working at 
the Corcoran Gallery of Art. So the Senate's loss is their gain.

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